Gothic 1 Remake Review

Gothic is one of the highly praised RPGs for its story, world design, atmosphere, and graphics when it was released back in 2001. It was one of the first European RPGs with fully voiced dialogues, and it made a lot of impact in the gaming genre, pushing developers to bring a quality adventure for RPG lovers. With the success of Gothic, the Gothic franchise was born, which became popular in Russia, Poland, Germany, and Austria. To be honest, I never played the original Gothic, but Alkimia Interactive and THQ Nordic made it possible with Gothic 1 Remake. It is the reimagining of the original Gothic experience, with a larger world, current-gen graphics, more quests, and improvements. This is our review of Gothic 1 Remake.

NOTE: The review copy of Gothic 1 Remake was provided by the publishers.

Story

Gothic 1 Remake follows the original story of Gothic (2001). It follows the same steps as the cult classic RPG, where you play as the “nameless hero”. You start with nothing in a big medieval fantasy world, where the humans are at war with Orcs. The King decides to mine the magical ores from the mining colony and sends the convicts to mine the ore. For precautions, the king sends 12 of his powerful mages to lift up the Barrier over the mining colony to prevent convicts from escaping. However, things do not go according to plan, and the convicts take control of the mining colony and divide into three groups.

The game begins after these events, where you, the nameless hero, get to deliver a letter to the Order of the Magicians of the Fire. After speaking with the magicians, you will get to choose one of the three camps. From there, you help the Sect Camp escape the colony through a ritual. However, the ritual goes badly, leaving only the guru and the hero alive.

Gameplay

Gothic 1 Remake is an action-adventure RPG title with a third-person perspective mode. It is a through-and-through RPG experience, where your actions matter. The first thing that I want to make clear is that the Remake follows the same game design as Piranha Bytes, the original creators of Gothic. Frankly, all games of Piranha Bytes are a bit clunky, and you will feel it straight away in Gothic 1 Remake as well. Instead of stating the clunkiness as a weak point, it is more of a charm. It is what drives the player to understand the meaning of survival in a harsh world. And when I say, harsh world, I mean it.

Right off the bat, you will feel the overall difficulty on another level. You will experience dying by the normal enemy, like a wolf, multiple times. Although it can be annoying, it is all for you to understand the nature of the world, where you fight it with a Rusty Sword. Eventually, you will become stronger with better skills to your name, and you will be slaying the enemies in one hit who once gave you a hard time.

Exploration and Progression

Gothic 1 Remake takes place in a medieval fantasy world, divided into three major factions. Factions play a crucial role both in exploring new areas of the world and in progression. From the moment you choose to join a faction, a corresponding progression path will be available to you. It is because every faction is unique to its own culture and quests. One faction will teach you mining and trading, while the other can help you learn magic. There is a lot of diversity and decision-making when it comes to progression. Your actions will shape the outcome of the quests that you pursue.

Another big thing that is essential to mention is that there is no hand-holding, on-screen guide for quests or quest markers of any kind in Gothic 1 Remake. You are on your own. Listening to NPCs and following their guidelines is crucial for finding the quests. Making quick decisions during conversations without thinking can make things difficult for your adventure. So, treating it as a true RPG is what will make you survive the fight.

Combat and Leveling

Gothic 1 Remake offers a decent variety of combat options. You can choose to use Melee, Ranged, and Magic throughout your adventure. However, the combat at the beginning of the game is brutal. There is no denying that the early progression is hard, but it is only up to that point when you get to meet the trainers. The trainers will help you get better in overall combat, learning combos, stamina improvement, and much more. You must find faction mentors to help you train and get better in combat. Without the trainers, you will learn no new skills.

Speaking of skills, there is a basic leveling system in Gothic 1 Remake. You earn most XP by completing the quests and during combat. However, the major skills for combat are gated by the trainers. Train and fight with your trainers to unlock the new skills.

Sound and Visual Design

The sound design in Gothic 1 Remake is one of its strongest aspects. You get to hear crystal clear ambiance and environmental sounds whenever you are in a forest, a cave, or at a camp. The soundtrack is great, blending motifs with dark tones. Dialogues and voice acting are done well, and are sharper and more distinct, which makes the world feel alive.

The visual design of Gothic 1 Remake is also amazing. You get to experience the modern lighting and atmosphere throughout the adventure. The environmental detail is very promising in every terrain of the world map. You get to see the ground built up through hard work in every path, castle, and cave you visit.

Verdict – Score 8/10

Gothic 1 Remake is a great RPG title that reimagines the original title in a promising way. It keeps the composure and the charm of the original title, offering a great story, open-world exploration, faction choices, an interactive world, and brutal combat. If you are someone who loves RPGs, you cannot go wrong with Gothic 1 Remake. However, you have to be prepared for a difficult world, especially in the first two hours of the game. Other than that, despite it being a remake of an over two-decade-old game, it is pretty heavy on requirements.

Gothic 1 Remake is now available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.