Cult classic RPG Gothic is coming back later this year, and its remake is shaping up to be every bit as interesting as the 2001 original.
Gothic 1: Remake showed its hand in the still ongoing Steam Next Fest - Valve's digital festival featuring hundreds of quick demos of upcoming games - and it seems like a return to form for a series that's been MIA for decades. Not only is the remake's demo the third most popular game on Steam Next Fest's charts based on total wishlists, it's also amassed almost 5,000 user reviews with a 'Mostly Positive' rating.
"Remaking a classic is always a daunting task, especially for fellow fans of a game," one Steam user review reads. "Fortunately, this game seems to have a dedicated team that understands the spirit of Gothic far better than other external studios in the past. So, it's a joy to report that this demo captures the tone and feel of the first area perfectly."
Others also shout out its commitment to recapturing the original's dreary atmosphere, while the complaints are mostly aimed at the demo's wonky optimization, which will hopefully get sorted out in time for the remake's release sometime this year.
Even if you're already convinced that you're going to buy the Gothic Remake, then its new demo is still worth checking out because it actually serves as a "stand-alone prologue" to the main game's events and "a brand-new story through the eyes of Nyras on his first day in the [mining] colony." It's set just before your nameless hero gets dumped into the underground prison, and instead works to introduce the remake's updated combat and gorgeous environments.
For more, keep an eye on the other new games of 2025 and beyond.
