Gothic Remake – Review

Welcome to the Colony!

I’ll start this semi-review with a confession: Gothic 1 Remake wasn’t on my list of anticipated titles this year. I knew it existed, I knew it was coming out, but as someone who was there in 2001 and played the Gothic games in their time, I was extremely reluctant about anyone’s ability to make a remake, let alone a team of Spaniards no one had ever heard of. I tried that demo they released on Steam about 6 years ago and convinced myself that it had absolutely nothing to do with the series, that it would be an ordinary mess and another pathetic cash grab by greedy publishers.

No, seriously, I was convinced you couldn’t reproduce that kind of magic in 2026, what was the point of trying? Gothic isn’t the kind of thing you can make attractive to modern audiences without giving up about 80% of what makes Gothic so special to so many gamers, especially those in Eastern Europe, with the West being busy at the time with The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. In short, I was absolutely convinced the game would be an unsuccessful imitation at best, and a soulless, ordinary mess in the second case. My opinion was that Gothic didn’t even need a remake; it was perfect as it was.

On release day, I had nothing better to do, the game was out on torrents, I’d already read some reviews which, although they gave it mediocre scores, seemed encouraging to me, so I downloaded it and said, “Come on, let’s see what this is about,” still expecting it to be a… I won’t reproduce here what I told another friend and Gothic fan when he asked me what I thought.

And I smoothly entered the game and was thrown into the Colony, the world where the game takes place, basically an open-air prison, bordered by a magical barrier that turns anyone who tries to cross it into ash. The inevitable punch in the face at the beginning, followed by Diego’s helping hand and the path to the Old Camp. Oh, and I managed to die in the first 10 minutes because I literally couldn’t figure out the controls. It was already closer to Gothic than I wanted to admit, but I continued down the path and it hit me, “Holy shit, I think these guys actually pulled it off.” My first impression was positive, everything was where I remembered it, including Mud, only now it’s much more detailed.

As I was saying, the first Gothic turned 25 this year, and even at launch, it wasn’t a game with particularly spectacular graphics. From that point of view, I can’t say it aged gracefully, although it doesn’t bother me, as I’ve gotten used to it that way. Because the atmosphere in it was so well made and it drew you into that world so strongly, your brain filled in those gaps with imagination. So when I played Gothic, I somehow ignored the reality in front of my eyes; I didn’t see blocky polygons, clunky hands, or a lack of environmental detail, my imagination filled those gaps and I lost myself in that world for hours.

Well, Gothic Remake managed to preserve the essence of what made those places special, only now it comes with the appropriate details; it’s no longer my imagination filling the gaps. The level of detail is 2026-level, especially when it comes to character expressions and faces, and everything is as you remember it and where you remember it if you played the original.

The day after I tried it, Leo offered me the review key (thanks a lot btw!!!), and I gladly accepted because I was already hooked on the Remake. The plan was to write it quickly, with the memory of the first one fresh in my mind. Well, plans and reality didn’t quite meet, because I effectively became addicted to Gothic 1 Remake and preferred to spend time in it rather than writing about it, honestly. After about 22 hours, towards the end of Chapter 2, I feel ready enough to tell you that it’s spot on, with a few caveats.

The first caveat is the PS5 version – from what I’ve seen, there were some pretty serious problems and bugs at launch, including deleted saves, so I’d stay away from it for a bit.

The second caveat – the game is made in Unreal Engine 5, so it might suffer from typical Unreal Engine 5 problems, depending on the hardware you’re running it on. At launch, I had some frame stutters, but with the latest patches, everything has stabilised very well. And although I tend to get annoyed with games made in Unreal Engine 5, here I think it was the perfect choice – I believe it’s actually the main factor that allows the game to preserve and recreate the eurojank specific to the series and one of the main reasons why the game is loved by so many people. Yes, the jank is preserved, including the bugs, all the magic of the original Gothic is preserved, with a few sensible additions here and there. You’re still treated like an absolute nobody, mercilessly and brutally, in the same way Gothic did it before everyone went crazy with soulslikes.

The game takes you, punches you in the face, knocks you down, and spits on you with a brutality and nonchalance that makes you instantly fall in love with it if you were a fan of the first Gothic back in the day. That’s how I realised the game is for a specific audience and no one else – and that specific audience is us, the old farts who played Gothic as kids and fell in love with the extreme challenges it offered us. We picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves off, loaded the game, and tried again. And again. And again, until we succeeded.

For modern audiences, however, I don’t think Gothic Remake is for them. Games today aren’t really made like that anymore. Now you have map markers at every step, a compass pointing to your next objective, enemies highlighted to be more visible, you always know where you are on the map and what’s next, you have visual cues in the environment showing you where you can take cover, codexes and tutorials and all sorts of craziness.

Gothic punches you in the face in the first 3 minutes and kills you in the first 10.

Map? Lol, doesn’t exist, you have to buy it, or steal it, or get one some other way, and even then it won’t be complete and won’t have everything marked on it. You will be shown on it, though, which you didn’t have in the first one, so it’s a bit friendlier.

What do you have to do? You have a journal that helps you with the main objectives, but when it comes to directions or indications, you’d better listen to what they tell you in dialogues, because they won’t repeat it and you won’t have a chance to ask again.

Combat? At first, you’re a nobody and pretty much any creature in the game will take you down in a maximum of 2-3 hits, while you’ll mostly miss, and you’ll have the weakest weapon and hardly any armour anyway.

Consequently, the first few hours of the game can be brutal – if, however, you endure, you will be rewarded in a way games simply don’t know how to do anymore.

Because, okay, at first you’re a little squirt, a nobody, even the wind beats you. But after many deaths and much effort, you level up, because it’s an RPG. It takes time, you don’t level up every 3 minutes, it’s not Forza, think more like two hours. But at some point, around level 6-7, when you’ve already accumulated some points, you have more decent stats, you’ve found some good weapons hidden here and there, you put some points into acrobatics and technique, and you already start not to be afraid of absolutely everything that moves around you. If at first running away isn’t shameful, on the contrary, it’s actually healthy and highly recommended, not just for cardio, but for general survival, after about 10-15 hours of grinding like that, you start to charge into them with confidence and know you can get out of the situation, you start chaining some combos, it makes you feel like you’ve truly made progress, you see this even in the character’s animations, you feel like you’ve been through that experience. And that’s pretty much what made Gothic very special, and that’s what makes the remake very special. If you like this kind of journey, even though it has game mechanics unused for 25 years, then definitely get your hands on Gothic Remake. If that sounds too hard, then leave it alone, if you’re used to Ubisoft slop, this game isn’t for you, you’ll suffer and it’s not guaranteed you’ll like it, and I really don’t feel like being sworn at, I’ve had enough swearing from Ubisoft fans over time, I’m fine, my fridge is still full, thank you, gentlemen.

Everything that makes Gothic special is in the remake. The voices have been re-recorded and now the English version also has more decent voices, which retain the same character. We have the music, re-recorded and perfect, as it always was in Gothic. Graphically, I have nothing to fault, it manages to be between super polished and jank in a very successful symbiosis. If it were more polished, it wouldn’t be Gothic. It manages to be so familiar that it convinces you that this is how Gothic always looked and how you remembered it.

You still have those moments when you sit down peacefully on a chair and take a huge hit of swampweed and simply admire the landscape and enjoy the quiet. It’s so well done that it’s that kind of “yes, this is how it’s done” example, like Diablo 2 Resurrected or System Shock. It manages to recreate that danger where you’re afraid to walk alone through the forest at night.

Not to mention how my jaw literally dropped when I entered each of the camps, each with its own atmosphere, its own vibe, and each with its own beauty. The rain, the wind, the weather effects are incredible, nothing cooler than sheltering around a fire while nature unleashes its fury around you.

Gothic 1 Remake is full of the same special moments as the original, only now they are brought to the next level of fidelity and immersion, which is exactly what you’d want from a remake. The mechanics are still the ones you’re familiar with, everything is as you expect and remember it.

This means that the average modern game reviewer gets lost and penalises it for being what it should be – a janky, difficult, cumbersome by design, clear in vision game with no pretension of trying to be everything for everyone – it is exactly what it needs to be for the fans of the series, who have already bought it and are playing it, because I see them on Steam alongside me, pouring tens of hours into it, just like me. Hello, old farts, and welcome back to the Colony. This review is more for those like me, the reluctant ones, those convinced it would be a pile of crap – guys, we were wrong. They pulled it off. It’s spot on. Buy it, I guarantee you won’t regret it. That’s all.

Oh, and I’ll see you in Khorinis soon, I’m pretty convinced that Gothic 2 Remake will be announced in August at the THQ showcase, it’s already been teased, I’d bet it comes out next year or in two years at the latest.

I’m not giving it a score. For me and the rest of the fans, I can guarantee it’s at least a 9 with honours. For those who hoped to get acquainted with the series hoping they wouldn’t encounter jank, this is the best you’re gonna get, understand, if you want, that without jank, it wouldn’t be Gothic.

For those expecting an RPG like they’ve been used to for the last 20 years, this isn’t for you, skip it, with one exception: the Kingdom Come crowd, this is your chance to play the daddy, this is where they got their inspiration for KCD.

I love it, I have 4 other old farts playing it who have fallen in love with it, at least based on what some say and the time others spend on Steam. From here, draw whatever conclusions you want and pick your side, I’m going back to the Colony.

Finally, thanks to the editorial team for the review key!

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Played on: PC (Steam)
Release date: 5 June 2026
Developer:  Alkimia Interactive
Publisher: Alkimia Interactive, THQ Nordic