I’ve lately become quite the THQ Nordic fan. They have the odd interest of reviving RPG classics, and their latest project involves Gothic, a series of old RPG games known for its immersive world and progress curve, at least in Europe. And for those who are eagerly waiting for the Gothic Remake to release (you can find my thoughts on the demo here), they can pass the time by playing the original, dubbed Gothic Classic, now ported on the Playstation and Xbox Series X/S!
Of course, since Gothic happens to also be one of my favorite videogame series of all time, I could not let this opportunity pass. I had to play and review this RPG gem.
Note: At the time of writing this review, Gothic Classic is only available as a free game via preordering Gothic Remake. Its official launch date is on July 28th.
In Gothic you are a nameless prisoner, a literal nobody, who is sentenced to be sent into a magical penal colony from where nobody can escape. Just before you are unceremoniously thrown into the prison, a high official tasks you with delivering a highly important letter to the Magicians of Fire, the ones who created the colony and accidentally got trapped inside of it together with the prisoners.
This might sound like a simple plan… except that from the first minutes of the game, you will be beaten up by the guards, saved by another guard who will then become your mentor while also constantly reminding you of how insignificant you are, struggle to find a weapon and end up being eaten by a mutated chicken because you struggled to figure out the game controls. Gothic is a game made in 2001 and it might take a while until you get used to it.
The graphics are a good reminder that this game was made in the early 2000s. Gothic has choppy blocks, smeared textures, odd water and for some reason some beautiful lighting and weather effects which truly put a strain on the poor graphics board back in the day. However, there’s also something sublime about the artstyle direction itself, even if everything looks ancient – castles are imposing, caves are actually dreadful, and don’t even think about venturing into the forest at night – that area is pitch black and most of the time you won’t even know what killed you. One of Gothic‘s qualities is the atmosphere, and boy does this game deliver it… in a way only a game limited by the technology of its time ever could.
What further amplifies the atmosphere and vibes of this game is the music. Gothic wouldn’t be nearly as memorable if it wasn’t for the music score of Kai Rosenkranz. His soundtrack is the reason I always get goosebumps every time I start Gothic, even after so many times coming back to this game. The soundtrack will stick with you and will set the tone for the area you are in – you will feel the sense of safety and confidence in the prisoner settlements like the Old Camp, unease and danger in the woods and utterly creeped out by the abandoned temples or mountain castles where unknown monsters reside.
Most living things in Gothic want to see you dead. Dinosaur chickens (scavengers), molerats, mutated lizards, wolves, flying mosquitoes the size of cats… and initially, you will barely stand any chance against these enemies. It is very important to pick your battles – try to fight the weaker enemies first and never more than one at a time, at least until you get better equipment and improve your skills.
In fact, equipment feels more vital than ever in Gothic – the one pickaxe or rusty sword that you find laying around will only help you fend off scrawny enemies. To really get the gears in motion, you will want to join one of the three available camps: The Old Camp, the largest and most organized of the groups, focused on mostly just trading the ore with the kingdom; the New Camp who decided to not follow the rules of the Old Camp and make their own settlement, trying to blow up the magical barrier with the help of the ore they’ve gathered; or the Sect Camp, a swamp faction who refuses to mine for ore and instead deals and consumes significant amounts of swampweed, while also praying to an unknown god called The Sleeper to save them from the colony. Each of these factions have their own way of admitting new members and you will have to work especially hard to convince them you are worth the trouble. Once you join one of these camps, you will get a variety of equipment and items, but most important a set of armor. Armor is critical in Gothic, even a measly pair of digger pants can prevent a wolf from turning you into an instant meal.
A recommended course of action would be solving every admission quest in each camp before finally deciding which one to join, for the maximum amount of experience. If you also go for the Platinum Trophy, the best decision would be joining the Old Camp, since it is the only camp that teaches you how to become a Fire Mage.
Regardless of the settlement, you will notice how immersive the world of Gothic is. Each NPC has their own schedule and individual route of activities, making the world feel organic and alive. The blacksmith will hammer away at his anvil, fighters will practice in the arena, diggers will wake up, wash themselves and then go to work; everyone has their role in this prison society. You can join help out too, if you want: whether it’s cooking, forging swords at the blacksmith or just play an instrument next to the campfire, you can make your own contribution to the society. If you add the fact that the game also has a day/night cycle that impacts everyone, it becomes obvious why this game was famed for its world and atmosphere.
Time to talk about the one thing that might drive away new players – the combat.
At first, combat in Gothic might seem counterintuitive, clunky, even impossible to approach. These are all valid opinions, because yes, the control scheme is pretty rough and there’s no actual tutorial to teach you how the game works. But I assure you, if you have a bit of patience with it, everything will make a lot of sense after the initial “getting used to” phase.
In order to actually fight, you need to enter a fighting stance in which you will then be able to perform various moves depending on the directions you input. You can either attempt a combo by pushing the left stick forward, flail around by pressing left/right or even back step if you pull the left stick towards you. The problem is that all of this must be done in a certain rhythm, since just spamming attacks will make your character do nothing except being hit by the enemy. But once you get the rhythm, you will be able to pull out several attacks, combos and even parries that will not give the enemy a moment to breathe.
For those of you that are annoyed by close combat, don’t fret. You also have bows and crossbows to pick enemies from afar. And for those players that want a more sophisticated solution to their problems, there’s magic in the form of scrolls or runes.
Regardless of your approach, if you want to become proficient, you must find a teacher… Learning how to fight better isn’t just a simple upgrade to your damage, you will also change your stance and the way you hold your weapon. A swordsman will teach you how to hold a one handed sword properly, a hunter will explain the way of shooting the bow proficiently and the magicians will teach you how to cast more difficult spells, which is another feature that contributes to the game’s atmosphere.
Back to the story, which is surprisingly complex. While you start off as a nobody in Chapter 1 of the game, soon you will be caught in a crazy plot involving summoning ancient demons, camp infightings, finding old powerful wizards, and unexpected betrayals. Our nameless hero will soon realize he has an important role to play in executing the plan of blowing up the magical barrier and escaping the colony, but he will need all the help that he can get.
The cast of characters is very strong, too. Your first and best friend is Diego, the guy who saved you from the guards. You will later meet several such characters that would rather listen to you than beat you up, like Milten, an aspiring fire mage with a bright future (in his mind), or Gorn, the axe wielding mercenary who will become your fiercest friend. These characters will also often have the best quests in the game. My favorite is actually Lester, a member of the Sect, who is not so sold on the religion of the Sleeper, and instead decides to help you pull whatever shenanigans you need to get admitted to the camp.
With that being said… the story loses its steam during the final parts of the game. While the narrative is strong through the first chapters, always making you wonder what will happen next, by the end of the game you’ll simply need to get the most powerful weapon, most powerful armor and beeline towards the big bad. It is not a disappointing ending, but it is nowhere near as a climactic and exciting conclusion to the story as the beginning made it out to be.
There’s also the voice acting, which ranges from decent to laughably bad. Don’t get me wrong, I always get a laugh whenever I hear a cultist yelling “SLEEPER AWAKEN”, but it can get jarring after a while. Also, every old wizard in the game has the same voice actor, which eventually feels like you are talking to an army of magical clones. I have heard that the German voice acting is very good however!
As someone who finished this game several times with a mouse and keyboard before, I can confirm that the console port is incredibly smooth. Movement and action via controller felt natural, the developers adding quick action buttons and even a quicksave/quickload option. Moreover, there are some QoL improvements, the most helpful one allowing you to perform actions in bulk, like roasting all the meat you have in your inventory or smelting all the swords you have. These changes are welcomed, because it was fairly tedious to perform every action individually before.
The trophy list is actually fairly complex. Most of the trophies are missable and some of them are actually really obscure, unless you use an external guide or you are knowledgeable about the original game. Some trophies are even mutually exclusive, for example performing tasks to join the Swamp Camp will cancel out New Camp admissions, so you will have to use the save file slots efficiently if you want to get the platinum in one playthrough.
In all honesty, the biggest challenge is actually dealing with the game’s age. Even with all my appreciation for Gothic, I have to admit that it’s an incredibly tough game to get into for newcomers. Its mechanics are considered archaic compared to its contemporaries and its learning curve and story can be so obtuse, it makes even games like Dark Souls seem reasonable and approachable in comparison, from a newcomer’s point of view. You can also softlock yourself quite easily if you put skill points into random skills, so frustration can be justified and I could not blame anyone for not wanting to approach this game.
However, if you enjoy old school RPGs and have the patience to get through its hard exterior, you might end up actually appreciate Gothic Classic and even discover why it is considered such a cult classic. For those who already enjoyed the game before and want to give it another go on the modern consoles… Welcome to the colony!
