Recent reviews by bmmd

Some suggest that this is a 100% Gothic 2 experience, this is not exactly true, this total conversion mod is more of its own thing. The combat system, inventory system and NPC interaction are right out of G2, but the game does improve in many areas.

For example, one of the most annoying issues with G1/G2, where you needed to unequip attribute enhancing gear before each training session and then equipping it once again or the need to keep all the permanent effect potions for the late game in order maximize stats is now fixed. While the same old graphics engine is being used, the graphics density is higher and better looking with the city and some of the areas being very impressive. A lot more crafting is added. Some of the quests are quite good.

While there are a lot of good changes, there are some more dubious choices like the ones about fast travel: rune teleportation is changed in so now you need to find a teleportation circle first and then only teleport from it to another known circle, and, on top of that, two more fast travel systems are added.

In the end it is not a bad thing that this mod goes its own way as the different story structure and the improvements do benefit the overall experience.

The early game is just as punishing as G1 or G2, and, just like those games, you get more and more powerful along the way.

For the non-Polish players, even if the voice acting is in Polish, I recommend installing the voice acting pack as playing the game without it is not immersive.

GD3D11 is pretty much mandatory in order not only to get the game running properly and faster, but also to enhance the graphics without changing the overall art style.

Had this on preorder on Steam but I decided to play with an EA Play subscription. Based on the number of problems encountered at that time, I canceled the preorder.

Now I have tried it again during the free weekend, but it is still unplayable from a performance point of view, with framerates all over the place. No matter how I set up the options, it lags in the critical moments when you need quick aim with sudden drops from 80-90 to 30-40 fps, making fast gunplay impossible. In an FPS game that requires quick reactions, it is simply unacceptable and totally kills the game for me.

I would get over the bugs, the general game direction and bad design choices if the game would maintain a steady 60-70-80 fps at any detail level, but I simply can't get over the current performance and mouse input issues this game has. The GPU is always underutilized, sometimes only using 250 W out of 370 W so it is clear that the CPU is the bottleneck. I get it that my i9 9900k is 3 years old, but what I don't get is why even with all low I still get input lag and performance drops when aiming down sight or trying to quickly aim at an enemy that is approaching me. BF1 was running better on a 4 core i7 4770 back in the day than this is running on an 8 core and BFV is running smoothly at 120 with future frame rendering off so there is clearly something wrong with BF 2042.

Tried it on a fresh Windows 11 install, same thing as on the old Windows 10 install, with an added bonus: crashes.

TL;DR: skip until performance issues are fixed.

This is one of those games that falls apart if you analyze each sub-system in detail but once you start adding things up, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Many of the constituting parts might seem ridiculous on their own, but once you integrate them into the mood and the atmosphere of the first two movies, the game starts to shine.

Big thumbs up for the title theme and the finale theme!

Obviously there has been a lot of work put into this demo, as evidenced by the nearly release ready state of the environment and some of the subsystems. Combined with some in game references and the screenshots suggesting that there are more areas and more quests that are ready than the ones we have access, it hints towards the project being in a decisive moment with THQ Nordic genuinely wanting to know what people think about the work done so far before they decide to continue funding it or pulling the plug.

Therefore, I hope people just give honest feedback about it and refrain from insults or from just saying “it sucks” or “it is great” without going into details about why.

Personally, I think that this is a nice attempt but, if the project were to continue, there is a lot room for improvement. As a longtime fan of Gothic, Risen and Elex, here is my list of suggestions regarding what can be done to improve the chances of this project:

• The graphic settings need to be more comprehensive on the PC. I’m not saying you should do what Gears 5 does in this department (though you should strive to), but you should at least allow turning off useless “cinematic” effects like chromatic aberration, motion blur and lens flares. Rather than enhancing immersion they do the opposite, by simulating camera effects instead of the human eye they disconnect the audience from the game.
• The UI is clearly a console first design that has been adapted to the PC platform. There’s a lot of room for improvement here especially since the more recent Risen and Elex games did it better, with functional mouse support. Playing on the strength of the PC, the UI should be as fluid as possible when using mouse and keyboard.
• The highlighting of items should be toned down, the arrows pointing at them removed and embrace the old ways where if you see an arrow stuck into something it’s an arrow you can pick up, if you see a bottle, it’s a bottle you can pick up etc. rather than some being items you can pick up and others just decoration. Oh, and remove the hints that you can climb an edge, it should be done via environmental design rather than via hints.
• The dialogue system is also a console design, clearly meant for thumb-sticks. For the PC the one in Gothic/Risen/Elex is vastly superior as you can see the choices right from the start rather than having to pull left/right/up/down to see them.
• Allow skipping dialogue, it is too slow paced and the lack of this option hinders replayability.
• The intro scene and the writing in it are terrible. There’s no need for Michael Bay style explosions and a character that keeps talking to himself and mumbling obvious things or idiotic things. From the punch in the face intro to the end of the game, the original Gothic kept things simple with only a handful of cut-scenes, for great effect. The way things are approached here, it is immersion breaking rather than enhancing.
• There’s only one real branching quest in this demo and it doesn’t offer too many options. If you want this to succeed, the Gothic/Risen/Elex style of quest system must be maintained as it is one of the best out there. The ability to do quest steps out of sequence, by just happening to find the right thing at the right time via exploration was the greatest strength of those games and the main reason people stuck with all the clumsy combat and inventory systems, the below average for their time graphics and the bugs. This and the good writing made those games rough gems rather than simple minerals.
• The combat is strange, it seems to be neither action focused, nor tactical focused but rather a combination. I think that it should be pushed more towards one of the two approaches rather than be kept hybrid. Which is better, I’m not sure at this point, but a more action-based approach would fit today's audiences more.
• The mobs need the intermediary state where they warn you that you need to make a decision between flight and fight, this was a crucial part of the Gothic design where you could explore any area as long you could face the enemies there.

Incredible character design, engaging story, great voice acting, amazing music, beautiful scenery and art style and two exceptional expansion packs – this is the crowning achievement for CD Projekt RED setting a new benchmark in open world RPG games.

This is my GotY 2015 and a recommendation for anybody that hasn’t picked up a copy yet.