Do we really need a Gothic remake?

THQ Nordic is trying to find out.

A Gothic remake? What are they going to do next? A Baldur’s Gate remake? Ah, right. Yeah, they’re already doing that. THQ Nordic must have taken note of the response to the Baldur’s Gate announcement, because here they are testing out a remake of the German RPG Gothic. But do fans really want to play a high definition version of the classic?

The game was highly praised when it was first released in 2001 by devs Piranha Bytes, although there were a few control issues that hampered it. What can we expect with early 3D graphics though, really? While its graphics were pretty good for the time, in the newly released playable teaser, they are even better.

It’s an interesting strategy from THQ Nordic. For anyone that currently owns any of the Gothic saga on Steam, the teaser will be entirely free, a plan that will hopefully get right to the fans of the franchise. This is indeed what THQ Nordic is hoping for, as without positive feedback on the teaser, Nordic might leave behind the idea of a whole new addition of the franchise.

The teaser follows the first two hours of the original game, with modernisations to the combat style and the dialogue system. However, the reviews so far are not that promising. One Steam reviewer, Algirion, described it as, “An uncompelling and bland attempt at recreating a legendary game, visibly following the modern action RPG tendencies. There is a multitude of issues with it like the technical flaws, and the apparent ‘reimagining’ of the story and atmosphere, which will undoubtedly face lots of reproach from the fans.”

We really hope that these negative comments don’t stop development on the idea altogether, but if the reviews are to be believed, this is a remake that will need quite a bit of work to get fully off the ground.