Opinion: Remakes

Hey there, Gamers and Game Makers!

In this week's blog post, I'm going to be talking a little bit about remakes. More specifically, what I think makes a good remake.

I'm mostly going to be talking about the Resident Evil 2 remake as I think it provides one of the best examples of what a good remake is.

Remakes are nothing new. We've seen plenty of remakes over the years. Some good and some bad. For the most part, remakes tend to be the same game just with better textures and graphical effects. They tend to keep the exact same gameplay elements, even if they are buggy and the overall game itself tends to be a copy of the original that now just looks better.
Now, Resident Evil 2 remake is interesting. While they maintain the story of the game, they embrace change on other aspects of the game such as the before mentioned graphical updates but most importantly, gameplay. Resident Evil 2 was known for it's fixed cameras and tank like controls which sometimes added to the tension of the game but mostly was clunky trade off of that era of games development.

The Resident Evil 2 remakes biggest advantage is how it embraced changing the gameplay from fixed camera tank controls to free third person controls. I admire this move for a number of reasons. The main one being that they're not trying to simply remake the same game exactly as it was just with better graphics. The original is the original and it has a special place in my heart for being among the first horror games I played. I have fond memories of that and I feel a carven copy remake would taint that memory. This is not always the case. The Crash Bandicoot remake was a fantastic trip down memory lane.

I also admire this approach to the development of the game because they've taken an already strong story and simply given us that again but with more robust gameplay. Resident Evil 2 Remake stands out to me as a great example of what a remake should be. Some games don't need a remake but for those who attempt the remake route, I hope they take a page out of Resident Evil 2s book.

Until next time!