Note: This review concerns the 2005 release of Gothic II (Gothic II Gold on Steam, billed as Gothic II Complete Classic for Switch), as made available via Steam and Good Old Games. It does not cover the original printing release, only the versions patched with the latest official updates. This review is also relevant to the Switch port in terms of content and game engine, but the controls are different and I have only tested the PC version. This version of Gothic II comes with the Night of the Raven (NOTR) expansion bundled in, though I will touch on the differences compared to the base version where appropriate.

In 2001, Piranha Bytes released a flawed yet promising masterpiece with the first Gothic title. Despite some rough spots, they delivered a very atmospheric action RPG that challenged players and immersed them in the game world. A few years later, they decided to do even better with Gothic II.

Gothic II is the followup to the first Gothic, and it is also a low-fantasy action RPG set in an immersive world. The story properly begins a few weeks after the end of the threat from Gothic I. While you were triumphant, said threat invoked a greater one with its passing, and that too must be dealt with. The prison colony behind the magic barrier from the prior game, having now fallen, has also created even more problems that will complicate things, and the war that kickstarted the series between humans and the orcs is still raging as well.

It features the whole island of Khorinis to explore, as opposed to a fenced-off section like the first game. The game engine has noticeably improved in quality and stability, but it's still an action RPG in an open-world setting. Like the first game, the player must do quests, explore dungeons, fight monsters, learn skills, and join certain factions to progress. The Gold Edition of Gothic II comes with the "Night of the Raven" expansion pre-integrated.

Gameplay-wise, let me be clear: This is NOT an easy game. This is likely the HARDEST RPG one will ever play. No battle can be approached foolishly, no quest can be overlooked, no items ignored, and a lack of planning every move will lead to your death. With or without the Night of the Raven expansion content, Gothic II is not a game for those who just want to hack and slash and otherwise jump in with both feet. Even Gothic I is far easier than this game in many regards. That noted those who master the mile-high difficulty curve will be immensely rewarded, and this game does have the saving grace of rewarding outside-of-the-box thinking and use of exploits, so while hard, it's not utterly unfair. There are modifications for those who still feel this is too hard and want to revert to the balance of the original Gothic II and remove the NOTR expansion content, but this remains a matter of personal preference.

Regardless of what version you play, it should be noted unlike the first game, which had an easier progression where you could just overpower all foes past a certain point and the skill curve was not as steep, this game has a far steeper curve. The climb from nothing to hero is much more difficult, and each foe has specific attack patterns you must counter with strategy, or you can be defeated no matter how good your skills or equipment are.

Graphically, this game uses a far improved version of ZenGin that powered the first game, with graphics that look like a high-end PS2 game. Again, fitting the last game, the color scheme tends toward the dark, gritty, and realistic for the low-fantasy RPG feel. Models and animations have been improved quite a bit and the engine can even render some advanced lighting and shadow effects this time round.

The music and sounds again go for the gothic and ambient feel of the first game, particularly leaning on guitar and flutes. The voice acting has improved noticeably, and aside from one weird one-off moment where an NPC still has a German line in the English dub (the context is still quite obvious), I noticed no outstanding issues.

The controls were much improved from Gothic I. The mouse is better integrated into the control scheme, requiring much less keyboard input to perform many actions, and the game has a more forgiving tutorial area to let you practice with the controls to get used to them compared to the last game. Like the last game, there is still no gamepad support.

In terms of stability, the engine is somewhat less rickety than before, managing to run decently even without stability fan mods even on modern computers. I'd still recommend them, especially if you intend to run this on Linux or the Steam Deck, which will require them, but it's a somewhat more stable game this time compared to its predecessor. There are guides and tools easily found for making Gothic I run stable on even the latest PCs, as it still has a very active fan community for this purpose.

Morally, there are going to be some issues and some concerning content.

Violence is going to be action RPG style, with weapons and magic attacks. There are some displays of blood (though you can disable the blood effects) but no gore and bodies disappear a short time after death. You will mostly attack in self-defense, though the possibility to murder people is available, and may be required for some quests.

The Language is about mild Teen level. D*mn and s*** are heard a few times. There is a potential option to have sex in a brothel, complete with a cutscene shown mostly from behind that makes it clear the player is having sex with a female NPC without showing too many explicit details. This is never required to progress at any point.

Like the first game, Gothic II takes place in a low-fantasy world, though the occult and supernatural have a somewhat more prominent presence in this game. The religion of the game is a generically polytheistic one split between Innos (god of light), Beliar (god of darkness), and Adanos (god of balance). Its morals are not well defined, though the second of the two is associated with demons and the undead, and whose power you can tap into if you prefer. The other two are depicted in a much more positive light, with Innos providing typical powers for slaying the undead and Adanos generic nature powers. Demons and the undead are frequent foes as well.

Morally, there are three paths. The Paladins, the legally recognized elite troops of the human government leading the vanguard against the orc invasion on Khorinis, the mercenaries, a mix of former convicts and freelancers working against the first group for reasons of disgruntlement with their heavy-handed ways, and the Fire/Water mages, the state-sanctioned magic guilds of Innos and Adanos respectively. The second of the two will require some rebellion against generally lawful authority, though some of their grievances are legitimate as well. There are also options to join a guild of thieves or simply be a freelance thief. Alcohol and tobacco consumption are common and may be optionally imbibed by the player as well.

If you ask most Gothic fans, they will call this game the peak of the series, and despite its high difficulty, they have a lot of good reasons to believe that. Morally, it has some concerning elements not fit for anyone who is not a mature adult. Overall, I recommend this title highly. It is often on sale very cheaply and if you can deal with the difficulty curve, you will be rewarded with a true classic whose laurels as a classic RPG are well-earned.