I thought I'd start this game just because Dragon Age was not out yet... Now I congratulate myself for starting it
I did not play any game in the Gothic series before, therefore I find this to be very original. I just love the freedom it offers you - to be honest, I find it as good as Bethesda's Oblivion, although very different.
From the very begining of the game you have to make a choice in becoming a "ranger-warrior" -Don's Camp, or a "warrior-mage" - the monastery. I took the Don's way - as did probably 85% of the people that plyed this game, but am really curios now as to where the other path led.
The character advancement level is am bit different from what I have seen before, and I find this excellent.
What I also liked are the quests - in very many quests I was stuck and I was convinced the game is bugged :) - turned out I was missing something.
However, this game misses powerful artifacts and tends to have predictable battles - for example the final boss battle is a joke. Some skills, such as ore prospecting, smiting, acrobatics, sneak I believe to be useless - smiting only lets you craft swords, rings and amulets, but I found none of my creations to be really worth the skills point spent.
Anyway, it is a great game, worth both your time and money.