Glare Seethe posted:

The second thing I like is that it has a desert map, which is all too rare in games, and also ties into the third thing, which is Piranha Bytes' excellence at crafting the geography of their game worlds. It's just always so fun to traverse the map in Gothic/Risen. Something about the world design in their games just works. I remember the forest region in Gothic 3 being just gorgeous, with sweeping pastures and giant waterfalls crashing into streams that flow into riverside towns. It absolutely shames its peers (like Oblivion or Two Worlds), and probably many games that have come since, though I'd have to revisit it to make sure. Just looking at random youtube videos, though, I think I stand behind that statement.