Dhruin
SasqWatch
Nice to see games like Arcania getting a little bit of E3 coverage, even though the articles are short. Here's a snip from RPGamer, who apparently hadn't encounted the Gothic series previously:
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...and GamingExcellence:I entered into the game and was quickly run through the differences between old hardcore Gothic and new, more approachable Arcania. Quest logs which can be activated or turned off to increase or decrease difficulty are one of the most thought-out quest systems I've seen, catering to both casual and dedicated gamers. There are approximately 300 total quests, of which about 200 are part of the main storyline (including a branching ending about 75% of the way through play), and the rest are optional quests with the three factions the game holds as well as the five guilds.
Finally, IGN has some screens.Ya know, I really have to wonder about the mental state of people who are big fans of the Gothic series? Not that it’s a bad series, not by any stretch, but the mental fortitude that’s required to play through one of these games to completion is staggering. Only having clocked around seven hours of gameplay between the second and third game the sheer beating you receive from even the first enemies can be a life altering experience. These are truly games for the hardcore gamer and if you don’t have the stones for it then too bad for you.
Luckily for the rest of us humans the developers are going for a slightly different approach with Arcania. Rather than focusing exclusively on the hardcore crowd they’ve expanded their approach to make the game more accessible to the rest of humanity. A good example of the starting point of this is the fact that you can now turn on a quest tracker. This will give you a quick way of traveling to the waypoints that will help you actually find your goal.
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