Are you sitting down? The Gothic remake is going into full production. THQ Nordic confirmed today that development is going ahead as the playable teaser got enough attention and positive feedback. It's heading to PC and next-gen consoles but definitely won't be out in 2020.
The goal is to make a faithful remake of the 2001 German RPG, as to be expected, but with modern graphics and updated mechanics. Yeah, I don't feel like I need a return to the clunky turn-of-the-millennium controls, cheers.
"There's more than a whiff of The Witcher 3 about it, surprisingly," Fraser Brown wrote after taking the teaser for a spin. "The UI looks similar, the hero looks like Poundland Geralt, and the combat system isn't a million miles away from it, either, though it's got more in common with something like For Honor or Kingdom Come: Deliverance. You pick the direction of your attacks and blocks with the mouse, trying to find a weakness in the enemy's defence. It took me a couple of fights to get the hang of it, but it provided far more interesting duels that I'm used to at the start of an RPG."
Apparently one of the biggest requests off the back of the teaser has been for "a grittier and less colourful world." Yeah, c'mon, remove the hues and make the game live up to its name, I guess? Personally, I'm over games being black and brown all over, as many were throughout the entirety of the previous decade. If you want less colour you could just turn down the brightness on your screen? Just a suggestion.
THQ Nordic says that it's looking to continue a "transparent and open production with the community," which is hopefully great news. It's good if it means any bad features are spotted early and removed. But it could be bad, too… we all remember Boaty McBoatface, don't we? Sometimes listening to the public isn't always the best idea.
