Gameplay that will have you Immersed and a Quirky storyline that will leave you wanting more! It's simply a Must Play!
Now that that's outta the way. This was the first time I had played this game, and after playing right through it (which it took me about a week to finish (and I was unemployed at the time...)) I had found the beginning to a fantastic series... (After I found out that there were sequels :P)
Let me just say quickly that he controls are a bit 'Tricky' buy once you get used to them, it becomes second nature. Now first off, I couldn't believe the graphics of this game, when compared to other games of the same genre released around the same time like Dungeon Siege, Neverwinter Nights or Diablo II, because they were just stunning, versatile and detailed and the fact that you controlled the character from 1st or 3rd person view you really were able to take in all of the 3-D beauty. One particular thing stood out with the 'boundaries' of the game because you never ran into that 'mysterious black edge' that was so apparent in many other RPG's of the time, whereas in Gothic if you can find a way to get somewhere you can get there.
Now to the stuff that really blew my mind! The Gameplay and the Storyline. First the Storyline: *MINOR SPOILER* You are a convict thrown into this colony of many other convicts surrounded by a death-forcefield (So No Touchy) and basically you have to decide which of the 3 main camps of convicts to Join (The Old Camp, The New Camp... or the Stoners who believe a God called the 'Sleeper' will come and rescue them from the colony AKA The Swamp Camp) and you have to 'get by' to survive, learning techniques and skills and ultimately either killing or kissing a whole lotta ass to get to the top. Once you are there you then get caught up in a plot to escape from the colony and ultimately free yourself... and every other convict back into 'Society'. I think that this storyline is just brilliant because it's so simple and very different from the generic "Be a Hero, Save The People" Storyline. (Now you might say "But hang on you just said that he frees all of the convicts in the end... so it is the same generic storyline"... and you might be right but i like to look at it as "He is trying to free himself and the fact that every other prisoner escaped isn't his business"... However, he doesn't state it, I'm sure that there are SOME people on the inside that he's thinking about other than himself).
The Gameplay is outstanding because you can literally do almost anything... e.g. Forge swords equip them or sell them, collect herbs turn them into a potion, kill an animal: eat the meat, take the claws and fur and do with them what you will, go and mine some gold, sneak into someones house and loot it, sneak up behind someone and oh so skillfully pick their pocket, run, jump and climb almost anywhere, choose what to say in conversations and determine how that person reacts to you... (Now that might not seem impressive to some people but for a game released around that time and compared to even some of the games of today the things you can do are simply astounding).
(Just one thing that I did, I'd like to point out... I met this guy in the game and he asked if he could join me so i agreed and he followed me everywhere and every now and then he would say something and interrupt my gaming experience... So I took him to a secluded cave, and killed the annoying @#$%$!... lol)
Unfortunately i haven't got much to say about the soundtrack, only because honestly I was listening to my music when i played through the game... However I did have the SFX on and the SFX were pretty great everything sounded good from the clanging of my blade to the sound of my feet padding the ground to the creatures growls, squawks or hisses. Also every character (NPC and the Storyline characters) had voices and if you spoke to them they'd at least tell you to "bugger off". Also the voices chosen for the Storyline characters really suited each Persona.
So all in all I definitely have to say that this is simply one of the best RPG's out there, and it's a Must Play for any RPG enthusiast.