Gothic II: Die Nacht des Raben

Section: 

The Portal

About 8 months after the launch of Gothic II here in Germany, Piranha Bytes released an add-on to the action-RPG, providing new fodder for the fans. Which means, this happens to be one of those cases where I can get my hands on a game ahead of you guys, penning what might be one of the first English reviews. Gothic II is one of my personal favorites of the past 12 months, so naturally I got the add-on the day it came out without waiting for reviews. Read on if you want to know whether that was a clever decision or not.The expansion is titled Die Nacht des Raben, which translates to The Night of the Raven. It is integrated into the original game, even more than you might expect. Looking forward to facing the new challenges with your trained paladin, dragon hunter or firemage? Well, that's not going to happen. You have to start from scratch. Right where Gothic II begins. Right in Xardas' tower. What the add-on basically does is enhance the original game by adding a side story. I personally didn't mind that at all as I had planned to play the game again anyway, this time joining the mage guild. Already beaten Gothic II with all guilds and now afraid and tired of having to go through the basic parts of the game again? Don't worry, Piranha Bytes tried to address that aspect.

The expansion not only adds new content to world of Gothic II, it also changes that world. New quests are featured at places you thought you knew, integrating some of the common characters. There are also new solutions for some of the old quests. Additional creatures were placed all over the island, as well as bandit camps.

Lobart's Farm  Amulet  Portal

Here is how the first minutes play: You'll get to watch the standard intro and wake up at Xardas' place. Business as usual so far. However, the wizard now does not only mention the dragons, he also points at a "new threat" in the ruins of some ancient race. A new video is started now, showing a stone guard coming to life and trying to battle a mage. As I left the tower I drew my weapon since I knew that there was a group of goblins sitting at a campfire near the starting location. Well, at least they were there in Gothic II. As I approached, however, I noticed that the goblins were dead. Killed by another character, who turns out to be Cavalorn. That name might sound familiar to Gothic fans. He provides some hints at the new story and also drops some information on a secret group, which could be translated as Fellowship of the Water. He also refers you to Lester, who now offers a new, easier way into the town.

As already mentioned before, you'll have to start with a new character. It's pretty obvious though that Piranha Bytes implemented elements that allow the players to make their way through the first part faster or at least in a different way. You don't have to become an apprentice at one of the shops in Khorinis unless you want to. Vatras and Lares are going to help you find a quicker solution to join one of the three guilds. You still have to master the basic guild-internal quests to become a paladin, mercenary or fire mage. In addition to that you also have to solve two major quests in order to join the Fellowship of the Water. After having done that and contacting Lord Hagen to finish Chapter I, you can try to gain access to the new region anytime you want.

Cavalorn is only the first out of several inhabitants of the former prison colony present in the expansion. If you were wondering about certain characters of factions missing in Gothic II, you'll meet many of them in Night of the Raven. This is a nice aspect for those who played Piranha Bytes' first game, but it doesn't penalize those who didn't. Whenever there is a reference back to Gothic I, you can ask for a more detailed explanation of the events referred to. Like in Gothic II. In addition to that there's also a number of characters new to the Island of Khorinis.

Valley Shot  Khorinis  Me

Now for the major questions: What is Night of the Raven about and what was added? You might have wondered about the purpose of that Aztec-style pyramid in the north-eastern part of the island. It is a relic of an older culture, which could be translated as the Architects, Creators, Builders, Constructors or Ancestors depending on your preference. A digging site can be found near that place now. Water mages are researching a portal that presumably leads to a region hidden in the mountains of the island. And, of course, that "presumably" turns out to be a "definitely" later on. The followers of Adanos were missing in Gothic II (except Vatras) and they're not too happy to meet you again. Gothic I players will remember why. Everyone else gets to see and read some information on the background, small video inclusive.

Saturas and his fellows have sensed something that could be described as 'disturbance in the force'. The cause of this is said to be on the other side of the portal. A few quests later the initial distrust is put down and they ask you to join their expedition through the gate, which transports you to said hidden area, also being referred to as Valley of the Constructors (or Creators, Ancestors etc.) It is about the same size the old prison colony was. Here you will encounter two other groups: pirates and bandits. Sooner or later you'll have to explore both camps. This makes, technically, three new groups to join altogether, but to prevent any kind of 'post purchase'-disappointment: you cannot become a water mage. They, however, can train your skills and that new fen fire amulet Vatras gave to you. More important, they also will provide some new spells that fire mages didn't have access to in Gothic II. Of course, that only makes sense if you're capable of casting spells. If you prefer wielding a weapon of steel, you can get your hands on a number of new armors and more powerful swords, crossbows, bows, hammers and other such equipment in the pirate and bandit camps among other places.

Apart from acquiring new equipment and spells it is also possible to become stronger, because Piranha Bytes has tweaked the stats system, changing some of the limits. The acrobat skill, lost in Gothic II, makes its return. Despite these changes, the game remains challenging, especially if you take advantage of the shortcuts offered by Piranha Bytes that leave you lacking some EXP and LP by skipping a number of basic quests. There are some tougher parts, but one is usually able to master them by battling the enemies one after another, getting help from friendly NPCs or trying to avoid fights against certain creatures. (Hint: the acrobat skill makes escaping easier.)

Oasis  Center  Camp

Gameplay-wise Night of the Raven has the same pros and cons Gothic II had. (Better take a look at my review and Certis' impressions for more details.) The increased number of items and spells make it a bit more obvious though that Piranha needs to find a better way to organize the inventory in the inevitable sequel, Gothic III. It usually takes a bit of work to find a specific item you're looking for among all the weapons, runes, scrolls, notes, herbs, armors, potions and other equipment. Separated sections would make more sense and guarantee faster access. The basic plot, which I won't spoil (completely), is ok, but RPG veterans will probably figure out the basic premise behind it while just watching the intro.

Now for the technical aspects: the Valley happens to be a rather warm region, ranging from a dry canyon over tropical places to a swampy jungle region. They all look beautiful and have the same handcrafted touch the other parts of the island have as you might see on some of the screenshots. The hardware requirements haven't changed. Graphics and ambient sounds contribute to the immersive and intensive atmosphere that's typical for the series. All characters are voiced as expected. I think they also hired two or three new voice actors for the add-on. You can't help but smile while talking to characters like the wanna-be-tough-pirate Skip or a guard reacting to you showing him the head of some villain you're carrying around.

Canyon Swamp Beach

Gothic II had a tendency to freeze once in a while in a crowded location like Khorinis. The add-on version (v2.50) seems to fix most of those issues and crashed only once while I was playing. A new problem occured, however, as it took the game 5-7 minutes to launch everytime. This appears to be partially related to the virtual file system Gothic II initializes. A work-around could be found in the JoWooD forums, indicating that there were also other players witnessing this issue.

So, is the expansion worth buying? Absolutely. If you haven't played the game with all guilds yet (group A), the add-on gives you a very good reason to start over again. It certainly adds replay value to what was already a very enjoyable game. If you've already beaten Gothic II thrice (group B), there are enough new and modified elements to satisfy you as well. Also, it goes more into detail about the events that happened after the barrier collapsed and you'll get to learn more about some of the Gothic characters that weren't present in the sequel. Overall Night of the Raven will easily keep you busy for 20-30 hours depending on how much you explore and the number of optional quests you're going for. Keep in mind that after finishing the expansion you're still free to follow the original main plot and beat Gothic II again. Not unlikely since you can then toy around with certain items you received. Group A will do that anyway. It wouldn't have hurt to see a 'real' guild added through the expansion. However, if you take a look at Gothic II you also can see how the realization and integration of that would have required a massive effort. There's enough new content nonetheless. I enjoyed it from the very first minute on and I'm pretty sure those who enjoyed Gothic II will feel the same.

You're probably wondering now about the availability of an English version of Night of the Raven. I asked Piranha Bytes and JoWooD about it. No release date is set yet, but the publisher stated that there definitely will be an English release of the add-on. Keep that in mind when playing Gothic II. It works best if you test out only one or two of the factions. Save up one of the guilds for the expansion.

- Spunior

Comments

Great review Spunior, hopefully Gogamer.com will be quick to get on the english version of the expansion. I'd love to play through it again.

I skipped over most of the review because it seemed to be full of spoilers that as a player that has not played G2 yet, I would not want to see.  Maybe label it at the top?

There aren't any major Gothic II spoilers in the review I'm aware of. Only some basic events from Chapter 1 were listed (the first out of six Chapters), plus the player gets to know about the tasks I mentioned very early in the game. A number of things described make less sense if you haven't played Gothic II, but I tried to avoid serious story spoilers. What part are you referring to?

I can't tell you what part, I've never played the game so I'm not sure what's a spoiler and what isn't!  I assumed anything giving away part of the story (Cavalorn, the pyramids, the Valley, etc...) was a spoiler.

Spectacular review Spunior.  Not only am I sold on the expansion (when the English version comes out) but I think I'll also pick up a copy of the original game to get background on the characters I encountered in the sequel.  I have to agree with you, this is perhaps my favorite game of the past year or two.  The quests and combat interface are excellent but sometimes I find myself marvelling at the living breathing world that the developers created.  It's the only georgous 3D world I've ever seen without dynamic day/night cycles where NPC's have a life of their own without your interference.  Sometimes they go right to bed, other times they go to the bar or even the brothel.  Very cool.  The expansion sounds like fun too and I'm definitely going the mage route when it gets into my greedy little hands.  The only problem is that there are so many good games coming out this fall I don't know when I'll have the time to put another 40-50 hours into the game for a second time.  Thanks for the update.

I assumed anything giving away part of the story (Cavalorn, the pyramids, the Valley, etc...) was a spoiler.

Well, you'll find out about all that quite early in the game. As for Cavalorn, you meet him within the very first five minutes. Maybe the "turns out to be Cavalorn" bit sounds somewhat confusing, but it's not a secret. You know it's him the second you see him because a) he mentions it if you talk to him, and b) a name tag appears when you come closer to characters. I know that G2 wasn't officially released in the US yet, thus making sure not to spoil the original game for those who haven't had their hands on it yet.