Gothic cover
SeriesGothic

Gothic

Critic score1 critic
First release
Oct 30, 2001
Developer
Piranha Bytes
Engine
ZenGin
Genres
Role-playing (RPG), Adventure · Open world, Action, Fantasy, Historical, Stealth

Gothic is an action role-playing game set in a third-person perspective within a fantasy open world. The player controls an unnamed prisoner sent into a mining colony enclosed by a magical barrier. Gameplay emphasizes exploration without quest markers or a guided map, and the player character begins with no skills, learning them by finding teachers and spending earned skill points. The game features three factions to join, each offering different paths and abilities: the Old Camp provides access to Fire Mages, the New Camp to Water Mages, and the Brotherhood to early magic through worship of a being called the Sleeper. Combat involves melee weapons, ranged weapons, and magic across six circles of increasing power. The environment is highly interactive, allowing the player to cook food, forge weapons, and perform many activities seen in NPC routines.

Also known as Готика, 救世英豪, Gothic 1

Attributes

No Attributes added.

Details

Storyline, release dates, time to beat, age ratings, modes, links, keywords

Storyline
In a medieval fantasy world where humans are losing a war against Orcs, the king sentences all criminals to labor in ore mines to forge weapons. To prevent escape, twelve magicians erect a magical barrier over the mining colony, but the spell goes out of control, trapping the magicians inside and allowing the convicts to overthrow their guards. The prisoners split into three factions: the Old Camp, which trades ore with the king; the New Camp, which hoards ore to attempt destroying the barrier; and the Brotherhood, a religious group worshipping a being called the Sleeper. An unnamed prisoner is thrown into the colony carrying a letter for the Fire Mages. After joining one of the factions and uncovering that the Sleeper is actually a dangerous demon summoned by the Orcs centuries ago, the hero must find a way into the temple beneath the Orc city to confront and banish the creature, which causes the barrier to collapse and frees the colony.Read more

In a medieval fantasy world where humans are losing a war against Orcs, the king sentences all criminals to labor in ore mines to forge weapons. To prevent escape, twelve magicians erect a magical barrier over the mining colony, but the spell goes out of control, trapping the magicians inside and allowing the convicts to overthrow their guards. The prisoners split into three factions: the Old Camp, which trades ore with the king; the New Camp, which hoards ore to attempt destroying the barrier; and the Brotherhood, a religious group worshipping a being called the Sleeper. An unnamed prisoner is thrown into the colony carrying a letter for the Fire Mages. After joining one of the factions and uncovering that the Sleeper is actually a dangerous demon summoned by the Orcs centuries ago, the hero must find a way into the temple beneath the Orc city to confront and banish the creature, which causes the barrier to collapse and frees the colony.

Release dates
PC (Microsoft Windows)
Oct 30, 2001
PC (Microsoft Windows)
Nov 23, 2001
Time to beatIGDB · recorded
Main + Extras
30h
Game modes
Single player
Perspective
Third person
Where to buy
Keywords
dinosaurs, orcs, medieval, demon, murder
… All 78, drugs, magic, guild, crafting, dark fantasy, difficult, insanity, action-adventure, religion, classic, dialogue trees, crime, wolf, dark humor, slavery, nudity, mining, climbing, story rich, day/night cycle, sword & sorcery, alchemy, trolls, trainer, attributes, rivaling factions, leveling up, bink video, polygonal 3d, bow and arrow, goblins, skeletons, original soundtrack release, profanity, corpse, moral decisions, potion, real-time combat, spellcaster, multiple gameplay perspectives, rpg elements, falling sequence, bribery, theft, interactive environments, changing sides, been here before, sleeping, shape-shifting, summoners, boss assistance, weapon workshops, blacksmith, zero to hero, pickpocketing, lock picking, telekinesis, sleeping enemies, escaping imprisonment, censored version, exorcism, nameless protagonist, acrobatics, trilogy, insect infestation, god mode, class change, pyromancer, danger zone, aberrant a.i. behaviour, infinite pockets, nocturnality, gog preservation program

At a Glance

Critic Score
78
Main + Extras (IGDB)
30h

Overview

Steam review summary

Steam users rate this Very Positive, 13,207 reviews in all languages, recorded 16 October 2026

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