There seems to have been an uptake in remastered games being released and just the other day a post on Reddit from EA Producer Jim Vasella quietly announced an incoming Command & Conquer remaster.
What’s your take on remasters? Do you love the fact that you can replay (or even play for the first time) some of the older beloved games but in higher fidelity? Do you think it’s all a greedy cash grab? Are developers running out of new good ideas and falling back on rehashing old games?
I wrote this comment three times as I cannot make up my mind. My gut feel is nope, cash grab. Remastering just to get the game onto a new platform from the same publisher (SONY!) is just weak strategies. XBOX is doing it right in keeping older games alive.
But if it means more games and more choice and thus more gamers, then can it really be that bad?
Remakes, however, I am all for as the amount of work to remake a game (like FF VII) is significantly more and deserves a bigger asking price. But do we really need to rehash old games? Can we not make new games with new ideas? Ask Hollywood, remakes very seldom do well…
if a game is significantly reworked when remastered ie Halo anniversary, anniversay 2, modern warfare remastered, shadow of the collosus etc then im all for it because real effort went into it to upgrade the game graphically to modern standards, but if a game is remastered just for the sake of getting more money from the consumer, majority of sony upscales err i mean remasters (that you are being charged for again) on the ps3 and ps4 then i say they can go and stuff themselves.
it honestly depends on a number of factors, and the end result generally will depend on the motivation for the remaster.
Personally I prefer titles in their original form as it retains the nostalgia
If it’s good, then sure, go for it, if it’s Fable anniversary, it can go die in a fire
There’s a C&C remaster coming?! It’s probably one of my favourite games ever. I completed the demo 20 times or more before getting hold of the full game. Then completed each campaign several times before playing countless skirmishes…
I don’t mind remasters. I enjoy revisiting old favourites with updated graphics and mechanics.
Don’t have an issue with remasters. I played TLoU on PS3 and bought the remastered version for PS4 when I first bought the console and enjoyed it second time around.
Resident Evil 2 remastered or should I say 'remake" rather is one I’m looking forward to especially.
I don’t think I mind remasters. You probably just have to judge them based on a case by case basis.
I saw that post yesterday… It has stirred up plenty of emotions, let me tell you. C&C is one of many great franchises that EA has buried, so if they’re going to remaster a classic, they had better do it justice.
@DohcWP actually summed it up very nicely. A quick rush job for the sake of milking nostalgic fans is unacceptable. A proper update done by folks that love the original would be very welcome.
The most difficult question (and one I think fans also disagree on) is how much of the original game you should keep. For example, with StarCraft Remastered, Blizzard were careful not to touch any of the game mechanics whatsoever, to the point where you can multiplayer the remastered version with the old one if you should want to. Age of Empires DE however, updated not just the visuals, but also added more modern mechanics such as unit queuing which weren’t part of the original game. It’s a tough decision to make, and I’m not quite sure which camp I’m in myself. I suppose it depends on the type of game, and how badly it needs to be modernized.
Anyhow, I’ll be watching the C&C situation closely. EA have an opportunity to win back a bit of goodwill from the fans here. Let’s hope they don’t screw it up again.
I also agree with @DohcWP. Stuff like Darksiders or Red Faction where they don’t really work on the game all that much and just pump it out on a new platform is a waste.
Something like Yakuza Kiwami on the other hand where they basically completely remake the game from the ground up is awesome.
Lastly, all remasters that come to Switch are awesome too.
I’m also generally in favour of remasters especially when it brings a game to a new platform that it hasn’t been on before. There are also some real classics that I never played back in the day that I can now do so.
I think a big factor is the price - whether it is fair for the amount of work done in doing the remaster or not.