Under-Appreciated Games: Arcania Gothic 4

See that guy?  That's you!

I've always been drawn to the lesser loved games as well as lesser loved movies (big fan of Hudson Hawk).  Games such as Conan, the Marvel Ultimate Alliance series, Spiderman: Friend or Foe, even Outlaw Tennis.  Graphical glitches, general storylines, characters walking through walls, fighting the same baddies who just have different colors, wonky controls...these are all the norm for these types of games, but I've always been able to look past these and enjoy the game adapting to what's given.

My latest in my under-appreciated games collection is Arcania: Gothic 4.  I'm sure you could probably find this game in a bargain bin somewhere for like $17 bucks or maybe cheaper.  It's basically your normal light, third-person role playing game with swords, armor, magic, bows & arrows.  I say light because if you compare this to any of the Elder Scrolls games, this game just looks like a hack & slash...and for the most part it is.  

The storyline is basic: normal guy falls in love with normal girl in a village, something bad happens to everyone in the village, guy goes out and seeks vengeance, helping out others along the way and seeing he's part of a bigger story. That's the best description I can give without spoiling but I would say that most RPG games out there are some form of this outline.

First and foremost, you'll notice that you cannot customize your character.  The guy on the cover?  Yep, that's you so deal with it.  Right then and there, RPG nerds around the US are screaming BLASPHEMY!!!  I did too but after I started playing, I got over it.

The feel of the controls and the pacing of the story is really what keeps me interested.  Your melee weapon, magic spell and ranged weapon are all mapped to their own buttons.  How you use them is up to you.  So it's sort of a button mash in a way but there is a method to your mashing as you upgrade your skills.  As you get quests, talking to other people opens more of the story.  You will want to talk with other characters cause the dialogue is funny...almost as if the character knows he's in a video game.  I should warn you, there are curses but they're sprinkled out here and there.

I am SO not a fan of those wasp, bug things.

Meeting people on your way, you do side quests / fetch quests, pick up ingredients, find collectible items or chests hidden around the land.  Like I said...light RPG.  A RPG where you don't have to put as much though into it as you have to in games like Oblivion or Fallout 3.  Maybe it's the somewhat linear storyline that makes it RPG-lite, who knows.

If you want to get down to the nitty gritty of the gameplay, you'll find small things here and there that'll get annoying.  Sometimes NPCs will walk right through me, or I'll even walk through walls.  While there are some dialogue options when talking to other NPCs, they really don't make a difference in the story as it's pretty linear.  Walk around the world all you want to explore and you'll find some interesting things but you'll feel a little lost.  The map is pretty much useless; it's basically just there to show you where you are.  And remember to highlight the quest you're doing or you'll just walk aimlessly, but you'll usually find what you want.  Oh and crafting?  That's easy: get recipe, get ingredients, hit button, tada...but what more did you want?

While I haven't played any of the Gothic games before on the PC, most of the reviews I've seen (and there aren't many), give this game grief because it's not like the others comparatively.  Maybe it's because this is the first on a console that they had to change a few things around, I don't know BUT if you take this game as just another RPG game out there, without knowing any of the backstory from the other Gothic games, you'll find it's a pretty fun game to play.  Isn't that what video games are for? 

I should say that I am playing it on the 360.  There is a demo on the 360 which gives you a very good slice of the game.  If you're hard on cash but feel up for an RPG, don't look this over.

...Keep Me Busy...

...it's that time of the year again where it begins to slow down at work and I start hitting my Stumble button in FireFox. Unlike most industries, in the music industry, it's like school; Christmas holiday comes around and we close until after the new year. During that time, people start to use up their vacation time, the phones start to die down, and emails become scarce of anything important.

...i've done most of my X-mas shopping early this year (started actually during Halloween!). I have only a few relatives to shop for and one more thing left for the girlfriend...oh and cards. The X-mas tree is up at my parents house and I must say, using a fake tree this year (normally we get real ones but my mom got a deal last year after the holiday on their fake tree) was a lot easier to put ornaments on. If an ornament doesn't want to stay on, bend the branch!

...so for this year, what is everyone asking for? Myself? I'd love an Xbox 360 and a new TV. The TV I have now is an old Daewoo that I got back in the day when I lived with my ex-girlfriend (man that was a long time ago...probably 6-7 years ago). It's lasted me a long time, don't get me wrong but the inputs in the back are now shot. When playing video games or DVDs, the sound goes in and out. It's still good for watching TV, but if you need the inputs, you'll get annoyed getting up and down to wiggle it in the back.

...I am trying to keep up with the gaming world. I'm trying to finish Halo (yes the first one) as quickly as possible but DAYUM the repetitive levels kill me. I think I'm near the end...I'm following this little flying robot thing through doors (supposedly there are 10 of them according to that little f*cker). It seems as though that, IMO, the programmers got lazy at the end and copied some of the enemies from Half-Life. Those little grubby things piss me off!!

...another little nifty thing I've seemed to pick up is I learned how to crochet. Oddly enough, I find it a lot of fun. I'm working on a scarf right now for my girlfriend. According to Brain Age 2 for the DS, knitting/crocheting helps work out the brain. HA! See, video games teach you things!