First of all: I would give Gothic 3 a "Mixed" rather than "Recommended". It's a firm 5/10.
If you want to play it, make sure to install the Community Patch!

I would only recommend Gothic 3 to people who really want to play more Gothic. Maybe those who got the game as part of a bundle and want to see how the story continues or what the entire world of Myrtana looks like.

Speaking of, the world is beautifully crafted, with stunning vistas, and you can tell that a lot of love and attention to detail went into it. Exploration is what made the game somewhat fun for me and was enough to keep me entertained until the end.

Each city serves as a hub for quests. The structure is always the same: complete tasks to gain reputation in the city and eventually join one of the factions. This repetitive formula makes the game feel monotonous. There aren't any particularly creative or memorable quests. It might sound strange, but escort quests are usually the most enjoyable since they let you explore new areas.

Unfortunately, everything else in the game is quite weak. The character models all look the same and are poorly animated. Enemy hitboxes are terrible. Combat with bows is boring, and melee combat is awful. If you play Gothic 3, go for magic, that’s at least somewhat fun.

The story is very mediocre and barely worth mentioning. It makes no sense that orcs, who were portrayed as tribal in Gothic 1 and 2, are now a sophisticated species. The games’ storylines are only separated by a few weeks, which makes this change feel weird.

Gothic 3 doesn’t even feel like a true Gothic game anymore. The whole system has been overhauled to include more "modern" elements like a compass, menus and a skill bar. I assume the developers didn’t trust the original Gothic formula and tried to copy more mainstream games instead, which is a shame.
The music, on the other hand, is the best in the series! Simply perfect.

Soundtrack