Developer Alkimia Interactive has reissued the classic role-playing game Gothic, which is now over 25 years old, and has brought the original into the present, especially visually. In this test of the PC version, we will clarify whether it is worth returning to the mine valley and whether the remake can also pick up players who are thrown into the colony for the first time.
Manuel Karner (Own opinion):
Conclusion on Gothic Remake
I’ve known Piranha Bytes games quite well, at least since the Risen series. That’s why, despite my lack of Gothic experience, I was able to roughly imagine what to expect with the remake. Alkimia Interactive has fundamentally remained true to the original. Despite the modern look, you shouldn’t forget that at its core this is still a role-playing game from 2001.
Fans who want to experience Gothic again in a much more polished form will certainly get their money’s worth, despite some problems. The answer is more difficult for newcomers. The remake does without modern aids and often punishes you harshly and consistently for small mistakes. The key I used most was without a doubt the quick save button.
Nevertheless, Gothic Remake has a lot to offer, especially once you get past the tough first few hours. Progress doesn’t feel like a given here, but has to be worked hard for. Since patch 1.0.1, the PC version also seems noticeably smoother, even if there are still a few bugs that cloud the flow of the game.
- + Do not take each other by the hand
- + Noticeable character development
- + Decisions with weight
- + Strong exploration of the game world
- – Tedious search for NPCs and quest objectives
- – Outdated combat system
- – Unnecessarily cluttered controls
- – Annoying bugs
7/10
Welcome to the colony
The starting point in the Gothic remake remains largely the same as in the original. You are thrown into the mining colony as a nameless hero and condemned prisoner, surrounded by a magical barrier. Everything can go in, nothing comes out again. Actually, you’re just supposed to bring a sealed letter to the fire mages, but it quickly becomes clear that the colony has its own laws.
Three camps are fighting for influence. The Old Camp is the first major point of contact in the colony and follows clear hierarchical rules. Archbaron Gomez leaves little room for dissent and rules with an iron hand, while the guardsmen hold the shop together and the diggers try to somehow make ends meet.
In the New warehouse Apostates gather who do not want to accept the rule of the old camp. Less strictly ordered, but no less dangerous: In addition to water magicians, there are primarily mercenaries and bandits here.
And in the swamp camp The followers keep themselves afloat by harvesting and selling marsh weed. In their visions, the Sleeper appears to them, a deity who they believe will one day lead them out of the barrier.
So far, so interesting: Because sooner or later you have to decide on one of the camps, if you want to progress in the story. Once you have done this, you will not be accepted into the inner circle of another camp. Consistent decisions like these are what make Gothic so fascinating.
Cumbersome, frustrating and rewarding
Other aspects of the game world are also consistent. Instead of taking you by the hand, the remake prefers to grab you by the feet and throw you around. Even the smallest scavenger can initially poke you over the Jordan with two swipes of his beak. At the same time, you strike yourself like a hard-working digger on swamp weeds.
This can quickly become incredibly frustrating, especially since the functional combat system contributes its part. The action buttons on the controller are assigned attacks in different directions, which quickly makes the controls seem overloaded. For example, if you want to address an NPC with your weapon drawn, you also have to hold down a shoulder button. If you forget this for a moment, you will unintentionally attack your opponent and trigger a fight against him and his allies.
Even apart from that, you feel the fights are cumbersome and awkward on – even cleanly executed evasive rolls do not always protect as clearly as one would expect. The fact that allied NPCs can also be hit by our blows fits in with the consistent game world, but it also causes trouble in hectic battles.
Despite all its bulkiness, Gothic Remake can also unfold its charm here. Progress is hard earned, but feels earned and immensely rewarding. Every better weapon, every new armor and every learning point invested has noticeable weight. In this way, opponents from whom you initially backed away in panic will later be effortlessly controllable.
Whether you work your way up to a heavily armored melee fighter, keep your distance with a bow or crossbow, or want to work magic: Gothic Remake leaves different paths open for you, but sooner or later forces you to specialize. This limits your freedoms, but also gives your decisions more weight.
Where was that one guy again?
The quest design is similarly uncompromising. Gothic remake foregoes comfort, which modern role-playing games have long since taken for granted. Although you can buy maps, there is no compass, no minimap full of symbols and no quest markers to show you the way to the next goal. This forces you to listen to conversations and really get to know the colony.
The game world This is fundamentally beneficial. It is one of the greatest strengths of the remake. Not only because it has gained a lot of atmosphere thanks to the new technology and denser design, but because it works well as a coherent place. Camps, forests, mines, caves and junctions usually intertwine believably rather than appearing like individual game areas. Only the desert section seems less organically integrated and falls off a bit in direct comparison.
Precisely because Gothic Remake doesn’t constantly guide you with markers, you memorize paths, dangers and shortcuts over time. This is how it is created a feeling of familiarity, that many other open worlds cannot achieve today.
But the whole thing also has its downsides: Many NPCs have their own daily routines, which makes the game world more lively, but can also be annoying in everyday life. We kept finding ourselves asking, “Who was that guy again and where did we last see him?” Even if you remember correctly, he could be somewhere else long ago.
Far too often we have spent more time trying to find a specific person than moving forward with the actual task. The in-game glossary, which lists and describes every character you get to know, only helps to a limited extent.
Theft has to be learned
If you want to progress in the colony, you need ore, and usually significantly more than the first orders provide. You learn new skills from teachers who don’t share their wisdom with you out of pure charity. It will be significantly more expensive if you want to improve your armor. So it makes sense to look elsewhere: gut animals, trade, pickpocket or crack one of the many locked chests.
Lock picking is a topic in itself. The new mini-game requires you to bring several interconnected mechanisms into the correct position, which often requires over 25 steps. If you want to find out which controls are connected, you may already be breaking lockpicks one lock at a time. The mini-game requires trial and error and at the same time punishes you for it. Only as a master can this become much easier.
If you are caught snooping, you will first get a warning, then a problem. There’s no more excuses, either full pounds in the mouth. You will then be relieved of your belongings. Then you’ll not only be broke, but you’ll also be richer by a lesson that the game drilled into you without any tutorial.
Strong optics, wobbly technology
Visually, Gothic Remake leaves a good impression. When the fog moves through dense forests, light breaks through the treetops or strong storms hit the colony, the game world unfolds strong atmosphere. Faces also initially appear more three-dimensional due to the lighting and level of detail, but they quickly lose their impact in conversations because of it facial expressions lack liveliness.
Acoustically, the remake mostly captures the rough tone quite well. Music and ambient noise add a lot to the atmosphere. However NPCs repeat their statements noticeably often, which is particularly annoying if you spend a long time near them.
The German dubbing is solid overall. However, the nameless hero of all people stands out negatively. His lines often seem too flat and uninvolved. Something that improves a little in the second half of the game.
In addition, the role-playing game has to contend with some bugs, even if… The situation has noticeably improved since patch 1.0.1 has. Some doors that are actually already open initially appear to be closed again until you stand directly in front of them. Some NPCs suddenly pop into your field of vision or, conversely, simply disappear into thin air. A phenomenon that fortunately only affected story-irrelevant characters in our playthrough.
Also a bug in the save menu made life difficult for us on several occasions: when saving manually, we were occasionally unable to exit the menu and were forced to restart the game. Apart from that, Gothic Remake still has to contend with some quirks. This should hardly be surprising for series veterans, after all, rough edges are almost part of the series’ history.