A Long And Disappointing Summer

RPGWatch’s VoxClamant editorializes on the long and disappointing Summer for RPG fans, naming the Dragon Age: Origins Witch Hunt DLC as the low point, but seeing bright spots in the future. He loses me when starting on the Arcania demo though.

Arcania demo: Wow! If the Arcania demo is indicative of the full game, Gothic 4 is a nice improvement over Gothic 3. Immediately you will be struck by the better graphics and responsiveness. But the quest lines and design also seem a lot better. Fighting has improved over Gothic 3 — it now uses a combination system a bit like The Witcher — strike when your weapon is glowing to achieve a special attack. The skills system has changed a lot — seems to be more emphasis on tactical skills rather than just weapon skills (more “do I improve parrying or riposte” as opposed to “do I want better axe or swordplay.” The demo ended before I was able to see much about spells other than use of scrolls. Fights, quests and equipment drops (as much as you can tell in an hour’s demo play) seemed very good. Oh yes — the blooming Gothic/Risen/Witcher wolves are back! I really wish I knew why Gothic has packs of vicious wolves wherever you go.

Bottom line – based on the demo – Arcania is a no-brainer for me.