Gothic 1 Remake: The Review of a Great RPG's Return!

Gothic 1 Remake: The RPG That Returns From the Past

When Gothic was released way back in 2001, it didn't take long to realize that, one way or another, it would be a game that would leave its mark. It's no wonder that when the remake by the Alkimia Interactive team was announced, long-time fans perked up, as did all gamers who had never managed to get their hands on the title but had always heard about it.

Finally, the time has come to read our review of Gothic 1 Remake, released on June 5th for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation 5. I was able to test the game on the Sony console, both before its release and after day one and several update patches. The Gothic 1 Remake project aims to offer new-generation players the original game experience, with an updated technical sector. So, apart from a few small novelties, such as new missions and general improvements, don't expect anything that will alter Piranha Bytes' historical title.

Our protagonist has no name and no clear past, as the adventure begins precisely when he is thrown into the penal colony of the kingdom of Myrtana. The colony has a very peculiar history, as the king decided to create it near a mining area, to exploit the prisoners to recover the metal needed to sustain the kingdom's war efforts. To prevent the convicts from escaping, the mages' guild was tasked with creating a magical barrier around the colony, but an error in the execution of the spell caused the mages themselves to be trapped inside.

The result is that the entire area is freely accessible to anyone, but anyone who tries to leave would be disintegrated by the barrier's magic. Over time, a curious system of colony governance formed, with the prisoner leaders striking an agreement with the king: they ensure metal collection and delivery, and he supplies them with provisions and other goods. Naturally, the sovereign is not particularly happy to be blackmailed in this way, but if he wants to continue supplying his army with weapons and armor, he has no choice but to put on a brave face.

Gothic 1 Remake: Plot and Setting

Gothic 1 Remake: Plot and Setting

However, our very entry into the colony could lead to new developments. In great secrecy, before crossing the barrier, we are given a letter to deliver to the mages, but to do so we will have to make our way through an environment that is anything but friendly. The mining colony is located in the midst of a decidedly dangerous ecosystem, and everywhere you turn you can find fierce animals and monsters of various sizes. A shred of civilization is provided by the camps formed by the convicts, but one should not expect anything that approaches our idea of a well-organized kingdom, nor, for that matter, a democratic system.

Old Camp, dominated by Gomez, is based on an almost feudal system and the metal trade with Myrtana, but to survive there you have to pay protection money to the guards, under penalty of retaliation and assorted harassment. In New Camp, we find the rebels; there is no real leader, but decisions are made by the three most influential factions, and the goal is only one: to find a way to escape by overcoming the barrier. Finally, there is Swamp Camp, where religion dominates. Gurus and novices exploit the effects of smoking swamp weed to have contact with the Sleeper, their deity who prepares his return to the world.

As soon as we enter the colony, we will literally be at the mercy of anyone: weak, unarmed, and friendless. In a situation where we will have to think primarily about survival, we will begin, step by step, to familiarize ourselves with how things work. The first few hours of gameplay could be a big hurdle to overcome, even setting the difficulty to the lowest available value. You have to learn to manage both the dangers of the environment and a series of rather clunky commands. Even the smallest monsters can kill us in a few hits, and you have to be very careful who you trust: we are in a penal colony, and practically every inhabitant is paying a heavy price for justice. Embracing the life and philosophy of Old Camp is the simplest and most immediate solution, but nothing prevents us from aiming to be accepted by one of the other two camps. Whatever choice you make, the system for becoming an effective member of a camp is to earn the trust of its most influential members by completing increasingly complicated missions, to demonstrate your good will and to be an actually useful person.

Gothic 1 Remake: The Hard Life of a Prisoner

Gothic 1 Remake: The Hard Life of a Prisoner

The growth system is not limited to simply gaining experience points; we will be forced to open our wallets to become better at specific skills. Of course, by completing missions and defeating enemies, we will gain experience points and level up, thus accumulating points that we can spend with "masters," in addition to cash payments. These masters can teach us their knowledge, and we can improve stats and learn abilities, but know that progressing is a long and complicated road. The best thing to do is to make peace with the fact that you will often be defeated and manually save whenever you have the opportunity.

The point is simple: Gothic 1 Remake is an old-school game, which was unforgiving in its original edition and is still unforgiving in this return, even if it makes a few small concessions. Even just orienting yourself in the colony is complicated, and you will have to buy the various maps available from vendors to get an idea of where you are going and how to move. Everything conspires to confront the player with a reality: you are alone in a hostile wilderness, the people you meet will probably be hostile, and to survive you need to learn skills that are anything but simple. The result, however, could be surprising, leading to the satisfaction of being a nobody who becomes a great warrior, mage, or archer, capable of becoming the protagonist of an epic story of wars, intrigues, and mysteries. Gothic 1 Remake is not for everyone and has not been softened, but I feel that the choice was correct: why take an iconic game and turn it into just another action RPG?

Gothic 1 Remake: Technical Problems That Ruin the Experience

Gothic 1 Remake: Technical Problems That Ruin the Experience

Up to this point, we have a fairly clear picture: a rough-around-the-edges title, but one capable of providing satisfaction, recommended for anyone willing to take their time to embrace its philosophy, and at the same time, to be avoided by those who don't want to compromise with dated gameplay. The real problem is that from a technical standpoint, we encounter a series of issues that we cannot ignore. Both before launch and after several patches, Gothic 1 Remake has shown a situation that penalizes the gaming experience.

At first glance, the graphical impact is good. Not excellent, but good. The environments are evocative, the characters have decent quality, and everything seems to be exactly what we saw back in 2001, brought up to the current technologies of a good double-A title. The problems arise when in motion, starting with a fluctuating frame rate that struggles to reach 30 FPS even in the best situations. While this might be a tolerable situation, the real problems come with an assortment of bugs that show how Gothic 1 Remake is a title that arrived on the market without proper polish. 

Clipping issues, disappearing or overlapping character voices, drastically dropping fluidity, a shaky camera, and even game crashes, in addition to other scattered problems. While the situation in the initial stages at Old Camp is acceptable, as you progress, the problems become even more noticeable, such as the view in the Swamp Camp huts becoming a real battle against the camera's behavior. As of today, despite the released updates, the situation cannot be considered acceptable and spoils part of the experience.

Gothic 1 Remake would need a major code overhaul, and I'm not sure if this is feasible through patches, but nothing prevents the Alkimia Interactive team from succeeding in making it as enjoyable as it deserves. Should that happen, I could only advise you to dive headfirst beyond the barrier and discover the beauty of life in the colony, but for now, I can only emphasize that to enjoy the positive aspects of Gothic 1 Remake, you must be prepared to come to terms with all its technical problems.