Correct_Carlo
Arcane
Gothic 1 is one of those games I'm happy I played once, but never, ever, want to replay again. I mean, I understand its importance and agree it's a classic, but unlike Gothic 2 (which I think is pretty much perfect all the way through) I think there are portions of Gothic 1 that haven't aged well at all. The first few chapters are fun, but the game gets really tedious as it progresses and becomes nothing but combat. I just can't bring myself to replay the Orc temple portions of that game, they are such a boring grind. And the control scheme sucks.
Also, people grossly exaggerate Gothic 2's difficulty. Or, rather, I think people who min/max Gothic 2 make the game WAY harder for themselves than it need be as its a game whose difficulty is entirely frontloaded so min/maxing makes no sense. There is absolutely no point in that game to save up all of the str/dex raising items until the end as all the end game monsters are fairly easy to beat with a moderate amount of each of those stats (especially if you have NOTR and get Beliar's Claw, which is pretty overpowered from the moment you get it and makes the rest of the game a cake walk). The only time you really need Str/Dex is at the beginning, so I say ignore what every FAQ/Walkthrough will tell you and instead use Str/Dex raising items as you find them. It will make the beginning portions of the game much easier. Same thing with clearing out the maps before the end of each chapter, unless you are OCD there's no need to do this as it just makes things harder on you earlier going. If you want a relatively painless playthrough, I'd suggest rushing through the first chapter as quickly as possible just to get to the expansion stuff---which is where all the best items are that will make the game significantly easier once you get them.
Also, people grossly exaggerate Gothic 2's difficulty. Or, rather, I think people who min/max Gothic 2 make the game WAY harder for themselves than it need be as its a game whose difficulty is entirely frontloaded so min/maxing makes no sense. There is absolutely no point in that game to save up all of the str/dex raising items until the end as all the end game monsters are fairly easy to beat with a moderate amount of each of those stats (especially if you have NOTR and get Beliar's Claw, which is pretty overpowered from the moment you get it and makes the rest of the game a cake walk). The only time you really need Str/Dex is at the beginning, so I say ignore what every FAQ/Walkthrough will tell you and instead use Str/Dex raising items as you find them. It will make the beginning portions of the game much easier. Same thing with clearing out the maps before the end of each chapter, unless you are OCD there's no need to do this as it just makes things harder on you earlier going. If you want a relatively painless playthrough, I'd suggest rushing through the first chapter as quickly as possible just to get to the expansion stuff---which is where all the best items are that will make the game significantly easier once you get them.