Gothic 1 Remake

This is my first experience with Gothic. I went in blind, thinking maybe it would be like Dragons Dogma II in that DDII was the only other game I’d played where the game just did not care that you were the protagonist. Boy was it frustrating and confusing at first, thinking I’m too weak to get anywhere, so maybe I’ll just lead monsters back to the town guards and get experience and money that way, only to find that they drop no loot until you get the right skills, which cost an amount of money that feels obscene early on, and you get no experience just for being near a dying enemy. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, and I can’t say I really know when it started to feel like things were getting easier, but at some point, I grew up and became a warder. I have none of the nostalgia for this game that the original players do, but it is a work of art and I love it. No other game, even Elden Ring, has given me such a sense of being a basic person in a world gradually figuring it out. 10/10

Старая школа. Оптимизация не плохо.

True to original Gothic. No modern slop or handholding. The downside - be careful what you kill, there is a named orc which can be killed and softlock the game.

Gutes Spiel!

Much better than I ever expected. I had never played the original Gothic games, so this remake was my first introduction to the universe, and I was completely captivated. The studio has done an incredible job. This might be one of the best examples of a true zero-to-hero story. The brutal difficulty during the first few hours where almost everything can one-shot you, and you actually have to change your route when you see a dangerous enemy feels incredibly rewarding once you start getting stronger, finding better items, and learning how the world works. The difficulty is challenging without feeling pointless, and overcoming it gives you a great sense of satisfaction. The game can be a little cryptic at times, but honestly, I preferred it this way. It doesn't hold your hand. It basically tells you to go out, explore, investigate, and enjoy the world. And if you really can't figure something out, you can always look it up online after you've spent some time trying yourself. I especially loved how the different camps interact with each other, and how even the most insignificant NPC seems to have some kind of purpose or meaning. As you progress, you gradually understand how the systems work and how all the different pieces fit together. This isn't an island that was randomly created just to give you a playground. Everything feels deliberately designed. The combat is incredibly difficult and frustrating at first, but once you start developing your skills, it really begins to click. I particularly enjoyed playing a mage build. Of course, since the foundations of the game come from a much older RPG, the combat can feel a little clunky and isn't as fluid as modern games. But it's still very satisfying. By the time I reached the last two chapters, I had become pretty OP because I had spent so much time exploring and finding important items. As a result, the final dungeon didn't give me too much trouble. And honestly, I liked that. You can actually feel how far you've come and see the payoff for the 45 hours you've put into the game. I also really liked the final boss fight. It wasn't generic, it fit the overall design and atmosphere of the game, and it was challenging enough. The characters, music, and environmental design were all excellent. There is probably another 10 hours or so of content that I could have played, but I feel like I completed around 85–90% of the game, and that was more than enough for me. Hopefully we get to see a Gothic 2 remake someday.

A good remake that brought me back to the colony just like it was back then. The game runs smoothly after a few patches, though the magic system still feels underwhelming balance-wise. Most bugs have been fixed, and overall, I didn't experience a single bug or crash in my 150 hours of playtime. The lockpicking is doable once you skilled one level into it, but doing it over and over again with the insane amount of chests in the game is simply not worth the rewards. A mixed system would have been a better approach: using the current lockpicking system for the truly difficult and high-value chests, utilizing the classic left-and-right mechanic from the old games for mid-range ones, and maybe adding an easy tier where you just expend one lockpick to open it automatically. This would make low-reward chests quick to clear, and ensure you actually look forward to cracking a hard one because you know the loot is going to be amazing! It truly lays the groundwork to revitalize the Gothic franchise and shows that Alkimia Interactive really cares, even if they were a bit overwhelmed by the community's high expectations. After completing it to 100%, I felt satisfied and very happy with the time I spent back in the colony. Still, putting a permadeath mode for 100% into an RPG of this length is sickeningly evil. Even if you don't die in combat, one buggy slingshot over a cliff and you have to start all over again. I did not enjoy that part, multiple times. Hopefully be seeing u in Khorinis spending your last money on nadja in the red lantern.

This game is absolutely incredible, it's everything I've been wanting from an RPG. A true masterpiece, the modern graphics make it complete.