So I played some of the vanilla Gothic 2 game back in the day when I was just a kid, this was my first time with the NotR expansion. And unfortunately it was a bitter yet nostalgic experience.
I don't really rememeber the balance of the classic version, I only know that it's considered easier and most of the weapons are easily achiveable with low stats requirements. So having that said I jumped into NotR raw without any 'Internet checks' etc.
Boy I was quickly verified that something is badly wrong with the gameplay, like I shouldn't be hitting enemies I was hitting and some of the enemies were hitting me badly where they shouldn't have. I thought the NotR content was minda merged into the game itself and it would blend perfectly with the main story, however this only added more complexity to the story and it felt kinda awkward listening to 2 different situations in the city. It pushed me away from the immersion so to say. But okay, I went to the temple, learned about the fragments and I thought to push the classic side of the game. I went to chapter 2 without any issues, already noticing that I don't see many weapons for low strenght, so I was playing with 50/25 sword, because this is the only thing I could afford with the amount of levels I gained. The 2nd chapter already felt hard, with most of the mobs hitting me hard, where I was constantly using the same sword. Felt like I would cheese a bit of the fights with Diego and the other guy to escort, and this is how I went to chapter 3.
Then I quickly realised that I've forgotten about The Seekers, where one was waiting for me just at the doors. This is where first major realisation on my part took place, where I just couldn't kill that bastard. Having maximum levels I could get, even with 2-3 gotten with the cheese. Still no new weapon, and I think 30% put in crit. I was hitting him for 0 damage. I started calculating the damage and I realised that it took me 50 hits to kill him, which was almost impossible if not staggering him in a perfect frame. This is the moment I realised something was off with the balance, but okay. I learned from a friend that BEFORE doing act 3 I should do the DLC part, because mobs are easier, you get some levels and stuff. So I did the DLC, pumping all my points into strength and nothing into 2H mastery, because this is where I wanted to go for endgame, however I just couldn't get ANY 2H weapon for my strength cap. I believe I reached level 20 where I could wear my first weapon. Then I realised that it's badly slow, without any crit, so I switched back to 1H.
Rest of the game I spent raising my strength and 2H skill to be even able to try 2Hands, saving tablets, because I realised that they need to be saved, just like apples, shrines, stews, putting 5STR before the point Caps where 1 point of strenght costs 2 and 3 points after 30% and 60%.... So the pure nostalgic feeling was completely destroyed by the fact that I had to perfectly master the RPG part and STILL I wasn't able to enjoy the fight, because mosters were just too strong. Fights where there were 3+ enemies were impossible to win, with best possible armor available firstly because mobs just hit hard and have their crit % high and you have your 50% crit and rely on left right attacks and clunky target swaps.
Advancing in the story line should feel like a reward, progress, instead you got constantly, way stronger enemies than you. Orcs were just impossible to kill even at Act 4 due to just slightly lower armor which could mitigate at least few hits (had Knight armor with all the melee resistances jewelery). I eneded up being pissed and luring all the orcs to a bug spot and killing them like this. In act 4 where you go for the dragons you meet a guy who can tell you about the Minecrawler armor, which can be crafter in act V then, even still it's way worse than Knight armor which was achieveable in ACT 3! So you just had to go to that guy in Act 2, know he's there, there was no other reason to travel there before acv 4.
After getting good 2H swords and reached 100% crit, yes, I got 100% because even at 80% you feel those non crit hits, where it's a matter of surviving a fight or not. And unfortunately 2H are ♥♥♥♥, combo attacks keep you in place without advancing attacks, weapon i slow, and in a game where landing more quick crit hits matters the most, sorry it's ♥♥♥♥. The only advantage is big range.
Something about technicall stuff before I go to last act. It's an officially sold game on steam, with official community patch applied right now, where no mods are necessary. YET I had to download GRawInput modification because otherwise the mouse DPS was unusable. Second thing was that the FPS limiter wasn't working, not via the game files, nor via NVIDIA settings, nor unofficial FPS limiter apps. They just weren't working, I was playing on 600+ FPS. It affects running on some of the cliffs, jumping on ledges and... health regeneration. So even if I had best gear in the game, I just couldn't kill dragons in Act 4 and 6 because they were regenerating super fast. I had to use Ice wave to freeze the dragon and had to cheat my way to give myself Shrink monster scrolls, otherwise it would be impossible to pass the game. This is unacceptable.
And so advancing to last act, having NOW the best armor in the game - The Paladin armor, where in Act V you could now tank 10 orcs, you get to act VI and the same orcs can kill you again in a matter of hits, becasue... Game just increases their stats.
The game really lacks a way to fight with multiple enemies without feeling clunky or maybe a separate statistic like Resilience in WOW where you reduce a chance for enemy to crit you and their crit dmg... Raising stat requirement for weapons and letting the fight be resolved by amount of crit % is not a good way to "balance" the game.
In the end game defended itself with pure nostalcia and story, but the fighting and character development aspect was lacking a lot and I think this is what a true RPG needs. Play it for nostalgia, but expect total tryhard if trying to play with melee. I really preferred the original, vanilla game.
