ArcaniA: Gothic 4 - PC

I am not a gothic fan, got bored with gothic 3 and quit, but I like this one. Glad I didn't listen to those bad reviews. It seems that some people aren't able to judge a game without comparing it to their favorite all time game, such as Oblivion. Judge a game on its own merits and what the designers intended it to be. The graphics are great as is the voice acting (yes the lip sync is off, but doesn't bother me) Good story and characters. Best weapon in game is the bow but it is hard to hit with it and you still have to resort to your melee weapon after one or two shots. so you can't have a pure melee or ranged or magic warrior. Underground is pretty dark so you have to go to options and increase the gamma before entering and then decrease when you leave. It did take a while to install and the patch was corrupted after I downloaded it and so wouldn't install. Plenty of options to choose from except they neglected the mouse center button or wheel. You can't use it at all, you can't even assign it a function as you can with all the other keys. In short I would recommend this game to anyone whether you liked the gothic series or not. Great fun!!!UPDATE: Almost finished and I still see no reason to change my rating. I have encountered no bugs, no problems. All those negative reviews must have been a result of their computer setup or something. Just goes to show that you can't believe all you read.

I just finished this game so I thought I will write a quick review while everything is still fresh in my mind. Before I begin let me say this, I did read a few reviews here stating how bad the game is and don't buy it because it's not worth your money. Boy was I glad I didn't listen to them. Let's just leave it at that. I will make it quick and to the point plus some crafting requirements that was not mention well in the game so for future reference for anyone who decide to buy it, read this and you will be set to complete the game much more efficiently than me. o~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~o Crafting Requirements o~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~o ======================= Best One-Handed Weapons ======================= ----------------------- (Ore-Forged Bearded Axe) 37 Melee Power +10 Health +10 Stamina +2 Health Regeneration Require: 1 Bearded Axe 8 Magic Ore 6 Steel Ingot ----------------------- (Sword of Vengeance) 40 Melee Power +20 Health +20 Stamina Require: 1 Holy Essence 16 Red Ore 26 Magic Ore 18 Steel Ingot ----------------------- ======================= Best Ranged Weapons ======================= ----------------------- (Minecrawler Crossbow) 35 Ranged Power +7 Melee Power +4 Mana Regeneration +3 Health Regeneration Require: 20 Minecrawler Mandibles 8 Obsidian ----------------------- (Bow of Woe) 44 Ranged Power +30 Mana +5 Mana Regeneration Require: 1 Holy Essence 12 Red Ore 12 Magic Ore 1 Box full of Ebony ----------------------- ======================= Best Runic Armour ======================= ----------------------- (Rune-Carved Myrtanian Cuirass) 280 Armour +90 Health +40 Stamina +9 Health Regeneration +6 Melee Power +3 Stamina Regeneration Require: 2 Quintessence of Spite 13 Essence of Pain 1 Myrtanian Cuirass 20 Dark Ore ----------------------- ======================= Best Shield ======================= ----------------------- (Shield of Bitterness) 130 Armour +20 Health +4 Health Regeneration Require: 1 Holy Essence 18 Red Ore 20 Magic Ore 15 Lump of Gold ----------------------- ======================= Best Two-Handed Weapons ======================= ----------------------- (Dragon Axe) 35 Melee Power 100% set target on fire for 200 more damage for 4 seconds Require: 1 Diamond 1 Winged Axe 45 Sulphur 10 Fire Gland ----------------------- (Wrath of Innos) 65 Melee Power +35 Mana +21 Magic Power Require: 1 Holy Essence 15 Red Ore 16 Magic Ore 20 Steel Ingot ----------------------- Supposedly there is a "Awaken Wrath of Innos" that does +200 fire damage over 4 seconds by upgrading the Wrath of Innos at the forge in the temple but I never got the chance to because there was no where in the game that let me know of this information ahead of time. There is also no backtracking during critical quests as the gate will lock you from backtracking. I had no idea it took 20 steel ingot to craft so when I got to the forge I couldn't craft it nor upgrade it. It was after I read the plan (which was given in the temple during the quest), but at this point it was too late because there is no backtracking so you only get one shot to craft it and upgrade it on the spot. Make sure you buy all the necessary crafting requirements before you enter the temple to fight the guy with one eye. Do not buy anything from merchants other than the necessary crafting materials, but even then the game will provide most crafting materials through quests if you look around. I repeat, do not waste gold buying anything from merchants otherwise you will run short of gold to buy plans for crafting gear. The Dragon Axe plan cost 12000 gold so save your gold. Pretty much everything you need will be provided from questing. Anytime you see a merchant sell any of the crafting materials is the only time that I would recommend buying it ahead of time. Also, you only get one "Holy Essence" in the game so choose wisely which gear you want to craft with it. Do not buy any runes because you'll eventually get them through questing. Especially do not buy "Rune of Tremors" or "Rune of Earthquakes" because I found them to be virtually useless and it will take a big chunk of your gold. The only useful runes are "Rune of the Four Winds" and "Rune of the Seven Winds" that allow you to run faster for a short period of time. Running is essential in this game as it has horrible teleportation system. The teleport system only transport from point A to B but not A to C, D, E, or F and vice versa so you will need to do a lot of running. ----- Cons: ----- (1) Terrible teleportation system. (2) No backtracking for critical quests. (You need backtracking in case you missed a crucial ingredient for crafting that is only available during certain quests, which more times than not you will missed it, thus the need for me to create this review) (3) Frame rates issue. (I'm able to run Battlefield 3 and Skyrim on Max settings smoothly but this game gives me the stuttering effect at times) (4) No way to travel around fast enough. No horse. Only running. (5) Lack of information provided ahead of time for crucial quests. (I often find myself reloading to an earlier saved to get all the materials needed before I proceed) (6) Combat system doesn't react fast enough according to mouse click. (7) No way of knowing if you're affected by a spell/effect; no sound or visual indicator. ----- Pros: ----- (1) Beautiful graphics. (2) Fills my need for a good RPG gaming experience. I played as a melee type with all the stats focus on "Melee Power", "Armour" and "Health Regeneration". I found that "Stamina" was virtually useless as the stamina bar fills up rapidly on its own and I've never had the need to drink a stamina potion once. I ended up playing the game and finishing it with the "Bloody Harvester" two-handed weapon that does 20% life steal per hit because it negates the need for me to use health potions. The only time I found the need to use health potions was boss fights. I would have used the Awaken Wrath of Innos but due to the questing system, I wasn't able to craft it due to the lack of materials needed. It was only after I've completed the quest and bought the materials afterward that I was able to craft it but by this time it was too late to upgrade it because the forge gate was locked and I was too lazy to reload to the beginning of the quest to do it all over again. Make sure to buy all necessary crafting materials before proceeding on with the quests as the questing system can be unforgiving. Overall experience with this game; I had fun and glad I didn't listen to those negative reviews.

The game installed with no issues, but the "Release Date Check" the game tried to perform when I started it failed repeatedly, despite all my efforts to follow the online directions. I suspect the company that provided the security software online verification has gone out of business, which means nobody new can play the game. I have to send it back to Amazon; fortunately, I don't have to pay for shipping it back and will get a full refund. Please don't buy this product, because it's a royal pain jumping through all the hoops I went through. Update: the software security company contacted me through email, asking me to download and install their diagnostic tool. I had already done that but it refused to run. I suspect it doesn't work with 64-bit OS software. I replied and told them their software was broken (both the release date check and their diagnostic tool), and that I was returning the game to Amazon, so no need to pursue the matter further. This means of course that I was wrong about them being out of business, but I don't want to do hours of work just to play a game! Sort of defeats the purpose, you know? Why does a game that was released in 2010 need such convoluted software protection anyway?

I never heard any great reviews from the kids, and believe me I would have either way. As I never heard anything, it couldn't be bad or that great.

Bof j'ai vue mieux

as described and in perfect condition

Great game!