Gothic authors create something similar to Arx Fatalis

After a long pause, the creators of Gothic are back with a new game reminiscent of the cult Arx Fatalis.

Pithead Studio, an indie studio founded by former Piranha Bytes creative director Bjorn Pankratz and his wife Jennifer Pankratz, presented their first project — Cralon. The first trailer shows a classic dungeon-crawler RPG. The studio showed a gloomy atmosphere, an abandoned old mine, an underground bastion, and mountains of skeletons (as well as a frying pan that resembles a huge spoon).

The protagonist is a demon hunter who finds himself in a mine. He will have to interact with the inhabitants of the dungeon and fight the dark forces hiding in its depths. Cralon promises deep survival mechanics, exploration, and a non-linear approach to the passage.

Pithead Studio are not direct «heirs of» closed Piranha Bytes but the trailer has the familiar spirit of the Gothic series, Risen and Elex. Often, past Piranha games have been «clunky». Many players have never mastered the controls with Gothic’s bugs, but it still has its fans.

The description is somewhat reminiscent of Arx Fatalis (2002) and the classic Ultima Underworld (1992), which once influenced by the developers of Deus Ex and BioShock. Arkane Studios was responsible for Arx Fatalis, and this game became their «firstborn». The studio is also known for the Dishonored projects (2012 and 2016), Prey (2022) and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic (2006).

The «firstborn» Arkane Studios takes place in an underworld where the sun has gone out, and the protagonist has lost his memory and wakes up in a small cell. The character explores underground tunnels and caves. The hero also interacts with the environment, developing melee, magic, stealth, and intuition in parallel. If the description resembles the upcoming project of the creators of Gothic — it is, because the developers were inspired by this game.

Cralon has no release date or price, but in Steam and Epic Games Store you can add it to your wish list. However, it is worth remembering that the game is still at an early stage of development, and many things can change, including the graphics.

Meanwhile, the studio Alkimia Interactive prepares Gothic 1 Remake, which has nothing to do with its former creators (they lost the rights, which were transferred to the publisher THQ Nordic). Steam announced the weekly «Festival of New Releases», which featured a demo version that will not become part of the game. Also, the day before, the studio showed 30-minute gameplay.

Source: PC Gamer