Gothic is an open world RPG where you take on the role of a loser who has to deliver a letter, then some other stuff happens. The world of Gothic is very hostile, you start pretty much as a hobo without any significant skills or money and even the puniest of critters pose a threat to you. As an example, whereas in other RPGs wolves are an enemy that becomes a pushover in less than an hour, in Gothic packs will mob you mercilessly for the entire first chapter. Also you are in a prison colony so you gotta watch your back, very few people are actually willing to help you for free.
Ironically, you enjoy a high degree of freedom to explore the finely crafted colony and exploit everything and everyone around you, this may sound bad for people who like to play good characters, but most people inside the colony deserve a beating so don't feel too bad about it. It's this combination of helplessness and freedom that makes Gothic such a great series.
Sure, the controls are weird, the combat is kind of basic, there are some annoying bugs and the graphics have seen better days, but who cares about that when you can master hobo economics and become a mage or something cool like that?
I love this game, take the 10 minutes required to get used to the controls and go play it.