The Xbox 360 and PS3 generation introduced gamers to the first wave of HD gaming. More importantly there was also the concept of high definition in general for TVs and of course, there was yet another format war between Blu-rays and HD DVDs. Boy am I glad we’re out of that rough spot. For one, it was expensive to get hooked up, but now, after the ashes have settled, it’s become the standard so everything is next to dirt-cheap. Although I will say somehow Blu-ray players are still expensive. Our current generation didn’t have that craziness associated with a new format war thankfully. PS4 and Xbox One games were basically like HD+ in quality. Good, but not a huge step forward.
Let’s dial back into that first HD era for a second. This was the first time companies started re-releasing games under the HD banner. For example, there was Final Fantasy X HD. Here’s the problem they ran into with this current generation though. Companies wanted to port things over from the last generation, but they couldn’t really call these ports HD because the games were already in high definition. For example, The Last of Us Remastered. Is it any better than the PS3 version? Yes, but only slightly. The term “remaster” has really muddied the line is what I’m basically getting at. Like when is a remake a remake and not a remaster? Well, I don’t have the answer, but what I do have are fifteen terrible remasters and fifteen I’m still waiting to be announced.
30 Unwanted: Resonance Of Fate
I tried to get into Resonance of Fate so many times, but every instance was met with screaming. It’s a really cool battle system that is also one of the worst in that it overcomplicates things. Couldn’t it be enough that I look cool shooting my guns? Did you really have to make it Dark Souls hard, Sega? If there’s one silver lining in this remaster it’s that it might prompt them to make a better sequel if sales are good.
29 Still Waiting: Metal Gear Solid 4
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was the reason I bought my PS3. It was the first HD game that I had to play. Also, I was in college, poor, and it took two years to save up enough money even after the price drop. The point is it means a lot to me. It’s not my favorite in the series, but it was still pretty awesome. I can’t believe it’s been trapped on the PS3 since 2008 though. Most of the Metal Gear games have been re-released in some form, but not this. Very strange.
28 Unwanted: Prototype
Who remembers Prototype? I didn’t think so. It came out the same week as the superior original superhero video game, inFamous. I still bought and enjoyed wreaking havoc on the city as this weird Venom-like monster man, but it was very average.
It takes two to make a monster.
They released a sequel, which was worse and then nothing because, well, the second sort of destroyed the series. That’s why this remastered collection is so weird. It was originally digital only and barely advertised.
27 Still Waiting: Super Mario Sunshine
It’s unfathomable to me how many great GameCube exclusives are trapped on that system. It’s not like Nintendo is shy about re-releasing stuff either. I think the biggest tragedy from their first-party studios is Super Mario Sunshine. It often gets ridiculed today for not holding up as well due to some controls that haven’t aged well, but if they remastered it like they did with The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, it’d be a big hit. I think it’s a matter of when and not if.
26 Unwanted: Dead Rising
Okay, so Dead Rising was pretty substantial back when the Xbox 360 was young. Seeing that many zombies on screen was amazing, but there were a lot of problems back then that are even worse now. There are the time constraints, the bugs, the bad story, the mechanics, and everything in-between. The bad parts do hold some charm in the same vein as a movie you’d watch on Mystery Science Theater 3000, but it’s definitely a game that should have stayed buried.
25 Still Waiting: Dead Space Trilogy
This year marks the tenth anniversary of Dead Space. It launched on October 13, 2008, which was the day before my birthday. It was an early gift to myself and it was exactly what I needed. It brought back horror in a big way and was like Resident Evil 4, but in space.
A perfect way to celebrate ten years of horror.
The sequel may be better, but I’m kind of tied on that verdict. The third game is pretty meh, but that said I’d love a remastered collection of all three of these.
24 Unwanted: Assassin’s Creed III
There was a big joke around the time that Assassin’s Creed Rogue and Assassin’s Creed Unity launched. One, Rogue was better even though it was last-gen only. Two, when was it coming to new hardware? This was 2014 and it just got ported to the PS4 and Xbox One this year! Talk about too little too late. Even stranger was the recent announcement of Assassin’s Creed III, one of the worst in the franchise. There are so many problems with it that even a remaster can’t fix them.
23 Still Waiting: Demon’s Souls
Demon’s Souls, to be hyperbolic for a moment, changed the video game industry. Actually, that’s not hyperbole because it’s true. Just think about how many clones have come out since, or at least games inspired by the difficulty bar they raised. It’s a bit rusty compared to its spiritual sequels aka Dark Souls and Bloodborne, but it’s still excellent in many regards. The online servers were shut down this year, which made many believe a remaster was coming. It hasn’t been announced yet, but I bet we’ll see it in 2019 to celebrate its tenth anniversary.
22 Unwanted: Dragon’s Dogma
One of these Demon’s Souls clones of which I speak is Dragon’s Dogma. It’s not an exact copy, but it definitely has that vibe about it. There are a lot of cool ideas in here admittedly.
We want Deep Down, not this garbage remastered.
Running around and slaying giant monsters you can climb is epic in my book. Unfortunately, everything else just stinks. It’s clunky and I tried many times to get into, even with this remaster, but it just never clicked for me.
21 Still Waiting: Fallout 3
The Skyrim remaster was cool and all, but there was a Bethesda game I wanted more: Fallout 3. It was the very first Bethesda title I ever played let alone in the Fallout series. It blew my mind. It was so big! The graphics even back then, were not impressive I will admit, but I didn’t care. I just loved exploring that world and I’d love to do it again on something like the Switch. While I’m wishing, how about an Amiibo too?
20 Unwanted: Borderlands The Pre-Sequel
Borderlands was pretty hot there for a second. The first game provided a Fallout-like experience people were craving after Fallout 3. Two improved a bunch of features and then there was the Pre-Sequel. I see what you did there 2K, but it’s not funny. The series sort of got too high on itself and forgot what fans wanted: a true sequel. All fans have received this generation is a remastered collection containing this and the second game. Where is the first? I’d rather play that than even think about the Pre-Sequel again.
19 Still Waiting: inFamous Duology
The PS4 sold tremendously well in its opening month and continued to do so even though the first-party lineup was pretty poor. That is until inFamous: Second Son launched a few months later. It was a great sequel to a series I don’t think gets enough love nowadays.
I can’t wait to see ol’ Zeke again.
Since Sucker Punch is currently working on Ghost of Tsushima I think we won’t be seeing a new inFamous any time soon if ever. That’s why the time to release the first two games on PS4 is perfect.
18 Unwanted: Deadpool
The first Deadpool movie released in 2016. Three years prior Activision licensed the character out to make a subpar action game in the vein of Devil May Cry, which is a pretty generous comparison. The humor was spot on for the character. That said, again, the game was not fun. So why make it? Perhaps the film was supposed to be in production way back in 2013 and this was supposed to be a tie-in. They also made a remaster in 2015, which was still too early. Why not wait a year? It boggles my mind.
17 Still Waiting: Kingdoms Of Amalur Reckoning
It’s hard to believe THQ ever went under since their defunct spell lasted only a short while. Now they’re back in full force and buying up properties left and right like some kind of second chance guardian angel. For example, they just acquired the rights to Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. That is a terrible subtitle, but so are a lot of video game names. Point is you can bet your socks we’ll be seeing a remaster of this forgotten gem in 2019. I hope so at least.
16 Unwanted: Metro Redux
Another game that I thought would provide me with a new Fallout experience was Metro: Last Light. It was the second game in the series and I never played the first since it was exclusive to the Xbox 360. It received good buzz so I jumped in anyway.
Exodus, stage left.
I dug it for the first couple hours, but Fallout it is not. Sure it has some cool lore, but it’s as entertaining as watching paint dry. Why they made a remastered collection for both games is beyond me. Maybe Exodus will be better?
15 Still Waiting: Ni No Kuni
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch was a game I had been waiting for my whole life. I wanted to play an RPG with Studio Ghibli visuals ever since I watched Castle in the Sky. It felt like a pipe dream, but when this game was announced I had a mini heart attack. I loved it so much and figured that was it, which was fine. When the sequel was announced, well, I had another heart thump. I liked that too, but now I want a remaster of this for Switch.
14 Unwanted: Resident Evil 0
Resident Evil 0 was a title I missed at the height of the GameCube’s power. Prequels can always be iffy, but I didn’t care. I needed to play it because it was a Resident Evil game. I wouldn’t be able to until the 2016 remaster. Boy, were my expectations shot down. The backtracking in that thing make the first game seem trivial. This is due to the worst item management system in the series. There are parts I dug, but overall it was not worth the effort.
13 Still Waiting: The Saboteur
The Saboteur is probably remembered for two things. One, it’s distinctive art style. Sure it looked and played like a Grand Theft Auto except set in Paris during the war. However, most of the game was in black and white with certain colors shining through so in that way it was special.
Can’t get enough of that burlesque.
The other thing it’s most famous for is its risqué nature. Every new copy came with a code to unlock the women’s unmentionables during shows. So yeah it’s not the best in its genre, but it is unique.
12 Unwanted: Star Ocean: The Last Hope
Star Ocean: The Last Hope, which is the fourth game in the main series, was one of the first reviews I ever wrote and produced a video for. It’s of lesser quality than some of my later stuff, but everything I said in it holds true today. Namely that it sucks the soul right out of your body. How did this pass through Square Enix’s executives when so many other games in their vast library deserve the remaster treatment more?
11 Still Waiting: Shadows Of The Damned
Shadows of the Damned is an underrated quirky masterpiece from famed director and producer, Shinji Mikami. He used to work for Capcom and headlined the Resident Evil series. This is one of the first games he helped create with the partnership of EA. It has a very Resident Evil 4 vibe to it, but with the humor and cheesy vibes cranked up to eleven. It actually feels more like a Suda 51 game. Anyway, it was overshadowed during its summer release and deserves another chance to shine.
