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RPGs with a challenging edge to them have had a bit of a renaissance in recent years. Elden Ring, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, The Divinity: Original Sin 2 remake. And now that I think of it, it's also a boom time for remakes of old RPGs too: the Oblivion remaster, FF7, and er… Well, the Divinity: Original Sin 2 remake, funnily enough.
It's in this convergence that we get the upcoming remake of Gothic 1, a full quarter of a century after the original game debuted way back in 2001. Gothic as a franchise has fallen off the radar a little since the last mainline game of the series came out back in 2006, but it retains a loyal, loving fanbase even now, and our experiences of the Remake so far tell us that it's determined to keep what made the original so special, warts and all.
The original Gothic was a pioneer in the kind of RPG design that would set the stage for decades to come, to the point where you can still feel its influence now, even if you don't necessarily realise it. It's an open world with an emphasis on interplaying systems and mechanics into which the player could insert themselves at any point to varying degrees of success, encouraging experimentation and chaos. In many ways it was like studying a complicated machine, growing more familiar with it in every interaction. Maybe you work out what precise combination of levers to pull for the best results, or maybe you decide to just jam a stick into the whirring cogs and see what opportunity can be drawn from the resultant carnage.
And it's why the legendary challenge of Gothic 1 is sort of the point. Gothic isn't a world in which the player is a champion of light in resplendent regalia, but a struggling peasant who starts labouring for scraps of ore, all under a giant arcane dome that seals you away from the world, ultimately leading to a more grounded class revolution rather than something more cosmic or divine. Quests aren't given clear direction, just unspecific hints, so you'll have to explore and risk wandering into a nest of enraged and vicious mole rats. Skill points don't just instantly empower you, you have to find a teacher to translate them into talents you can actually use. Nobody gives you anything for free, you have to bloody well earn it (or, if you're so inclined, batter them with a knobbled cudgel and riffle the resultant carcass).
Even writing this, I realise that in many ways it feels like Gothic is the story of a major Dark Souls location about a week before everything goes wrong, but it does go deeper than that. Gothic's DNA and legacy clearly lives on in the RPGs of later years, particularly those that favor choice of approach, broad exploration, and emergent gameplay that comes through playing with gameplay systems themselves.
In fact, I'd say that the Kingdom Come Deliverance games really captured the energy of what Gothic 1 was about: a slow, tough, but ultimately rewarding journey from dirty peasant to respectable warrior that you have to carve out yourself through grit, improvisation, and the willingness to make mistakes. If KCD2 was one of your favourite games of 2025, that's reason enough to at least give the Gothic 1 Remake a go. It won't be easy, but nothing worthwhile ever was.
The Gothic 1 Remake comes out on June 5, 2026, on PC, Xbox Series X/S and PS5.
