Gothic 1 Remake is an open-world RPG developed by Alkimia Interactive and published by THQ Nordic. The Barcelona-based developers have brought back to life this 2001 German jewel, which at the time of its release was considered one of the best European-made games. The project for the remake was first revealed in 2019. Seven long years later, devotees of the game are longing to know one thing:
Has it aged like milk or like fine wine? Grab a pike and a shovel, we’re digging for the truth in the ancient ore mines of Myrtana!
Between A Hard Place And A Rock
Gothic 1 Remake stays fiercely loyal to its source material. Not even as much as a cutscene has been altered from the original game. This is, of course, to be expected, since any alterations may provoke the fury of keyboard warriors who cherish the nostalgia of such remakes. But maybe, just maybe, this level of devotion to the early 2000s may also have done the game a disservice, as the playthrough experience struggles to keep up the momentum.
Gameplay
Thanks to a cutscene, the backstory of the prison mines of Myrtana is explained as briefly as possible. A broken spell hinders all inmates of the mine valley from escaping. Unfortunately, they didn’t bother with introducing the main character, who is thrown into this hellish hole along with all the other scoundrels of the kingdom.
The game introduces players quickly to the cruel conditions and the dog-eat-dog mentality of the mines. Beat to near death and robbed as soon as the game started, just to be beaten to near death and mugged again once I made my way to the Old Camp. The first twenty minutes or so not only serve to introduce the brutal environment of the game but also the unforgiving gameplay that is to be expected moving forward.
Favors As The Only Real Currency In The Prison Mines
In the first few hours, I spent most of my time following instructions from Diego, your typical rugged-on-the-outside but caring-on-the-inside sensei master sort of character. Just like in a real prison, we learn that the only real currency in the mines is the exchange of favors. To prove myself worthy of the Old Camp gang, I had to do favors for different members of Gomez’s gang. Unfortunately, what began as an intriguing and action-packed RPG quickly turned into a wordy series of conversations and fetch quests. Keeping track of the ever-growing list of NPCs, their allegiances, and their requests became a task in itself.
At one point, players are asked to infiltrate the Cult of the Sleeper, in order to infiltrate the Old Camp gang, in order to infiltrate Gomez’s stronghold, just to deliver a message from the king. When penetrating the ranks of the cult, I was asked to, yup, exchange favors with their high priests to be accepted as one of them. So now, we’re doing favors for the cult leaders, to get accepted, to be in favor with the gang members, to be accepted by them. And that is just one of the many gang members you need to be in good graces with.
Old-School Combat
So, when do we finally get to slicing and dicing and casting fireballs out of our hands? After four hours in the game, I finally shot my first arrow at a wolf. Gothic 1 Remake, like the original, has one of the toughest, most unforgiving combats of any RPG. It takes several dodges and sword swings to even kill a molerat in the early stages. Leveling up is likewise complicated. To level up stats like strength or specific skills like one-handed sword-fighting, players need to first gain experience points and then spend those points with a master of the skill they want to upgrade.
Graphics & Audio
It is worth noting that Gothic 1 Remake is, as the name suggests, a remake, not a remaster. For clarification, a remaster mainly focuses on polishing out aesthetics, graphics, and any performance issues the original game may have had. In contrast, a remake rebuilds the game from scratch, which, in addition to drastically improving the graphics, also allows developers to introduce new mechanics and a better user interface. This overhaul greatly modernizes games that may suffer from outdated graphics, gameplay, and interface.
Developers Alkimia Interactive mostly left the mechanics intact for better and for worse. Nonetheless, the graphics and visuals have no point of comparison. When put side by side, the 2026 remake doesn’t just look like a facelift of the original 2001 release, but like a completely new game.
That being said, the visuals are not precisely breathtaking either. Blurry visuals and a lack of detail often make it difficult to distinguish a wolf from an oddly shaped bush in the distance. The opaque blend of browns, greys, blacks, and greens turns the forest into a mush of undistinguishable sameness.
I never found the soundtrack distracting, but also never quite remarkable. The conversations with NPCS, of which there are a lot, are not bad, but also not great. There are some obviously more polished characters with decent voice acting, like the unnamed protagonist, Diego, and Thorus. The rest of the Shadow crew all sounded the same to me, just like the cultists of the Sleeper all sounded like the same person.
Longevity
Gothic 1 Remake has a long, long introduction phase where players mainly have to complete fetch quests and do favors for dozens of NPCs. After which, the game shifts gears, and players can enjoy a more classic style of RPG. Once geared and leveled up, forest exploration becomes less of a game of avoiding certain death and evolves into a much more enjoyable activity. We go from surviving encounters against critters, oversized insects, and medium-sized wild animals to fighting orcs, zombie orcs, thugs, evil necromancers, and so on.
The total playthrough is estimated somewhere between 30 and 40 hours, according to Steam community discussions.
Final Thoughts
Gothic 1 Remake really blossoms and shines once players get through the excruciatingly slow start, with the seemingly endless back-and-forth conversations and tasks. Whilst I do appreciate how heavily this game focuses on NPC interaction, and its importance in forming alliances, Gothic fails to make me care about any of these Old Camp Shadow thugs, Brotherhood of the Sleeper cultists, or New Camp Mercenaries. Diego is the only character that even comes close to being likeable.
Gothic 1 Remake’s biggest achievement is to truly deliver that vintage gameplay experience to players. If you’re a big fan of old-school game design, minimal guidance, and unforgiving difficulty, then this game is for you. For players who have grown accustomed to modern quality of life features like fast travel and auto-saves, Gothic 1 Remake can feel rather frustrating. One of my personal pet peeves was the trainer-based progression system. I had to track down one of the many NPCs who can train me to level up a certain skill.
Yes, I know I sound like I didn’t enjoy the game. On the contrary, it brought me back to my childhood, when games didn’t have guides, floating arrows pointing where you had to go next, or glowing objects that stood out so you knew which ones you could interact with. If you’re looking for that old-school feel, Gothic 1 Remake will not disappoint.
Gothic 1 Remake gets the Thumb Culture Gold Award!
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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