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Magic Made in Germany

Oh, how time flies. How I loved Gothic 3 . And hated it. And loved it. And hated it again. My brother and I bought the game as soon as it came out in October 2006, installed it agonizingly slowly on our far too ill-equipped PC and immediately put it on the lowest possible settings. The game started: the combat system was unfamiliar, the AI was horrible and even the first side quest buggy. It was a firework display of despair, a journey of discovery into the depths of my own frustration. Version 1.0, or rather 0.2, in which the game was shipped, was legendary. At this point, I'll briefly link to the bug video created by GameStar magazine at the time GameStar , which perfectly illustrates what a disaster the game was back then. Incidentally, it still received an 86% rating and was crowned 'PC Game of the Year 2006'.

Despite its shortcomings, I played through the bugfest several times, partly because that's how it was done back then - you didn't have an alternative after all. Buying a new game for €50 was a commitment, and you had to see it through. And there were also patches... on the bonus CDs from games magazines, since we didn't have the internet. Oh yes, Memories. But I don't even want to talk about the game, which nowadays, at least in terms of gameplay, can hardly bear witness to its former brilliance. But what really excited me back then, apart from the world, was the orchestral soundtrack that came with the boxed version as a CD. A novelty for me, and in fact one of, if not the first soundtrack in my collection.

The music was composed by Kai Rosenkranz, Piranha Bytes' in-house musician - and what music it was. As soon as we arrive in the world of Myrtana at the start of the game, we have to fight the orc invaders. We draw our swords and suddenly horns sound and drums cheer us on (the track is entitled Showdown). It sounds as if we are on the front line, as if an army is charging, then the music surges back, back and forth, accompanied by a fantastic melody that screams fantasy and epic at the same time. As soon as the battle is over, the roar dies away. It gives way to a gentle melody (Vista Point), played on a flute, accompanied by harps and strings. In our mind's eye, green pastures and far-off lands stretch out, calling for discovery. The actual game reflects this atmosphere wonderfully, and hardly any open-world game has provided me with such an immersive introduction, at least musically - the Mass Effect-series is an exception here, for example. I just did wanted to get out and discover this world.

I think a nostalgia warning is in order at this point. Anyone who can do the math knows that I was 14 at the time when I played Gothic 3 for the first time and that my ratings therefore include a lot of bonus points. But that doesn't change the fact that the soundtrack was produced to a high standard and, which was not a given back then and still isn't today, was recorded by a real orchestra. The fact that real physical musicians were at work here can be heard not only in the Main Theme (Gothic 3), which initially rises and falls softly, before the orchestra swells together with the wind instruments into a symphony, which then, accompanied by the choir, unleashes itself in a fantastic overture to a similarly fantastic adventure.

However, as Gothic 3 offers different biomes, from the cold mountains of Northmar to the Varant desert, the music is also ethnically diverse. However, the songs are based on established stereotypes: if we walk through the steppe or a Bedouin settlement, we hear tablas and qanuns (Arabic drums and zithers, and yes, I had to look up the names), while on the snowy peaks we hear deep horns and lonely strings. That's why my rating here is less positive, as well as the fact that it's not my preferred style of music.

Where the soundtrack scores points, however, is in the wooded inland of Myrtana, in the medieval towns and flat grasslands. This is where the delicate tones resound, often accompanied by a harp - an instrument that invites cheesiness, but in my opinion fits the composition perfectly. Admittedly, Gothic 3 is hardly any different musically from comparable fantasy games, but the overall package is certainly convincing. And because I'm a fantasy fan anyway, this soundtrack offers a nice facet that enriches the genre and my everyday life. A clear recommendation from me!

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Nostalgia warning

The rating of the individual tracks is purely subjective and clearly colored by my own experience with the game. You can find out more in the article About Nostalgia.

Gothic 3

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Ratings
01	Gothic 3	Kai Rosenkranz	5
02	Opening Sequence	Kai Rosenkranz	4
03	Xardas Tower	Kai Rosenkranz	4
04	Vista Point	Kai Rosenkranz	5
05	Ruinfields	Kai Rosenkranz	4
06	Dark Presence	Kai Rosenkranz	4
07	Orc Camp	Kai Rosenkranz	4
08	From Silden to Trelis	Kai Rosenkranz	5
09	Ominous Woods	Kai Rosenkranz	5
10	Showdown	Kai Rosenkranz	4
11	The Dig	Kai Rosenkranz	5
12	Slaves	Kai Rosenkranz	4
13	Divine Powers	Kai Rosenkranz	4
14	Venguard Theme	Kai Rosenkranz	5
15	Exploring Myrtana	Kai Rosenkranz	5
16	Revolution	Kai Rosenkranz	5
17	Northmar (Upper Level)	Kai Rosenkranz	4
18	The Creation of the Barrier	Kai Rosenkranz	4
19	Vista Point (Reprise)	Kai Rosenkranz	5
20	Desert Sun	Kai Rosenkranz	3
21	Welcome to Varant	Kai Rosenkranz	5
22	Northmar (Lower Level)	Kai Rosenkranz	3
23	Sad Strings	Kai Rosenkranz	4
24	The End	Kai Rosenkranz	4
25	End Titles	Kai Rosenkranz	4
26	In My Dreams	Alice Taylor	4
27	Is Nomine Vacans	Corvus Corax	3
28	Welcome to the Bronx	Shelly Quest	4
29	Bring Back the Magic	Steve Baltes RMX	2

Gothic 3 [Gamerip]

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Ratings
01	Gothic 3*	Kai Rosenkranz	5
02	Opening [Opening Sequence]*	Kai Rosenkranz	4
03	Orc Camp*	Kai Rosenkranz	4
04	The Barrier [The Creation of the Barrier]*	Kai Rosenkranz	4
05	Exploring Myrtana*	Kai Rosenkranz	5
06	Myrtanian Nights	Kai Rosenkranz	2
07	Ominous Woods*	Kai Rosenkranz	5
08	Ominous Nights	Kai Rosenkranz	3
09	A King's City [From Silden to Trelis]*	Kai Rosenkranz	5
10	Castle Nights	Kai Rosenkranz	3
11	Vista Point*	Kai Rosenkranz	5
12	Cascades	Kai Rosenkranz	3
13	A Lovely Location	Kai Rosenkranz	3
14	The Curse of Gotha	Kai Rosenkranz	4
15	The Tower of Gotha	Kai Rosenkranz	3
16	The Castle of Faring	Kai Rosenkranz	2
17	Sad Strings*	Kai Rosenkranz	4
18	Vengard [Venguard Theme]*	Kai Rosenkranz	5
19	Vista Point (Reprise)*	Kai Rosenkranz	5
20	Highlands	Kai Rosenkranz	2
21	Northmar [Northmar (Lower Level)]*	Kai Rosenkranz	3
22	The Clans of Northmar [Northmar (Upper Level)]*	Kai Rosenkranz	4
23	Monastery	Kai Rosenkranz	2
24	Xardas [Xardas Tower]*	Kai Rosenkranz	4
25	Living Ancestors	Kai Rosenkranz	1
26	Enter the Dungeon	Kai Rosenkranz	3
27	Dark Presence	Kai Rosenkranz	3
28	Ore Mine	Kai Rosenkranz	2
29	Liberation	Kai Rosenkranz	2
30	Revolution*	Kai Rosenkranz	5
31	Success	Kai Rosenkranz	4
32	Death	Kai Rosenkranz	4
33	Dark Caves	Kai Rosenkranz	2
34	Clearing Caverns	Kai Rosenkranz	2
35	Arena	Kai Rosenkranz	1
36	Showtime	Kai Rosenkranz	2
37	Hunting Grounds	Kai Rosenkranz	3
38	Welcome to Varant*	Kai Rosenkranz	5
39	Desert Sun*	Kai Rosenkranz	3
40	Desert Moon	Kai Rosenkranz	2
41	Scalding Duels	Kai Rosenkranz	3
42	Death Valley	Kai Rosenkranz	3
43	Ruinfields*	Kai Rosenkranz	4
44	Slaves*	Kai Rosenkranz	4
45	The Dig*	Kai Rosenkranz	5
46	Ishtar	Kai Rosenkranz	4
47	Zuben	Kai Rosenkranz	1
48	Showdown*	Kai Rosenkranz	4
49	Hunting Grounds [Alternate]	Kai Rosenkranz	3
50	Divine Powers*	Kai Rosenkranz	4
51	The End*	Kai Rosenkranz	4
52	End Titles*	Kai Rosenkranz	4
53	Soul Travel	Kai Rosenkranz	5
54	Beliar	Kai Rosenkranz	2
55	Credits [Bonus]	Kai Rosenkranz	4

*Track contained in the Original Soundtrack