Gothic Classic from THQ Nordic and Piranha Bytes gives us a chance to dive back into Myrtana as the Nameless Hero in a direct port of the 2001 experience. Learn more in our Gothic Classic review!

 

Gothic Classic from THQ Nordic and Piranha Bytes gives us a chance to dive back into Myrtana as the Nameless Hero in a direct port of the 2001 experience. You’re literally no one, and are most certainly not fulfilling any ancient prophecies with your arrival. You will still have to work on making a dent in the overall way that things work at the Colony, a location that has a magical barrier around it to keep people from escaping. Your initial task will be to mine for magical ore, but you’ll soon find out there are ways of leaving this menial task and exploring the world of the Valley of the Mines. Why is everyone punished with having to mine for the ore? Because the orcish hordes have invaded the Kingdom, and the ore is needed for forging the weapons needed for the army of King Rhobar II to be able to stand a chance.

Yes, it’s been 25 years since the game was originally released on PC by Egmont Interactive as publisher in Germany, followed by a worldwide release from Xicat Interactive in North America and Europe later that year – and in early 2002 for Poland. Sure, a lot has changed in the action RPG genre, but one can’t ignore the lasting impact of a game that ended up inspiring The Witcher series of video games, as well as releases such as Kingdom Come: Deliverance.

 

After landing on the Nintendo Switch in 2023, we’re finally getting a chance to take Gothic Classic for a spin on PlayStation 5 – as well as PlayStation 4 since this one is a Cross-Buy release. I previously had a chance to work on a Gothic 1 Remake review on PlayStation 5 a couple of months ago, so it was interesting to go back to take on the source material.

You will need to think fast and decide which one of the three factions of the Colony you’ll be pledging your allegiance to. Your options? The Old Camp, the New Camp, and the Swamp Camp. None of them are really going to be better than the others, but at least picking a side will mean that someone will have your back if you run into trouble… right?

After the intro cutscene is over and you find yourself in a mine in the Colony, you’ll be taking control of your character by using the left analog stick or the D-Pad, as you use the right analog stick to move the camera around you as needed. Weapon slot 1 is mapped to the L2 button, while weapon slot 2 is set to the R2 button. The L1 button can be used for quick magic. Try to perform a parry with the Square button to defend yourself.

Sneak around by pressing in on the right analog stick so that you make a lot less noise. Jump by pressing the Circle button. The X button will be for performing actions. You know, like activating this or that lever. Given the game’s PC origins, there’s a hotbar you can turn on or off with the R1 button, as you use the R1 button and the D-Pad to interact with it. Any items you collect will be added to your inventory, which you can review by pressing the Touchpad on the DualSense controller.

Trophy-wise, this release features a full trophy list with a Platinum trophy waiting for you. And since it’s a Cross-Buy title, you can download the PS4 and PS5 versions of the game, and each one will have its own trophy list for you to work on. No, there’s no way to transfer your save from one to the other, so you can’t really autopop trophies and will need to play both games separately. Each list is split into 48 Bronze trophies and 3 Gold trophies. What will you need to do to earn that shiny Platinum trophy?

Some of the objectives to complete include picking each of the three aforementioned factions, collecting all focus stones, entering the temple of the Sleeper, locating all Chromanin books, completing Baloro’s quest, defeating all of the Ore barons in chapter 5, improving the ore armor, becoming a mercenary, finding and killing 10 meatbugs, getting 15,000 ore, and stealing from the pockets of 25 people, to name some examples. Since there are plenty of missable trophies, you might want to consider checking out this Gothic Classic Trophy Guide.

Gothic Classic gives us a chance to dive back into Myrtana as the Nameless Hero in a direct port of the 2001 experience. You’re literally no one, and are most certainly not fulfilling any ancient prophecies with your arrival. You will still have to work on making a dent in the overall way that things work at the Colony, a location that has a magical barrier around it to keep people from escaping. Your initial task will be to mine for magical ore, but you’ll soon find out there are ways of leaving this menial task and exploring the world of the Valley of the Mines. Why is everyone punished with having to mine for the ore? Because the orcish hordes have invaded the Kingdom, and the ore is needed for forging the weapons needed for the army of King Rhobar II to be able to stand a chance.

Gothic Classic is available as a Cross-Buy, so your $29.99 purchase will allow you to download both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions of the game to your PS5 console, and each version will have its own trophy list with a Platinum trophy for you to try to add to your collection. There’s also the option of taking the Gothic 1 Remake for a spin on PlayStation 5.

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Disclaimer
This Gothic Classic review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by THQ Nordic.