THQ Nordic and developer Alkimia Interactive have released a new trailer for the Gothic 1 Remake. Showcasing the modern visuals, environment and the tone of the world for this medieval fantasy RPG, it does a great job of teasing the extent of the remake.
Gothic is in development for Playstation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. It’s a remake of the 2001 cult classic RPG by Piranha Bytes, which went into full production after some “unambiguous feedback” from fans. That feedback was prompted by a playable teaser that was made and released in 2019 to show what a Gothic remake might be able to offer.
While it’s great to have a new trailer for the game, we’re also likely to still be quite a way away from the game’s release. The 2019 playable teaser was a vertical slice demo, a proof of concept to try and get the project greenlit by THQ Nordic. It was successful and THQ Nordic announced in early 2020 that full production would begin, but then founded a brand new game studio to work on the full remake. Alkimia Interactive will have its roots in the THQ Nordic Barcelona team that made that first teaser, but building a new studio always adds to the length of a game’s development, both from the recruitment drive and the need for the team of gel together.
Gothic was a fresh take on a medieval fantasy in which humans are fighting a losing war against the Orcs. After the king sends all of convicts to the mines to extract powerful ores, he seals them in with a magical dome created by a dozen magicians. A great plan… until the dom goes out of control, the magicians are trapped, the convicts overthrow the guards and force the king to trade with them. Meanwhile, the convicts also split into camps and the trapped magicians ally with the different factions.
Two decades ago, the original Gothic received plenty of acclaim for its story, the interactions with other characters and the visuals for the time, but was also critiqued for having a poor control scheme that hampered the game. Modernising the gameplay as well as the visuals and the production as a whole will be key for Alkimia Interactive.
Source: press release, YouTube