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第一次踏入霍里尼斯（Khorinis）城，我向一个当地人问路，当时的场景让我终生难忘。工匠们忙得热火朝天、巡逻守卫打着哈欠、百无聊赖，醉醺醺的游民脚步蹒跚，牧师在街边布道传教，从镇长大楼到港口的这一小段路，将一直铭刻在我心头。
Piranha Bytes 的《哥特王朝 1（Gothic）》已经为开放世界动作类 RPG 游戏立下标杆，而续作《哥特王朝 2（Gothic II）》则是百尺竿头，更进一步。从描绘市民们的柴米油盐日常琐事的小动画，到野兽进入敌对前的低声嘶吼，《哥特王朝》秉持的宗旨未曾改变——用细节营造氛围。
为践行这一理念，《哥特王朝 2》呈现细节的方式质朴而有力。HUD 界面[1] 很简洁：屏幕底部只呈现生命条与魔法条；只有一个标有对应名称、微微发亮的悬浮框用来提示互动信息；物品栏只占屏幕的一小片区域，打开物品栏也不会暂停游戏。
本作没有花里胡哨的特效，只有一目了然的功能界面。这是因为《哥特王朝 2》的世界本身已经为玩家提供了一切必要信息。它展现出一个残酷的世界。在这里，主角从草根变成英雄的过程能给玩家带来前所未有的成就感。
I will never forget reaching the city of Khorinis for the first time and asking a local for directions. The busy craftsmen, bored patrolling guards, drunken layabouts and preaching mage made a simple walk from the town hall to the harbour a lifelong memory.
Piranha Bytes already set a new standard for what open-world Action RPGs could be with Gothic, and the sequel took it further. From the mundane animations of the urban inhabitants to the warning growls animals give before becoming aggressive, the Gothic formula has always been about creating atmosphere through subtlety.
The game shows its dedication to this concept by how spartan its details are. The minimalistic HUD only has a health and mana bar at the bottom of the screen, interaction cues are a floating name with a simple brightening effect, while the inventory only takes a small part of the screen and does not pause the game.
There is no flourish, only straightforward clean function, because the world of Gothic II can speak for itself. And what it reveals is a deadly world where going from zero to hero has never been as satisfying.
《哥特王朝 2》在德国深受好评，包括 4players，Gamestar 等多家德国杂志票选其为年度最佳游戏。但在美国，由于图像落后、难度过高、节奏缓慢，本作饱受诟病。
Gothic II was voted RPG of the Year by German magazines like 4players and GameStar, but the game was heavily criticised in the US for its graphics, difficulty and slower pace.
玩家可以与任何人结伴而行，可以见人就抢，逢人就杀，但这些行为会产生后果：对方也许不再与你交易、不向你提供训练服务，有些人甚至一见面就拔刀相向。
You are free to side with whoever you want, rob or even kill them, but there will be consequences: they might refuse to trade or train you, and some will attack you on sight.
游戏伊始，你只是个羸弱的无名小卒，费九牛二虎之力才能勉强杀死一只巨鼠。因为你看上去很好欺负，所以人们对你不怀好意，有人想让你不得安宁，有人想把你抢劫一空。如果一头冲进荒野，你只会早早暴毙。想要找到出路，就要开动脑筋，而不是无脑蛮干。
游戏前期，大多数任务地点都位于上文提及的霍利尼斯城。想完成这些城区任务，方法不止一种。比如，有一位工匠很有威望，想与他结交，就得送给他一把兽人武器。鉴于兽人战力强横，想杀之夺宝，无疑是痴人说梦。不过，如果主角可以跟随一名技艺高超的猎人前往森林探险；或打听传闻，得知有一名兽人被守卫射瘸了腿，如今正躲在一个山洞里养伤，那么就会得到完成任务的两种隐藏手段。任务发布者不会告诉你完成任务的隐藏途径[2] ，必须自己摸索。在这个过程中，玩家会觉得整个游戏世界浑然一体、相互关联，极大丰富了游戏体验。
大多数 RPG 游戏就像一个支离破碎的主题公园，各种支线任务毫无关联。但《哥特王朝 2》不一样，玩家会发现，自己费劲心力完成的新任务往往和先前完成的老任务、隐藏任务彼此关联，整个冒险宛如一个可信度极高、沉浸感十足的有机整体。此外，城市民兵组织、地主贵族的雇佣兵与法师修道院也各有特色，进一步增强了游戏的沉浸感。德国人的文风朴实无华，虽然文学性一般，但能与奇幻作品活泼跳脱的画风产生奇妙的化学反应。
《哥特王朝 2》的任务玩法对玩家提出更高的要求，按图索骥般完成任务只是下策。战斗方面也是如此：对着键盘乱砸一气，不再奏效；保持专注把握时机，方为王道。玩家在攻防两端都要抓住时机，防御时，有效的格挡架势只能维持一瞬；进攻时，有节奏的点击鼠标才能触发连招。
Your character is a nobody that can barely take on some oversized rodents, thus people will harass or try to rob you, while running headlong into the wilderness will result in an early grave. The solution to this is to fight smarter, not harder.
Most of the early game takes place in the aforementioned city of Khorinis and its urban quests allow for different approaches. Impressing an influential craftsman by retrieving an Orc weapon sounds impossible given the power of these creatures, but going on a forest trip with a skilled hunter or investigating the rumour about a limping Orc that's hiding in a cave after being shot by the guards might reveal new solutions that weren't apparent at first. These alternatives are not hinted by original quest givers, thus giving a wonderful sense of interconnectedness to the entire experience.
Stumbling into new quests that are linked with old or unknown ones makes the world of Gothic II feels like a tightly knit believable adventure, rather than the disjointed theme park with no quest overlap that most RPGs indulge in. This is further reinforced by the faction dynamic between the militia of the city, the landowners' mercenaries and the mage's monastery. All of this is complemented by the dry German dialogue that, while no literary masterpiece, does wonders when it comes to taming the generally sanguine elements fantasy stories love to indulge in.
Just as the quests demand more from the player than just following instructions from point A to B, so does the combat encourage attention and observation rather than button-mashing perseverance. Both the player's attack and defensive options are timing-based, your block move only lasts for a fraction of a second and attacks must be chained based on timed clicks for a combo to be pulled off.
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1 译者注：HUD，head-up display，大陆译作平视显示器，台湾译作抬头显示器，多见于航空仪器与电子游戏设备。电子游戏里常用来显示各种游戏信息，如生命值、小地图、道具等。
2 译者注：1. 在免费啤酒场找到喝免费酒的猎人巴托克（Batork），花 50 金币，请他与自己一同去森林狩猎，他会帮助你击杀路上的兽人守卫，你就能拿到兽人武器；2. 找到传闻中的山洞（出东城门后左转，走到山谷尽头，山洞就在山谷的右方），山洞里一把兽人轻斧（Orc Light Axe）就躺在地上，拿了交差即可。除了这两种方法，你还可以在欧拿的农场（Onar’s Farm）斥巨资购买兽人武器，或者把兽人引到城门口让守卫将其击杀（风险系数较高）。
《电脑 RPG 游戏史（The CRPG Book Project）》原书信息
英文原版主编：Felipe Pepe
原项目网址：https://crpgbook.wordpress.com/
授权协议：知识共享 署名-非商业性使用 4.0 国际许可协议 (CC BY-NC 4.0)
这本书历时四年，由 119 名志愿者共同完成。
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