A Remake for a New Gen(eric) RPG Classic
It seems like every day there is a new remake of a classic game being brought back from the graves of nostalgia. Some good. Some are not so good. Personally, there are several titles that I would love to see get a solid remake. But…I also believe that not every game needs to get remade. So, when I was asked if I would like to review a remake of a game that was released in 2001, I wasn’t sure if this was going to be a remake that the world needed. However, since I never had the chance to play the original game it gave me an opportunity to view the game as a new game yet still look at if it is a worthy remake compared to the old. Since I hadn’t played the original, I wanted to have something to compare it to but before I did that, I dove right into the world to see why a remake was needed.
The original Gothic was made by Piranha Bytes and released in 2001 with Gothic 1 Remake being produced by Alkimia Interactive and published by THQ Nordic. The Gothic series is a long and storied series expanding over several games. A beloved series that became known for its “Euro-Jank” and game glitches, with the original game, Gothic being fairly well received when it was released.
MSRP: $49.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, PC
Price I’d Pay: $29.99
After a short cutscene to introduce the world and the plot, you are thrust into the role of the hero. And you are tasked with a quest to deliver a message to the mages of the mines. But as you can imagine, with most open world RPG’s, that path is never that straight forward. Being new to the world you have to discover who the other characters are and who you want to align yourself with in order to gain faith in the various “groups” of the world. Sounds pretty easy right? All you have to do is find your way to the camp and talk with various people and figure out where you need to go and how to gain the skills needed to conquer the quests to become the hero the people need!
But there is one big problem. This game is not going to hold your hand. Now just to give a preface, I have played hundreds, if not thousands of hours of open world RPG’s and I have never come across a game like this one. In most games you start out as a nobody, and through some clever writing and training, you are given guidance on your path to greatness and become the bad ass hero. In Gothic there is no guidance. There is no map. There is no wise sage to tell you what you need to do. As a matter of fact, there isn’t even a compass to tell you what direction you are facing or a marker to show you where to go. After a confusing start, I managed to find my way to the camps and start my journey as the hero. And what is the name of this hero??? Well…you have no name and when the subtitles of the game show you speaking you are called, “Hero”. No name for a very generic character in a generic world, with no skills, and no clue what to do. How could this get any better?
I know what you are thinking. He doesn’t like the game. Wrong! I am always up for a challenge, but with the bugginess of the controls and the lack of guidance will I be able to find my way? While the story is only so, so, the world is alive and interesting. The NPC’s are always there to answer questions to give you hints on where to find quests and where to go to complete quests. As a matter of fact this is the only way to progress the game. You have to ask questions and look for landmarks in order to make your way through the game. Which is something that hasn’t been done since. And as far as the world and enemies, the world is huge and from the beginning you can roam just about anywhere. Which can lead to some very frustrating moments of getting lost in the game or stumbling on some enemies that will one-shot kill you. When it comes to the enemies, there are a variety of animal type creatures, as well as Orcs and also the various groups within the camps all out to kill you. I often times found myself wandering around the world trying to see what I find and would lose myself in just exploring. As a matter of fact, when you look at the screen and there are no distractions of a menu or HUD or even a compass to get in the way of your exploring, it was kind of refreshing to just exist in the world. That is until you turn the corner and get swarmed by enemies.
But let’s go back to controls. The only way you know how to do something in the game is by hinting through the menus to find a glossary which tells you how to do certain things. Otherwise, you would never know except for trial and error. Which from what I have read is an improvement from the original game. The systems of the game can seem a little clunky as well. Trying to add skills to your character, manage your inventory and just switching weapons can feel like a chore, and overall, the systems feel “dated”. Which leads me back to my original question. Why do a remake of Gothic?
This is where I needed to do some digging to compare what was changed from the original game to now. I spent a lot of time looking for videos of people playing the original title and trying to compare visuals, play style, controls, and anything that I could find to make a comparison. The original Gothic was released on PC, so right off the bat the addition of controller support was something that was added. But from what I could tell didn’t make the game control any better. The movement of the characters still seemed stiff and sometimes the odd movements made the characters do strange things and sometimes they would get stuck in the environment, causing you to have to reload a save point in order to get back to a critical spot. Wielding weapons and using acumbersome,mbat sometimes felt sluggish and cumbersome which was also in the original game as well. As a matter of fact, it seems like the only thing that did improve was the visuals. The original visuals seemed muddy and washed out. Now they seem crisp, if not too crisp. Sometimes in a cut scene, characters would almost take on a waxy appearance that you sometimes see in games where the textures of their faces are almost too smooth. The environments are more beautiful in comparison to the original game as well.
While I applaud the developer for taking a game that was 25 years old and breathing life back into a series that had been forgotten by some. With the visual improvements being added and the addition of the controller support, I wonder why the decision was made to not improve upon the game more? They could have taken the time to make the controls better. Could have added some “quality of life” changes to make the game feel more like a newer title. But the developer decided to leave the “jank” in, to preserve the nostalgia of the original. Which I can understand to a point. But why not make the game more appealing to a newer generation of players that may have never heard of the title?
Overall, the game was an interesting game to experience, to say the least. My time with the game was good but I think I would have enjoyed the game more if there was just a little bit more guidance. And while this was the first time, I have experienced this title, I can’t say that it was as good as some newer titles but also not as bad as some. It kind of exists, like its story, in the middle of the road. The improvements made are a welcome change while the decisions not to improve or at least fix certain aspects of the game are a head scratcher. And while I still ask the question of, did we need this remake? I’m sure those that have fond memories of the original will be glad this exists.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.