Remake or Reflux?

One of the biggest trends in video games in the past decade or so has been remakes. Now ideally this means taking an existing title and giving it a facelift to look as appealing as current video games do. Normally, I never give any of these remakes a second thought. However, with the recent release of the Resident Evil 4 remake, it made my heart hurt a little. I have personally played Resident Evil 4 and thoroughly enjoyed it. So, when they remade it, my first thought was how awesome that game would look with current graphics, but then I dove into what the remake actually was. For me, it was a no go. What is the point of boosting the graphics, if I also must deal with a completely changed game altogether. Don’t get me wrong, the new aesthetic looks great. It is darker, creepier, and the gothic style of horror genre that Resident Evil 4 is a part of is only improved by a more fleshed out storyline. But the remake makers changed some very integral parts that, to me, changes what the game is. They changed characters to fit “their story” better. They changed dialogs to fit those new characters. They also removed the humor from the game. Something that, I think, only made the game more enjoyable. Every single scene cannot be brooding. It just doesn’t work, especially in horror games. I’m not saying that I am against change when remaking a game. For instance, in the Final Fantasy 7 remake, the story was changed slightly so that the game flowed better. I had no problem with this. It made for a more plot-based game and focused slightly less on the playing of the game. Which is what Final Fantasy has been from the beginning. Another example of good change is the Kingdom Hearts games. When they remade those games, some of the item locations were moved a little either to make it easier to access said item or to have a better item in that location. This just makes the game easier to play and therefore players have more fun. However, in both of these examples, most everything else, save a few graphic tweaks, remained the same. But when the game is completely overhauled—graphics, story, item locations, character traits, and gameplay mechanics in general—I don’t see this as a remake. It may have the same named characters and a remotely similar storyline, but for all intense and purpose, it could be a completely different game. I think that is something that will have to be addressed eventually. Because while Capcom remade its own game in Resident Evil 4, certain companies sell out the rights to the remake and if too many changes are made, then that other company is doing more than an aesthetic redesign, they are designing a new game and how far does it go before that other company makes that claim. Remakes need a strict guideline on what is changed for the game. Of course, I guess I just don’t like Mexican fleabag Luis. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.