I may not be an expert on Piranha Bytes, but I am certainly no stranger either. I have about a dozen hours into Risen and double that in Elex II. However, Gothic has always been a point of interest for me. Having originally been released in 2001, it’s the game that put Piranha Bytes on the map. For nearly three decades, this small team has been making ambitious RPGs on a budget. This does come with its fair share of shortcomings, but it also translates to an intangible charm that is hard to deny. Last week, the long-awaited Gothic Remake from Alkimia Interactive and THQ Nordic hit storefronts. I’ve been lost in it on the PlayStation 5 for the last few days, curious as to how the core narrative holds up and what a modernized take on this cult classic would look like.
Right off the bat, Gothic has a great premise. With a kingdom locked in an orc war, King Rhobar forces criminals, no matter how petty their crime, to mine for ore. To make sure they don’t escape, he then gets all the best mages in the land to work together to create a barrier around the valley. One where people can go in, but no one can get out. The plan goes wrong, and the mages end up trapped inside with the criminals. After a rebellion in which the criminals take control and establish their own hierarchy and camps, they make demands to the king. Demands he has to accept if he wants the ore to arm his soldiers. It’s into this crime colony that you, the nameless Hero, are sent in.
The premise is a clever way to both contain the size of the game to a given area while also establishing drastic stakes. Once inside, much like any Piranha Bytes game, the world that meets you is brutal. Early on, nearly all wildlife can one-shot you, and humans are no better. In the Old Camp, for example, guards will try to squeeze protection money out of you, and if you don’t pay, they send diggers to teach you a lesson. The ambush was a genuine surprise to me as they lied to get me alone, and even after two hours, I was not able to defend myself. Understanding the rules of the world and adapting to the circumstances is key to survival in Gothic. Some games try to hold your hand in the early hours to ease you into the experience ahead, but Gothic is proof that sometimes getting your shit pushed is just as effective of an introduction.
Despite being named the Hero, you are rarely treated as the chosen one. Some people will ask you for favors, other will try to manipulate you to do their bidding, but most just want to be left alone. It’s sort of refreshing to play a game where you aren’t placed on a pedestal for being the main character. It grounds the character (and the player) in the brutal reality of the game as much as the gameplay does. There is a fair bit of dry humor sprinkled into the dour exchanges you have with other prisoners too, and even characters that get off on the wrong foot are relatable to a degree. All’s that to say that a lot of Gothic‘s quirkiness comes from its writing and the way it presents its world. Which is a good thing in a game where you have to pay attention to conversations if you want to fully understand a given objective or task.
As for the Remake, it’s sort of a double-edged sword, and as I will explain later, there’s a reason why this is a first-impressions article and not a full review. To Alkimia’s credit, the visual overhaul here is solid. The game looks great with textures and lighting getting a huge upgrade. I knew from the glimpses we got of the game in THQ showcases that it would look nice, but I was surprised at how gorgeous the game can be at times. Walking around at night and seeing the glow of the magic barrier and the mountains beyond establishes a nice sense of scale. And cresting a hill and spotting the pointed tower of the Old Camp in the distance was always stunning. The music is equally impressive, matching each location and situation well. Special mention goes to the sound design that brings the environments to life. Voice acting, on the other hand, can be hit or miss. Some characters look and sound great with proper lip syncing to match, while others do not. I think there was one character whose voice completely changes partway through the dialogue tree.
Perhaps the most noteworthy thing about Gothic Remake is how much they didn’t change. By modern standards, this game is missing a lot of features. There are no way point markers. There is no mini-map. In fact, there is no map at the start at all. You have to acquire one to use it. Items don’t have a rarity color, and levelling up doesn’t give you a skill tree to work through. Everything is learned, and while it’s harder at the start, it also feels more satisfying in the long run. Walking around and talking to different characters to find a person of interest is more interesting than just following a simple map marker. Exploring the wilderness, knowing a wild animal can kill you in one swipe, makes finding the mushrooms you were looking for much more rewarding. This is perhaps the biggest hurdle new players will have to get over, but the journey is all the better for it. If this scares you too much, the Remake does have a quest log and a handy glossary.
However, not all the rough edges are to the game’s benefit. Unfortunately, Gothic Remake is still plagued with quite a few bugs that make the experience more of a slog than it should be. This is what I expereinced in just my five hours with the game: I have had the game audio cut out numerous times. My character occasioinally gets stuck in little nooks and crannies of the map with no way out. Skipping dialogues I already listened to sometimes made the dialogues all just play at the same time until they’re done. Twice, I got locked in a crouching position for some reason. And that’s not even mentioning control issue that make me accidentally smack someone I wanted to talk to with a torch I can’t unequip. These are just a handful of hiccups that required me to often reload a save. There was a point where, within the space of 30 minutes, I had to hard restart the game three times. The wonder of the first few minutes in the world began to fade when issues kept rearing their ugly heads.
I don’t want to understate the impressive work Alkimia did on this remake. They kept the soul of the original while giving it a huge visual upgrade. However, the bugs dampen the experience too often to ignore. Like I said in the beginning, I am no stranger to “eurojank” games. However, this was one I really wanted to roll credits on. Sadly, I just don’t think the game is in a place where I can confidently commit 25 hours to it. The good news is that the game has been getting lots of updates and, depending on when you’re reading this, many of what I complained about might be gone. But a week after release, Gothic Remake still needs work to be a worthwhile investment. Gothic Remake is available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
