Translated via DeepL. Excuse the formatting and if there are any inaccuracies/ translation errors. Tried my best to clean it up a bit.
The director of Gothic Remake showed me the game in action. I felt the old spirit in a new edition.
Yes, I've seen Gothic Remake. And it's better than I thought. It's still Gothic in spirit, less out of the woodwork, although there were a few angularities as well. The game's director, however, gives the impression of someone who knows what he's doing. And he's doing something surprisingly ambitious.
The Gothic Remake looks and sounds better than I would have expected. And yet the game's director - Reinhard Pollice - tells me about the game in a cool way, probably aware of the need for a few tweaks to be made or technical imperfections that cannot be overcome. When I compliment the weather effects, the developer immediately notes that in this demo the lighting has a bit of a problem with maintaining a natural feel, but also guarantees that this is something he will certainly try to fix in the coming months. And he tells me all this, claiming in passing that what I see is some 90-95% of the final product in terms of technical quality.
So he's confident in his game, he's not ashamed of it, still, he analyzes it all the time, even during the press show - the first of its kind in Poland, and the fourth in the world. Therefore, before I get to what I actually saw in the half-hour prologue of the game, I'll say it straight: I'm of a good mind. Because I already know that this is a remake that is ambitious and made by ambitious people. And that's half the battle, given the effects of the work I've seen.
Special prologue
Gothic fans are probably familiar with Nyras. He is a swamp sectarian who was the first to fall victim to possession by the Sleeper. Interestingly, it is he, not the Nameless, who is the playable protagonist of the demo presented to me which, as a specially prepared prologue, takes place six months before the main plot of the Remake. This beginning, by the way, is supposed to explain the backstory of demonic influences on this character, but I didn't manage to get to know them, as the show ended a bit early. Nonetheless, at the very start the creators wink at those familiar with the Gothic universe, and in the process expand the worthy plots.
Despite this plot volte-face, the demo presents an introduction strongly similar to that of the original. An old acquaintance Diego comes to greet us (we can immediately get under his skin and disobey his commands), then we find our first weapon in the form of a pickaxe, and there is no shortage of memorable encounters with scavengers. Although in a slightly more dinosaur-like version. Each of these familiar events is backed by fresh mechanics, quality-of-life changes, graphical water features, and novelties.
What does the scene with Diego tell me?
Without any "Welcome to the Colony," cutscenes, or intros, I was thrown into the game world and almost immediately saw Diego. The dialogue scene very quickly showed that Alkimia Interactive may not be making a full-fledged AAA game, but its work graphically doesn't deviate much from such a game. Details on the faces of the characters are impressive - wrinkles, scars, and a little less grimaces are noticeable. In turn, the costumes lack nothing, and the environment, although initially full of gray stone walls and cliffs, over time tempts with a bit more lush flora.
I had a chance to listen to the English voice acting, and this one comes off as thoroughly professional. It's tough, characteristic, with guts and understanding of the text being read (the movement of the mouth also quite skillfully matches the spoken lines) - it feels like we're talking to life-wounded prisoners, and it's helped by British interjections in the form of such iconic words as "bollocks", "bloody" or the good old "fuck". The music itself was admittedly regretted in the demo, but it allowed me to listen a little better to the sounds of the environment, the sound of a falling waterfall, birdsong, or the conversations of NPCs passing along the way. Although it's a modest start - the game world seemed alive and working on the senses.
Based on the example of the conversation with Diego, as with a couple of other characters, I can also safely say that Alkimia understands that at first we should feel a little confused and lost in the colony. NPCs don't want to tell us where to find weapons, they tease, sometimes and threaten, strengthening their authority. In addition, in the very first dialogues important characters and locations, such as the Old Camp, the New Camp, Gomez, and Lares, are heavily exposed. Gomez is rather warned against, while Lares, on the other hand, is presented as a leader who is strong and open to these pragmatic-minded warriors. The very first minutes allow you to form opinions about individual people and better understand the factional complexities.
What does the search for a pickaxe tell me?
When it comes time for a bit of exploration, the director immediately informs us that the open world in the remake is larger and more expansive compared to that of the original. So I decided to elaborate on the subject, as I'm curious to hear some specifics. And indeed those specifics I got. For we are to receive a colony about one-fifth larger and richer in terms of content. We are talking about new quests, heroes, modified enemies, other biomes and types of nature, and even locations. I certainly haven't listed everything - the point is to expect the unexpected.
While traversing The Exchange Zone, Nyras has the opportunity to loot one of the nearby houses. The animation of picking up items looks almost as primitive as in the first Gothic (waving a paw in the air), and climbing a ladder looks equally comical (the character unnaturally pushes out four letters) - not the kind of next-gen visuals we were fighting for. The movement is quite smooth, Pollice told me that the character adjusts to the passing obstacles, and can even automatically jump over a small chasm. Seemingly a small thing, but one to note. The whole process of robbing the hut ends with opening the chest. No man's land was plundered this time, but in the later phase of the game each hut is supposed to belong to specific NPCs, and they will react appropriately to our thieving spree if they notice us.
The areas explored will be associated with people familiar with Gothic, but nevertheless, it is clear that they have been enriched with things to discover, as well as a mass of not-insignificant assets. There were a lot of memories from the past in my head, especially when I spotted the pickaxe spot, but I couldn't hide my excitement about the fact that this would be a slightly different land to traverse. Because this otherness can be seen, heard, and felt, even if somewhere on the horizon there is a nostalgic bomb called Old Camp.
What does the fight with the scavengers tell me?
I also felt déjà vu about the combat system, but not because it reminded me of that nightmare from the original game. What's that, it didn't. Instead, I noticed quite a similarity to the clashes presented in the playable teaser of the remake made available a few years ago.
The combat in the demo with the scavengers looked very clumsy, but the director assured me that this was a deliberate procedure. Every player at the beginning of the game in the Gothic remake will wield weapons in an unskillful manner until they develop their skills with nearby NPCs specialized in a particular field. Pollice took this solution directly from the original, without resorting to more modern systems, as he felt that these mechanics fit perfectly into this world.
We'll be able to change equipment using a circular interface, and it's clear that the game is being made mainly with controllers in mind. At least for now. Calling up the inventory window itself, on the other hand, is supposed not to cause a pause in play, as the developers want to make gameplay as dynamic and fluid as possible. It sounds sensible, but until we test it ourselves, it's hard to say more.
I also noticed that after the clash with the scavengers, there was a light mist over the battlefield, and the figure was soiled with blood. Pollice addressed both of these observations. First, the game features a full day and night cycle and a system that takes into account a wide variety of atmospheric and natural phenomena. The game's demo was supposed to happen during the day, in the midday hours. This also made it seem a bit overexposed, but this is a glitch that is to be corrected. Secondly, the environment is so interactive that it can be affected by events found on the screen. In this case, blood covered Nyras's clothes, but the director vouches that it can be washed away by entering the water. It remains to be seen how many such tidbits the developers will prepare.
What does this game show tell me?
As a fan of Gothic, I have learned to turn a blind eye to its faults. However, watching the remake of the game in action, I didn't notice too many of these flaws. Yes, a couple of technical flaws characteristic of medium-budget productions can be seen here - that's why I mentioned them - but the demo as a whole seemed to me very, very polished, neat, and intriguing - nice enough that I'd reach for the pad even today, to get a little taste of this penal colony. Many references will be appreciated by fans of the classic trilogy, but it's clear that this is a project to sell Gothic as an RPG to a wider audience. We may not be waiting for another fantasy masterpiece in terms of execution, but you can feel the old spirit in this game. And it's the old spirit in a surprisingly digestible new edition.
Original article written by Karol Laska