I really miss the minimalism of Gothic in modern games. No map markers, hotbar, minimap or button prompts and also very minimalistic Inventory screen which takes up only 10% of the screen and you can still see yourself in real time. All the needed info when pressing B, a "self written" diary, it felt like YOU were in the world.
But then imagine a popular streamer who has to market the game in a two hour play-session not finding the questmarker, minimap or fasttravel. He would call it Eurojank and move on.
You should review Chronicles of Myrthana: Archolos. I know that's technically a mod, but among Gothic community there is a consensus that it's pretty valid gothic experience that could be standalone game
Yea I hate to even call it a mod, it almost feels like an insult. It was a great game better than a lot of PB games actually imo. Also the last boss at least had some challenge even after being over leveled(doing all quests, best items\gear, ect). I don't recall the last boss of any of the PB games having much difficulty at all if you were over leveled and stuff.
As a longtime Gothic fan, I completely understand G3 in last place, it took me years unti I could manage to finish the game with all its jank, and Elex 1 was great because exploration was top notch
RIP Piranha Bytes. Gothic 1+2 will always be some of my favorite RPGs with a fantastic atmosphere, but it seems like they could never evolve past those successes. As time went on, their game design became obsolete and the jankiness seemed less like a side product of admirable ambition and more like they refused to learn from their mistakes.
They just don’t make games like gothic 1 and 2. Such an unique experience to play through those. I’d say they’re in my top 5 games of all time although growing up in Eastern Europe really made me biased towards those two games haha.
Love Pyranha Bytes. While all of them are janky they are just great at building immersion. Gothic 1, 2 are probably my personal favorites (with Archolos taking the crown if I count that). Elex 1 was fun as well though.
@@Llortnerof Yeah I understand that. I just consider it faithful enough to the original experience that I might as well put them on the same ranking. I recommend everyone play it alongside the main Gothic series anyways.
@@Llortnerof Despite being just a modification, Archolos is considered (in some parts of community) as a canon due to very high quality and being very faithful to lore
@@histhoryk2648 Sure, but it still wasn't made by PB. If it was a "Gothic series games ranked" it would deserve the rank, but for Piranha Bytes games, it doesn't.
Yes, please. I'd be really curious to hear your thoughts on it. Granted, probably a bit off from the normal 100% as its just a mod. But before you brush it off, check out the history of it. It's really more than a mod and has some developers behind it, which would easily surpass some modern AA titles.
Gothic was my childhood, thank you so much for covering these games. Your work is incredible and appreciated, right now the only reviewer I am watching.
My exact rating (even if I could also flip flop Elex 1 and 2). I really don't get the love for Elex and hate for Risen 2. Elex atmosphere, world building, aesthetics and story is inconsistent, nonsensical and kinda ugly. I also think exploration isn't good due to overly big and unmemorable map. Jetpack didn't help either. Combat system sucks and character progression isn't smooth nor satisfying.
Very interesting list :) I played every Gothic and Risen game at the time of their release (yes, I'm not too young anymore), and IMHO the best games for their time are Gothic 2 with Expansions, Gothic 1, Gothic 3, Risen, Elex, then the rest :) But, it is very interesting to see the same ranking from somebody who started playing Piranha Bytes games a decade, if not more, later :)
cool list! I agree with the bottom half, however, top half would look quite differently for me, with Gothic 2 and Gothic 1 on top - but I did play these at launch, so a lot of nostalgia here. Looking back at the studio's history, I really wish that after Gothic 2, they would have developed something like first Risen, which was just a modernized Gothic game, and released it as Gothic 3. This would give them time and resources to create something more ambitious and what we now know as Gothic 3 could have been much better. Not to mentioned the fact that disasterous launch of Gothic 3 basically cost them that IP, which I was very fond of.
Well, if you want to be fair you have to rank the base game and in that case i can see it. The modded one... yeah, i'd put that above R2 as well. Especially if that big rework project gets finished.
Started playing Elex on PS4 'cause of your review and I really like it as far. I've never played and on Piranha Bytes games, but I've heard a lot about them, mostly about Gothic 1
Here’s the video I was waiting for! ELEX 1 is definitely my favorite, with Risen 2 being a close second. I don’t usually 100% games but this one was actually fun to do and it’s a shame the ELEX 2 didn’t draw me in the same way as it’s predecessor.
Piranha Bytes is what made me appreciate more challenging games, you could say I owe them for finding and falling in love with all FromSoft catalogue. :-) Sure, it’s euro jank, but Gothic 1-2 are still the games I set as a golden standard for crafting an open world without any tedious fillers and stressing map markers a la Ubisoft, and they are also some of the absolutely most immersive games I have ever played, due to their progression system and slow leveling. Nowadays I may love other games more, but Piranha Bytes will always have a special place in my heart ❤️
Thank you so-so much for making this video; After watching all these reviews I was wondering how you would rank them, and low-and-behold, here's your video ranking them. Thanks again. Personally I sometimes like the challenge of getting an old game running more than the game itself 🤣😂
With the exception of gothic 3, all their library are all solid and their approach to open worlds is still the best that sadly rarely anybody copied. Evemn gothic 3 you still have the parts that are pretty good like the world (at least for the myrtana area, because the desert one was pretty bad) and the music. Their approach to loot is really preferable too compared to the ever increasingly common randomized/color coded loot in open world that makes exploration boring.
Played Gothic 1 in 2020 and heavily modded Gothic 2 in 2021 - still one of my favorite games of all time. Plan to replay Risen 1 and Gothic 3 in 2023-24. Cannot say this about Elex or Risen 2, 3.
I'd very much look forward to a video on Piranha Bytes as a studio! I think an insight into the studio that created some of our favourite games (even childhood games) would put all these experiences in a new light. I'd also just like to get more acquainted with Piranha Bytes just as much as I am with Bethesda, for example.
I finished Elex earlier this year for the first time and really liked it untill the final parts that kinda sucked. I've been putting it off for years. Seeing Elex 2 so low on the list makes me sad. Gothic 1 was my first PB game and it's still my favorite. Like you said the atmosphere is just something else.
Elex 2 feels rushed somehow. Also I did not like the camera in Elex 2 at all. They should´ve added an option to set it the same way as it was in Elex 1.
Personally I think it's an improvement for the most part the hits feel Abit floaty compared to 1 and the story gets kinda weird at the end but the rest factions quests and character building is better
Fun fact: Don Esteban found at 10:07 is actually named after the admin (back then, don't know nowadays) of the community hub World of Gothic where you can get mods and stuff. He is also in the Gothic 2 Addon, where he gets murdered.
You get so many different Top Lists within the Piranha Bytes Fanbase/Bubble, it's very cool and interesting. My list acc. to my very subjective opinion: 1. Gothic 2 2. Risen 3 3. Risen 4. Gothic 5. Risen 2 6. Gothic 3 7. Elex 8. Elex 2 Some further thoughts: Best atmosphere in Gothic 2. Best combat system and world Locations in Risen 3 (places where I want to make vacation 😅) Unique Setting in Elex.
I struggled with Elex quite a lot (having played all the other games more or less as they came out). But just the other day I saw your review of Elex 2, and I thought you did such a good job of allaying my fears, I bought it cheap, and I'm really enjoying it!
It actually is pretty amazing how your ranking coincieded with mine almost bit to bit. the only thing I would do differently is ranking Gothic 2 above Elex, but still, it is amazing how you made all those points that resonate so well with me. Well done, sir, well done!
Hey, Mortismal! I'm really glad that found your channel. Your chillness, non-clickbaitness and objectiveness on gaming world feels very fresh! So tired of hatred in internet. Your videos are soothing. However, a small constructive criticism! You really should put some synonyms for word "janky" in your vocabulary! Everything else is fine indeed! P.S. Sorry for bad English.
I love your content Mortym with every video your channel gets better and better, hope you are having good time with youtube and don't forget to leave some time for yourself dude how are you make videos this fast :))
I love seeing people outside of Germany even acknowledge piranha bytes games, not to mention liking them. I have such a love hate relationship with them, having massive nostalgia for Risen 2 to absolute hatred for the abrupt ending of Risen 3 to simultaneously liking and hating Elex. I can definitely understand why people call them "Eurojank" and they’ve completely been behind the rest of the industry at least since Gothic 3. But they do have some charm and nostalgia for many and I like that people even internationally can enjoy them for all their flaws and outdated nature. Having watched the video now, it’s funny how we probably had the same feeling towards our first piranha bytes game. Mine was Risen 2, therefore I like it the most, same with you and Elex. I would guess the iconic Piranha Bytes charm hits the most with your first experience of their games and I know exactly what you mean and what that feels like
It all began with the forging of the Great Games. Three were given to the Fantasy fans; Two to Sci-Fi fans. And another 3 to people who like pirates, I guess. For within these games was bound Piranha Bytes' recipe for creating games. But they were all of them deceived, for another game was made. In the land of Poland, in the fires of the Mod Community, the The Chronicles of Myrtana Team forged in secret, a master game, to top all others. Play Archolos already!!!
Love the list! Recently I did play Elex, and I just couldn't believe how much fun I had with the game, 2 complete playthroughs back to back. Brought me back to the time of when I first played Risen 1 and the Gothic series. Don't know about Elex 2 tho.... the way how they drastically changed how characters look just turns me off
@I D O Yea, I agree... In my opinion they deviated a lot from the original look of the character... I understand that a certain number of years passed since the story of the first game and he is no longer the person he was in Elex 1, but I don't think that justifies that he should look like a prisoner of war. I suppose it is a minor thing and very subjective. I may give the game a go but at not yet at least
Nothing beats the beautiful primitiveness and uniqueness of the original Gothic. The only game on the list I can replay over and over without getting bored.
out of the 8 gothic games pyranha bytes made i'd say gothic 1 and gothic 2 are the best as a cohesive whole, all the parts of those games work pretty well even with the dated engine. But gothic 3 holds a special place in my heart due to its music and sense of exploration (i never finished it though)
Interesting look at those games, I would go quite a different way Gothic 2 Gothic Risen Gothic 3 (with community touch ups) Elex Risen 3 Elex 2 Risen 2 On the other hand, I’ve been playing them since they made the first Gothic, so… Sadly it does not look good for Piranha Bytes, so we can just hope they will go forward even though they lost one of the really important people…
That's always the doubt: is this chapter of a series my favorite, only because it's the very first I played? In your case, would Elex 2 have been your favorite game from Piranha Bytes if you had played it before Elex (1)? I think we'll never know for sure. But Elex is also a game I liked a lot myself, and, since it's the only one from this developer I played, I perfectly agree with you on the number 1 of the list! (LOL) Thanks for your videos!
I got the Gothic trilogy on discs about 10 years ago without knowing much about it. I find the games difficult to play now, same with Risen which I have on Steam. But I am really looking forward to the Gothic remake because Piranha Bytes crafted a great world and story and I want to see it updated (as long as it is a faithful adaption)
If I had to make a similar list, the only difference I would have with your list is I would put Risen as number two instead of 3. Still one of my favourite to this day.
@@vast634 It is the producer of Arcania: Gothic 4 so I would hold my beer there. I have seen this play out with Arcania before, as I was the admin of the Gothic Wiki on the german portal World of Gothic. They really engaged with the community and ensured them they would do a faithfull approach, then delivered...Arcania.
I've been a lifelong Gothic fan and I remember being extremely critical of Elex 1 when it came out. After Risen 2 and 3 I kind of gave up on Piranha Bytes being able to make a game I'd like. Well, I started playing Elex a few days ago and I freaking love it. The only thing which ruins my enjoyment of the game is the knowledge of how the sequel turned out. Seems like a repeat of Risen situation. I just don't understand how is it possible that they get so many things right in Risen 1 and Elex 1, and completely abandon them in the next games.
My first Pirahna Bytes game was Gothic 2, I got that game as a Demo with a magazine back in the days and I remember when Gothic 3 came out in ~2005/2006 it was something amazing, I have even now the original DVD of the game and I didn't care about the bugs and how unpolish it was, until now for me it's one of the best games with The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion.
Piranha Bytes is honestly my favorite RPG Dev Team and ELEX is my favorite franchise by them. I pray that we get ELEX 3, so that they can close out this Trilogy before a new IP! 🎉
Sorry for my bad english. Gothic 3 is in my top 3 Piranha Bytes games. Music is just GREAT. Myrthana, Varant, sometimes Nordmar are awesome, I have a lot of joy exploring them. Quests of course are bad but... I like them. I don't really mind doing them it's well, just fun. Characters are of course bad and I don't remember anyone (Expect character Sobota, because in Poland, sobota is the sixth day of the week, saturday) and again I don't really mind. Gothic 3 for my is just very fun. I think i go back to this game, more than any other Piranha Bytes game. And i have never finished it :) but I really like it.
Are you planning to review the Spiders games? They're also EuroJank (a French developer) and their most recent game was Greedfall, which I'm fairly sure you've reviewed.
I might redo them at some point, but Greedfall was one of my first reviews, and my technomancer video was one of the first videos I made period. Steelrising I did as well. I probably wouldnt cover their sherlock holmes stuff or the early fantasy titles. Mars War Logs and Bound By Flame I might cover at some point.
@@MortismalGaming Thanks Mort. I wasn't aware of your Technomancer video. I've not actually played any Spiders game myself, hence my curiosity. I did buy Greedfall yesterday in a Steam sale though. I did watch a video yesterday about all their titles (except their Sherlock Holmes one's) and I now have a good impression of what they're like and the general consensus is Mars: War Logs is terrible whilst its sequel Technomancer isn't great but playable.
I still think that if Risen 2 would have been marketed as a new IP people would have a different oppion. But there still the fact that the matketing lied a said on the box "you can choose to join one of three fsctions" clearly marketing to old gothic fans.
I really like the idea of Elex. But does someone have any advice on what I should do first? I do struggle quite a bit to find quests which I can finish without getting my ass clapped
Explore and do quests in the Beserker town, explore map and avoid beasts per jetpack, find companions (Duras can be the first one after his companion quest).
@@revoltingpeasantry8796first companion is Alb. I cant remember the name. He can help you a lot before duras agreed to follow you after you finish his quest.
I have never played Elex and only played the Gothic series but if its like Gothic then you can actually quest for all factions for a bit before deciding on one, which gives you extra exp early on.
The bottom half of my PB list is identical to yours. Then it's a toss-up between Gothic 1, Risen 1, and Elex 1 for 2nd, 3rd and 4th place for me - each game could go in either spot depending on how I feel that day. But Gothic 2 will forever be my personal #1.
@Mortisimal Gaming - I llike your ranking - what would you say to the movement and fights in Elex 2 - to me, it is mechanically the best game of all (ofc it being the most recent)
Never forget that Gothic 3 was them getting screwed by their publisher, JooWooD. Who, in a typical corporate fashion, forced them to release an unfinished game.
When Mortym said something like "Some of their games require a bit of commitment to go through", my mother in law came to mind. With your kind permission, my friend, I am going to paraphrase you next time I discuss that subject with the wife: "No, honey, I don't have anything against your mother. It's just that it takes quite a bit of commitment not to -hit her in the face with a shovel- disagree with some of her views ".
Get the laser rifle you can't buy from the guy before the cleric outpost. Look it up if you have to, thing is insane and never runs out because all later enemies drop ammo for it. One cheese served :)
Gothic 2 seemed like it would be good when I tried it but I just couldn't get used to the controls. I've enjoyed everything they've made from Risen onward though. A big reason is that exploration in a Piranha Bytes game feels a lot more rewarding than most others.
The controls are actually quite simple once you got the gist of it. It feels a lot like early Playstation controls. Just pretend the STRG button is the shoulder button you need to hold and then you got four action keys, Up (Triangle) that can be pressed up to three times depending on skill level for a combo forward, Left (Square) to swing left, Right (Circle) to swing right and down to block (X). Once you got the gist of it, you will find it incredibly rewarding as it is very easy to manipulate. The simple animations allow you to lock singular enemies into permant hitstun given the right timings, and as such you can beat much stronger enemies than yourself early on. One more thing: Just cheat. The game allows you to cheat freely. Everything can be manipulated via console and some of it is game breaking, but invincibility is safe and will not affect game progression. And then just practice until you got the feelings and turn it off again.
My top four are, in order: Gothic II, Risen II, Risen, Gothic. After that it's a tossup. For me it's a question of how immersed did I feel while playing those games. Risen III and the Elex titles feel a bit too gamey to me, and Gothic III has the performance issues (I remember it crashing to desktop constantly at release).
Very unique list! Your opinion, of course :D My list would be quite different: 8: Elex 2 7: Elex 1 6: Risen 2 5. Risen 3 4. Risen 1 3. Gothic 1 2. Gothic 3 1. Gothic 2 I was so disappointed with Elex 2 that I'm just not looking forward to any new PB games. They've steadily been going down over the years and while each game has still been enjoyable in many ways, Elex 2 started to feel just so old and tired. I hated the game by the time I finished it. I've been very supportive of PB in the past but for me it feels like it might be time to let go and not expect another Gothic 2 anymore :P
Gothic 3 needed the 3 things to run smoothly: 1) Community Patch, 2) Update Pack, 3) Parallel Universe Patch. They work with all languages. Without the third one you would experience many stutters while playing, and longer loading times. Risen 2 and 3 are the total opposite in terms of the atmosphere compared to the Gothic series, feel less authentic.
Pursuant to your ranking: piranha Bytes games made an impact when they were first released, and their sequels never managed to do any better, or even just as much.
I think Spiders and Piranha Bytes should collaborate and make a game so that we'd have the clunkiest game with the best atmosphere there is.
I always confuse these two developers already. They may as well collaborate 😁
And they could even call it Rise-n-fall. 😉
I’ve been saying that this would be a phenomenal collaboration! 😊
Piranha doing gameplay, Spiders doing story
And Bethesda as well, to get some of that Amerijank, to have the ultimate jank compilation in one game.
I really miss the minimalism of Gothic in modern games. No map markers, hotbar, minimap or button prompts and also very minimalistic Inventory screen which takes up only 10% of the screen and you can still see yourself in real time. All the needed info when pressing B, a "self written" diary, it felt like YOU were in the world.
tbf gothic had a hotbar :)
But then imagine a popular streamer who has to market the game in a two hour play-session not finding the questmarker, minimap or fasttravel. He would call it Eurojank and move on.
@@shblade5984 Gothic 3 had a hotbar. Gothic 1 and 2 did not.
But Gothic 3 was barely a Gothic game...
You should review Chronicles of Myrthana: Archolos. I know that's technically a mod, but among Gothic community there is a consensus that it's pretty valid gothic experience that could be standalone game
Absolutely agree with this. Chronicles of Myrtana is fantastic and it would be a shame for someone so invasted in Pyranha Bytes games to miss it.
Agree
It really is an astonishingly good release
Agree
Yea I hate to even call it a mod, it almost feels like an insult. It was a great game better than a lot of PB games actually imo. Also the last boss at least had some challenge even after being over leveled(doing all quests, best items\gear, ect). I don't recall the last boss of any of the PB games having much difficulty at all if you were over leveled and stuff.
Risen 1 was my favourite. Just so pretty and in warm colors. Beautiful greenery, nice combat system, less jank than in other PB's titles.
Best combat system I ever experienced in rpgs. After that risen 3 is not that bad either.
As a longtime Gothic fan, I completely understand G3 in last place, it took me years unti I could manage to finish the game with all its jank, and Elex 1 was great because exploration was top notch
RIP Piranha Bytes. Gothic 1+2 will always be some of my favorite RPGs with a fantastic atmosphere, but it seems like they could never evolve past those successes. As time went on, their game design became obsolete and the jankiness seemed less like a side product of admirable ambition and more like they refused to learn from their mistakes.
They just don’t make games like gothic 1 and 2. Such an unique experience to play through those. I’d say they’re in my top 5 games of all time although growing up in Eastern Europe really made me biased towards those two games haha.
Yeah in central and eastern europe, Gothic vs Morrowind was the hidden World War 3 back in the 2000s
@@Nikioko Yeah true, my bad. But between ES 3, 4 and 5 morrowind is arguably the best game and controlled less clunky compared to gothic
@@Nikioko Eh, the original not having mouse support was pretty clunky
Gothic 2 is my childhood crpg dream game! To this day I tell friends about the setting, atmosphere and not forgiving world
Risen 1 is such a great game, really glad it came to the modern consoles.
PB games have the same effect that FromSoftware have: the first game you play is and always will be the best and more memorable
Love Pyranha Bytes. While all of them are janky they are just great at building immersion. Gothic 1, 2 are probably my personal favorites (with Archolos taking the crown if I count that). Elex 1 was fun as well though.
Archolos would not count for the same reason the G3 expansion and Arkania don't count. It's not from PB.
@@Llortnerof Yeah I understand that. I just consider it faithful enough to the original experience that I might as well put them on the same ranking. I recommend everyone play it alongside the main Gothic series anyways.
@@Llortnerof Despite being just a modification, Archolos is considered (in some parts of community) as a canon due to very high quality and being very faithful to lore
@@histhoryk2648 Sure, but it still wasn't made by PB. If it was a "Gothic series games ranked" it would deserve the rank, but for Piranha Bytes games, it doesn't.
After playing all of this, you have to check The Chronicles Of Myrtana: Archolos !
Yes, please. I'd be really curious to hear your thoughts on it. Granted, probably a bit off from the normal 100% as its just a mod.
But before you brush it off, check out the history of it. It's really more than a mod and has some developers behind it, which would easily surpass some modern AA titles.
Gothic was my childhood, thank you so much for covering these games. Your work is incredible and appreciated, right now the only reviewer I am watching.
My list would be (from worst to best):
Elex 2 < Elex 1 < Risen 3 < Risen 2 < Gothic 3 < Risen 1 < Gothic 1 < Gothic 2
My exact rating (even if I could also flip flop Elex 1 and 2). I really don't get the love for Elex and hate for Risen 2.
Elex atmosphere, world building, aesthetics and story is inconsistent, nonsensical and kinda ugly. I also think exploration isn't good due to overly big and unmemorable map. Jetpack didn't help either. Combat system sucks and character progression isn't smooth nor satisfying.
Love your reviews sir, can't wait to (hopefully) see your review of the Gothic 1 remake!
Very interesting list :) I played every Gothic and Risen game at the time of their release (yes, I'm not too young anymore), and IMHO the best games for their time are Gothic 2 with Expansions, Gothic 1, Gothic 3, Risen, Elex, then the rest :) But, it is very interesting to see the same ranking from somebody who started playing Piranha Bytes games a decade, if not more, later :)
cool list! I agree with the bottom half, however, top half would look quite differently for me, with Gothic 2 and Gothic 1 on top - but I did play these at launch, so a lot of nostalgia here.
Looking back at the studio's history, I really wish that after Gothic 2, they would have developed something like first Risen, which was just a modernized Gothic game, and released it as Gothic 3. This would give them time and resources to create something more ambitious and what we now know as Gothic 3 could have been much better. Not to mentioned the fact that disasterous launch of Gothic 3 basically cost them that IP, which I was very fond of.
For me Gothic 1 & 2 are at the top from this studio. Instant classics.
Rip Piranhas. Thank you for the memories.
I did not expect to see Risen 2 ranked higher than gothic 3.
Well, if you want to be fair you have to rank the base game and in that case i can see it. The modded one... yeah, i'd put that above R2 as well. Especially if that big rework project gets finished.
I feel the same. Rizen 1 was incredible, and so was ELEX. Love me some PB games, so I quite enjoy(ed) all of them.
Rest in peace, Piranha Bytes
Started playing Elex on PS4 'cause of your review and I really like it as far. I've never played and on Piranha Bytes games, but I've heard a lot about them, mostly about Gothic 1
Here’s the video I was waiting for! ELEX 1 is definitely my favorite, with Risen 2 being a close second. I don’t usually 100% games but this one was actually fun to do and it’s a shame the ELEX 2 didn’t draw me in the same way as it’s predecessor.
Piranha Bytes is what made me appreciate more challenging games, you could say I owe them for finding and falling in love with all FromSoft catalogue. :-) Sure, it’s euro jank, but Gothic 1-2 are still the games I set as a golden standard for crafting an open world without any tedious fillers and stressing map markers a la Ubisoft, and they are also some of the absolutely most immersive games I have ever played, due to their progression system and slow leveling. Nowadays I may love other games more, but Piranha Bytes will always have a special place in my heart ❤️
Thank you so-so much for making this video; After watching all these reviews I was wondering how you would rank them, and low-and-behold, here's your video ranking them. Thanks again.
Personally I sometimes like the challenge of getting an old game running more than the game itself 🤣😂
Do Chronicles of Myrtana Archolos, best Gothic game ever made, and not from Piranha Bytes
With the exception of gothic 3, all their library are all solid and their approach to open worlds is still the best that sadly rarely anybody copied. Evemn gothic 3 you still have the parts that are pretty good like the world (at least for the myrtana area, because the desert one was pretty bad) and the music.
Their approach to loot is really preferable too compared to the ever increasingly common randomized/color coded loot in open world that makes exploration boring.
gothic 3 is a solid 7.5 after 5gb of mods and fixes :)
I just played my first Pirahna Bytes game, Elex 1, and loved it. Wanna also try out the rest of their games.
Your reviews made me purchase 5 of these titles. Thank you. Very cool part of your job.
Ive been waiting for this video
Huge fan of your channel and recently discover my love for piranha bytes games with elex
Much love from Brasil
1. G2
2. G1
3. G3
4. R1
5. R2
6. R3
Havent played Elex yet.
Heyo Mortym! It's awesome to read the comments and see all the PB fans. Cheers everyone!
Played Gothic 1 in 2020 and heavily modded Gothic 2 in 2021 - still one of my favorite games of all time. Plan to replay Risen 1 and Gothic 3 in 2023-24. Cannot say this about Elex or Risen 2, 3.
You need to play every spiders game and make a list now
I have enjoyed piranha bytes games i feel like if they had better combat they could compete with AAA rpgs
I'd very much look forward to a video on Piranha Bytes as a studio! I think an insight into the studio that created some of our favourite games (even childhood games) would put all these experiences in a new light. I'd also just like to get more acquainted with Piranha Bytes just as much as I am with Bethesda, for example.
I finished Elex earlier this year for the first time and really liked it untill the final parts that kinda sucked. I've been putting it off for years. Seeing Elex 2 so low on the list makes me sad. Gothic 1 was my first PB game and it's still my favorite. Like you said the atmosphere is just something else.
Elex 2 feels rushed somehow. Also I did not like the camera in Elex 2 at all. They should´ve added an option to set it the same way as it was in Elex 1.
Personally I think it's an improvement for the most part the hits feel Abit floaty compared to 1 and the story gets kinda weird at the end but the rest factions quests and character building is better
@@hibarikyoya854 I agree at this point
Fun fact: Don Esteban found at 10:07 is actually named after the admin (back then, don't know nowadays) of the community hub World of Gothic where you can get mods and stuff. He is also in the Gothic 2 Addon, where he gets murdered.
You get so many different Top Lists within the Piranha Bytes Fanbase/Bubble, it's very cool and interesting.
My list acc. to my very subjective opinion:
1. Gothic 2
2. Risen 3
3. Risen
4. Gothic
5. Risen 2
6. Gothic 3
7. Elex
8. Elex 2
Some further thoughts:
Best atmosphere in Gothic 2.
Best combat system and world Locations in Risen 3 (places where I want to make vacation 😅)
Unique Setting in Elex.
Please review Chronicles of Myrtana: Archolos!
I struggled with Elex quite a lot (having played all the other games more or less as they came out). But just the other day I saw your review of Elex 2, and I thought you did such a good job of allaying my fears, I bought it cheap, and I'm really enjoying it!
I’m a PB fan. Played all of them. Gothic 2 has a special place in my heart
It actually is pretty amazing how your ranking coincieded with mine almost bit to bit. the only thing I would do differently is ranking Gothic 2 above Elex, but still, it is amazing how you made all those points that resonate so well with me. Well done, sir, well done!
Hey, Mortismal!
I'm really glad that found your channel. Your chillness, non-clickbaitness and objectiveness on gaming world feels very fresh! So tired of hatred in internet. Your videos are soothing.
However, a small constructive criticism! You really should put some synonyms for word "janky" in your vocabulary! Everything else is fine indeed!
P.S. Sorry for bad English.
One player's jank is another player's treasure. Onward to 200k. All glory to the algorithm.
I love your content Mortym with every video your channel gets better and better, hope you are having good time with youtube and don't forget to leave some time for yourself dude how are you make videos this fast :))
If you enjoy Piranha Bytes games you need to play Chronicles of Myrtana.
I love your videos man! I didn't know you also do risen games!
I love seeing people outside of Germany even acknowledge piranha bytes games, not to mention liking them. I have such a love hate relationship with them, having massive nostalgia for Risen 2 to absolute hatred for the abrupt ending of Risen 3 to simultaneously liking and hating Elex. I can definitely understand why people call them "Eurojank" and they’ve completely been behind the rest of the industry at least since Gothic 3. But they do have some charm and nostalgia for many and I like that people even internationally can enjoy them for all their flaws and outdated nature.
Having watched the video now, it’s funny how we probably had the same feeling towards our first piranha bytes game. Mine was Risen 2, therefore I like it the most, same with you and Elex. I would guess the iconic Piranha Bytes charm hits the most with your first experience of their games and I know exactly what you mean and what that feels like
It all began with the forging of the Great Games. Three were given to the Fantasy fans; Two to Sci-Fi fans. And another 3 to people who like pirates, I guess.
For within these games was bound Piranha Bytes' recipe for creating games. But they were all of them deceived, for another game was made. In the land of Poland, in the fires of the Mod Community, the The Chronicles of Myrtana Team forged in secret, a master game, to top all others.
Play Archolos already!!!
G2>G1>R1/E1>rest
^ the only correct order (at least for the top 3-4 PB games)
Elex 2 is really fun but they stopped updating it right after release. I don't understand that
Community manager Zyddie said two weeks ago that big DX12 update is coming soon
Elex put their dark humor into a new level
Love the list! Recently I did play Elex, and I just couldn't believe how much fun I had with the game, 2 complete playthroughs back to back. Brought me back to the time of when I first played Risen 1 and the Gothic series. Don't know about Elex 2 tho.... the way how they drastically changed how characters look just turns me off
I love how in the first game Jax looks like an emotionally dead, stone cold killer.
And in the second one he mostly looks "Tweedledee, Tweedledum".
@I D O Yea, I agree... In my opinion they deviated a lot from the original look of the character... I understand that a certain number of years passed since the story of the first game and he is no longer the person he was in Elex 1, but I don't think that justifies that he should look like a prisoner of war. I suppose it is a minor thing and very subjective. I may give the game a go but at not yet at least
Nothing beats the beautiful primitiveness and uniqueness of the original Gothic. The only game on the list I can replay over and over without getting bored.
Great video! For the alg.
out of the 8 gothic games pyranha bytes made i'd say gothic 1 and gothic 2 are the best as a cohesive whole, all the parts of those games work pretty well even with the dated engine. But gothic 3 holds a special place in my heart due to its music and sense of exploration (i never finished it though)
Interesting look at those games, I would go quite a different way
Gothic 2
Gothic
Risen
Gothic 3 (with community touch ups)
Elex
Risen 3
Elex 2
Risen 2
On the other hand, I’ve been playing them since they made the first Gothic, so…
Sadly it does not look good for Piranha Bytes, so we can just hope they will go forward even though they lost one of the really important people…
R.I.P ~ Gothic 2 was my Favourite
13:07 nice catch
That's always the doubt:
is this chapter of a series my favorite, only because it's the very first I played?
In your case, would Elex 2 have been your favorite game from Piranha Bytes if you had played it before Elex (1)?
I think we'll never know for sure.
But Elex is also a game I liked a lot myself,
and, since it's the only one from this developer I played,
I perfectly agree with you on the number 1 of the list!
(LOL)
Thanks for your videos!
Gothic 3 was my first PB game, so naturally it's my favourite! :D ;-p
I got the Gothic trilogy on discs about 10 years ago without knowing much about it. I find the games difficult to play now, same with Risen which I have on Steam. But I am really looking forward to the Gothic remake because Piranha Bytes crafted a great world and story and I want to see it updated (as long as it is a faithful adaption)
Don't look the timestamps
Don't look the timestamps
Don't look the timestamps
Dammit, I looked at the timestamps
If I had to make a similar list, the only difference I would have with your list is I would put Risen as number two instead of 3.
Still one of my favourite to this day.
grew up with their games hope the new Gothic game will be as good as the original
At least the developer had a wakeup call when players criticized the demo teaser. And they seem to try and stick close to the original now.
@@vast634 It is the producer of Arcania: Gothic 4 so I would hold my beer there. I have seen this play out with Arcania before, as I was the admin of the Gothic Wiki on the german portal World of Gothic. They really engaged with the community and ensured them they would do a faithfull approach, then delivered...Arcania.
I've been a lifelong Gothic fan and I remember being extremely critical of Elex 1 when it came out. After Risen 2 and 3 I kind of gave up on Piranha Bytes being able to make a game I'd like.
Well, I started playing Elex a few days ago and I freaking love it. The only thing which ruins my enjoyment of the game is the knowledge of how the sequel turned out. Seems like a repeat of Risen situation. I just don't understand how is it possible that they get so many things right in Risen 1 and Elex 1, and completely abandon them in the next games.
My first Pirahna Bytes game was Gothic 2, I got that game as a Demo with a magazine back in the days and I remember when Gothic 3 came out in ~2005/2006 it was something amazing, I have even now the original DVD of the game and I didn't care about the bugs and how unpolish it was, until now for me it's one of the best games with The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion.
Piranha Bytes is honestly my favorite RPG Dev Team and ELEX is my favorite franchise by them. I pray that we get ELEX 3, so that they can close out this Trilogy before a new IP! 🎉
What do you think about Greedfall after playing all PB games?
I think playing PB games as a kid helped me with understanding gaming more.
good question!!
I really enjoyed greedfall, one of my first reviews actually
so glad you made this video its like you read my mind..
I mean a lot of people asked for it lol
Sorry for my bad english.
Gothic 3 is in my top 3 Piranha Bytes games. Music is just GREAT. Myrthana, Varant, sometimes Nordmar are awesome, I have a lot of joy exploring them. Quests of course are bad but... I like them. I don't really mind doing them it's well, just fun. Characters are of course bad and I don't remember anyone (Expect character Sobota, because in Poland, sobota is the sixth day of the week, saturday) and again I don't really mind.
Gothic 3 for my is just very fun. I think i go back to this game, more than any other Piranha Bytes game. And i have never finished it :) but I really like it.
RIP Piranha Bytes. It was a good run.
Are you planning to review the Spiders games? They're also EuroJank (a French developer) and their most recent game was Greedfall, which I'm fairly sure you've reviewed.
I might redo them at some point, but Greedfall was one of my first reviews, and my technomancer video was one of the first videos I made period. Steelrising I did as well. I probably wouldnt cover their sherlock holmes stuff or the early fantasy titles. Mars War Logs and Bound By Flame I might cover at some point.
@@MortismalGaming Thanks Mort. I wasn't aware of your Technomancer video. I've not actually played any Spiders game myself, hence my curiosity. I did buy Greedfall yesterday in a Steam sale though.
I did watch a video yesterday about all their titles (except their Sherlock Holmes one's) and I now have a good impression of what they're like and the general consensus is Mars: War Logs is terrible whilst its sequel Technomancer isn't great but playable.
Would be cool to see you do a video on severance blade of darkness, used to play it on pc when I was a kid I feel like it's been forgotten in time now
I still think that if Risen 2 would have been marketed as a new IP people would have a different oppion. But there still the fact that the matketing lied a said on the box "you can choose to join one of three fsctions" clearly marketing to old gothic fans.
I really like the idea of Elex. But does someone have any advice on what I should do first? I do struggle quite a bit to find quests which I can finish without getting my ass clapped
Explore and do quests in the Beserker town, explore map and avoid beasts per jetpack, find companions (Duras can be the first one after his companion quest).
@@revoltingpeasantry8796first companion is Alb. I cant remember the name. He can help you a lot before duras agreed to follow you after you finish his quest.
I have never played Elex and only played the Gothic series but if its like Gothic then you can actually quest for all factions for a bit before deciding on one, which gives you extra exp early on.
@@madness9651 This could very well be the case. Time to download the game again and give it a shot. :D
i just noticed how uncanny the resemblance of New World's gameplay to Piranha Bytes games were
The bottom half of my PB list is identical to yours. Then it's a toss-up between Gothic 1, Risen 1, and Elex 1 for 2nd, 3rd and 4th place for me - each game could go in either spot depending on how I feel that day. But Gothic 2 will forever be my personal #1.
I have all of their games. I am hoping that they don't close and continue making more RPGs.
@Mortisimal Gaming - I llike your ranking - what would you say to the movement and fights in Elex 2 - to me, it is mechanically the best game of all (ofc it being the most recent)
Elex 2 is definitely easier to play than most of these and had some cool ideas (jetpack upgrades and the like)
Never forget that Gothic 3 was them getting screwed by their publisher, JooWooD. Who, in a typical corporate fashion, forced them to release an unfinished game.
When Mortym said something like "Some of their games require a bit of commitment to go through", my mother in law came to mind.
With your kind permission, my friend, I am going to paraphrase you next time I discuss that subject with the wife:
"No, honey, I don't have anything against your mother. It's just that it takes quite a bit of commitment not to -hit her in the face with a shovel- disagree with some of her views ".
they say it is badly made but i would play any of them any day
then any new game out now
May you also wander in wisdom and have an amazing day, Mort. As a sidenote, I really should play Elex one day. :)
Elex is probably the only PB game i couldn't finish. Always found a cheezy build to get through their games but never found one in Elex and gave up.
Elex I --> 2 handed weapon Berserk ftw.
Get the laser rifle you can't buy from the guy before the cleric outpost. Look it up if you have to, thing is insane and never runs out because all later enemies drop ammo for it. One cheese served :)
Gothic 2 seemed like it would be good when I tried it but I just couldn't get used to the controls. I've enjoyed everything they've made from Risen onward though. A big reason is that exploration in a Piranha Bytes game feels a lot more rewarding than most others.
The controls are actually quite simple once you got the gist of it. It feels a lot like early Playstation controls. Just pretend the STRG button is the shoulder button you need to hold and then you got four action keys, Up (Triangle) that can be pressed up to three times depending on skill level for a combo forward, Left (Square) to swing left, Right (Circle) to swing right and down to block (X).
Once you got the gist of it, you will find it incredibly rewarding as it is very easy to manipulate. The simple animations allow you to lock singular enemies into permant hitstun given the right timings, and as such you can beat much stronger enemies than yourself early on.
One more thing: Just cheat. The game allows you to cheat freely. Everything can be manipulated via console and some of it is game breaking, but invincibility is safe and will not affect game progression. And then just practice until you got the feelings and turn it off again.
I can't wait to play gothic remake
My top four are, in order: Gothic II, Risen II, Risen, Gothic. After that it's a tossup. For me it's a question of how immersed did I feel while playing those games. Risen III and the Elex titles feel a bit too gamey to me, and Gothic III has the performance issues (I remember it crashing to desktop constantly at release).
Everyone who has played their games fondly remembers Gothic 2 Night of the raven. I'd be very surprised if it's not on the top of your list.
I played and really enjoyed gothic 2 and risen. Think ill try elex 1 next!
My top 3:
- Elex
- Risen
- Gothic 3
@@Nikioko 🤷🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️
Very unique list! Your opinion, of course :D
My list would be quite different:
8: Elex 2
7: Elex 1
6: Risen 2
5. Risen 3
4. Risen 1
3. Gothic 1
2. Gothic 3
1. Gothic 2
I was so disappointed with Elex 2 that I'm just not looking forward to any new PB games. They've steadily been going down over the years and while each game has still been enjoyable in many ways, Elex 2 started to feel just so old and tired. I hated the game by the time I finished it. I've been very supportive of PB in the past but for me it feels like it might be time to let go and not expect another Gothic 2 anymore :P
I think Risen 2 is better than 3 but pretty much agree with the list
Good show sir
ohh I actually thought that Risen 1 was not to your liking that much at least I got that impression from your normal review.
Yeah I tend to try to be pretty objective in reviews and some times people get the impression I don't like things as a result
Gothic 3 needed the 3 things to run smoothly: 1) Community Patch, 2) Update Pack, 3) Parallel Universe Patch. They work with all languages.
Without the third one you would experience many stutters while playing, and longer loading times.
Risen 2 and 3 are the total opposite in terms of the atmosphere compared to the Gothic series, feel less authentic.
I don't think I ever finished a Piranha Bytes game, which is both curious, considering that I love those games, and a huge shame
That`s not a huge shame. I often start Risen just for the atmosphere.
Pursuant to your ranking: piranha Bytes games made an impact when they were first released, and their sequels never managed to do any better, or even just as much.