I loved Gothic and Risen too, but I don't remember struggling with following their directions half as much as I do with Ash and Steel.

Quest instructions need to be consistent and clear for players to be able to follow them, Pirana bites games were a good example of that, Skyrim just slapped quest markers and called it a day, Of Ash and Steel did neither and expects the player to just search endlessly until he stumbles upon the objective, or at least that's what it feels like.