RPGWatch Feature: Arcania Impressions

[SacredGamer]

Myrthos brings us his second preview from GamesCom 2009 with an overview of Spellbound's Arcania: A Gothic Tale. Here's a sample:

The game that was shown to us lacked a lot of things that apparently are in the development version but not in what was shown to us. The weather system was one of them, which they claim is a dynamic system that is completely controllable by the designer to allow changing the weather based on the situation and emotions they want to player to undergo. Other things that were not in were NPCs, monsters, a range of weapons, spells and a working combat system. All of these things will be in the first chapter, though. What was already in was that there is no loading time in a chapter; the only loading time you will have in Arcania is when you start the game and when you go to a new chapter. Inside the chapter there are absolutely no loading times, not even when entering buildings or dungeons.

Read it all here.

[jimokalos]

WOW The good old chapters again. But only 5??? at least I hope they will be big.

The game takes place 10 years after Gothic 3 and starts on a beach where you meet Diego, who should be known by those who played Gothic. Diego brings you up to speed on where you are and what you are about to do. Diego is only one of the Gothic characters making an appearance. They are using as much from the Gothic lore as possible to make this game a real successor to the Gothic series - but also the start of a new series of games aimed at a broader audience than just the PC player. For this they added support for an Xbox 360 controller on the PC and are developing - at the same time - for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. We were only shown the game with the controller in use but I was told that Arcania is definitely not "consolised" - much effort has been put in making the game just as playable with a keyboard and mouse as it is with the controller. There will be support for key remapping and on the PC you can remove some of the menu items, such as the mini map, to make it a more hardcore game, which you cannot do on the console.

That is just awesome. Like that it is going to start a new gothic.(by talking to Diego first).

All dialogs will be spoken and the dialogs from characters that were also in the previous Gothics the same actors will be used to speak them.

What does he mean the same actors???They will use the same voice actors like the ones from G1 and 2???

Combat is supposed to be challenging but you can avoid some of the fights by using the stealth option.

Now that's what I liked to hear.

Also, some of the quests will give you options to avoid fighting.

Intresting.

What is there to say about Arcania? It looks good. It is promising, too. I don't know whether the change from an open world in Gothic to chapters in Arcania will work. It might drive a lot of Gothic fans away. I also think 20 quests for a chapter is a bit on the low side, but it could be that the quests are rather lengthy, so it still could be a lot. I would have liked to see combat and also monster and NPC interaction, but unfortunately, that was not possible. We will just have to wait and see.

That's the way.


In any rate,good review.

[Gorn the destroyer]

Thx for the preview man

Told ya guys that the hooded man in one of the artworks was Diego.
So the start´s gonna be something like Gothic 1. You start on a beach (in Gothic 1 that lake) and you will go through the tutorial with Diego.

And shit 20 quests per chapter???? The island is supposed to something between Gothic 2 and Gothic 3 big and we´re gonna do approx. 20 quests per chapter....yeah no that´s lame, it´s like doing all quests in Reddock and Cape Dun together. Even though there wass said that the quests are lengthy - so it´s gonna be something like Witcher style.
So basicly we´re just waiting for a slash and bash game?
Let´s just hope there will be more quests...
And thx again for the preview man...

- Cheers

[Der_Jonn]

The number 20 doesn't really say much. If it's stupid and short quests like in G3 (go the the other side of town and pick up x items that are lying around and bring them back... congratulations you just earned 1000 XP and 500 gold), then 20 is very low, but if the quests are longer and more complex, then 20 is more than plenty.

[RoiDanton]

Originally Posted by Gorn the destroyer And shit 20 quests per chapter???? The island is supposed to something between Gothic 2 and Gothic 3 big and we´re gonna do approx. 20 quests per chapter....yeah no that´s lame

It's lame if you can't read. 20 quests in chapter one , not per chapter.
But maybe these are main quests and no side quests. But only 20 quests in chapter one is a little bit too few.

[Gorn the destroyer]

Originally Posted by RoiDanton It's lame if you can't read. 20 quests in chapter one , not per chapter. But maybe these are main quests and no side quests. But only 20 quests in chapter one is a little bit too few.

Ok my bad sorry but like you said: " 20 quests in chapter one is a little bit too few" ...I mean...come on how many quests were there in chapter one in G2 for example? 40? ...maybe even a little bit more...
I really hope that the quests will be long as it was said in the preview...
Like Der_Jonn said...if they´ll be those boring quests then it´s shit....if it´s gonna be 20 MAIN quests well that´s something different

[TeLovesc]

it`s useless ..if they dont let us actually JOIN a guild ,not just do quest for them ,then the whole game is nothing for ME .
20 quests ? this is a joke..what so they finished only chapter 1? they need 1 more year to finish the rest... there are not many quests ,this means less bugs ,and all that is reduced. I dont get it ,what they do there? Developing the game in "paint"?

[Hampu]

20 quests per chapter? 5 chapters? 100 quests in the game? seems like a decent ammount, if they are all unique.

Awesome if they bring back the chapters!

[jimokalos]

Originally Posted by Hampu 20 quests per chapter? 5 chapters? 100 quests in the game? seems like a decent ammount, if they are all unique. Awesome if they bring back the chapters!

LOL!Are u listening at all??? We said 1000 of times that it will be 20 quests only in the first chapter.

[RobinHood 13.]

This review weren't exactly positive.
It's even worse than I would have suspected.

This reviewer clearly dunno much about the true gothic fans. Implementing of chapters, is something most of us (I think) wants.
What we don't want is chapters being divided into different regions, making earlier places useless.
Developers said everything would be hand-crafted and hand placed making it look very lively, but he who made the preview said it felt kinda empty, and this was chapter 1, (the finished place).
On the other hand, previews on Risen have praised it for everything looking unique and lively. If this was the case for Arcania, I think he'd atleast mention it.

They said only chapter 1 was finished, and therefore couldn't give details on quest etc in other chapters. This could mean future stories/quests are rather vague, aka making up quests to story, as they progress. This is not a good place to start. In G3 the story, quests were made after the world, which didn't end very well.
The story must create the world, not opposite.
If it will be released early 2010, I think it will be rushed, and there's more than the numbers of bugs deciding how rushed it is. I think we will see less of interesting side stories, only small ones, along with main story.

Besides, here's the preview on Risen from rpgwatch. It doesn't take a genius to see which game he like most
http://www.rpgwatch.com/show/article...6&ref=0&id=285

[jimokalos]

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. This review weren't exactly positive. It's even worse than I would have suspected.

I knew that you would bash it again.You always bash Arcania in anything that comes in public with it.

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. This reviewer clearly dunno much about the true gothic fans.

You are in no position in critisicing who is a true gothic fan or not afaik,you started it badly but let's continue.

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. Implementing of chapters, is something most of us (I think) wants.

Well I personally want the chapters.

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. What we don't want is chapters being divided into different regions, making earlier places useless.

That was just a rumor.That doesn't mean it is going to happen in the final version.

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. Developers said everything would be hand-crafted and hand placed making it look very lively, but he who made the preview said it felt kinda empty, and this was chapter 1, (the finished place).

It felt kind empty cause it is still ALPHA VERSION and the game will be released one year later,how the hell could it have everything from that stage????.

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. On the other hand, previews on Risen have praised it for everything looking unique and lively. If this was the case for Arcania, I think he'd atleast mention it

I knew you would put Risen as well In case you don't know(or I think you ignore because you are looking for an excuse to bash) Risen has reached nearly gold stage.

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. They said only chapter 1 was finished, and therefore couldn't give details on quest etc in other chapters. This could mean future stories/quests are rather vague, aka making up quests to story, as they progress.

He just did not want to spoil us.

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. In G3 the story, quests were made after the world, which didn't end very well. The story must create the world, not opposite.

LOL,actually that always happens They first create the gameworld and the gameplay and then go further with quests dialogues,npcs and stuff.

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. If it will be released early 2010, I think it will be rushed, and there's more than the numbers of bugs deciding how rushed it is. I think we will see less of interesting side stories, only small ones, along with main story.

WOW,you know the future. Did you even play it yourself????

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. Besides, here's the preview on Risen from rpgwatch. It doesn't take a genius to see which game he like most http://www.rpgwatch.com/show/article...6&ref=0&id=285

You are joking right?????You acutally put a review that was done from a game that has nearly reached gold status and you compare it with a preview from a game that is still alpha version???

Afaik,it's obvious that you just bash the game in everything that comes public with it.You alway bash it in everything and also for really pointless reasons.Even if they had made the game with the gothic engine and as good as G1 you would always bash it.

[Maladiq]

Oh... my... Beliar...

Fact: the world is going to be as big as in G2.
Fact: there are 5 chapters.
Fact: you can play only one chapter at a time.

Conclusion: You can play only in one 5th of G2's world at a time. That is very little space.


Fuck.

So basically we are trapped in "chapter cages" and not able to lose ourselves in the world.

[vivaxardas]

Well, it seems SB are not exactly the fastest runners in the pack. It took long two years to come to this stage - barely first chapter is done. Recently the world wasn't even created and textured in its entirety.
How much time do they have? 8-10 month? Or even less? With their snail pace in development the story may be very poor in content - they may start ditching side quests and a lot of extra content not related to the main storyline. And they may substitute the story by extra-monsters - much easier to implement, and a game will be longer with all this constant fighting all the time. I am afraid that we'll get a rather empty world, and just a handful of quests, flashy nice-looking game with a poor story. Well, only the future will tell.
Right now I am into Risen, and do not care about Arcania. Esp. with all this weird outdated info devs feed to us. Arcania development is freaking funky, it's for sure.

[Raconz]

Originally Posted by vivaxardas Well, it seems SB are not exactly the fastest runners in the pack. It took long two years to come to this stage - barely first chapter is done. Recently the world wasn't even created and textured in its entirety. How much time do they have? 8-10 month? Or even less? With their snail pace in development the story may be very poor in content - they may start ditching side quests and a lot of extra content not related to the main storyline. And they may substitute the story by extra-monsters - much easier to implement, and a game will be longer with all this constant fighting all the time. I am afraid that we'll get a rather empty world, and just a handful of quests, flashy nice-looking game with a poor story. Well, only the future will tell. Right now I am into Risen, and do not care about Arcania. Esp. with all this weird outdated info devs feed to us. Arcania development is freaking funky, it's for sure.

No one said when ArcaniA will be released in 2010 - it may be Q4

And again you are wrong - infos we got are from a website, not from the developers.

[PaladinofInnos]

One thing I do know; as they have only finished one chapter at the moment and planned five chapters in total I don't see how this could ever have been a 2009 game (maybe it never was). There is no date mentioned for the release in 2010, but it could well be that next year at Gamescom 2010 a real preview of Arcania can be done that hopefully shows a very good game.

ONE CHAPTER? HAHA! Why does it remind me of Gothic 3 development so much???

Guys, don't wait this game before October 2010 or we will simply get a not so complete game...

BTW, we are going to explore only a limited world in every chapter? God, is this game related to Gothic in any way besides the fact that it is named "Arcania a Gothic tale" ?

Jimokalos You are in no position in critisicing who is a true gothic fan or not afaik,you started it badly but let's continue.

Jim, is there a hardcore fan on planet earth who would ever accept Arcania as an true part or sequel of the Gothic series? GIVE ME A BREAK!!!

[Kostaz]

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. This reviewer clearly dunno much about the true gothic fans.

I'm sure Myrthos knows enough about Gothic fans

Originally Posted by vivaxardas Well, it seems SB are not exactly the fastest runners in the pack. It took long two years to come to this stage - barely first chapter is done.

I'm worried about that too,but I hope JoWood won't be that stupid to release yet another unfinished game.

Originally Posted by PaladinofInnos ONE CHAPTER? HAHA! Why does it remind me of Gothic 3 development so much???

Cause you're negative?

Jim, is there a hardcore fan on planet earth who would ever accept Arcania as an true part or sequel of the Gothic series? GIVE ME A BREAK!!!

I know that if Arcania ends up to be a great game I will certainly accept it as a part of the Gothic series.
But then again some don't accept Gothic 3 as a sequel so I don't see how Arcania ever had a chance.

I've stopped hoping for a sequel/remake of G1or2 about a year ago,All I (want to) see is a good RPG and it looks like they are borrowing some things from The Witcher and that's positive in my book.

The worst scenario I can think of is a game like Two Worlds,the best is a great RPG using elements and characters from Gothic.

[RobinHood 13.]

Originally Posted by jimokalos I knew that you would bash it again.You always bash Arcania in anything that comes in public with it.

Not only me bashing it, and it's not without reason. I just make a guess of how the game will be judging by what I've seen.
Besides I have full rights to criticise a game if I'm mispleased.

Originally Posted by jimokalos You are in no position in critisicing who is a true gothic fan or not afaik,you started it badly but let's continue. Well I personally want the chapters. That was just a rumor.That doesn't mean it is going to happen in the final version.

Arcania has stated before, there will be different areas, which will be unlocked as the game progresses (for each chapter), but it was unclear before, wether you could revisit old places or not. The newest you can't go back in chapters, probably means you can't go back to old places.
Lets say they meant it storywise. It should be pretty selfexplaining for an rpg, that you can't jump bacwards in story, so my logical guess is we will have different area for each chapter, but if they redecide we will probably not see much new content in old places anyways, so really doesn't make any difference.

Originally Posted by jimokalos It felt kind empty cause it is still ALPHA VERSION and the game will be released one year later,how the hell could it have everything from that stage????.

They said chapter 1 was finished, some things not implented but looks of that area should be basically the same. rpgwatch, praised Risen for everything looking unique aka the opposite of non-generic.
rpgwatch said spellbound said this to about their game, but the reviewer himself didn't mention this, so even if handplaced I don't think we can expect it to be as good as Risen (by far)

Originally Posted by jimokalos He just did not want to spoil us. LOL,actually that always happens They first create the gameworld and the gameplay and then go further with quests dialogues,npcs and stuff. WOW,you know the future. Did you even play it yourself????

Many of the more specific things yes, but still you should have already clear the most important characters, main storyline, and how the locations fits together plus suggestions for various quests etc, when the different things should occur, and stuff like that. This is important to do before starting on the story. It's important to see how everything needs to be to fit together, and some things might need special places. Story is very important, and shouldn't be underestimated.

Originally Posted by jimokalos You are joking right?????You acutally put a review that was done from a game that has nearly reached gold status and you compare it with a preview from a game that is still alpha version???

Previous information on Arcania makes it look like it's nearly completed. This preview on the other hand is the exact opposite. Still you can make a calculated guess at how the game will end up like, and nearly finished games doesn't mean they recieve better reviews. That reviews have been increasingly better for Risen is a very good sign (as earlier ones never saw it as a true "the next big rpg", but a more insignificant one).

Originally Posted by jimokalos Afaik,it's obvious that you just bash the game in everything that comes public with it.You alway bash it in everything and also for really pointless reasons.Even if they had made the game with the gothic engine and as good as G1 you would always bash it.

If they used the gothic engine (g3) I would bash it to. The name of the engine doesn't change the fact that Arcania looks crappy.
Besides G3 was a letdown 3 years ago, and one of the problems was the engine, I believe.
Forsaken Gods used that engine, and that was an embarassment to the Gothic series.

Did you read the Risen review btw, doesn't it sound awesome.
Hero will also get new face, which will be revealead on september 3 at worldofrisen, after complains from the fans

Originally Posted by Kostaz I'm sure Myrthos knows enough about Gothic fans

Probably, but as he said he didn't think fans would like chapters, it must mean chapters as in a different area to each chapter, which strenghtens my point jimokalos

[Arkose]

Five chapters isn't necessarily a bad thing; Risen is only going to have four. Past Gothic games had some very short chapters (usually 5 and 6) and the first one is usually very long, so cutting out a chapter to make the remaining ones more evenly spaced would make a lot of sense.

[Onisuzume]

Well, from my games magazine I gathered that:
Arcania will let you go back to older locations.
It happens on the southern islands, with you beginning on the smallest isle.
Skill trees... no more teachers except for smithing/alchemy/etc.
Is going to have two different graphical styles - one for the usasians, and one for the europeans. The usasian one will be "happy" like oblivion, the european one will be dark&such like we're used to.
And it'll have a combat system that is slightly better than G3's, but from what I've read, I'm going to prefer Risen's combat system.

And risen is going to have over 300 quests (better than the ones in G3), as well as a combat system that is more alike to the ones from G1/2 (directional keys matter).

but if they redecide we will probably not see much new content in old places anyways, so really doesn't make any difference.

Sidequests anyone?
JUst have a butcher's at Sacred 1; there you *could* get new sidequests in areas you've already been to.

Past Gothic games had some very short chapters (usually 5 and 6) and the first one is usually very long, so cutting out a chapter to make the remaining ones more evenly spaced would make a lot of sense.

And in past gothic games they've cut contents from the games, which possibly resulted in the shorter chapters.

[jimokalos]

Originally Posted by PaladinofInnos Jim, is there a hardcore fan on planet earth who would ever accept Arcania as an true part or sequel of the Gothic series? GIVE ME A BREAK!!!

Sorry my friend but you mean to say that the gothic series have been hardcore challenge??? If you remember well all gothic games(Except NOTR) have been pretty easy.G1 was pretty easy,G2 even more,G3 not even commenting on it.I also like(actually I love) hardcore challenge but that doesn't mean I don't like easy games,giving out the fact that Gothic is quite an easy series(which is also my favourite). Personally if I enjoy Arcania or Risen half as I did with G3,I will be satisfied.

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. and it's not without reason. I just make a guess of how the game will be judging by what I've seen. Besides I have full rights to criticise a game if I'm mispleased.

I never said you are not,but you used to bash it since its announcement as far as I remember without having seen any news of it.And you are reaching out limits sometimes by also talking about things that cannot such as that the reviewer says that he doesn't know about Gothic or TRUE gothic fans and that's why he says that Arcania is good.

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. Arcania has stated before, there will be different areas, which will be unlocked as the game progresses (for each chapter),

That doesn't look bad,In G2 for example u couldn't go to VOM from the beggining,you could do so after chapter 2.

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. but it was unclear before, wether you could revisit old places or not. The newest you can't go back in chapters, probably means you can't go back to old places. Lets say they meant it storywise. It should be pretty selfexplaining for an rpg, that you can't jump bacwards in story, so my logical guess is we will have different area for each chapter, but if they redecide we will probably not see much new content in old places anyways, so really doesn't make any difference

No it wouldn\t be that self explaining.He might meant something else.Cause for example they could have used respawn for it.Like in mmos for the monsters to be respawned so that we would be able to play with them more.I think that's what he means that we won't be able to.




.

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. They said chapter 1 was finished, some things not implented but looks of that area should be basically the same. rpgwatch, praised Risen for everything looking unique aka the opposite of non-generic.

Well the only difference is that Risen is nearly done and close to go to market,where arcania is far away from doing so yet.

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. rpgwatch said spellbound said this to about their game, but the reviewer himself didn't mention this, so even if handplaced I don't think we can expect it to be as good as Risen (by far)

Again stop comparing an already done project with an alpha version project.

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. Many of the more specific things yes, but still you should have already clear the most important characters, main storyline, and how the locations fits together plus suggestions for various quests etc, when the different things should occur, and stuff like that. This is important to do before starting on the story. It's important to see how everything needs to be to fit together, and some things might need special places. Story is very important, and shouldn't be underestimated

Actually is the first thing of what SB cares of in all of their games.

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. Previous information on Arcania makes it look like it's nearly completed.

Link?

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. This preview on the other hand is the exact opposite. Still you can make a calculated guess at how the game will end up like, and nearly finished games doesn't mean they recieve better reviews.

Oh yes it does,they give more details,how much they liked the game,how full the world might be.How can Arcania have the same things as Risen???Arcania's npcs,dialogues and stuff are currently in development.All that time they have been developing the gameworld,designing the history and stuff.

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. That reviews have been increasingly better for Risen is a very good sign (as earlier ones never saw it as a true "the next big rpg", but a more insignificant one)

And the same is going to happen with Arcania reviews after some months..

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. If they used the gothic engine (g3) I would bash it to. The name of the engine doesn't change the fact that Arcania looks crappy.

I mean that even if it had the same grafics,combat system,gamplay and stuff you would be still bashing it.

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. Besides G3 was a letdown 3 years ago, and one of the problems was the engine, I believe. Forsaken Gods used that engine, and that was an embarassment to the Gothic series.

Yeah,PB had done a lot of stupid things that delayed their development and Jowood did not do anything to help them by giving them more time to be able to finish it.and for that the engine was broken.Forsaken gods was natural to be buggy.Cause it was given to an amateur company and had about 6 months to develope it.

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. Did you read the Risen review btw, doesn't it sound awesome. Hero will also get new face, which will be revealead on september 3 at worldofrisen, after complains from the fans

Good for Risen.

Originally Posted by RobinHood 13. Probably, but as he said he didn't think fans would like chapters, it must mean chapters as in a different area to each chapter, which strenghtens my point jimokalos

Why should he say it??? He should say what you say??? That ALL TRUE GOTHIC FANS LOVE CHAPTERS???Of course not.Cause there might be also people who might not like chapters.