MSFTY: Top 5 games that deserve an Xbox One makeover

Hot on the heels of the Master Chief Collection, soon the re-make of the re-make of Resident Evil 1 will hit Xbox One, PS4 and PC bringing with it the second hand nostalgia of playing the nostalgic Gamecube remake of the legendary original. It’s like Inception, with nostalgia.

I tweeted my fruitless hopes that Capcom would consider giving Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 the same treatment they gave the Gamecube/Xbox One remake. Tweaking gameplay, new models, HD and all that blood spattered mutant jazz, and it gave me the idea to pen this article.

I’d like to know your thoughts and feelings on this as well, because as we move forward, remakes of games are almost certainly going to become more prevalent.

Do remakes suck?

Whenever a remake or a re-release or whatever is announced, there’s a segment of our community that rolls their eyes and groans. “Lo and hark, we demand new games sayeth we! Enough with thine rehashing and IP exploitation!” – To that I say poppycock, and bollocks. There have been unequivocal disasters (looking at you Silent Hill HD Collection…) but remakes have the potential to be awesome, and the beauty of it is – you don’t HAVE to buy them if you don’t like them! And let’s face it, Nintendo’s entire business model hinges on rehashed ideas (don’t kill me, it’s a joke! I swear!).

I already hear mutterings of “You uncooth swine, remakes draineth thine resources from fresh, virginal games!” – well, to this I say balderdash, and bollocks. Resident Evil may be a poor example because it’s a complete ground-up remake; voice acting, models, systems, etc – but re-releases of more recent games like Metro, which had much stronger graphics on PC are solid candidates for new-gen outings. We keep hearing that the games industry is squeezed, and re-releases like this can be a very cost effective with high margins. These profits would be ploughed into new games! GTA 5’s launch on Xbox One will result in a superior new-gen Red Dead game, Metro Redux will result in a superior Metro 3, and so on. At least, that’s what I naively believe whilst EA execs go out to buy more yachts.

But this just isn’t about re-releases, but full blown re-makes, such as Resident Evil. Whilst such remakes would undoubtedly incur a heavy development cost, at least brain power coming up with new ideas will be less necessary! Right? Basically I have no real justification for wanting remakes besides avoiding retrieving my Xbox 360 from the cupboard and avoiding financing a mid-high end gaming PC. Also, I like cheevos.

And before I let that loss of credibility sink in… here’s my top 5list of games that deserve both re-releases or re-makes!

5. Fallout 3 / New Vegas

Bethesda refuses to announce Fallout 4. That’s okay, I’m cool with that. It’s not like I go to bed every night dreaming about Fallout, waking up naked running through my city wielding a pool cue, not at all. But hey, for those of you that are unable to contain your Fallout lust, surely a re-release of the legendary PC version of the game on Xbox One would satisfy your apocalyptic urges.

Games that have PC versions are (in theory) easier to port than X360 games. The PC version also enjoys insane mod support, for everything from gameplay tweaks to My Little Pony sex simulators to full blown texture packs and lighting improvements – which give us a glimpse at what improvements a re-release could enjoy. Fallout 3 suffered from abysmal texture quality on Xbox 360, and even worse on PS3, so to see this appear on Xbox One polished up and basking in the full glory of its PC counter part would be awesome.

4. Resident Evil 2, 3, 4, Code Veronica

Resident Evil 4 and Code Veronica have already enjoyed HD re-releases on Xbox 360, and I’d like to see them hit Xbox One as well (‘eliminates another reason to get my Xbox 360 out of the cupboard) – but Resident Evil 2 and 3 have never been treated to upgrades. Resident Evil 2 is the quintessential Resident Evil experience, taking place in Racoon City’s dilapidated Police precinct, and the surrounding vicinity. You deal with deadly monsters and shady officials, power hungry and corrupt from Umbrella Incorporated’s money. The characters, story progression, fear factor and gameplay are all so impeccable, I would place Resident Evil 2 firmly on a list of candidates for the best game ever made… so please Capcom, give Resident Evil 2 the Resident Evil 1 remake treatment. Maintain the spirit of the original, but update the models, locations and boss fights, retool the puzzles and give us some new surprises along the way. Resident Evil 3 also deserves the remake treatment, for it’s iconic Nemesis gameplay, the old rocket launcher weilding freak more than deserves a hi-poly makeover. Cancel all your current projects and do the right thing Capcom!

3. Mass Effect 1

Mass Effect 1 was a sleeper hit that spawned two incredible sequels and solidified its place in Bioware’s pantheon of mammoth franchises. The space opera was lauded for its depth, matched only for its breadth, and commands a Legion (lolol see what I did there?) of passionate fans from all walks of life.

Mass Effect was Bioware’s first attempt – not only at building a game using the ubiquitous Unreal engine – but of building a third person shooter. Their affinity for RPG mechanics didn’t carry over so well into the genre. Some will disagree with me here, but gunplay based on stats simply didn’t feel good. Your ability to aim was largely irrelevant in Mass Effect 1, and it wasn’t until the end of the game where you could be sure your shots would count. Loot systems were similarly ridiculous, which saw inventories rammed with mountains of useless weapon and armour mods, and armour you did collect was an often hideous recolour of another armour type. Mass Effect also featured ambitious planetary exploration gameplay, allowing you to journey to (often barren) planetoids for side quests and resources. A lot fo these experiences were shallow, but offered a tantalising glimpse of what future games could bring. It wasn’t the big-budget-blockbuster Bioware has become known for, and was an admirable first attempt at marrying shooter gameplay with RPG depth.

Whilst I think Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 perhaps go too far removing RPG mechanics from thee franchise, in terms of third person shooter gameplay they’re near perfect. To release a Mass Effect collection, with a re-imagined Mass Effect 1 (perhaps improving the planetary side quest missions, graphics and shooter mechanics in the process), would be a sure fire hit many fans would throw their money at.

2. The Witcher 1 & 2

The Witcher 3 is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated games for 2015. The game has suffered multiple delays as CD Projekt RED attempt to dethrone Dragon Age and Elder Scrolls as the kings of fantasy RPG. The Witcher 2 is one of my favourite games of all time, featuring subversively mature writing, high quality voice acting and impeccably polished combat that other games simply aren’t up to par with. The PC version also boasts incredible graphics that the X360 simply struggled to handle. Despite the compression of dynamic shadows, anti aliasing and texture fidelity, the Xbox 360 version suffered rife frame rate issues due to its sheer majesty. A retooled PC re-release for Xbox One would hopefully be an easy feat for CD Projekt RED, and would help to ease people in to The Witcher’s complex world and deep characters.

To remake The Witcher 1 would be a very different affair. Although I believe the 8 year old game still holds its own gameplay wise, for many I feel this would not be the case. The Witcher 1 features the deep story and excellent writing of the sequel, but some of the voice acting conjures memory of Barry Burton’s infamous “Jill sandwich” line from the PS1 version of Resident Evil. Why is this important? For me at least, I struggled to enjoy The Witcher 2 until I went back and played The Witcher 1. The sequel does try to offer some information on previous events, but understanding the character relationships (particularly between Triss and Geralt) doesn’t play out well without experiencing the previous game. I found myself lost and confused in a world where I clearly wasn’t welcome — The Witcher 1 rectified this for me, and now the franchise features amongst my favourites. Whilst the Xbox 360 version of The Witcher 2 more than holds up, I think The Witcher 1 deserves to be remade for Xbox One so that others can experience the full breadth of Geralt’s story, which will come to an end with The Witcher 3.

1. Final Fantasy 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12

Yeah, I went there. There’s beating a dead horse, and there’s pulverising it into a gelatinous bloody paste. It’s become a cliché to demand Square Enix remake the legendary Final Fantasy 7, but if any game in the universe deserves it, by far, for me, it is that game. Final Fantasy 7 for many is what brought them from regarding video games as a toy, to instead, seeing them as an enduring passion. The character development was, and still is, a master class in writing. The Materia system was, and still is, one of the greatest RPG systems ever made. The game packed dozens of hours of gameplay spanning 3 disks, featured award winning music and spawned various spin offs, even an awesome movie (a rarity in video games). Cloud, Sephiroth, Aerith and other Final Fantasy characters are iconic staples of video game culture, and have defined the childhoods of millions of people. For Square Enix to not attempt to remake this is an exercise in pure insecurity. The systems need only to be identical, they could keep the text based conversations, produce new static backgrounds. Whilst a tall order, literally all the game needs is a graphical make over, something the bastards keep on teasing in the form of tech demos and vague responses to the pleas of fans. Step up Square Enix, remake Final Fantasy 7.

And whilst you’re at it, remake or re-release 6, 8, 9, 10, and 12! They all enjoy the same incredible depth, writing and gameplay systems (of varying degrees) all of which would be instant hit with new gen graphics. Whilst I’m not really a fan of Final Fantasy 13’s auto-play combat, or Final Fantasy 14’s cynical attempts to cash in on the brand with a WoW clone, or Final Fantasy 15’s weird segway into slash ’em up gameplay and odd adolescent road trip plot – the Hironobu Sakaguchi Final Fantasy games are timeless examples of Japan’s video game industry glory years, and command admiration.

So there’s my list! Feel free to flame, deny or cry about how shitty my choices are – but consider offering your suggestions in the comments below instead, I’m bloody sensitive. As caffeinated as I am, I’m certain to have missed some really important games like Knights of the Old Repu–, fuck.

^Jez (@MSFTY)