theEscapist подготовил ретрорецензию по первой Готике, озаглавив её "You Are Not Special".
Выдержка из рецензии.
Dark fantasy RPGs are doing pretty well these days, thanks to games like Dragon Age, Dark Souls, and The Witcher 3. But back in 2001, it was Gothic sitting on the dark fantasy throne. This game featured a bleak yet complex interactive world, a full day-night cycle, open-ended gameplay, and many other traits that inspired future developers. And while it all holds up remarkably well, there's one aspect Gothic excels at - roleplaying a character nobody expects will become the hero of the story.
Gothic takes place in a dark fantasy world where a savage human-orc war devastated the countryside. To turn the tide, the human king orders a prison colony over a mine, where every criminal will be forced to dig up a magical ore. He even orders twelve powerful magicians to erect a protective dome over the colony - but the spell backfires. The dome grows so large that it covers the surrounding valley, trapping prisoners, guards, and magicians inside. What's more, it instigates a revolution that leaves the guards dead, and the criminals in complete control of the colony.
Now the king is at an impasse. While anything can enter the dome, nothing living can leave without being destroyed. So he forges a trade agreement with the colony, exchanging goods for ore mined by the prisoners. Left to their own devices, the prisoners organize into three groups. The Old Camp is the most powerful, ruling over the colony while maintaining the status quo. The New Camp wants to escape by securing enough ore to cast a powerful spell. Finally, the religious Brotherhood worships a god called "the Sleeper", which it believes will awaken and free them from bondage.
So where does the hero fit into this? Is he a veteran of the war effort? A humble warrior with dreams of setting right the world? None of the above - he's just criminal making his way to the dome. Nobody's interested in your past, and even NPCs don't want to learn your name. It's purely by chance that someone official makes a tantalizing offer: Deliver a letter to a magician in the Old Camp, and you can name your reward.
Gothic was clearly a precursor to dark fantasy, open-world RPGs like The Witcher, right down to putting strange magic symbols on the box art. You're free to explore the game world, join various factions, and accept quests from morally questionable individuals. The open environment is smaller than The Witcher 3 or Skyrim, but well-designed, packing an impressive range of encounters and secrets into its space. Even today, the interactive gameplay feels highly robust - you can hunt animals with unique behaviors, cook meat to regain health, follow NPC work schedules across the day/night cycle, and much more.
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Gothic was a true gem in its time, merging survival mechanics, open-world exploration, and roleplaying into something greater than the sum of its parts. The fact that it's still compelling over a decade later, despite its high difficulty, is a testament to Piranha Bytes design. It also leaves me excited to see what the sequel improved upon... although I suspect I should recover from these initial wounds before diving in again.
Вся рецензия тоже в инглише, ес-но. =)
