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Best Remaster/Remake of 2020?
- Thread starter RedSwirl
- Start date
Xenoblade took an already very good game and made it unquestionably better in most ways, so that's my vote. Kind of a joke that it isn't on the poll over some of those options.
Sounds like the THPS remakes are also great. Didn't hear much about them so that makes me a bit interested.
Sounds like the THPS remakes are also great. Didn't hear much about them so that makes me a bit interested.
Remake doesn't imply new mechanics, it means rebuild fromt the ground up. A remaster is basically an upres of the same assets.
Of those I've only played Tony Hawk, FF7 and Mafia. I like all three but I have to give it to Tony Hawk. They went all in on the game and delivered something really special. Great graphics, music and gameplay that's still really entertaining. It also runs like dream on pc.
Right but it's still just an aesthetic change, you can use a walkthrough from the original because so little design wise has changed. It's not a new interpretation of the originals ideas, or a rethinking of mechanics. And for Demons, it's literally using the original game logic according to Bluepoint.
The Crash NSane trilogy is a brand new code base, but it's still the same design recreated, personally I'd still call that a remaster. Design is the distinction, to me at least
Saints Row 3 Remastered should really be on this list. It's excellent. Runs a solid 60fps with the uncapped mode on Series X too!
No, it's not a new interpretation. I think it wouldn't have been on this list if it was. ;)
DS is the highest-rated game of that list though.
You might need to play FF7 Remake, we could spend days arguing the validity of its title 😂( To say any more would be spoiler-iffic)
Saints Row 3 Remastered was an excellent remaster with vastly improved graphics and tweaks to gameplay. I can't wait until they tackle SR4.
I had zero hope that TH 1+2 would be any good.
VV did a standout job bringing back the IP, and I hope they continue to release more games in the future.
VV did a standout job bringing back the IP, and I hope they continue to release more games in the future.
I'm not sure I would agree with that. Like Crash, all they had to do to not bomb was to stick close to the originals. It's not like they had to make bad games good, they just had to not make good games worse, which shouldn't be too hard...As in, the low expectations weren't from 1+2 not holding up, it was from the fear they would try and change things
I really enjoyed FFVIIR but, idk I don't think it falls into my definition of a remake - feels more like a sequel.
Voting Mafia cause I have no point of reference (either having played the original or the remaster) of anything else in the poll.
Also, Thor 2: The Dark World.
Also, Thor 2: The Dark World.
Tomorrow the remasters of BloodRayne 1 and 2 will be released. I'll comment on them later.
I'd say Mafia is one of the most impressive remakes of an old game this year.
Saints Row The Third Remastered is excellent too.
I'd say Mafia is one of the most impressive remakes of an old game this year.
Saints Row The Third Remastered is excellent too.
This makes me wonder, does TGA have a category for best remake/remaster? If not, they should! Geoff Keighley are there any plans to add a best remake/remaster category?
Anyways, it's a tough call between Final Fantasy VII and Demon's Souls, but I think I'll give the edge to Demon's Souls just for being so utterly stunning and technically impressive. I really respect how FFVII did its own thing without being a slavish remake of the original though
Anyways, it's a tough call between Final Fantasy VII and Demon's Souls, but I think I'll give the edge to Demon's Souls just for being so utterly stunning and technically impressive. I really respect how FFVII did its own thing without being a slavish remake of the original though
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Its Mafia for me. It really does look incredible and retains the magic from the original one. Love the city, love the cutscenes and especially love the atmosphere.
Considering I've only played RE3R and C&C... I'd give the edge to RE3R. C&C is a great remaster, very, very impressive--but eh... Tib Dawn hasn't aged that great (having all the console missions thrown in was really cool though) (an RA2 remaster would be amazing).
No new areas but new weapons, armor sets, fractured mode.
I'm gonna let a lot of people off the hook for picking Demons Souls because the PS5 just came out and they're blinded by the shiny graphics, but it's easily Final Fantasy VII. 😜
Demons Souls is fundamentally the exact same game that came out eleven years ago and remakes that don't try to do anything different are just a waste of time to me. Would the remake of the original Resident Evil be as widely praised as it is if they had retained the identical controls, enemy placement and puzzle solutions with no extra content at all? Heck no. What makes the remake so good is that it takes the core design of the original Resident Evil and reimagines it. The controls are vastly improved, the enemies are updated and upgraded, they added new enemies and locations, new puzzles... but it's still clearly still the original Resident Evil. That's ultimately why I like FFVIIR so much. They took what Final Fantasy VII was created a whole new experience based on that idea. They expanded on some things, refined others, gave the game a new combat system, added new bosses and enemies. They added so much damn heart to the game and they struck a fine balance between playing with our expectations and pulling on that nostalgia button. I still get chills when the music kicks in against Airbuster. Plus nobody knows where the story is going next, which is exciting.
So yeah I'm voting for FFVIIR.
Demons Souls is fundamentally the exact same game that came out eleven years ago and remakes that don't try to do anything different are just a waste of time to me. Would the remake of the original Resident Evil be as widely praised as it is if they had retained the identical controls, enemy placement and puzzle solutions with no extra content at all? Heck no. What makes the remake so good is that it takes the core design of the original Resident Evil and reimagines it. The controls are vastly improved, the enemies are updated and upgraded, they added new enemies and locations, new puzzles... but it's still clearly still the original Resident Evil. That's ultimately why I like FFVIIR so much. They took what Final Fantasy VII was created a whole new experience based on that idea. They expanded on some things, refined others, gave the game a new combat system, added new bosses and enemies. They added so much damn heart to the game and they struck a fine balance between playing with our expectations and pulling on that nostalgia button. I still get chills when the music kicks in against Airbuster. Plus nobody knows where the story is going next, which is exciting.
So yeah I'm voting for FFVIIR.
I see. I don't think that's the same approach as REmake though, as it went much further than that. We're talking about reworked levels, new enemies, new lore, new puzzles, changes to the core gameplay... Demon's Souls follows, not surprisingly, the same approach Shadow of the Colossus did. REmake was something else.
I played and finished Final Fantasy VII Remake and Resident Evil 3, that being said, my vote is Demons Souls.
C&C is a remaster
Demons Souls is a remake
FFVIII REMAKE is a re-imagining/sequel, despite its name
Demons Souls is a remake
FFVIII REMAKE is a re-imagining/sequel, despite its name
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Most of the other mentioned remasters/remakes did the same thing though: Tony Hawk, Command & Conquer, MW2, etc. But I think it depends on how much the original game, gameplay-wise, holds up to modern standards.
Demon's Souls already adhered pretty closely to modern standards in terms of controls, camera, etc. I don't think you could do a REmake 1-style remake for RE2 and RE3 these days because you can't really sell a $60 AAA game in 2020 with fixed cameras and tank controls. Same goes for FF7.
I do wish Japanese developers would try to make some mid-budget games that brought back pre-rendered backgrounds though. Western developers have already managed it with games like Disco Elysium, Pillars of Eternity, and Stasis.
Given the original FF7 is my favourite game of all time, I was very disappointed with the remake. Hell, I still haven't completed it and I got it on launch day.
I haven't got round to trying Demon's Souls yet as I've been pretty absorbed with Astro this evening. Gotta feeling I'm in for a treat though.
Trails of Mana was kinda great to be honest. It was quite the delight.
I haven't got round to trying Demon's Souls yet as I've been pretty absorbed with Astro this evening. Gotta feeling I'm in for a treat though.
Trails of Mana was kinda great to be honest. It was quite the delight.
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I've already said that these days you probably couldn't sell a AAA RPG like that in 2020 with pre-rendered backgrounds and fixed camera angles, but it actually would've been nice to have a remake like that: new pre-rendered backgrounds or just real-time environments with the same camera angles, characters that look closer the original concept art, etc.
It wouldn't have been as "prestigious" or AAA, since all the fans wanted basically playable Advent Children, but it probably wouldn't have been as big an investment and they probably could've done the whole game.