Borderline an 8/10

User Rating: 7 | Arcania: Gothic 4 PC

The beginning of the game is (I think) really bad. Almost like it's done by one guy in a basement during his spare time. No "feel", pretty poor enviroment and... well, just clunky and wierd. I got the a "it's not ready" feel about it.
After you get past the "King's dream-sequence fighting", the starting village and those quests and you get your first good weapon from your friend Diego, the game "begins" however (after the first cutscence with the "Paladins") and takes a turn for the much much better.

Story: Pretty solid. Nothing special, but I wanted to move on and see how it unflolded. 7/10

Graphics: More than ok. The human NPC-models are used more than once though, so expect to see the same face on more than one NPC. Landscapes are 8/10. NPC's are 5/10. Animations are often really good.

Gameplay: It can get abit repetative at some places, but since you get to see new landscapes and new vistas almost all the time the gameplay is bearable. I really like the bows and how that was implemented. What takes away a point from gameplay is the "invisible walls" at and around the maps. 7/10

RPG-Feel: The skills-point system is abit shallow, but it works and you can't really screw things up. Spell-effects are pretty cool and so are shooting bows (as mentioned earlier). You can almost feel the character grow each level and the upgrades in armour (which you make yourself) is also nice touch. Firespells maxed out both feels and looks pretty awesome. Talking to NPC's can be a hazzle. Often too much dialogue to click through I think.
You can go down 3 paths really. Caster with cloth armor, "Thief" in leather (or whatever) and Fighter in platemail. There is a nice array of weapons with fire/lightning effects as well as life-drain. I chose to run around in Plate wielding a 2-hander. The game never gets superhard, but it can be overwhelming in the beginning when you are attacked by 5 "monsters" at a time. There is no swimming or climbing which is a real shame. I think it would really lift the game to new heights. I give the RPG-Feel 7/10.

Overall: It took me around 45 hours to complete. I only got stuck one time when I couldn't find a mob I was supposed to kill inside a closed-up town (almost like a maze). The first part of the game is pretty terrible, but it grows and grows and grows. Much like Gothic 3 which I think is the better game. This game is more polished though and better looking. It is fun to play, most landscapes/maps are beautiful though there are no real suprises. The game is a very solid 7/10 for me.. close to an 8/10. Well worst spending money on if you can find it on sale like I did (Steam).