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The Gothic RPG series hasn't been a big seller here in America, and while it has developed a strong following across the seas, the developers at JoWood have decided to examine the game and figure out how to make the franchise appealing to both markets. That's why the newest game in the series isn't simply being branded as "Gothic 4." Instead, it is called Arcania: A Gothic Tale so that it will still grab the European market's eye and not be looked down upon by the American one.
But what does this massive RPG have to offer us Yanks, but not alienate those across the big puddle? Well, for one, they have made the game much more accessible to new players by adding features found in most American RPGs like a mini-map, a higher ratio of story quests over side quests, Quest Tracking and full voiceover support for all NPCs. The game's story, while taking place in the Gothic world, doesn't require that you have an extensive knowledge of the past games in order to play it.
Since we left this world, the series' main character, called only The Unnamed Hero, has become king. But over the years, he has become a tyrant and has oppressed his subjects. That is where this game's new Unnamed Hero comes into play. You are a character who has spent his life under the previous hero's rule, and your quest is to go up to the king and get your revenge (though we weren't told exactly what he is avenging). Where the last three games took place on their own islands (one island per game), this one will actually span three new ones. You will start off in a small island until you get your feet wet and are ready to delve into the main story. By the end of the game, you will end up on yet another small island, but most of your quests will take place on the largest island seen so far in Gothic, Arcana.
Designed similarly to other massive open-world games, areas of Arcana will be locked to you until you have made significant progress in the game to allow you entry into the other realms, and while the land is huge, gamers won't have to worry as much about the lengthy walks that plagued the previous titles. Before, if you wanted quick transportation, your best bet was teleportation stones - items you bought or found, but were good for one use only. Now though, Arcana is littered with large teleportation stones embedded in the island itself. While you can only travel to stones that you have already discovered, this addition is bound to help ease a lot of people's headaches with the game.
There are a few core mechanics the developers have tweaked as well. For one, there is the addition of a lock-on system when using projectiles like arrows. While this pretty much guarantees a hit, it will deal less damage. But this is great for less experienced gamers, and the idea is that you can turn off this feature when you get more comfortable with the combat system. The game's magic system and leveling has also received a bit of an overhaul. For one, there are no more trainers and learning new skills and abilities takes on the more standard skill-tree system. The final major change to the gameplay involves the creation of five major guilds that the user can join (yes, you can join all five but each one will keep you pretty busy in their own right).
Visually, Arcana seems to have a lot going for it as well. The developer demoing the game for me couldn't help but show me how well the game's weather system created puddles of rain water, or areas of flowing water that would slowly dry up when he turned off the storm. Other effects like lightning and the day/night cycle added various lighting styles for the many locations of Arcana: A Gothic Tale as well, and what's better is that apparently your character will have the ability to cast spells to change all of these features on the fly. This is good since apparently some NPCs will only react certain ways during certain weather conditions, or only at nighttime, etc.
Arcana: A Gothic Tale looks like it might have the right features to give it a good standing in the American RPG market, and it doesn't look like too many core mechanics were sacrificed to lose the existing fans, so if you are a hard-core RPG'er looking for another lengthy title, or an existing Gothic fan, then keep an eye out for this game; it hits the Xbox 360 this November. |
