When does a game need a remake? (23:16)
Imho a remake is almost never “needed”. What I think you generally want is a remaster in the vein of the good M2 ports, basically something that brings certain games to the present in a way that is faithful but also convenient. With maybe something extra on the side.
Speaking of remakes specifically though, the situation is kinda messy and we should try to figure it out at some point, because basically there are all kinds of takes and interpretations of what that word means floating around, with games that represent one of those but not the other ones. To me personally it makes absolutely zero sense to use the same word for Bluepoint’s Demon’s Souls, Resident Evil 2 2019 and the FFVII remake because the first one is exclusively a visual overhaul with tiny QOL changes on the side, the second one is a complete reimagination of the 1998 game with different mechanics, rearranged locations and script and the FFVII got called “remake” but it’s essentially a sequel/continuation to all intents and purposes.
You could think by what I said here that I’m against the idea of a remake, but it’s quite the opposite actually. I think it’s a creative and stimulating venue we can explore and that can produce very interesting things. For example, RE4 is well-beloved and considered as one of the best games of all time, but I always resented the way Capcom distanced themselves from the horror roots of the franchise (even though the cheesiness and campiness is still there). So why not having a remake that explores what could a horror-themed RE4 be? How would it feel, how does it play, is it better, is it worse? I’m into it!
I do think that specifically the Bluepoint and TLOU thing is the least interesting approach and I personally don’t care about it at all. Mods, texture packs and gameplay overhauls have existed in the PC sphere for decades and those games look to me a lot like bringing that to the console world but charging you 80 bucks for it. Speaking of FFVII god knows I have been very vocal about how I don’t like the remake in this place, but regardless of the end result I do think the concept itself is neat.
So basically this could easily be a pure semantics problem at this point (perfectly exemplified by what has been going on with the recent Lollipop Chainsaw thing I would say) but still, I do think we should figure things out here!