Gothic 1's cult-classic RPG action heading to Switch with a load of fixes
Arriving this September.
Eyes might currently be on THQ Nordic's remake of cult-classic action-RPG Gothic, but the company has unexpectedly announced it'll be bringing the two-decade-old original version to Switch on 28th September, with a huge number of fixes.
The original Gothic, which was created by developer Piranha Bytes and released in 2001, follows the story of a convicted prisoner who finds himself on a quest across a dangerous medieval fantasy realm. Its mix of action-orientated open-world exploration and RPG-style customisation has garnered something of a cult following over the years, leading THQ Nordic to start canvassing interest in a remake back in 2019.
It's the 2001 release that's coming to Switch, however, with THQ Nordic promising "great performance and a well adapted user interface and controls" across the 50+ hour adventure. And while the company is clear the Switch port is "the original game code, no remastering, and no remaking", it also shared an absolutely enormous list of fixes it's made for the release.
These range from story fixes to AI fixes, with THQ Nordic having gone as far as to adjust world meshes - "tree leaves are no longer solid", for instance - and animations. The initial impression is that while this might be the original game code on a fundamental level, there's still been plenty of care taken in bringing the port to Switch.
Gothic Classic, as the Switch version is officially known, will be available to purchase digitally from Thursday, 28th September. And for those that prefer something a little less intangible, THQ Nordic is also selling a physical version via its online store for €29.99.
As for the Gothic 1 Remake - which is being developed by Alkimia Interactive - our most recent look at that came last September. There's no release date for it yet, but it'll be making its way to Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC at some still-nebulous future point.