10 Video Games That Got Unexpected Remakes Or Remasters – CBR – Comic Book Resources

Remakes and remasters have become popular as a way for video game developers to keep the love for an IP ongoing without releasing a new game. Some remakes and remasters make older games available on more modern platforms, update or overhaul the game experience to create something unforgettable, or simply give fans a welcome nostalgia hit.

Despite becoming part and parcel of modern video gaming, not all remakes and remasters seem likely. Sometimes, developers and publishers catch fans wholly off-guard by re-releasing a game many expected to stay stuck in the past. This can happen for many reasons, but it always proves an unexpected delight for the game’s fanbase.

Related

Why Video Game Remakes Are a Necessity for the Modern Gaming Industry

Video game remakes have never been more popular, but this trend may be surprisingly beneficial for the future of gaming.

10 The Last Of Us Part I Was Yet Another Release Of A Modern Classic

The Last of Us is one of the most prestigious and beloved titles in modern gaming. It has impacted gaming’s reputation and culture like few other titles while making genuine icons out of its characters. However, the announcement of The Last of Us Part I, a remake of the game for the current-gen PlayStation 5, raised many fans’ eyebrows.

This was because The Last of Us was less than a decade old and had already been re-released. The Last of Us Remastered for PlayStation 4 was visually appealing and playable on modern consoles. As a result, fans thought The Last of Us a surprising choice for a full-on remake when many Sony exclusives were stuck on previous consoles. Nonetheless, its gameplay improvements and vast accessibility options have won over many surprised fans on PS5.

9 Alan Wake Remastered Made A Cult Game Much More Accessible

Related

10 Cult Classic Video Games Every Gamer Should Play

Every gamer should experience cult classics like Ico and Alan Wake and relive nostalgic games from PlayStation, Nintendo and more.

Alan Wake Remastered seemed like an unusual choice for a re-release. Although Alan Wake was a commercially successful game, it took many years to become so. Its strange, high-concept storytelling and slightly lackluster gameplay made it more of a cult classic than a mainstream smash success.

There were hints at Alan Wake Remastered before its release, such as Remedy Entertainment purchasing the full rights to the franchise and signing a deal with Epic Games for two games. Nonetheless, many fans were surprised to see the franchise move forward again, particularly after Remedy had declared it not successful enough for a sequel. It made more sense alongside Control‘s AWE DLC and the announcement of Alan Wake 2 as a way to allow more fans to play the game before its sequel’s release.

8 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Languished On GameCube For A Long Time

The Paper Mario franchise spent many years as an inconsistent staple in Nintendo’s catalog. The original Paper Mario, and its sequels, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Super Paper Mario, were well-liked, while other entries were much more divisive. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remained the most acclaimed but was left as a Nintendo Gamecube exclusive, only playable on later consoles through backward compatibility.

Nintendo appeared to be downplaying the Paper Mario series in the 2010s and 2020s, with only one entry in 2020 that itself came after a long gap. However, they then announced a remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for Nintendo Switch. Many fans had hoped for such a thing for years but hadn’t imagined it actually might happen due to the game’s age and long time spent as an inaccessible exclusive.

7 Advance Wars 1 + 2: ReBoot Camp Revived A Long-Dormant Series

The Advance Wars series had consistently popular releases in the early 2000s, becoming a staple of the turn-based strategy genre. However, there was a long period of dormancy between 2008’s Advance Wars: Days of Ruin entry and the announcement of Advance Wars 1 + 2: ReBoot Camp, a remake of the first two titles, in 2021.

Many fans worried that the more divisive fan response to Advance Wars: Days of Ruin‘s stripped-back gameplay and radically different aesthetic may have damaged the franchise, coupled with its relatively niche nature. Fellow Intelligent Systems franchise Fire Emblem entered a period of mainstream success not long after, leaving Advance Wars fans in the cold. The announcement of Advance Wars 1 + 2: ReBoot Camp many years later gave those fans their first bit of new content in over a decade.

6 Final Fantasy VII Remake Redid The Most Sacred Of PlayStation Games

Related

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Hands-On Gives Players Everything They Want From the Remake

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth takes everything that worked about Final Fantasy VII Remake and goes a step further. Here’s CBR’s hands-on preview.

Few games have had an impact on gaming quite like Final Fantasy VII. It made the franchise a household name that even non-gamers were familiar with, as well as encouraging a boom of narrative, story-driven titles. It became one of the most beloved games of all time, with a devoted fanbase that didn’t diminish over the years. Despite this, a remake or a remaster seemed unlikely due to just how high expectations would be.

Furthermore, SquareEnix had long denied working on a Final Fantasy VII Remake despite high fan demand and the use of its intro as a PlayStation 3 tech demo. Its announcement was met with immense shock and rapturous fan celebration. Final Fantasy VII Remake then continued to surprise fans by changing the story drastically, turning itself into more of a reimagined sequel to Final Fantasy VII than an accurate retread.

5 Mass Effect: Legendary Edition Circled Back To Controversial Ground

Mass Effect was one of the most beloved franchises of the late 2000s and early 2010s, but one that left a bad taste in many fans’ mouths. The divisive ending to Mass Effect 3 and the underwhelming reception to Mass Effect Andromeda made fans wonder about the franchise’s future. A string of controversial or outright disliked games from BioWare only exacerbated fan doubts.

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition came as an unexpected announcement on N7 day in 2020, after years of little news for the franchise. Its full remaster of the entire trilogy, coupled with gameplay and significant aesthetic improvements for the first Mass Effect, was far better news than gamers could dream of.

4 Demon’s Souls Revisited A Beloved Franchise’s Roots

FromSoftware became a household name in the 2010s off of their Dark Souls franchise. The first Dark Souls became a smash hit that revolutionized action-RPG gameplay and emphasized the importance of difficulty and challenge for a new generation. However, Dark Souls‘ predecessor, Demon’s Souls, was left as a relatively obscure title locked to the PlayStation 3, where few fans could play it.

Demon’s Souls’ relatively cult status and more dated gameplay led many fans to believe it would remain on the PS3 forever. However, Sony announced a Demon’s Souls remake as a PlayStation 5 launch title in 2020. It allowed many newer gamers to the series or PlayStation to enjoy FromSoftware’s most obscure Souls title while containing a select few improvements over the original, something many fans did not anticipate but appreciated.

3 Resident Evil 2 Remake Came Many Years After The First Game

Related

25 Scariest Video Games Of All Time

From Resident Evil to Dead Space, the scariest horror video games of all time put players under constant threat of putting the controller down.

Resident Evil 2 was a 2019 remake of the identically-named 1998 video game. It completely reimagined the title, from a classic fixed-camera horror title to a third-person shooter survival horror inspired by Resident Evil 4. It also tweaked the plot, characters, and more to reinvent the series from the ground up.

Resident Evil 2 wasn’t a surprise to players when it came out, having been announced four years in advance. However, its announcement came a whole thirteen years after the first Resident Evil remake in 2002. Many fans expected the franchise to continue forward with new titles despite the mixed response to Resident Evil 6, rather than go back over a decade to recreate a classic.

2 Metroid: Samus Returns Brought The Series Back To Its Roots

Metroid: Samus Returns was a significant swerve from the Metroid franchise in the 2010s. The franchise had long focused on more traditional first-person shooter games, such as Metroid Prime. It had several unsuccessful entries like Metroid: Other M and Metroid Prime: Federation Force peppered by long gaps between games.

Metroid: Samus Returns was the franchise’s first traditional third-person platformer game since 2004’s Metroid: Zero Mission. Similar to Zero Mission, it remade and reimagined Metroid II for a modern audience. Even fans who had hoped for an old Metroid title to be remade had expected Super Metroid or Metroid Fusion, significantly more iconic games with devoted fanbases.

1 Dead Space Saw The Return Of An Underperforming Franchise

2023’s Dead Space remake brought back one of the most beloved sci-fi horror titles of all time. Dead Space had long been an acclaimed and well-liked title in its own right. However, the franchise had always underperformed commercially. None of the games achieved their sales targets despite critical acclaim for Dead Space and Dead Space 2. As a result, it seemed an unlikely choice for a remake.

Furthermore, the Dead Space franchise had been dormant for many years. The poor response to 2013’s Dead Space 3 saw the franchise left in limbo with no further games announced or developed. Dead Space broke that limbo after an entire decade, giving fans an unexpected breath of fresh air.