Companies love games that sell well. Franchises sell better than one-offs. That’s why any game that sells even halfway decently — and some that don’t — get sequels. To attempt to create a franchise.

Case in point: Gothic II. The original Gothic was a relatively decent RPG. Not exactly revolutionary, not exactly groundbreaking, but fun and, well ... “better than expected.” And while the original didn’t exactly burn up the sales charts, it did well enough to merit a sequel. Which brings us to the present.