Gothic II: Gold Edition

Introduction

Gothic II: Gold Edition is Piranha Bytes' open-world action RPG, published by THQ Nordic. The base game originally released in 2002, with this Gold Edition bundling the Night of the Raven expansion and arriving on Steam on 29 November 2005. It follows the Nameless Hero returning to a war-torn kingdom to help repel an orc invasion, widely regarded as one of the defining entries in the CRPG genre. It sits at 89% positive ("Very Positive") across 3,475 English-language Steam reviews. This review read the 100 most-helpful negative reviews of 379 total, plus a sample of the 100 most recent English reviews.

The benchmark, cited even by its own successors

This outlet reviewed Piranha Bytes' Risen and Risen 2 earlier the same session, and in both cases found reviewers measuring those games against Gothic II specifically as the studio's high point. That pattern holds within this review's own sample too: reviewers marking Gothic II down still routinely credit it as one of the best RPGs ever made. "One of the best RPGs every made. If Gothic 1 is great, Gothic 2 is perfect," reads a representative 2026 review. Another, more resigned about its age: "Eurojank of the highest order" — followed, in the broader sample, by continued praise for its immersion and world design.

A genuine, dateable pricing controversy

What this review found actually driving negative reviews recently isn't the game's quality but its price. Twenty-one of the 100 negative reviews read date to 2025, and 16 more to 2026 already — compared to single digits in every prior year since the game's Steam release — and this review found them converging on a specific, checkable complaint. "THQs unreasonable price increase from $10 to $20, just before the remake is about to be released, should not be rewarded," reads one representative review. This review independently confirmed the claim: in January 2025, THQ Nordic doubled the price of the entire Gothic catalogue on Steam, from US$9.99 to US$19.99, timed close to the announcement of the Gothic 1 Remake — with some regions reportedly seeing increases exceeding 100%. "There wasn't any update or any work on this game that would justify this price hike. If they lower the price then I can give positive recommendation as the game is perfect," reads another 2025 review, capturing the split many reviewers express between the game itself and its new cost.

An older, largely faded technical complaint

A separate, older complaint concerns the Steam release's out-of-the-box reliability. "It is a cash grab by Steam as they don't seem to care... whether games work on modern systems. There are numerous complex workarounds," reads a 2014 review, describing a period when the Steam version commonly needed third-party community patches to run properly. This review found the complaint largely absent from the more recent sample, suggesting either improved out-of-the-box compatibility or that the community patches have simply become a well-known, accepted step for new players.

Verdict

Gothic II: Gold Edition remains, by wide consensus including this outlet's own cross-referencing against its later spiritual successors, one of the finest CRPGs ever made — its world, writing and atmosphere draw praise even from reviewers actively marking it down. What's driving its negative reviews now isn't the two-decade-old game itself but a genuine, independently verified controversy: THQ Nordic doubling the price of the entire catalogue in January 2025. An essential classic — just buy it on sale rather than at the current list price.