Welcome Back to the Colony

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PC gaming was a different place in the early 2000s. The advent of 3D accelerator cards and rapidly developing technology meant that developers found themselves at the limits of what their imaginations could come up with. Well, that and what 512MB of RAM can get you, of course.

The original Gothic, released in 2001, was a game that demanded a lot from your PC, but offered a unique experience in return. If you had a PC capable of running the original Gothic in 2001, you were able to experience the strangest, yet strangely compelling, RPG on the market. More than twenty years later, THQ Nordic has teamed up with developer Alkimia Interactive to produce a complete remake of the 2001 classic.

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Described by THQ Nordic as a faithful remake, Gothic 1 Remake brought back members of the original team to keep things as close as possible to the original. While that works in the game’s favor at times, as Grody’s original charm feels well represented, it’s something of a double-edged sword.

On the other hand, the ambiguity that defined the original is fun to see, but it can lead to unnecessary frustration. However, on the other hand, that commitment to the past and all the mystery has created what will undoubtedly be one of the most surprising games of 2026.

I feel under attack

Like the original, Gothic 1 Remake offers you a simple, seemingly trivial task that quickly becomes completely irrelevant if you want it to be. The work done in Gothic is as important as you want it to be, as the core of the game’s design revolves around survival in its harsh world. During my time with Gothic, I was reminded of how powerful and meaningful the game is. No one in this world loves you, except maybe you’re a moron.

It really evokes a certain era of gaming, when developers weren’t so concerned about making you feel comfortable, and would rather find more ways to kill you. It is under a myth of strength and a myth of survival, as life in the Colony is oppressive. That was always one of the most interesting parts of the original, so it’s nice to see that the team found a way to replicate that here.

Overwhelmingly, Gothic is built around a world that is hostile towards you, and despite being an RPG, it breaks the conventional belief system. That was revolutionary back in 2001, and it sounds as fresh today as it did back in the day. You always feel like you’re barely surviving their pain, unlike a world that’s trying to survive when it’s overwhelmed, and that’s a rare thing in RPGs.

After years of playing RPGs where my goal was to become a super evil slayer, or form an alliance with my super powerful friends or be a lone wolf destroyer, playing a game like Gothic will really give you a moment. At some point, you have to learn not to take what Gothic does to you personally. It creates a fun relationship between you and the game, which tends to make you feel like you’re being tested.

Welcome to the Colony

Much of the Gothic world feels like it’s reacting to both you and the NPCs’ actions, giving you all the tools to live in its unforgiving reality. The Colony is located beneath a magical barrier, and the deeper you go, the more insight you gain into its unusual structure. Like many characters in the Gothic world, to survive, and indeed succeed, is to learn to blend in as it is. I can’t tell you how empty I felt during the opening hours of Gothic.

A good example of this is that, when I was escorted to another camp, my partner was killed, and I did not have good weapons due to being beaten because of money to protect the camp that I did not really have. I took his weapons, left, and managed to find better gear. The game didn’t beat me, or tell me to protect my partner, it acknowledged what happened and waited for me to respond.

The work done in Gothic is as important as you want it to be, as the core of the game’s design revolves around survival in its harsh world.

In many ways, Gothic was the inspiration for modern games like Kenshi, where the world is designed to live with or without you. Just like the real world we must return to after the end of a video game, all we can do is react to what we are given and hope for the best. That was a big part of early Gothic, and it’s honestly amazing to see how the band represented that.

That being said, shopping at Gothic requires a little more patience. The game throws you around a lot, and doesn’t tend to give you much direction. That’s all great, it’s totally worth the game it is, but it’s understandable that someone might be completely turned off by that. Gothic is already a niche game in PC gaming circles, and for a reason, so I don’t know how well the game will be received in that regard.

It’s definitely one of the most punishing games I’ve played this year, and it takes some getting used to, but if none of what I’ve said sounds appealing, this probably isn’t a game to put any time or money into. If you’re okay with a game that doesn’t seem to like you, but don’t take it personally, Gothic will be one of the most talked about RPGs of 2026 when it comes to player agency and freedom.

Little Jank is good

Even though the early 2000s is rightly celebrated for its innovation and technical achievements, it’s also known for how unusual many games from that era feel. Gothic was no stranger to that, and to their credit, the band has maintained that feeling, for better or for worse. It works both in favor of the game and against it.

While the fight is true to the original and translated almost verbatim, it doesn’t sound right in 2026. Considering how often you do it, the fact that almost nothing is done to improve it is probably the game’s biggest flaw. I honestly admire the desire to keep the game as it was, but not fixing what is the most important part of a great RPG like this feels like a missed opportunity.

The Movement itself is also wrong. The animations are slow, and moving around the world has a kind of intensity to it that never ends. You always feel like you’re running in quicksand, and in a game that requires you to run you’re talking to many different NPCs, which tend to slow down quickly.

Just like the real world we must return to after the end of a video game, all we can do is react to what we are given and hope for the best.

Performance on PC is also a bit disappointing. Even on the most advanced settings, the game just doesn’t feel right. There is always a slight deterioration in the picture, and in the open world, the game suffers a lot. In different camps, the game feels equally unpredictable in the kind of action it will give you.

I’ve always said that a little jank or awkwardness is fine in video games, as I honestly love games like Oblivion and Deadly Premonition for the way they feel and are weird. I stand by that, and that’s especially true of the original Gothic story and this remake. If you can handle a little punishment, both in the way the game behaves and what weird challenges it throws at you, it’s going to be a weird thing that you’ll end up falling in love with.

Gothic 1 Remake reinvents a timeless PC classic from the 2000s, and it does so in a way that will be controversial. The original Gothic was already a terrible old game, so recreating it faithfully is commendable, but it leaves the game lacking the potential to be what it could have been. Gothic’s core concept is brilliant in its power, but it was always hampered by hardware limitations. The redesign makes it look and sound great, but it just didn’t go the way it should have.

Gothic 1 Remake

Updated on PC

7.5/10

Released: June 5, 2026
The ESRB: Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Sexual Themes, Drug and Alcohol Use, Violence
Engineer(s).: Alkimia Interactive