The controls are fairly easy. You look with the mouse and use the WASD keys to move. However, there is one thing in Gothic II that players either love or hate: the combat system. It’s unique, and requires fairly-dexterous finger movements to pull off. Here’s a breakdown of how melee attacks work: After drawing your weapon, you hold the action button (default: left mouse button) and use the WASD keys to attack. A and D are quick side swipes, while W is a stronger forward slash. S is used to parry, which you’ll be doing quite a bit of. Keep in mind you can only parry weapons; things such as biting wolves and stinging flies naturally cannot be parried. Once you get used to the combat system, you’ll learn to like it. Technically, if you’re good enough at it, you can kill some of the toughest monsters in the game at level one with a simple stick. Sure, they may kill you in one hit at that point, but it’s just an example of what you can do once you master the system. It’s not as tough as it seems at first.

The way monsters attack is also unique. Each monster has its own brand of attacks, and part of winning fights is learning how to fight each individual monster. For example, let’s say you’re fighting an orc. Their first move is always a huge overhead swing, followed by some quick slashes. It’s your job to watch how the orc moves, then decide when the best time is to stop parrying and come in with an attack of your own. Once you “learn” a particular monster, they become quite easy, but before that you may spend quite a few deaths on some of them. That’s okay; Gothic II has a Quicksave/load. As is standard with most RPG’s, you earn experience to gain levels. Your Stats consist of Strength (helps melee), Dexterity (helps using bows), and Mana (gives you more magic points.) You earn Learning Points to advance your Stats, or your One-Handed, Two-Handed, Bow, or Crossbow skills. One-Handed weapons swing faster and do less damage, while Two-Handed weapons swing slower but do more damage. There are also skills for Alchemy (using found herbs to make beneficial potions), Creating Runes (all spells are cast from runes that you either find or make yourself) and Forging Weapons (self explanatory.) There is also a skill called Take Trophies, which is for skinning animals. Certain trainers can teach you how to skin certain animals, whose various parts can be sold for gold. You must visit a particular trainer to raise a particular skill or stat.

NPC interaction in this game is superb. I quickly found out how NPC’s react to the random things that you do. Near the beginning of the game, I came to a farm with dozens of sheep grazing in front of it. Out of curiosity I attacked one, and got a nice 10 experience for it. That’s actually not too shabby once you add up all those sheep. What I didn’t realize is that unlike a lot of RPG’s, the farmers will react angrily to you abusing their livestock. In the middle of my sheep slaughtering fest, I heard a farmer curse something and I turned around just in time to see him coming. He killed me in three easy hits. Yikes!

Another example of humorous interacting is using the Sneak ability in front of an NPC. They will stare at you and ask what you’re doing creeping around. If you draw a weapon in town, people will respond in kind and warn you to sheath it, or else. Same thing if you prepare a spell in front of people. They respond to all of your actions. I spent many hours laughing and having a good time doing things to the NPC’s just to see what they would say next.

This is one of those few but fun RPG’s where almost everything is attackable. And yes, you even get experience for beating up those poor innocent townsfolk. However, there are of course disadvantages to acting like a hoodlum. If you beat someone up with a melee weapon, they are only unconscious. They yield any items they were carrying, and needless to say, said NPC will no longer respond kindly to you. Be careful not to do this to potential quest/reward NPC’s, at least until after you’ve completed their tasks. There is a spell later in the game that will wipe their memory so they like you again, but it’s expensive. If you empty their life bar with a bow or a spell, they automatically die instead of being knocked out. Again, be careful not to kill the wrong NPC and miss out on a nice quest or reward. Also, while in some parts of town it’s okay to walk up and duel people, in other parts you can be punished for it. If multiple people witness you beat up or murder someone, you get fined for each person that reports you. Going the hoodlum route means you’ll have to be crafty in selecting your hapless victims, in other words. Oh, and don’t bother attacking major storyline characters. You’ll know them when you see them, or find out the hard way when you attack them and learn they are invulnerable. Be sure and Quicksave often if you’re a mischief maker in this game.

There are three paths, or classes, that the player can choose. If you join the town’s Militia (you will probably get offered this first), you will later become a Paladin, who obtains the best armor and uses both weapons and spells. If you pass this up, you’ll soon meet the Mercenaries if you have not already. They get medium armor, but get the best weapons, and no magic. The third choice is the Mages, who earn a variety of different spells as they quest within their ranks. Joining the Militia is probably the easiest way to get things going, and joining the Mages is probably the most difficult of the three. If in doubt, go with the Militia. You may only join one class, and there is no going back once you have made your choice. If you can discover how, any class can join the Thieves guild. Here you can learn Lockpicking (there are quite a few chests in the game you cannot open without it), Sneaking, and Picking Pockets. Picking Pockets is a great novelty skill to learn, and can net you some interesting items. Almost any NPC can be stolen from; just don’t let them catch you. The Thieves Guild also has their own set of quests, some of which include robbing multiple houses within town. It’s definitely a very profitable side profession that you shouldn’t miss.

The graphics in Gothic II aren’t exactly state of the art, but remember this was released a few years ago (first in Europe and later in the US). I do think the graphics still hold their own and offer enough for a nod of respect. The animations are excellent, and I did not see any jerky or awkward movements. The scenery varies from dense forests, to cobwebbed tombs, caves, castle ramparts, seedy dock areas, high class areas, and barren rocky areas. There are also a plethora of different monster types, such as skeletons, goblins, lizard people, and later you’ll even have to face rather large dragons.

Gothic II’s shining point is really its voice acting. The random lines NPC’s say to you can be priceless. They included a ton of audio clips in this game. Many times I’m left unsatisfied with voice actors that sound too cheesy or mundane, but Gothic II really pulls off some excellent voices.

Gothic II quickly became one of my favorite RPG's of all time. I’ve played it through twice, and keep it handy in my games collection as I’ll probably visit it again later. Once you learn the combat system, a very interactive, humorous, and indulging world awaits you. My favorite aspect of today’s RPG’s has become the length at which you can interact with the virtual world and people around you, and Gothic II does not disappoint. I like the way this game was headed, and I hope others, especially its upcoming sequel, further improve on its concept.