To remaster or not to remaster???

Doctor Nick

How do you all feel about remasters?

I would be interested to know. I have seen a lot of threads about remasters of specific games but nothing about reboots generally. I've played a few of them, Skyrim, GTA5, Arkham Asylum, Arkham City maybe one or two more. I think the only one that really blew me away was GTA5 so I guess if I was to choose one of the options I suppose it would be good if done right. I'm thinking of investing in a few games out on both 360 and PS4 and not really sure if PS4 is always the one to go to.

Thoughts?

Vicxas

I'm all for a tasteful remaster - but a lot of the "remasters" are just pure cash grabs (See CoD 4)

It'll be interesting to see how the Full throttle & Starcraft Remasters look.

YouSavedMyLife

Remastering Skyrim from PS3 to PS4 is a joke. Although i never played the PS3 version, IF i did and finished it there is no way i would buy it on the next generation of consoles. That being said i would buy a Demon Souls remaster for PS4Pro in a heartbeat.

I don't think i ever bought a remaster but i would buy a remaster for PS1 games, maybe PS2 games. Off the top of my head i would love a remaster of Vagrant Story most of all

Doctor Nick

YouSavedMyLife wrote: »

Remastering Skyrim from PS3 to PS4 is a joke.

I don't think i ever bought a remaster but i would buy a remaster for PS1 games, maybe PS2 games. Off the top of my head i would love a remaster of Vagrant Story most of all

Agreed regarding Skyrim although I did buy it for both and found the only thing better was it was less laggy. Wasn't lag free, just less laggy. I preordered (first time I ever did that). Got all excited and it was basically like flushing €50 down the jacks.

Resident Evil 1 was a brilliant remaster IMO. Although it was difficult to get back in touch with my inner PS1 controller sense it was worthy of a remaster and I thoroughly enjoyed. I would absolutely love to see RE2 (coming soon if rumours are to be believed) and Silent Hill 1 and 2. Project Zero are others, hell I'd nearly buy a Wii (U) just to play the newer carnations of those.

Digital Solitude

I don't​ have a problem with remasters as a concept, but imo only the top games should be remastered, and I'd rarely consider it acceptable to remaster to the next generation.

Early PS3/360 games, or very late PS3/360 games, sure. Anything else, cash grab imo.

There's a sickening lack of decent, new AAAs on PS4 and XOne, to me, most of them are rehashes of the same formula, remasters or just plain bad.

I know Skyrims been mentioned, and I'd throw Bioshock into that ring too, who was crying out for a remake of there games?

Mickeroo

I think most recent remasters are pointless simply because they're remastering games that aren't particularly old and still look and play fine eg Bioshock.

I'd be all for remasters of games that are actually old. Something like Knights of the Old Republic is crying out for a remaster but we'll probably just a remaster of another 2 or 3 year old game instead.

YouSavedMyLife

Doctor Nick wrote: »

Resident Evil 1 was a brilliant remaster IMO. Although it was difficult to get back in touch with my inner PS1 controller sense it was worthy of a remaster and I thoroughly enjoyed. I would absolutely love to see RE2 (coming soon if rumours are to be believed)

YES! So i have bought a remaster, and it was of Resident Evil 1! Although i only played the PSX version i think the remaster was of the Dreamcast version as it was quite different and felt fresh, like a brand new game.

I'm looking forward to the Final Fantasy 7 remake. Not so much a remaster as it seems they are changing gameplay systems rather than just giving it a graphical overhaul

I was thinking of Homeworld and Grim Fandango.... but GTA5?! Skyrim?! Those games aren't old enough to be remastered at all. Complete cash grab in that context.

Potential-Monke

As i voted, i don't mind as long as they're done right. The Crash N'Sane Trilogy looks good, and i enjoyed the Beyond Good and Evil remaster. I more prefer reboots though, as it's similar but new, best examples being the last 2 Tomb Raider games, excellent reboots.

One series i would love a remaster of would be the Legacy of Kain series. Keep everything the same but update the graphics and that's more than enough for me.

Digital Solitude

GTAV came out 2 months before the PS4s launch, so it's basically a port to be fair, that's why I'd pass it.

Sephiroth_dude

Dragon's dogma please.

YouSavedMyLife

Potential-Monke wrote: »

One series i would love a remaster of would be the Legacy of Kain series. Keep everything the same but update the graphics and that's more than enough for me.

Great choice for remaster, but an update to the combat mechanics would be nice as they are somewhat basic for an Adventure Game/ARPG compared to todays standards

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Dragon's dogma please.

It was released on PC recently, that kinda counts as a remaster

Doctor Nick

YouSavedMyLife wrote: »

YES! So i have bought a remaster, and it was of Resident Evil 1! Although i only played the PSX version i think the remaster was of the Dreamcast version as it was quite different and felt fresh, like a brand new game.

Yes that's right, it was the Dreamcast version that they worked off. Different graphics, different layout models, different puzzles. In other words a different game. Was fantastic though. Less so for RE7 Zero. Couldn't enjoy that.

Doctor Nick

I must be much less a casual game than I thought. I've not heard of loads of games you've all mentioned. I've always been a console gamer primarily early Sega systems then Playstation. Presuming a lot of the above mentioned where Nintendo, or PC releases? Maybe xbox? Only recently got a 360 for certain games I missed.

pxdf9i5cmoavkz

I'd vote for not to remaster.

Reason being is that I believe old games should remain old games that we can nostalgically look back onto and remember how much fun we had with it. If the game gets a remaster the developers always inevitably change something that 9.9/10 times ruins the experience for you.

Rather spend the time and effort coming up with new IP or a new story to tell.

Darkest Dungeon was refreshing for example.

Skerries

the thing with older games is that our memory already puts that remaster shine on them as when I look at remasters I think to myself is that not how it looked at the time?
then you look at the comparison video and you go ugh! how did we put up with such shítty graphics

Zero-Cool

Remaster Demons's's Souls's please!

Retr0gamer

It depends really. Getting rare hard to find games in the reaches of more people I'm all for like the xbla releases of guardian heroes and radiant Silvergun. Also all for remakes like the DS/Steam version of FF4 and Resident Evil REmake that make the game worth experiencing again.

Remastered of triple A games a few months old that have no cultural significance can feck off.

NinjaKirby

YouSavedMyLife wrote: »

Remastering Skyrim from PS3 to PS4 is a joke.

Totally 100% disagree.

The truth here is that nobody is being forced to buy Skyrim SE on PS4 so what's the problem?

I never played the game on PS3 so why shouldn't I have an opportunity to play an improved version of the game on PS4?

I am more than happy to hand over my money to play a remastered version of a game I missed out on last time round.

Remasters are great because anyone who hasn't played the game yet has the opportunity to play an updated/upgraded/remastered version.

K.O.Kiki

I love remasters that focus on fixing the technical issues & stay faithful to the original's core aesthetic.

Ōkami (PS2 -> PS3, running at downsampled 4K)
Ico/Shadow of the Colossus (PS1/PS2 -> PS3, running at 30fps lock)
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen (PS3 -> PC, running at any resolution & 60fps)
Zone of the Enders 2 (PS2 -> PS3, 1080p 60fps after the patch)

That said - these games really show up how gimped consoles are as a platform, having to re-release late-era titles which would've been fine on PC with simple hardware advances

I also love remakes that take the original vision & expand on it properly.

Rez VR (this game was ahead of its time!)
Resident Evil Remake

baby and crumble

There are some games that came on on original
Xbox that I'd love to see on the XB1- namely Star Wars Kotor and Jet Set Radio Future.

Digital Solitude

NinjaKirby wrote: »

Totally 100% disagree.

The truth here is that nobody is being forced to buy Skyrim SE on PS4 so what's the problem?

I never played the game on PS3 so why shouldn't I have an opportunity to play an improved version of the game on PS4?

I am more than happy to hand over my money to play a remastered version of a game I missed out on last time round.

Remasters are great because anyone who hasn't played the game yet has the opportunity to play an updated/upgraded/remastered version.

Obviously you'd be fine with paying for a game you missed, but i think the 30 million people who bought Skyrim first time round would prefer a new game instead of something that's rightfully regarded as meh to most people.

My main issue is that Skyrims not an old game, it's not hard to run on PC, and PS3s and 360s are cheap. It's not like it got a tremendous overhaul or anything, they just made it a bit less of a buggy mess.

Nintendo do remasters fairly well, like the Pokémon games get full overhauls, totally new mechanics and all the new Pokémon, Wind Waker HD improved the controls, updated the graphics, few new mechanics like faster boats.

Whereas COD4's graphical bump remake comes bundled only with the newest COD crap, Bioshock was just a graphical bump, Skyrim essentially the same thing.

I'd certainly prefer new, fresh games to play instead of slightly shinier turds.

YouSavedMyLife

NinjaKirby wrote: »

Totally 100% disagree.

The truth here is that nobody is being forced to buy Skyrim SE on PS4 so what's the problem?

I never played the game on PS3 so why shouldn't I have an opportunity to play an improved version of the game on PS4?

I am more than happy to hand over my money to play a remastered version of a game I missed out on last time round.

Remasters are great because anyone who hasn't played the game yet has the opportunity to play an updated/upgraded/remastered version.

Yeah good point, maybe i was only looking at it from the point of view as a person who has played an original version of a game.

NinjaKirby

Digital Solitude wrote: »

Obviously you'd be fine with paying for a game you missed, but i think the 30 million people who bought Skyrim first time round would prefer a new game instead of something that's rightfully regarded as meh to most people.

I'd certainly prefer new, fresh games to play instead of slightly shinier turds.

This would be a reasonable argument if there was some kind of shortage of new games being released.

Skyrim SE was released on PS4 in October 2016. Would you like to have a guess how many new games were released for PS4 in the same month?

Playstation VR was also released in October 2016 so there is no way that "people would prefer something new" is a good argument here.

Digital Solitude

NinjaKirby wrote: »

This would be a reasonable argument if there was some kind of shortage of new games being released.

Skyrim SE was released on PS4 in October 2016. Would you like to have a guess how many new games were released for PS4 in the same month?

Playstation VR was also released in October 2016 so there is no way that "people would prefer something new" is a good argument here.

It's not specifically that's there's nothing else to play obviously, it's the franchise's. I wouldn't look for a Demons Souls Remaster, I'd prefer FromSoft to release a new IP, instead of Skyrim SE, I'd have preferred TES6, so on so forth.

CiDeRmAn

baby and crumble wrote: »

There are some games that came on on original
Xbox that I'd love to see on the XB1- namely Star Wars Kotor and Jet Set Radio Future.

JSRF was a port of the DC game rather than an Xbox original.

But i think Resident Evil on the GameCube is the remaster gold standard.
That and the wonderful job they did at Sony with Ico/SotC, translating the games from PS2 to 3. I'd buy them again if they came out on PS4.

johnny_ultimate

Digital Solitude wrote: »

It's not specifically that's there's nothing else to play obviously, it's the franchise's. I wouldn't look for a Demons Souls Remaster, I'd prefer FromSoft to release a new IP, instead of Skyrim SE, I'd have preferred TES6, so on so forth.

I doubt anyone would prefer a remaster to a new game, but it's clearly not a one or the other situation either. I'd be amazed if studios were dedicating their A-teams to remasters at the expense of new work, and indeed many remasters are outsourced anyway (and they should all be outsourced to Bluepoint Games, FYI publishers of the world).

Remastering is a consequence of modern game design dynamics. It's become harder and harder to drop major franchise titles without lengthy gaps between instalments. Hence publishers have a cheap and reasonably resource light way to keep the revenue streaming in. For players, there's clearly benefits: mostly if you missed a game first time around, or to allow games sing when the original hardware wasn't up to scruff.

I look at it the same way I look at Blu-Ray or HD downloads of catalogue films. Surely it's a good thing to have the material available on the best quality possible and playable on modern machines? Only problem is when the remaster is haphazard, damaging the visual identity of a game in the process. Then they can **** right off. But ultimately: don't want a remaster? Don't buy it, and the world will happily spin madly on.

Robert ninja

I'm gonna say no because of what kind of remasters it implies. The current remasters we get aren't to help or actually update old games that deserve some love. They're there to re-sell the same game to 8th gen console users. It seems to be an incredibly lucrative strategy. A huge amount of fans of the original release buy it again.

If they gave proper remasters to games that actually need them I'd be all for it. Biohazard Outbreak would be amazing with no load screens and more responsive net play. It's the game that needs a remaster the most out of the Biohazard series... and yet all the others get more attention. So disappointing.

Then there's all the PC games that are really old but could get updates. We've seen very old games on PC getting spontaneous DLC and updates which is great! I'd like more of that since PC is the best platform for updating the games rather than re-packaging and trying to sell it again. I wouldn't even mind payed updated DLC packs so you can choose between the original and remastered. For example, Hitman 1 needs a fan patch to add widescreen support for modern screens and resolutions. If they updated the game with that feature in by default, squash a few ancient bugs, polish it up in other areas for modern hardware and sell that for a few quid I'd open my wallet so quickly.

Doctor Nick

NinjaKirby wrote: »

Totally 100% disagree.

The truth here is that nobody is being forced to buy Skyrim SE on PS4 so what's the problem?

I never played the game on PS3 so why shouldn't I have an opportunity to play an improved version of the game on PS4?

I am more than happy to hand over my money to play a remastered version of a game I missed out on last time round.

Remasters are great because anyone who hasn't played the game yet has the opportunity to play an updated/upgraded/remastered version.

I do understand what you're saying and for somebody who didn't have Skyrim for PS3 then it was a great game. I took a very long break from gaming, approx 2009 - 2016. Decided I wanted to game again so in September (I think) bought a PS3 along with Skyrim and GTA5. Irronically GTA5 was the free game I got with PS4 when I upgraded to new gen in Oct.

With regard to Skyrim, when I decided I'd pick up a PS4 I'd 80 hours invested on PS3 version. I was excited to hear there was a remaster on the way so I stopped playing PS3 version (mainly due to so much lag) . I preordered and strolled into Smyths at opening time. Rushed home and put on the game.

First impressions were 'meh'. IMO it looked the same with some very minor upgraded effects to water or foliage. The shorter loading times were great. But that was it. It still lagged at parts and at times crashed completely which is something I never experienced with any console.

I guess what I mean is for people with an older console it was a let down (my opinion). Was simply a cash grab given some of the new game bugs (crucial NPC floating off map). Once these were patches nor new people to the game it was probably a worthy purchase.

I've excluded PC from above as people who has the original got a free SE upgrade

NinjaKirby

Doctor Nick wrote: »

I guess what I mean is for people with an older console it was a let down (my opinion).

Yeah, I totally agree with this and wouldn't see too much point in buying a game on PS4 that I had already owned an played a lot on PS3.

I think maybe I would still by old games that I already played on home consoles if they came to PSVita, 3DS or Nintendo Switch.

I just find it odd that quite a few people (not really on this forum to be honest but elsewhere) talk as though they are obligated or expected to buy every single release.

Even if it is a "cash grab" surely the vast majority of companies that create games are doing so to make money? It seems like a weird criticism. They are just selling this game because they want some money... well... yes.

Of course there is an argument that they should be offering backwards compatibility...

IvoryTower

Every time i buy a remastered game due to nostalgia I always end up playing it for a couple of hours and then never go back. It's new shiny look tends to look similar to how i remember it anyway and then the fact that you've already played the game to death already means there's very little in it for you. Even if you havent played it before the chances are the genre has come on so much in the past ten years that its not going to feel amazing anyway, you're just left with lots of annoying things that have been improved upon in the past decade

Zillah

Homeworld Remastered was good and worth it.

Retr0gamer

Zillah wrote: »

Homeworld Remastered was good and worth it.

I just wish it included Cataclysm

Zillah

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I just wish it included Cataclysm

Apparently the source code was lost

Vicxas

Zillah wrote: »

Apparently the source code was lost

Wasn't it a different company that made Cataclysm and not Relic?

gizmo

Zillah wrote: »

Apparently the source code was lost

Finding the source code would allow them to release a "Classic" version of the game alright but it still wouldn't guarantee a "Remastered" release since they'd still need to rebuild all of the Catalysm mechanics and assets in the re-engineered HW2 engine. At that point it'd come down to more of a business decision as to whether the cost of development could be recouped through sales.

Retr0gamer

Vicxas wrote: »

Wasn't it a different company that made Cataclysm and not Relic?

Yes but I'd say the source code is probably the issue.

A HD remaster is still possible, it would just take a huge amount more work to do in comparison to the games they had source code for.

Pity, as I heard it's the best one.

A Gog release of it would be nice though, although I'd say it would take a fair amount of work to get it running on modern systems.

TheDoc

Why would they be rebooting the Batman games?

Only played through them last year, still look fantastic imo. I'm sure there would be plenty of games that I'd jump at if they got a remaster in terms of visuals.

GTA Vice City and Max Payne jump out at me immediately.

Mr.Saturn

Look at the likes of Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fandango (the original was a pain in the hole to get running on anything) or Beyond Good and Evil and you'll see developers capitalizing on cult status and word-of-mouth to get games into the hands of people that missed them the first time, while making the more agreeable for modern tastes. It's a pretty sound concept.

The "hey, our launch window is empty, let's throw a bit of polish on something really successful that you already bought a year or two back" approach can be a bit suspect, mind. If only because the standard for remasters has be set so high elsewhere that just getting the same thing again with a fresh lick of paint feels kinda like being shortchanged.

Vicxas

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Yes but I'd say the source code is probably the issue.

A HD remaster is still possible, it would just take a huge amount more work to do in comparison to the games they had source code for.

Pity, as I heard it's the best one.

A Gog release of it would be nice though, although I'd say it would take a fair amount of work to get it running on modern systems.

I really liked Cataclysm as it strayed away from the whole "chosen one" theme through 1 and 2.

Dr.MickKiller

The main reason for remastering Skyrim seems to have been for modding improvements. There is a large modding community and there is probably little else they could have done to it that hasn't been done already. The PS4 got limited mod support for whatever reason, so in that case there wouldn't have been much point to it but the PC saw a significant improvement in stability by making it 64bit, allowing a lot more memory available for mods.

K.O.Kiki

TheDoc wrote: »

Why would they be rebooting the Batman games?

Only played through them last year, still look fantastic imo. I'm sure there would be plenty of games that I'd jump at if they got a remaster in terms of visuals.

I'd be all for a reboot of the Batman games, i.e. without all the story & gameplay trappings of the Arkham series.

Set it in a different Batman timeline (e.g. Batman Beyond), redo the Joker so he doesn't turn into a bad Hulk-monster, work the Bat Family in properly, etc.
Maybe get rid of Detective Vision.

5rtytry56

I wish that the likes of GP4 by Geoff Crammond would be remastered. (75% of boardsies here have'nt a clue what game I'm talking about)

gizmo

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

I'd be all for a reboot of the Batman games, i.e. without all the story & gameplay trappings of the Arkham series.

Set it in a different Batman timeline (e.g. Batman Beyond), redo the Joker so he doesn't turn into a bad Hulk-monster, work the Bat Family in properly, etc.
Maybe get rid of Detective Vision.

While I've pined for a Batman Beyond game since I was a kid I'm kind of torn now. The Arkham games were at their best, imo, in the more confined settings of the Asylum so perhaps putting a studio like Rocksteady on a Green Arrow game, perhaps based on the Super Max storyline would work better?

TerrorFirmer

I'm all for remakes when they're done right and serve a purpose. Something like the Bioshock 'remaster' I felt was largely pointless - a game that still, in its original form, plays and looks fine even by modern standards.

Whereas the Resident Evil remasters, upcoming System Shock remaster strike me as two particular examples of excellent remasters that do serve a purpose - introducing a genre classic to a whole new audience whilst being an amazing nostalgic indulgence for those who have played the originals.

The Halo/Halo 2 anniversary editions were also fantastic remasters - the ability to switch between the overlaid engine and the original engine was an incredible feature and extremely cool.

V-man

5rtytry56 wrote: »

I wish that the likes of GP4 by Geoff Crammond would be remastered. (75% of boardsies here have'nt a clue what game I'm talking about)

Or better, see the GP Series appear on www.goodoldgames.com.

In general I don't really see the need for full remakes. Just adding Widescreen support, better Textures, proper netcode and keeping it compatible on modern OS/HW would do a lot.

K.O.Kiki

If someone could remake Star Wars: TIE Fighter i wouldn't leave the house for a month!

Mal-Adjusted

I think they're great when done right. Being tied to hardware means games will always be left in the past (except for myst and RE4, they get released on everything apparently). So to see homeworld, system shock, icewind dale and others to come out again, crisper looking and with maybe updated controls and tweaks to the mechanics is great.

Releases like the Metal Gear Solid HD collection and sonic the hedgehog mega collection + are what remasters should aim for. Re-releasing modern games just a couple of years after the initial release is a pretty handy way to fill a gap in your schedule though. It's less risk as these games are guaranteed hits and still fresh in people's minds.

I'd kill for a Crimson Skies HD collection

bigphil2

Really want Max Payne 3 remaster for ps4... i know im in a tiny majority but i feckin loved that game..