Gothic II: Night of the Raven

Gothic II: Night of the Raven (German: Die Nacht des Raben) is the expansion pack of the role-playing video game Gothic II. The expansion focuses on further enlarging the story already presented in the original Gothic II game, by adding a world called Jharkendar and new attributes, items, and weapons.

Gothic II: Night of the Raven
German cover of the expansion pack
Developer(s)Piranha Bytes
Publisher(s)JoWooD Productions
Designer(s)Michael Hoge
Composer(s)Kai Rosenkranz
SeriesGothic
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release
  • EU: 22 August 2003
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Upon its first release in 2003[1] the game was available in the German language only,[2] the English version only being released in 2005, as part of the Gothic II Gold package.[3]

Gameplay

The expansion brings many significant changes to the gameplay. A major change can be seen in terms of difficulty, where the developers had rebalanced the whole game and made it harder, after this was requested by the community.

This increase in difficulty is done by adding new, more powerful animals, reducing the number of potions, and special plants found in the game, making attributes and items more expensive, and reducing the effect of permanent potions.[4]

An addition brought by the gameplay consists of a few new skills, and special items. The player now can learn the language of the ancient people which inhabited the newly introduced city of Jharkendar, giving him the possibility to read the so-called Stone Tablets. These can be found across the whole Khorinian island,[5] and have the property to increase the player's attributes.

Night of the Raven also introduces another skill, Acrobatics. Unlike in Gothic, this skill is learned when reaching 90 points of dexterity,[6] and cannot be learned otherwise. Acrobatics is not present in Gothic II.

Synopsis

Setting
The canyon located in the northwest of Jharkendar.

In addition to the world already introduced by Gothic II, the addon brings a new world, called Jharkendar. The new world is split into various areas,[7] each presenting a different type of climate. Several temples, belonging to the ancient people that inhabited Jharkendar, can be seen along Jharkendar.

In the northwest of the island, near the pirate camp, a canyon is located, while in the eastern part, a swamp can be found, in which the bandits have established a camp. The so-called "House of Scholars" can be found in the canyon area, while in the swamp, in the camp of the bandits, the "Temple of Adanos", also referred to as the "House of Warriors", is located.

In the south of the island, a large portion of the land is occupied by mountains which separate Jharkendar from Khorinis, and the rest of the island.

Plot

The expanded version of the story from the original Gothic II, told by the addon, introduces a new world called Jharkendar. Situated in the northeast of Khorinis, Jharkendar is presented as an ancient, deserted city. The player helps the Water Mages, also present in Gothic, but which were missing in Gothic II,[8] open a portal, found in an old temple in the land of Khorinis. The developers have also included several cut-scenes that add to the flavor of the game by referring back to events that take place in Gothic. This provides a greater sense of continuity for players that have played both games.

After managing to open the portal to the ancient city of Jharkendar, the hero learns about the dangers threatening the island. With the help of the pirates (also a new guild introduced by the addon), the hero manages to defeat Raven (an old character from the first Gothic, which also was not present in the second part of the franchise). Following the defeat of Raven, the hero recovers Beliar's Claw, an ancient artifact.

In the continuation of the story, the player is confronted with the same plot present in the original game.

In addition to this new area of the world, many seemingly meaningless locations (and characters) in the original Gothic II were modified and found a purpose in the expansion - namely, the ancient ruins in the northeast, the Stonehenge-like structures scattered throughout the countryside, and the bandit camp near the landowner's farm.

References
  1. "German official site" (in German). Piranha Bytes. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2008.
  2. "Night of the Raven Review at Gamers With Jobs". IGN. 11 September 2003. Archived from the original on 18 May 2007. Retrieved 26 April 2008. An expansion to Gothic II that's presently only available in the developer's home nation [Germany]
  3. "Gamespot - Gothic II Gold". Gamespot.
  4. "RPGDot Review - Gameplay & difficulty level". RPGDot. 2 April 2004.
  5. "Maps showing ingame details, including Stone Tablets". World of Gothic.
  6. "Graphic Walkthrough mentioning Acrobatics". Nachtwanderer & WernerTWC. Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2008. Or, if you have learned acrobatics (automaticly when you have 90 DEX), you can simply [...]
  7. "The New World" (in German). Piranha Bytes.
  8. "GamersHell Night of the Raven review". GamersHell. Archived from the original on 12 January 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2008.
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