Just a new coat of paint - Remastered games!

Remasters. An unfortunate trend in today's market. One that also seems to go either way. The premise of these is simple. You take a successful game, and give everything you like a new covering. Updated visuals, bug fixes, new sounds, etc...

Sometimes this turns out very well. An old game, back from the past that plays like it always has but looks and sounds like it just released. This can also be great for people who may not have experienced these games when they originally released, as they get to enjoy it without excuses like "looks too old" or "too glitchy."

This can also go the other way as it sometimes does. Lazy money grabs characterized by shoddy 'new' visuals, more glitches, broken mechanics, nothing at all but the ability to play on newer consoles, and more.

There is also a third area that I do approve of, and that is total remakes. These games are designed from the ground up to be a modern interpretation of a classic game, often with improved gameplay, enhanced levels, and a much higher level of detail. It is the "all out" option

Edit: I forgot a fourth zone to cover as well, and that is the complete reboot. With these companies take a older series that hasn't been seen in a long time, remake everything up to modern standards with the base concept kept intact, and try and reinvigorate the IP to get it back into the popular zone. This also help make it a viable IP for making sequels of.

What are your thoughts on remasters and remakes? Do you have any games that you would to see enhanced. Maybe you just passionately hate these types of games and would like to tell us why!

I saw "broken mechanics" and "remake" and the first thought I had was Sonic the Hedgehog 2006. Although I didn't have nearly as much of an emotional breakdown as most others did while playing. Given enough budget and time, there's no real problem with remasters and remakes (well, remakes are still iffy; if it ain't broke, don't fix it).

Re-masters? No, not at all. I don't really have much of an incentive to buy them unless I don't already own them, like Valkyria Chronicles: Remastered. I don't think that they should actually stop re-mastering games because a LOT of people missed out on a lot of really great games, so people that haven't played them can play them for the first time.

Remakes are a bit trickier. Don't screw them up or you might have your ass in a sling.

Remasters are perfect for morons like me who didn't buy critically acclaimed games the first time around. See: Bioshock: The Collection.

I forgot a fourth section of this business practice. It is now edited into the OP. Please feel free to express your opinions of Reboots from here on out!

I will post my thoughts on all the practices soon enough!

Some are quite decent, like the Last of Us remaster. The Skyrim one looks pretty ok too, only there's already mods on PC that do the same thing.

Arsenic said:

You take a successful game

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This is where the idea of remasters trips up, imo. If the game was successful, it was already good, right? Far better (albeit less profitable) to see would be underrated games that could've been great if not for some glaring flaws, or games that are so damn old they could really make good use of modern mechanics. The game I'd like to see remade, which fits both criteria I put forth, is Uprising. But since 3DO shut down Cyclone and went out of business, who if anyone owns the rights is a mystery. It did get onto GOG.com, though!

My question is... is it worth buying the remastered edition of a game? Will it have more features than the original?

The Crash Bandicoot trilogy is going to be remastered for the PS4, but they won't have new features unlike other games.

I'm very tempted to get the remastered version of Skyrim. Is it worth it?

Meganium said:

I'm very tempted to get the remastered version of Skyrim. Is it worth it?

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You... have to buy it separately?

tfw not a pc gamer. Though we all have ENB and stuff to have a better looking game than the buggy remaster anyway. No, I don't think it's worth getting if you have to rebuy the game. It's not like they integrated the unofficial patches into vanilla at the hard-coded sort of level only Bethesda have access to... or fixed anything at all, really, judging from the fact the changelogs I've seen are all bugfixes, and Bethesda never completely patch their games before moving on.

Yeah not worth buying it. It looks exactly like when it originally released. The only perks are increased view distance and that its nowa x64 program which is good for mods.

Though it does ruin mods by removing the workshop for the crappy bethesda-shop so that sucks... Hopefully there is nexusmods for it soon.