Gothic 3

About

Gothic 3 is a single-player, open world fantasy RPG with a good plot, gameplay, graphics, and music. However, it is poorly optimized and full of bugs, requiring lots of grinding. Released as a sequel to Gothic II, it offers an immersive and atmospheric experience in a richly detailed fantasy world.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

69%

Audience ScoreBased on 3,578 reviews

story274 positive mentions

stability232 negative mentions

Immersive open world with a vast environment to explore.
Strong community support with patches and mods that enhance gameplay.
Engaging character progression and skill system that allows for diverse playstyles.

Combat system is clunky and often leads to frustrating stun-lock situations.
Numerous bugs and performance issues, even with community patches.
Repetitive quests that often feel like generic fetch tasks.

story
1,348 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
70%
10%
The story in Gothic 3 is often criticized for being lackluster and poorly structured compared to its predecessors, with many players noting that it feels more like a collection of repetitive fetch quests rather than a cohesive narrative. While some appreciate the open-world exploration and the ability to shape their own story through faction choices, the main plot is seen as minimalistic and unsatisfying, lacking the depth and character development that made the earlier games memorable. Overall, the game is viewed as having potential but ultimately falling short in delivering a compelling story.
- “Over 200 hours later I have beaten the trilogy, and my thoughts... well I love this series, I can understand why the Germans/Polish adore it so much, with such great characters, world building, RPG elements, and story.”
- “The story is amazing; you can have different endings, very nice monsters including T-rexes, dragons, and giant crocodiles.”
- “The music, the background dialog, the quests, and the storyline is what you will expect of the Gothic series.”
- “The story is barely existent and not fleshed out at all, especially compared to the tight and dense predecessors that had great characters, heart and a memorable progression.”
- “The main plot is minimalistic and based only on finding Xardas and choosing the path of one of the three gods: Innos, Adanos, or Beliar.”
- “The story revolves around nothing: either liberating cities from orcs, or destroying rebel camps.”
graphics
396 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
60%
11%
The graphics of Gothic 3 have received mixed reviews, with many players noting that while they were impressive for their time in 2006, they have not aged well compared to modern standards. Some appreciate the game's visuals and atmospheric environments, particularly with community patches that enhance the graphics, while others criticize the character models and overall design as outdated and lacking in detail. Overall, the consensus suggests that while the graphics may not be the game's strongest aspect, they still offer a visually appealing experience when viewed in the context of its release period.
- “The graphics are brilliant for its time and still just about hold up today.”
- “The visuals are incredible.”
- “Even after all these years it still holds up from the graphics to the gameplay.”
- “The art style was also changed drastically, and suddenly the orcs don't look scary anymore. Diego, Lester, and Milten look really bland, except for Gorn, and the new voice actor for the protagonist just felt really weird and uncanny at the same time.”
- “Intro is horrible; graphics are far inferior to Gothic 1 and 2, which is quite a feat considering they're 20 years old. Orcs look nothing like they used to; they're cartoon characters now.”
- “The graphics are poor, the dialogue is god-awful, and the gameplay is very poor.”
gameplay
362 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
65%
13%
The gameplay of Gothic 3 has received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing its clunky combat mechanics, frustrating stamina system, and numerous bugs that hinder the overall experience. While some appreciate the expansive open world and the depth of RPG elements, others feel it falls short compared to its predecessors, lacking the polish and engaging mechanics that made Gothic 1 and 2 enjoyable. Community patches have been recommended to improve the experience, but many still find the gameplay repetitive and unrefined.
- “I really consider Piranha Bytes games a very specific brew of RPG with familiar mechanics across all games — and I absolutely love it.”
- “The gameplay is fun and challenging, the story is cool, the scenery is amazing, the graphics are still nice even with today's standards, and the enemies make hilarious sounds when you attack them.”
- “While I still prefer Gothic 2 overall, I would rank it second behind since the large open world and the non-linear gameplay are just a lot of fun while you listen to a great soundtrack and doing a wide variety of quests that go beyond the usual 'go there, grab this, kill that guy, come back' trope most modern RPGs seem to love so much.”
- “The gameplay is so ridiculously broken that fights usually have only two outcomes: you die because you get stunlocked or you managed to stunlock your opponent and spam the mouse until they die.”
- “The combat mechanics are decent, but they do feel clunky and sluggish at times.”
- “This is the worst game I have ever played in my life; it has no story, it's full of bugs, every single loading screen lasts for about a minute, it has lag spikes on high-end modern PCs, it has terrible gameplay and well... everything else.”
music
316 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
61%
35%
4%
The music in Gothic 3 is widely praised as one of its standout features, with many reviewers highlighting the exceptional soundtrack composed by Kai Rosenkranz. While the atmospheric and orchestral compositions enhance the game's immersive experience, some players find the combat music repetitive and intrusive. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a significant asset, elevating the game's ambiance despite its technical shortcomings.
- “The music is beautiful; you can easily realize the love they put into the soundtrack.”
- “The soundtrack is spectacular, one of the best soundtracks if not the best I have ever heard for any video game.”
- “Kai Rosenkranz is a genius when it comes to creating atmospheric music that fits spot on into the game.”
- “The music is draining and annoying, so I turned it off completely as it ruined the atmosphere.”
- “The only good thing about it is the music, but playing a bad game just to enjoy the music is questionable.”
- “The soundtrack is really hit or miss - while on its own it is absolutely terrific, the problem is that it fits perfectly in certain areas of the game but in other parts it does not fit at all as it is too epic for the pace of the game.”
stability
238 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
3%
97%
Gothic 3 is widely criticized for its severe stability issues, including numerous bugs, glitches, and performance problems that hinder gameplay. While the game was nearly unplayable at launch, community patches have significantly improved its stability, making it more enjoyable for players today. However, many still report that even with these patches, the game remains riddled with issues that can disrupt the experience.
- “I downloaded patch 1.5 and the game is not buggy anymore.”
- “I have to say if you install the 1.75 'beta' test patch, it's more or less bug-free to a point that it feels like the game it should have been when it was released.”
- “It was difficult to run years ago, but it runs great today.”
- “The game is notorious for its glitches and crashes, which can break the immersion and frustrate the player.”
- “A buggy, unfinished game ridden with performance problems despite the best efforts of talented modders.”
- “One more thing, if you still for some reason bought this game, for the love of God, get the unofficial patch; without it, the game is so buggy that it is completely unplayable.”
optimization
136 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
6%
49%
46%
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with players reporting severe performance issues, including frequent stuttering, lag, and game-breaking bugs, even on modern hardware. Many users recommend utilizing community patches to alleviate some of these problems, but overall, the game's technical shortcomings significantly detract from the experience. Despite its potential, the poor optimization remains a major barrier for players, making it difficult to recommend without significant caveats.
- “Always play with the latest community patch, content mod, and the mod that improves performance for the actual amazing experience.”
- “An old school RPG that was crippled at launch by bad optimization, but was made into a very good game by community patches.”
- “World is massive, the game is terribly optimized, but if you account for the fact that you can go into every building in the game and pick up every item and sit on every chair without a single loading screen, it kind of makes sense.”
- “Combine that with the terrible optimizations and stutterfest when G1 and G2 run fine even without D3D11 or compare it with vanilla Morrowind or even vanilla Thief: Deadly Shadows (which is known to be really buggy) can't even be comparable to this mess.”
- “The biggest issues that there are with the game are its optimization in which it is not uncommon to have big stutters every now and then either because there are a lot of things going on or a big chunk of the map is loading in. I have played this on both a low-end laptop and a decent computer and I have had stutters on both machines.”
- “When it originally came out, it was almost unplayable because of bugs and terrible performance.”
atmosphere
116 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
64%
31%
5%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive quality, enhanced by a beautiful soundtrack and detailed world-building that captures a unique fantasy setting. While some players note that it may not reach the atmospheric heights of its predecessors, many appreciate the game's ability to create a rich environment for exploration and engagement. However, there are mixed opinions regarding the music, with some finding it integral to the atmosphere while others feel it detracts from the experience.
- “The atmosphere in this game is so damn thick you could cut a slice of it and cook it over a campfire.”
- “The game's atmosphere is also worth noting, with a dark and gritty tone that immerses the player in the game's world.”
- “One of the biggest, versatile game worlds I've seen and incredible atmosphere, accompanied by one of the greatest RPG soundtracks of the genre!”
- “The music is draining/annoying so I turned it off completely as it ruined the atmosphere.”
- “The atmosphere sucks.”
- “We visit a town, do generic quests of fetch/purge/kill with mere scraps of any story or even atmosphere relevance attached to them for reputation points...it's pretty much like there is no gothic-like quests in gothic 3...then we move on to the next town in the world and we repeat that until we ran out of towns.”
humor
60 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is often described as a mix of unintentional comedy from poor voice acting and glitches, alongside well-written, tongue-in-cheek dialogue that adds charm to the experience. Players find themselves laughing at both the absurdity of the gameplay mechanics and the quirky character interactions, making for a lighthearted adventure despite the game's flaws. Overall, the humor contributes significantly to the game's appeal, turning frustrating moments into sources of amusement.
- “The voice acting is so terrible that it's funny again (xd)”
- “And you will die a ton of times in frustrating but hilarious ways.”
- “It's buggy but the glitches somehow don't bother me as much and half the time you'll be too busy laughing at the campy dialogue anyway.”
grinding
44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
7%
86%
The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being slow, tedious, and repetitive, with many players feeling that the effort required to progress is not rewarding enough. Players often resort to cheats to bypass the grind, particularly for reputation and experience, and the combat mechanics can exacerbate the frustration. While some fans of grind-heavy RPGs may appreciate the depth it offers, the overall sentiment leans towards the grinding experience being a significant drawback.
- “It can be a bit grindy sometimes, but the rewards make it worth it.”
- “You'll need a second life for grinding, but the experience is incredibly rewarding.”
- “The grinding aspect can feel overwhelming at times, yet it adds depth to the gameplay.”
- “It's a real shame that the progression is slow and tedious, and I just can't see myself sitting here for 15 hours trying to get the requirements to use a slightly better sword or an extremely unrewarding perk.”
- “Especially the tedious fetch quests, awful and unfair combat, and most of all a very shallow and boring world to explore.”
- “The quests are highly repetitive and tedious.”
replayability
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
50%
17%
Overall, the game offers high replayability, particularly due to its strong progression system, which many players find engaging over the long term. While some users feel that the story may not be as compelling as in previous titles, the gameplay still provides ample opportunities for repeated playthroughs, making it enjoyable for those who appreciate replay value. However, opinions vary, with some players feeling that one playthrough is sufficient.
- “With these two factors, I'd say the replay value is high in the long term.”
- “Great game, hours of fun, highly replayable!!!”
- “I'm sure others would find this to be replayable, but I think once is plenty for me.”
- “Overall, the progression system is one of the game's strongest sides, allowing for a fair bit of replayability with the above caveats.”
- “I feel like there's a lot more replay value than on the previous games, but the story isn't as great as theirs.”
character development
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
61%
17%
Character development in the game is generally praised for its rewarding and open-ended nature, allowing players to shape their characters freely within a true open-world RPG framework. However, some users note that the system can be complicated, often requiring external resources to navigate effectively, and there are criticisms regarding AI performance and quest completion issues that can hinder the experience. Overall, while the character development system is seen as strong, it may require additional effort to fully appreciate its depth.
- “Very good character development system.”
- “A true open world RPG, open character development and free choice.”
- “The system for leveling and character development essentially requires using an FAQ to sort it out and keep it straight.”
- “AI is really stupid, the fighting system is broken, and some character development aspects prevent you from completing quests. What's worse, it's very easy to get a game crash.”
- “The character development is not too complicated, and feels rewarding.”
emotional
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Overall, players find "Gothic 3" lacking in emotional engagement, with many describing it as a frustrating experience that fails to evoke excitement or adventure. While the voice acting is noted as decent, the game's narrative and character development do not resonate with players, leading to a sense of disconnection and disappointment. The combination of bugs, nonsensical quests, and poor performance further detracts from any potential emotional investment.
- “Strong, soft, emotional, climatic, sensitive... just something that would be the soundtrack of your life.”
- “Voice acting is well done, not too crappy or just text reading or too emotional, though there is a lack of women and other people.”
- “This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's probably one of the reasons Gothic isn't more popular - it doesn't pull on people's heartstrings or get you emotionally invested at all.”