r/Games • u/megaapple • 2d ago
Retrospective Ross's Game Dungeon: Gothic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG9l93_8Muo69
u/basketofseals 2d ago
My favorite little detail about Gothic is that the nameless protagonist actually has a name. Just nobody lets him say it.
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u/megaapple 2d ago edited 1d ago
The exact same way guards how approach him for "protection money". I wonder how it sounds like in native German, but I loved they "persuaded" him and it felt overwhelming (because you got your ass handed by lowest level enemies at the start). Ludonarrative Harmony at its finest!
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u/Angzt 2d ago
I can tell you that a lot of the voice lines are ingrained into many a German's brain. They're still occasionally quoted back and forth in r/de.
"Steck die scheiß Waffe weg"
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u/Sandulacheu 2d ago
Gothic kinda falls apart from act 3 onwards,when they forget its a open world ,faction choices are meaningless (you still have to do the sect camp stuff) and give out any side quests.
But godman if the first half isn't some of the best RPG ever.
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u/LibraryBestMission 1d ago
That sounds like a fairly common issue for RPGs. "Oops, dev time is running out, better finish the game now!"
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u/Pandaisblue 1d ago
True, but it's pretty common in general with a ton of different media from shows to books to games. A bunch of things going on there. As you said 'dev time/budget', but also the start of something gets the most attention and refining to hook people, knowing it's the thing every player will see with a dwindling number the further you go. It's also often one of the last things finalised at the point when the creator(s) are most prepared - like an author often writes a basic starting chapter at first and then finishes the book by rewriting it with their full knowledge of the characters and story, plus pontificating on the world and story is way easier to make satisfying than actually having to close off those "What ifs?" with actual concrete answers as you get towards an ending. It's easy to do a LOST and ask fun questions, but man, having 'proper' explanations for all of it? That's really really hard.
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u/kuhpunkt 1d ago
It's easy to do a LOST and ask fun questions, but man, having 'proper' explanations for all of it? That's really really hard.
But it's not easy.
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u/Beards_Are_Itchy 16h ago
100%. I love the Gothic games but the first one was janky, difficult to play, and falls apart at the end. All these "It was so ahead of its time!" comments are crazy. It came out within a year of TES3 which blows it out of the water in damn near every way.
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u/Sandulacheu 12h ago
Combat was the only thing it did better than Morrowind ,even if magic was kinda ehh.
Everyone repeats that its hard,but once you get some points in STR and master 1 handed then there's barely any enemies that you cant take,maybe not the troll or a entire pack of snappers.
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u/Beards_Are_Itchy 11h ago
I just wind up cheesing everything until I'm so strong I can wipe everything out anyway. It's fun but it wasn't exactly revolutionary. And it's not like the team didn't have a chance to make a name for themselves, they just didn't. Gothic, Risen, Elex, Gothic Remake, and Archolos. At a certain point I think us fans just gotta accept it's a niche thing. (Not that you do or don't, just speaking generally)
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u/AntonineWall 2d ago
I’ll have to check this out later tonight, been a longtime fan of Ross, and Gothic is such a legendary game
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u/Nevrigil 2d ago
What a coincidence. Stay Forever have just released their long-awaited Gothic episode. For all German speakers: https://www.stayforever.de/2024/12/gothic-sf-150/
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u/Skyb 2d ago
I've not heard of this podcast, though I've heard of some of these names. How do they stand out compared to other gaming podcasts?
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u/captainkaba 2d ago
The hosts are two of the most prolific vg journalists in Germany, both having been editors in chief of Gamestar.
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u/WaltzForLilly_ 1d ago
Static levels in the open world of Gothic pretty much ruined every other RPG that came after it for me.
There is no better feeling than to find a cave with a boss, cheese it with everything you've got and walk away with a cool ass loot and a ton of EXP. I played Oblivion pretty much right after Gothic, and it's scaling babby mode world bore me to tears.
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u/Cool_Specialist_5912 1d ago
I've some really found childhood memories of the game. I think the second one was better overall but I really loved the prison colony setting.
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u/Erazzmus 17h ago
Heads up for anyone who loved this game but can't stand the controls anymore, or never got to play it the first time around; there's a new game out this year which is basically exactly like Gothic but in 2-D.
It's called Drova. I just recently beat it and enjoyed it a lot, and I don't even really like 2-D games. It has exactly the same equipment, skill progression and aesthetic of the original Gothic, even down to the different camps to join and how the map leads you to naturally explore different parts based on your ability. The world design is really top notch, and you don't have to deal with the jank of the original (combat is actually fun for once). Maybe try it out.
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u/ChuckCarmichael 12m ago
One thing I like about Gothic 1 is that its world is compact. There's no pointless fluff in it, no miles of empty nothing that are just there to make the world bigger, making you run from point A to point B for ages without anything happening.
It's in a nice sweet spot where it's big enough to feel big, but still small enough to not feel boring and barren, letting you remember every place in the world.
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u/Walkabeast 2d ago
I keep seeing this guys videos get recommended, but I can’t get past how grating his voice is. Don’t think I made it past 5 minutes in this video.
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u/relevant_pet_bug 2d ago edited 2d ago
Hilariously enough, I felt the same way all the way back in 2007 when freeman's mind first came out. I toughed through it, and it was worth it, and now Ross's voice is a relaxing familiar thing. Like the other comment said, it's part of the charm. Think Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys, wowcrendor, Tom Waits, Oderus Urungus/Dave Brockie of GWAR, Ronnie Drew of The Dubliners, Sothira Pheng of Crucifix, and so on. You get used to it, and then the uniqueness of his voice becomes like an old friend.
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u/DrunkRobot97 2d ago
If his voice had been more photogenic (ichogenic?) Freeman's Mind likely wouldn't have worked so well. The whole joke is turning the completely empty vessel of Gorden Freeman into an jerkish rambling misanthrope annoyed at everything.
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u/RussianSkeletonRobot 2d ago
This is your idea of a grating voice? Interesting take..
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2d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/RussianSkeletonRobot 2d ago
Hey, you're entitled to your opinion. I'm just confused; I've been following Ross since the golden days of Machinima, when Freeman's Mind was really big, and I've never heard anybody complaining about his voice. He's just got a normal, somewhat-deep speaking voice. There are certainly worse on YouTube.
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u/Walkabeast 2d ago
That might have something to do with it. I didn’t keep up with machinima, so I don’t have years of experience with him. I’m sure he’s a decent fellow, but there’s no way I can sit myself down for a hour and hope I’ll get used to how he sounds.
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u/Metalbound 2d ago
Just letting you know that you aren't the only one. I checked it out and couldn't make it more than 10 seconds either. Dude's voice is definitely hard to listen to.
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u/Cataclyct 2d ago
He sounds as though he's constantly annoyed. Judging by how consistent he is with his vocal patterns, I'd say it's intentional.
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u/drdoom52 2d ago
I'd say it's not.
He has a fairly similar voice when he's ranting about a game he enjoys too.
Watch his "Carn-E-val" review for an example of that.
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u/GepardenK 2d ago
He's doing a showmanship-style personal narrator bit. It is a character, consistent for all his game-dungeon stuff, and it is very intentional.
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u/kariam_24 2d ago
So you don't have anything other to say about this video other then guys voice, something he was born with?
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u/renome 2d ago
Gothic was a game so ahead of its time that most open-world RPGs still haven't caught up to it in terms of its immersiveness. The controls can be tough to get into these days, but the Switch port is apparently ok to play with a controller.