Arcania: Gothic 4

 Xbox 360
User Score
5.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 73 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 73
  2. Mixed: 22 out of 73
  3. Negative: 29 out of 73
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  1. Levardos
    Mar 25, 2011
    3
    When I played it for the first time, I was more disappointed than I thought I will. Spellbound did really bad job on that one.. It is a merely a continuation of previous Gothics. Only two good things that I am able to come up with are the graphics and improved fighting style (Compared to Gothic 3). Improved doesn't mean good though.. Most of opponents we face during the game we won't haveWhen I played it for the first time, I was more disappointed than I thought I will. Spellbound did really bad job on that one.. It is a merely a continuation of previous Gothics. Only two good things that I am able to come up with are the graphics and improved fighting style (Compared to Gothic 3). Improved doesn't mean good though.. Most of opponents we face during the game we won't have any problems with. Character faces not only repeat often, but people all seem the same even when talking to them. I must admit I didn't beat the game, but I've played it for plenty of hours and I must say it is really monotonous.. The quests we do are boring and nothing we never seen.. "Go there, collect this.. kill him/it/them.. bring me that.. find me some of these.. talk to him.." As far as I've seen the storyline, I completely didn't like it. Bringing up some characters from old Gothics is only as much as it relates to previous series. Oh, this, and creatures from Gothic series. The world isn't really interesting to explore at all. We often are forced to visit caves and all of them look a lie and have the same schematics. We enter the cave, do a circle and come out just where we entered, only that we need to jump down. They made exits high so players wouldn't be able to go this way after entering the cave. And in each damn cave it's the same story. The world isn't open anymore, we unlock locations. We don't have NPC as teachers to increase our stats, we just choose what we want to improve after leveling up. Bah! We don't even need a smithy to make a sword. We can forge one standing in the middle of swamp. Same for potions any anything else. Makes the game way too simple, and makes it seem like developers made this game for little kids, for which previous Gothics were too complicated. One thing I also don't understand is that we are able to choose "American" version of colours and textures which make game to seem.. More.. Friendly.. Less.. Dark and evil. This really is ridiculous.. Well.. I played the game for a bit.. I was forcing myself to play it, hoping that it will get more interesting later down, but it didn't. This game disappointed me greatly, and is nothing like previous Gothics. I didn't like Gothic 3 when it was out to begin with, but Arcania... Arcania made me appreciate Gothic 3 now. Arcania made me realise how great continuation of Gothic 2, Gothic 3 is. After I seen how bad can continuation of Gothic 3 be. Gothic 4 just isn't fun. I am giving it 3, since I enjoyed it a little slightly bit at the very beginning. But the more I've played my hate for this game started to grow and grew more and more. It's just a waste of time. Let me do a quick summary.

    Pros:
    -Umm.. Graphics?
    -Soundtrack isn't bad..

    Cons:
    -Monotonous.
    -Too easy, even on hardest difficulty.
    -It just isn't the same anymore... I rather call it Arcania, than Gothic.    … Expand
  2. Untelo
    Mar 8, 2011
    4
    First of all Arcania should not be called Gothic, quite simply because it is nothing like the three original Gothic games. This game shouldn't be classed as an RPG either, because frankly the only choice with any impact on the game world the player gets to make, is whether they want sunshine or rain in a certain area. The original Gothic games excelled in their freedom and the impact theFirst of all Arcania should not be called Gothic, quite simply because it is nothing like the three original Gothic games. This game shouldn't be classed as an RPG either, because frankly the only choice with any impact on the game world the player gets to make, is whether they want sunshine or rain in a certain area. The original Gothic games excelled in their freedom and the impact the players choices had on the game world. In addition Arcania is NOT and open-world game (i refuse to call it an RPG). Once you have visited and done the quests in a certain area you can no longer come back to it. The story in Arcania is very linear and poorly written. The characters are boring and add no depth to the game. Graphics in Arcania are very well done for the most part. One thing that really bothered me about the graphics were the absolutely horrible human faces. The village you start in literally has three people with the exact same face, and the village isn't big. As for the bad graphics on consoles, this game was meant to be played on the PC. The combat system is mediocre at best, it's better than Gothic 3, but much worse than Gothic 1, Gothic 2 and Risen, which is the spiritual successor to Gothic 3. Character creation in Arcania is very linear and boring, with no depth to it, unlike in the original Gothic games. All in all Arcania is extremely dumbed down. If you like this kind of games and need to waste twenty hours of your life, go ahead and get Arcania. But if you want to play a deep, engaging RPG, go with either Gothic 2, Gothic 3 or Risen.… Expand
  3. 1000
    Jun 23, 2015
    2
    There has never been a gaming series so schizophrenic as the Gothic series. It started strong with a solid first two games, trailed off to rubbish for the third, now we have this mess. There is no excuse to release a game on XBOX 360 that runs so poorly that just getting around in the world is a chore. I swear that the frame rate is mostly around 15-18fps and it ruins any chance the gameThere has never been a gaming series so schizophrenic as the Gothic series. It started strong with a solid first two games, trailed off to rubbish for the third, now we have this mess. There is no excuse to release a game on XBOX 360 that runs so poorly that just getting around in the world is a chore. I swear that the frame rate is mostly around 15-18fps and it ruins any chance the game has at being entertaining right out of the gate. There are so many other RPGs to play on 360 that do everything better - so why anyone would bother with this mess is beyond me… Expand
  4. Broyax
    Apr 16, 2017
    2
    Voilà une daube qui cache bien son jeu, car en effet le doublage français est de fort belle facture, la musique correcte (le thème du menu est très réussi contre toute attente) et la jouabilité à la manette fort bien pensée également. En outre, le système de combat à base de roulades et de magie n'a rien d'original mais se laisse jouer sans peine.

    La réalisation est hélas atroce.    Voilà une daube qui cache bien son jeu, car en effet le doublage français est de fort belle facture, la musique correcte (le thème du menu est très réussi contre toute attente) et la jouabilité à la manette fort bien pensée également. En outre, le système de combat à base de roulades et de magie n'a rien d'original mais se laisse jouer sans peine.

    La réalisation est hélas atroce. Arcania est laid, parfois hideux même (les personnages mon dieu !) et se permet de ramer fortement et cela sans arrêt, à toute heure du jour ou de la nuit (les transitions météo sont trop brutales d'ailleurs). En vérité c'est un supplice constant (c'est programmé avec des moufles).

    Le personnage imposé a le charisme d'une baignoire et l'histoire a l'intérêt d'un épisode de Derrick. Dans ce triste monde générique les innombrables quêtes dignes d'un MMO de Prisunic (va chercher, rapporte, bon chien) n'arrangent rien, on souffle et on souffre d'ennui assez rapidement. Las, on désinstalle, on éjecte et on balance.    … Expand
  5. pirokar1
    Oct 27, 2017
    0
    Cóż wydaje mi się, że twórcy chcieli zrobić wszystko by ArcaniA z wyjątkiem fabuły nie miała nic wspólnego z pozostałymi Gothicami. I niestety im się to udało... Może kiedyś na siłe przejdę tą grę ale póki co bardzo mnie do tego zniechęca. Zalety produkcji to bardzo ładna grafika oraz całkiem fajna opcja przewrotu w walce. Niestety na tym się kończą.
    Produkcja ta jednak posiada bardzo    Cóż wydaje mi się, że twórcy chcieli zrobić wszystko by ArcaniA z wyjątkiem fabuły nie miała nic wspólnego z pozostałymi Gothicami. I niestety im się to udało... Może kiedyś na siłe przejdę tą grę ale póki co bardzo mnie do tego zniechęca. Zalety produkcji to bardzo ładna grafika oraz całkiem fajna opcja przewrotu w walce. Niestety na tym się kończą.
    Produkcja ta jednak posiada bardzo istotne wady:
    - brak nauczycieli/punktów nauki (jest dostępne jedynie nieco dziwaczne drzewko umiejętności)
    - nie jestem pewien czy w grze można rozwijać takie zdolności jak alchemia, kowalstwo, a nawet siła. zręczność, witalność itd.
    - niby "otwarty świat" przypominający ten z Wiedźmina 1/2 (możemy chodzić jedynie ścieżkami wyznaczonymi przez twórców, jeśli uznamy, że chcemy przejść jakimś lasem lub małym wzniesieniem nasza postać się zbuguje i prawdopodobnie zginie z nieznanego powodu)
    - wiele glitchy graficznych (najmniejszy problem, ale dość denerwujący, przykładowo kałuża zmieniająca barwy na białą lub pomarańczową za każdym poruszeniem myszy)
    Moim zdaniem "Gothic 4" ArcaniA nie jest godna polecenia.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

84
#84 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2010
45
#45 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2010

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
64

Mixed or average reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 21
  3. Negative: 1 out of 21
  1. Cynamite
    Jan 16, 2011
    75
    On the PC, Arcania: Gothic 4 is a good action-rpg for inexperienced players. But the graphics on the Xbox 360 are this horrible, that you can't really enjoy the quests or the fights.
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  2. MondoXbox
    Jan 11, 2011
    50
    An underwhelming RPG with a shoddy story and poor techincal side. There's much better around.
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  3. Console Monster
    Jan 11, 2011
    60
    Arcania turns out to be a passable RPG, it has pleasant enough locations and plenty of quests to get stuck into, even if they do feel a bit similar to each other. The timing of such a generic release couldn't have come at a worse time however, and with Fable III and Fallout New Vegas also vying for attention, Arcania is a pretty hard sell.
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