Remakes, what are your thoughts on them? Are they a great excuse to revisit a classic you once loved? Are they different means of re-exploring old concepts through new lens, a different interpretation that has a right to exist? Do you feel it doesn’t matter if we get remakes so long as the original versions are still readily available and easy to access or do you believe the very concept of a remake is inherently flawed, that art is just lighting in a bottle that can’t be re-captured?
None of these questions are rhetorical! I would genuinely love to hear where you stand, as I believe all these different points of view are completely valid, and offer interesting anecdotes to what’s essentially a broad topic that’s only getting broader by each year.
We won’t be covering this super extensively. Considering the “Talking Point” series is meant to be a casual series of articles, we will merely sample a few games here, and it obviously goes without saying we won’t feature anything this author hasn’t played! Sorry, Intergrade fans! Maybe next time when I get a Switch 2 haha. With that said, onto our first subject.
Re-meh: N.Sane Trilogy
Oh goodie, another physics discourse about a cartoon platforming mascot, where have I seen that before? Yeah, yeah, we’ve all been through this song and dance. Frankly, any self-respecting platforming fan worth their salt needs to complain about physics every now and again, but I haven’t actually seen that much discussion surrounding the N.Sane Trilogy’s physics outside of small circles or just mentioned in passing. Or, worst case scenario, mentioned as something “you get used to”.
*Shudders*, low standards, the horror! But all the lethal sarcasm aside, I do understand this. Having less convenient access to the PSX originals while having the remakes on your system thanks to GamePass sounds like a win-win at first, especially if 15 something years ago was the last time you touched those ancient relics (pun intended), but I assure you, distant time or not, I still felt the physics were off, even if I didn’t know why at first.
We sadly run into the classic “it’s hard to explain this without playing it yourself”, so you will need to take everything said with a pinch of salt. But then again, that’s the attitude you should have on the internet anyways, so that’s a moot point.
Now while I do understand the need to homogenize all three games and am perfectly fine with the concept so long as the physics behave consistently, they unfortunately don’t. Again, do understand this comes from someone who loves Wrath of Cortex, Twinsanity, The Huge Adventure and N.Trance. I am the last person to be close-minded about this. But those games only require a modest amount of investment to learn their ins and outs, their perceived skill-floor isn’t that high. But I feel you must give up your soul to find every little tiny thing you should avoid to have the illusion of a smooth experience in the remakes.
As stated, physics bias does not exist in my bones, rather, the remakes just feel unpolished. I lost count of jumps and mis-jumps that just felt “off”. They weren’t me not getting used to the controls, I replayed these remakes more than I care to admit. Rather, it was weird hit-boxes that felt wrong.
Wait a minute, janky hitboxes? So THIS is Dark Souls after all!
Re-AWESOME: Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster
I’m a massive Dead Rising fan, playing Case Zero was one of the best nights of my life, Chuck Greene was love at first sight and a true role model all of us should aspire to be, and Dead Rising 3 was just pure, unfiltered fun. The original Dead Rising that released in 2006 is not exempt from this praise, in fact, it deserves nuclear levels of it. But we’re here to discuss its wonderful remake, which is a true testament to how Sandbox games live and die by their QoL features, and Deluxe Remaster is no slouch there.
Changes ranging from the Real Mega Buster looking much more beautiful than ever with the enhanced particle effects and shinier laser, the time speed-up, improved survivor AI, auto-save (yes, it wasn’t in the original!) and just so much more stuff. This was even my first time getting the infamous Saint achievement, what a wild ride it was!
Do you have any remakes you like? Remakes you wish never existed? Please do share!
Also, quick announcement. Everyone is now welcome to suggest the next topic for the “Talking Point” series article, all you need to do is write down a comment with your suggestion and I’ll consider it! Thanks for reading!
