Bring On The Games
A few days ago, I had the opportunity to get a sneak peek at the THQ Nordic 2025 showcase. There’s an impressive, varied, and incredibly exciting array of games coming our way from THQ Nordic. Some of them won’t arrive until next year, but several are only months away. I can’t wait. Here are a few of my favorites from the event.
Sacred 2 Remaster
2008’s Sacred 2 was a popular action RPG, a sequel — obviously — to Sacred. Both games aspired to be the next Diablo killer. While they didn’t quite reach that high bar, they brought an entirely new style and fantasy world to the genre. The Sacred 2 Remaster is a top-to-bottom overhaul of the game’s graphics, textures, and UI, and includes the original game’s DLC.
Tides of Tomorrow
Tides of Tomorrow is a visually striking, post-apocalyptic multiplayer adventure. I loved the colorful, stylized art and the fact that Tides of Tomorrow had something to say about real-world environmental issues. It also has an intriguing multiplayer mechanic where other players’ choices and paths through the game change the world and your playthrough. Tides of Tomorrow is still a ways out, coming in February 2026.
Gothic 1 Remake
2001’s Gothic was an extremely ambitious third-person ARPG. The open world generated an impressive amount of emergent gameplay, and it was a much more challenging RPG than players were used to. It was famously the poster child for what became known as “Euro-jank.” The Gothic 1 Remake has been on my radar for years, and a playable demo appeared not too long ago. Gothic Remake is coming soon, though no release date was mentioned.
Fatekeeper
This might be the game that excited me most at the THQ Nordic event. It’s a first-person RPG set in a grim fantasy world. Made by a small team, Fatekeeper already looks amazing, and its blend of brutal combat and magic is promising. Imagine a Soulslike blended with a hyper-violent, photorealistic Skyrim, that was the vibe I got from Fatekeeper. No release date yet, but I’ll be waiting and ready.
The Guild: Europa 1410
Many gamers are familiar with The Guild franchise. The games blend together city building, economics, and a social simulation in which families and the powerful create lineages that shape the world. The Guild games have a deep character creation system that goes far deeper than cosmetics, including personality traits and genetics. Although they can be daunting at the start, the games are genuinely engrossing.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide
Let’s end with a title that’s miles away from grim, dark, and serious, and a highlight of the THQ Nordic Showcase. SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide brings the series’ trademark snarky humor and satire to a new platformer. It’s colorful, funny, and a perfect sequel to 2020’s Battle for Bikini Bottom-Rehydrated. Titans of the Tide is all about two giants of the sea — The Flying Dutchman and Neptune — fighting it out in the world of SpongeBob. Best of all, it includes a prominent role for that giant of the screen, The Hoff. That’s David Hasselhoff to you and me.