Gothic 1 Remake Next Fest Preview - A Great Showcase For The Full Hardcore RPG

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There were so many memorable games I got to check out at Gamescom last year, and it's hard not to love all of them. However, when I was setting up appointments, there were a few games I wanted to prioritize. Monster Hunter Wilds, Civilization 7, and RoadCraft are among those few, but to top it off, I wanted to check out the Gothic 1 Remake. THQ Nordic's decision to bring back Gothic 1 with a full-fledged remake was one I was quite excited about, and seeing it at Gamescom solidified my thoughts.

Ahead of its release, THQ Nordic is releasing a special demo for the game that gives us a look at Gothic 1's mechanics and how the world will look. It's a very short experience, but it does give us a taste of the main game to look forward to, and I am definitely looking forward to it.

This demo is actually a standalone prologue, where we play as Nyras and experience the colony through his eyes. He has just gotten there, so you will mostly be running around, meeting some of the people there, fighting monsters, and learning a little about the history behind the Colony. The full game will be separate, with you taking on the person known as The Nameless Hero.

While there wasn't a ton to do just yet, the prologue did successfully make me curious about the full game and want to play it. In my time, I was able to talk to multiple people who had different opinions of the Colony, find and loot items, explore the boundaries of the small location I was able to, cook some food, and fight against goblins, birds, and mole rats. I definitely see the inner workings of a hardcore open-world RPG here, even if this is only a little sliver of what's to come.

There was a solid amount of combat, though, and I like that you can find different weapons to try out. If you play your cards right, you can gain some proficiency with a fighting skill and try out different weapons like a sword and a bow. It's a good foundation, which makes me even more excited to see how it is fleshed out in the full game.

This is one of those RPGs where you want to take your time. Movements are a bit on the slow side in general, and there are secrets to find with some beautiful sights around. The demo's goal is to showcase a sliver of what's to come and keep interest high, and I feel they have done that. I want to learn more about the Colony and the people there and grow my skills to become stronger. There's a lot that THQ Nordic isn't showing us, and I can't wait to see it all. This is a demo definitely worth trying if you are even remotely interested in the remake.

I also had a chance to play Gothic 1's demo on the Steam Deck, and while it is a bit rough, it is playable. The game generally has a slower pace, so I was okay with a 30 FPS cap, which is about all it can muster on the lowest-quality settings. There are still some slight drops here and there, but I didn't feel like it negatively impacted gameplay. It does look a little blurry at times since we are using a 50% resolution scale, but it is still do-able.

Regardless, I am impressed. This is a slice of the game, most likely not nearly as optimized as the full release will be, and is playing decently well. For a big game with high-fidelity visuals, I am not surprised that this was going to be a tough one to run, even if it is pushing battery drain to its limits. Still, when all is said and done, I would consider it playable if I had to make an assessment based on this demo.

Gothic 1 Remake can be wishlisted on Steam before its release, and you can try the demo out for yourself starting on February 24th.

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