Arcania: Gothic 4 Interview

Hooked Gamers had the chance to fire off a set of ten questions to Arcania: Gothic 4 producer Kamaal Anwar, covering such topics as the game's many title changes, how the gameplay has evolved since Gothic 3, the difference between North American and European RPG fans, and more.
HookedGamers: Considering the new developer and numerous name changes, how much of a link is there between Gothic 4 and previous Gothic installments?

Kamaal Anwar: It is very much Gothic 4. Everything from the characters to the story are centric to Gothic. For those who have played the previous games, there are payoffs that only they will appreciate. However, the game has been designed with newcomer accessibility in mind. Gamers will not have to be familiar with Gothic to enjoy this installment.

...

HookedGamers: Gothic 3's melee combat also proved to be clunky and frustrating for gamers. How have you changed it in Gothic 4?

Kamaal Anwar: Because this is an entirely new codebase, we're not working with any problems that existed from the previous games. The combat design has been entirely reworked from the ground up and has been of constant internal scrutiny. Without going into detail into how it works, it's very much focused on an active experience.