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The Remake of Gothic 1 is out on June 5, 2026 , taking the legendary RPG that kickstarted a pioneering franchise way back in 2001 and redelivering it to new audiences a quarter of a century later. RPGs have always been a huge part of video game culture – arguably the biggest part – and the Gothic series (especially the first game) has always maintained a loyal, loving fanbase, despite the fact that it's been well over a decade since the series had a new installment.
All that love can't be for nothing, and so it's worth understanding what makes Gothic – and specifically Gothic 1 – so revered before the Remake breaks free in June. And first and foremost among those reasons: it's not afraid to be a bit weird (and maybe occasionally a little bit janky in that retro way).
RPGs have always loved getting their quirk on, from the Adoring Fan in Oblivion, to the Wild Wasteland in New Vegas, to the Ogre sex scene in Baldur's Gate 3. Gothic 1 is no exception, even if it's delivered in a slightly more subtle way at times. It's a fascinatingly surreal story about a fantasy prison colony that's become self-governing but not quite free, trapped under a dome they can't escape from, but managing to build a grungy, semi-functional society in this enforced isolation nonetheless.
Even now I can't think of much to compare it to. It's like somebody took the prison setting that so many role-playing games use for the tutorial area and expanded that into a whole game, determined to push the potential of the idea to its utmost. It's infused with a criminal underworld energy and tones of class war, but mixed in with fantasy tropes and wry humour. Even the very premise of the dome comes from the fact that the mages who summoned it accidentally did so with themselves inside, the high fantasy equivalent of digging a pitfall trap, only to realise you're stuck at the bottom of it.
And that creative strangeness makes Gothic 1 unique even now. Yeah, the occasional bit of jankiness does play into it, but even that's part of the game's charm, the early 2000s equivalent of "arrow to the knee". To remake Gothic 1 without a little bit of the strangeness that so defined the era it came from would feel revisionist, even dishonest, and working out how to exploit those moments to your benefit is half the fun. I remember playing it as a kid with a friend, and there was always giggly joy in finding a new way in which the game would surprise us (and probably itself).
But more than that, there was seemingly endless choice, both in the macro and the micro. Gothic 1 had a strong emphasis on letting the player take the reins, whether it was choosing which schools of magic to master, which factions to ally with, or just the organic choice of whether you'll bludgeon your clingy companion Mud. It's pretty elastic as games go, even by the standards of today, and invites that pleasant "water cooler" quality where you and others can share stories of your experiences, knowing that they'll be unique to you. After all, above anything else, an adventure should always feel like a personal experience.
The Gothic 1 Remake comes out on June 5, 2026, on PC, Xbox Series X/S and PS5.
