Hands on: Gothic 1 Remake — brilliant, bizarre and janky

Brilliant, bizarre, and a bit too obnoxious for its own good, Gothic 1 Remake is a solid redo of a hugely influential RPG. The remake stays faithful to the original’s deeply unique and unfriendly spirit: the visual update is spectacular, the gameplay is tough but rewarding, and the story remains intriguingly strange.

Still, there are moments where a little extra polish would have helped. You play a criminal lowered into a grim mining colony trapped beneath a one-way magic dome, the so-called Nameless Hero in a world where a single monster encounter can end you. Weapons feel awkward and learning new skills requires finding teachers, spending learning points and money, so progression is hard-earned.

The game encourages talking to every named character and the map comes without markers, making information itself the most valuable currency. The setting avoids simple grimdark tropes.

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