To those who've played Gothic 2 and 3.....

If you haven't already, read the discussion between Tekken and myself on the Gothic 2 vs Gothic 3 issue. I make a lot of comparisons explaining why I feel that G3 is the weakest of the PB Gothics, and what makes G2 the better experience; answers to your questions are buried somewhere in that discussion with a lot of elaborate examples.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/622499-risen-2-dark-waters/62760683
http://thenocturnalrambler.blogspot.com/2012/02/on-gothic-series.html

The second link is to an article I wrote summarizing my thoughts on the Gothic series, defining the elements that make the first two such unique and remarkable games, and sort of describing the trend that occurs over the course of the series. I'm not a huge fan of G3, but the first two are outstanding, exceptional games, and maybe that article can give you some more insight into what you can expect from G2.

To answer your questions more directly:

1. How is the combat?
I think it's a lot more engaging than G3's. With your weapon drawn, you hold the action button to lock onto a target, and press your directional movement keys to swing the sword in different combinations. It'll feel a little clunky at first because you're completely unfamiliar with this control scheme, and because your character is completely untrained with swords (tip: learn sword training as quickly as possible), but I find it's a system that rewards personal skill and tact, while still balancing your stats into the equation, which makes it pretty satisfying for me, anyway. Some people don't like it because of how unconventional it is.

2. How is the exploration?
Exploration is far more interesting and rewarding than exploring in G3. The map is not nearly as large as G3's, but by no means small, and it's just filled with a lot more detail and unique places to find. There's something interesting to find in every direction, and it really rewards exploring off the beaten track into clever, discrete areas. The map also feels laid-out more naturally and logically -- there's a lot to explore, but it never becomes tiring because of how everything's so well-focused and planned-out.

3. What about the unique loot?
It's probably fairly comparable to G3, except because you're in a more condensed setting, it'll feel more unique. Gothic 3 has the problem of stretching everything out to the point that truly new and exciting loot is often very few and far between, and the randomized, algorithmic treasure chests take a lot of the unique reward and satisfaction out of finding loot. Gothic 2 does a far better job of placing specific rewards in specific locations, usually in some kind of hidden area or behind some kind of challenging situation, to make it feel more rewarding and interesting.

4. On a scale of 1-10, how repetitive is Gothic 2?
I would say it has a pretty low score on repetition. The game is pretty dynamic in many different regards, which keeps things feeling fresh and interesting as you progress through it. The combat system evolves and opens up as you increase your training, as opposed to remaining the same from beginning to end; there's usually always someplace new to discover with unique atmosphere and design; there are a lot of truly interesting side-quests to complete at every stage of the game, which compliment the progression of the main questline; and the world changes over the course of the game as a result of the main quest, so there's always something new going on, even in familiar locations.
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N3B was here -- [PDBA 4EVR]
thenocturnalrambler.blogspot.com

That's pretty much how it is in Gothic 3. Once I manually lock onto a target, I'll then have the freedom to use movement keys in conjunction to the swing of the sword to attack from different angles. Was it different?

Here's what I remember from G3 -- you used the left and right mouse buttons to do "heavy" or "light attacks," and you could perform a few special attacks by holding one button and then clicking the other. The regular attacks could be spammed and you'd step forward with each attack.

In Gothic 2, you face an enemy, press and hold the action key, and then press your directional keys to attack with the sword -- left to do a lateral swing left, right to do a lateral swing right, forward to do forward-stepping attacks, and back to block / parry. You can string these together into different combinations. You can't move while you're holding down the action key, so you release it to step backwards or to strafe around a target.

The system is based heavily on timing, with a certain rhythm to clicking your attacks. If you click too soon in an attack, you'll fudge the combo and sort of hesitate for a second, leaving you vulnerable to an attack. Likewise, you have to time your blocks properly or you'll take damage. It also uses hitstun a lot, so blocking is very important, and it's also crucial to move around strategically to avoid taking damage.

Watch some of the fights in this video for kind of a basic idea of what G1 and G2 are like. The guy's using a heavily modded version of the game, so some things are different (like those arrows bouncing off him at the end, the instant health-restoration), but the combat system is basically the same as in the vanilla version. He's using two-handed swords, and some of them have magic effects on them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0iqj1nqqow
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N3B was here -- [PDBA 4EVR]
thenocturnalrambler.blogspot.com