π’ HE'S TALKING ABOUT AN OBSCURE GAME AGAIN! RUN! π’
Well, it's not that obscure... π
Gothic is one of those diamonds in the ruff that if you didn't experience when it first came out it's already too late. πͺ I would say 1 out of 10 modern gamers would go back to play a game like Gothic, and that's me being generous.
So let's say 10 out of 100 people actually give the game a try. Out of those 10, I'd wager 3 actually enjoy it. π So mathematically this game is just bad, right? Nope. And that's the fascinating part about it. Gothic is one of the most design-rich RPGs you will ever play. It's just not for everyone.
And soβοΈ In this edition of Through the Lens π, we'll be taking a look at Piranha Bytes' innovative RPG from 2001: Gothic I (that's Gothic 1 for all you unable to read roman numerals), π Roll it! π½
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πΆ UP TOP πΆ
As we do, I bring to you the Gothic soundtrack for your listening pleasure while reading this review. It's nothing to write home about, but it gets the job done. π It's great background music if you're playing DnD for sure.
It has that old RPG feel. π― // top-tier analysis from your boy as always
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlBvrgxnj64
I was one of the few fortunate enough (or maybe crazy, too addicted to video games enough π) to play Gothic a couple of years after its release. As an RPG guy through and through, I struggled. But, I was a kid. And as a kid, you're ok banging your head against the wall and seeing which breaks first. Most times it's the wall.
This was the case with Gothic as well. π
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πΆ KING OF JANK πΆ
Yes, it is he! The king of jank! Long live the king! π
This is the game's first barrier of entry (and trust me, it has a few of these). Gothic was developed by a small German game studio at a time where PC RPGs were few and far between. Being developed by a small team, its development time was long, and by the time it came out certain industry standards were already in place.
Standards which Gothic lacked. Such as: playing with a fu@!#ing mouse. π Yes, Gothic is a keyboard-only game, and its control system is... UUUFFFF. Combat for a lot of people was impossible. You had to aim with your arrow keys. And that's just a taste. π€£ I'm not gonna go over the entire control scheme here, but if you have a passing interest in this kind of thing I implore you to search for it. You'll get a good chuckle out of that. π
Its graphics didn't help out much either. Even for the time, Gothic didn't look good. At least that's how I remember it. You could also imagine the voice acting was rough. And just the game felt sluggish, it felt unfinished. That's because it wasn't.
Years later, after patches and mods were introduced, the game was at least playable. And once it was, people could finally see Piranha's vision. And boy what a vision it was. π https://images.ecency.com/DQmciPMst6uYQsanAT81coHQdRHN8PbgrWNCW5HkDJtqZzo/fancy_divider.png
πΆ PREMISE AND SETTING πΆ
The story is nothing to write home about. βοΈ But it's serviceable and has some memorable characters. Although "some" is being a bit generous me thinks, but let's go with it.
So I don't bother you with the minutiae of it all, let's just say some fantasy stuff happens and you as the player are trapped on a prison colony island and can't get out due to a magical barrier surrounding the island. However! An ancient evil wakes from its slumber and it's your job as then chose-one to find a way to stop it. πΏ
Tha catch? Well, you're a prisoner. And that's the game's selling point. Or it should be at least. Because this game is un-for-freaking-giving time a hundred. And every system in the game contributes to this feeling.
So the premise is on point through and through. You are a prisoner trapped on a magical island, and you have to get around the trapping of being one in order to save the world. That's a pretty damn good setup if you ask me. π€·ββοΈ
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πΆ PRISON BREAK πΆ
Remember when I said this game was unforgiving? Yeah... that's putting it mildly! This game is hard man. Even for older game standards this game is a mother offer when it comes to its difficulty. All the trapping of the modern RPG: quest markers, hand holding, map info. None of that is present here.
You follow some shady guys around the corner - you get robbed. What did you think would happen? Why did you follow some shady guys? Think!
And that's really it. The systems in this game are designed in such a way that if you don't use your head you will suffer. And as you progress, you truly feel like you're progressing. Something that is just lost nowadays. As you always get a number that tells you how strong you are compared to your enemies. Here? Nah dawg. You feel/ stronger, you don't need any arbitrary numbers.
The prison colony is separated into several areas. And each area's motivations and biomes are vastly different than the others. The good guys are the bad guys, the bad guys are the good guys, and the normal guys are the crazy ones. π In this aspect, the game's writing is really good. When I criticized the writing earlier I meant more in the dialogue/technical side of things. This is ok because the overarching system-based writing is on point. βοΈ
It is your choice with whom you want to ally with. And this will depend greatly on how you see things. Areas of the island unlock as you gain favor with certain groups. And every inch you move forward feels vastly rewarding. I cannot emphasize this enough, but this game feels amazing when you're good at it. It relies on its game mechanics to tell the story, to level the character, to have fun. Not arbitrary numbers, fancy cutscenes, or meaningless fetch quests.
I never thought about this till now but in this aspect Gothic is very similar to Deus Ex The fans it garnered over the years love this game because there is something to love. It's tangible. It's real. It's special.
Gothic design is what all games should strive to achieve.
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πΆ LEGACY πΆ
A cult classic is putting it mildly. π Game designers to this day study the intricacies of Gothic.
There have been several attempts of remaking the game. Since its sequels never really captured the essence of the first game.
Gothic will forever be remembered as one of those games that happened because a bunch of friends was crazy enough to have a vision.
And beating the odds, they actually achieved it. Kudos. ππ
Thank you for reading, you rock! (and maybe roll) πππ
Shout-out to the πPIZZAπ gang, π€ gang. π€
If you are hoping for coverage on the future titles (I know! You were chomping at the bits!)* then I'm sorry to disappoint you. This is a one-and-done. I just remembered this game this morning. π And at the very list it deserved this article here.
I wish modern games were ballsy enough to have Gothic designs. And while Soulsborne games have that spirit. There isn't a real full-fledged RPG with Gothic's mechanical density out there.
Here's hoping. π»
π Follow me on my HIVE blog π
Hope you guys had an amazing weekend! Here's to another amazing week πππ
Return from Gothic I π½ Through the Lens to ΠΠΎΡΠΊΠΎ's Web3 Blog
