The first demo that was released a couple of years ago for the Gothic 1 Remake wasn’t met with much positivity. It had awkward combat, with what I remember, pretty stale dialogue. So, have the Spanish team Alkimia Interactive learned anything from the feedback provided then? Well, I’m glad to say: a resounding yes. The demo now feels like a totally different game from the old release, much more in line with the classic Gothic title. The tone, and feel of it is there, and the combat system has changed for something much more fun!
Nyras Prologue
Beside being a demo, it’s also a small prologue with a character that is not the Nameless Hero. It’s a great way to do a demo. However, I would have loved it if the prologue was longer, to provide a deeper view into the life of the penal colony outside the eyes of the Hero. Regardless, what we got was enough, and served its purpose.
Just like the Nameless Hero that gets thrown into the colony, the fate of Nyras is similar, with one main exception: the path to the old camp has been blocked up by a rock slide. Your mission is not to reach the camp, it’s just to find a place to sleep, and survive the night, as a shadow beast has been spotted stalking the road to the camp. It’s a nice little setup. As mentioned, it does not last long, but the atmosphere it brings certainly sets the old-school RPG mood, that I hope will be transferred to the full game. Because the demo in ambiance is Gothic.
Bashing things
Now for gameplay, and let’s just start with: it’s much improved. Instead of having an awkward combat system like the first demo had, they opted for something more direct in the veins of the original Gothic & Risen. It is action orientated, fully dependent on your own skill, except what your character has learned in the art of warfare. Archery is free form, and felt very satisfying to use, as it has a fairly long windup and does big damage. The melee combat felt juicy as well. I only managed to fight animals, and while the rats did take a chunk out of my health. The beak things were a bit too passive for my liking, letting me kill them one by one with the bow without doing much. I have a feeling they bugged out at that particular instance, though.
The animals still warn you off if you get too close, seeing as wild animals are not for the most part bloodthirsty psycho killers that attack things double their size. So, I’m glad that mechanic remains part of the remake. Overall, this part of the game felt awesome. Yet, what made the demo even better, is its minimal approach to UI elements. The world is not filled with icons of stuff you can use or touch. You actually have to follow your own intuition and eyes, just like the older RPGs in this style. It’s incredibly refreshing, and it has no god-damn hitmarkers! Praise the lord. You can even walk, meaning the devs are on the same autism level as me, which is nice. However, the toggle seems to come off every time I pick something up. Probably, and hopefully, a strange oversight.
Unreal 5 dread
Like almost every modern game now, Gothic 1 Remake is using the Unreal 5 engine. The good part is that it looks great, capturing the style of Gothic with modern graphics. The bad parts are the blurry visuals thanks to the antialiasing solution, and the somewhat iffy performance in places. The game ran well enough for me after some tweaks, yet it never becomes fully smooth, seeing as I had the occasional stutter. Now, this isn’t too bad by itself. Meaning, I could live with it. What I’m concerned about is how the performance will be in the settlements, with the demo already showing issues (even if minor) with a minimum of NPCs. I guess, time will tell!
So, with all that, even if I have some minor concerns, I’m hyped about the remake. I would have preferred a new game in the setting, since I already know the story. But beggars can’t be choosers. I’m just glad to have a new RPG to look forward to. Make sure to give the demo a swing yourself!
Thanks for reading.
/Thomas
Tom's Gaming Vault 