Gothic

[Googolplex]

I agree, If a game has horrible controls to compensate for difficulty, that's lazy game design.

Right. But don't think that about Gothic.
I don't understand why people could have problems with the controls, they are even very easy and precise. You just have to know how they are working.

And should remind that Gothic is an old game, while Risen has by far more user-friendly controls, but is a step back in design quality to become more popularity in international mainstream. Gothic is a game for a special niche of hardcore players, the game wasn't made to get much of money. The developers said that they never thought about what the mainstream wants, they just wanted to make their game. And most of the fans like the original Gothic gameplay more than it is in the modern titles since Gothic 3. The problem is that modern combat feels just like "click and death" and that ruined the typical Gothic atmosphere. But you will only understand that after playing all games in the series.

Gothic 3 for example looks great for a game from 2006, you can't believe that it's the worst of all Gothic games. But still a good game.