Gothic 1 Remake – Video Dev Log #4 [Video]

Despite the recent controversy regarding the uglifying of Gomez’s sex slaves, I’m still excited about the Gothic 1 Remake—at least, as much one can be for a recreation of a classic. This latest devlog goes into depth of the story, and to me, it seems clear a lot of effort has been put into maintaining what the original was, yet expanding it in parts. What’s interesting here is that they are collaborating with Mattias Filler, one of the original writers—and you can say that his role in the franchise, and Piranha Bytes (RIP) games are legendary. So this must be a good sign! Going by what he says in the video, he seems genuinely glad to be able to fix some writing inconsistencies that he missed back in the day. Check out the devlog video after the click!

Continue reading →

Of Ash and Steel – Seven Points of Critique

I’m far from finishing Of Ash and Steel, so this is not a review—just a critique of the game and its mechanics after about fifteen hours of playing. While I think it’s a good addition to the specific Gothic/Risen/Skyrim lineage of RPGs, I do find it falls short in places—in areas where they could have found easy inspiration. It’s not something that overly disappoints me, but thanks to these issues it will probably never reach the same level of appreciation (at least from me).

Continue reading →

Of Ash and Steel – Demo Impressions

It’s rare, but sometimes it happens. That rare stumble upon a game that both has a fantastic demo, and a release date not set in the far future of 2035. Of Ash and Steel is this game, and after giving it three hours, I couldn’t help but give it two thumbs up! It’s an old-school RPG in the form of Risen—and trust me, I did the test. I swung my sword at the back of my host as thanks for nursing me back from death, and he promptly kicked my ass. But see, he didn’t kill me, he just knocked me out, called me something foul and took my bow as compensation. If that isn’t old-school “living-world” mechanics, I don’t know what is!

Continue reading →

Sword Hero – Demo Impressions

Now, here we have a game with some serious potential, for everyone that loves the Gothic, and the Elder Scrolls series. The Sword Hero demo is rather short, as you are limited to five arena battles, with increasing difficulty depending on the foe. However, what is showcased here is nothing short of amazing. Especially if you enjoy heavy system based RPGs/action games. By that, I mean how stuff interacts with each other, primarily through a damn cool physics engine. Expect hilarious ragdoll slapstick, which is right up my alley.

Continue reading →

Gothic 1 Remake – Xardas trailer

Alkimia Interactive released a very stylized Gothic 1 Remake trailer a couple of days ago, featuring the mage Xardas explaining the state of the colony. And it looks very good, with the narration doing a great job of inviting you into the world of Gothic. However, I’m in the middle when it comes to remakes and remasters, as for many of us, we already know the story, with the gameplay feeling like old hat. Four times out of five, it’s the exact same game, just “visually improved”. Yet, even that aspect can come off as questionable at times…

As it is, with this remake, I’m honestly hyped. The demo was great, and while I know the story, I can’t help but feel excited to experience the struggle of the penal colony once again. Much thanks to Alkimia Interactive taking the job seriously, which comes through in their video dev logs. I was hoping Gothic 1 Remake would come out this year, but sadly, it has been set for release in early 2026, So a while until then. In the meantime, check out the cool trailer below:

Continue reading →