Reduce, Reuse, Recyle in Gaming!

Interstellar

Nostalgia Co-Op: Gaming Remakes, Remasters, Reboots

The gaming industry has seen a significant surge in remakes and reboots, offering players the chance to relive iconic experiences with modern technology. This trend, fueled by nostalgia and a growing appreciation for gaming history, is reshaping the landscape by breathing new life into beloved classics while attracting new audiences. 2024 was full of remakes from Epic Mickey, to the Last of Us Part II, to true classics like Tomb Raider rereleasing and allowing gamers some fresh chances to embark on these adventures!

One of the bigger and recent examples for myself that I have to point out is World of Warcraft: Classic. At the end of 2024 Blizzard released fresh Classic servers where players are starting completely over from Phase 1 in Vanilla WoW on all server types: Normal (PvE), Player vs. Player (PvP), and Hardcore (death = delete). This is the 2nd time that Blizzard has really done a fresh classic start, and I for one, as a WoW lover that has been playing all versions of the game since Vanilla was and still am stoked for this reliving of the “glory” days that 11-year-old me couldn’t quite comprehend. But 30-year-old me is ready to make all of my younger self’s dreams come true this time!

Aside from MMOs recycling their decades old content, there is another angle to this topic of remakes with titles such as the Resident Evil series Final Fantasy VII remakes, that highlight the careful balance developers must strike. These titles are simply not just mere graphical upgrades but complete overhauls in some cases, where reimagining gameplay mechanics and narrative elements are accomplished to meet modern standards. Players are not just revisiting old favorites—they’re experiencing them in ways that align with today’s gaming expectations, with brand-spanking new 5090s! This approach allows developers to expand on the legacy of classic titles while appealing to the sensibilities of contemporary audiences.

Critics of the trend, however, argue that the emphasis on remakes and reboots may overshadow original ideas and creativity. Concerns are raised that focusing on familiar franchises could discourage risk-taking in the industry, limiting the development of new IPs. While this may hold some truth, the commercial success of remakes suggests that there’s a considerable demand for these projects.

As we look to the future, the industry faces a critical question: how can remakes and reboots coexist with original creations? The answer may lie in maintaining a balance, ensuring that while we honor the past, we also foster innovation for the future.

What’s your take on the triple Rs of the gaming industry? Do you enjoy old titles in a new light? Do you prefer to keep titles as they were? What are some of your favorites we didn’t touch on here? Let us know in the comments!

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Replies • 4

Stranger15

Galactic

While it is cool and all that old titles are getting a graphics upgrade along with some patching to run smoothly on newer hardware, there are concerns about the games essence being diluted either by implementing core changes or tainting old titles with modern day politics.

Mass Effect remakes for example censor the “assets” of a female character. I don’t care about that particular change, but I care about what the change represents for the future, a company going back into an old beloved title and changing things the new unproven team of devs might find “problematic” after obsessing over whatever hot take triggers their modern sensibilities and hurts their fragile egos.

Then there are the tech implementations, like the lighting, environmental wetness, water reflection and atmosphere in the Remastered Bioshocks being inferior to the originals, with the new cleaner, crisper and more refined textures acting detrimental to player immersion, reducing creepiness factor, nerfing environmental storytelling and overall making the Remastered games lose much of what made the originals so great and beloved in the past.

Then there is the availability issue. I have no problem with companies making newer versions of games to resell modernized reskins for those that don’t want to try an old title just because of aged graphics or occasional crushes due to old games VRAM restrictions. That said, selling the reskin for full price, while taking the old games’ off the shop to add incentive for customers to buy the “brand new” product is something that should be frowned at. You want to make a Resident 2 remake? That’s great! But I want to play the original game in all of its fixed camera, environmental jumpscare, pixelated glory and it is not on Steam, your company site, or most digital online stores for that matter. I couldn’t find Resident evil 2 og anywhere until GOG resurected it and put it up on their store about a year ago, but you see if it was available how would people buy Resident Evil 0 HD Remastered otherwise?