Great review, you said pretty much everything that made this game one of the best things ever. I remember the factions, "Gothic vs Morrowind". To this day I still can't choose (alas, Gothic 3 was NOT on par with Oblivion). I'll always be fond of Gothic and its great immersion though, and I'll always remember jumping off Xardas' tower into the lake below, or being a templar and selling weed to the guys in New Camp for 10 ore pieces. Good times.

It is incredible how these guys keep doing the same game, and it keeps working amazingly 20 years later. I think of Risen, specifically. I think of Elex, although I don't know how much of the mechanics remained the same.