Two Worlds is laughably bad, but Two Worlds 2 is great. Gothic 3 is fairly good with the fan patch.

Go with either Gothic or the TW sequel. I can't even remotely recommend Two Worlds. It's so repetitive and bland.

I decided to get both, thanks for the suggestions all. :)

Can someone point me towards the fan patch for Gothic 3? I'd like to make sure I get the correct one. Thanks!

Here you go: http://www.worldofgothic.com/dl/?go=dlfile&fileid=166

Can anyone comment about playing Gothic 2, without having played the first one?

I'm the king of asking barely related question... not many people answer.

The events of Gothic 2 begin very shortly after the end of the first game - I think there's a sort of recap of events during the intro for Gothic 2 (not 100% sure how in-depth it was as I haven't played it for a while), but it would probably be a good idea to play through the first game first.

(Bought the first two Gothic games on GOG a few days ago to replay them and to get the Night of the Raven expansion for Gothic 2)

Thanks!

For 5$, you really can't go wrong with either (imho). As someone else said, both have their flaws (and make sure you install the community patches if you get Gothic 3), but they are both very enjoyable RPGs.

I might help to play the first one but I've played through a good chunk of Gothic 2 without playing the first and don't feel lost.

As Dreadmoth said, there is a slight recap about Gothic 1's events, but you'd still be missing out. There are recurring characters, and if you see one and don't know who they are, you might not even talk to them, or would at least be wondering "who are you?" Also, Gothic 1's map is part of Gothic 2's, and you'll probably benefit of knowing what is where since that part of the game is much harder in Gothic 2. Also you'll be able to appreciate the differences that have occurred in that region. I recommend playing G1 first.

You're not required to have played the first game in order to understand the second, but you'll have (imho) a more enjoyable experience playing Gothic 1 first.

They tell you what happened in Gothic 1 in Gothic 2. But it should be noted that Gothic 2 is considerably harder, and the controls in those games takes some getting used to (that is not to say that they are bad, because they are not. They are just different), so the skills you earn from playing Gothic 1 will be very useful when trying to play Gothic 2. Also, i do think that Gothic 1 is the better game. Gothic 2 is good, but the setting in Gothic 1 felt more unique.

I should point out that I played Gothic 2 with its expansion, which is known for making the game a lot harder, I have not played vanilla Gothic 2 (though as the expansion is integrated into the main game, it is recommended that you play through G2 with its expansion and not wait until you are done with the game before you install it)

there is an engine texture upgrade and patch to bring gothic 1 up to G2 levels and control scheme... if that is your wonder... there are how-tos and links in the main gothic forums..