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Right now, we are in the age of the remake.

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From Dead Space to Demon's Souls, and 
from The Last of Us to Like a Dragon,

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it seems like every publisher is 
now ransacking its back catalogue

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to look for games it can reheat 
and sell to us all over again.

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But there's one studio that's doing 
things differently - and that's Capcom.

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Specifically its Resident Evil team.

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Over the last two decades, Capcom 
has remade Resident Evil 1, 2,

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3, and 4 - and these games feel like way 
more than just recycled retro favourites.

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So - what are they doing differently? 
And how do they pull it off?

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Well - I'm Mark Brown, 
and this is Game Maker's Toolkit.

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Do you remember when Gus Van 
Sant remade the movie, Psycho?

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This was no ordinary remake: instead, it was a 
near-perfect, shot-for-shot recreation of the

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original film, with the same script, camera moves, 
and musical score - but a few modern updates,

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like shooting in colour, and adding more gore 
and nudity to that infamous shower scene.

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If you don't remember it, I'm not surprised - I 
think everyone involved would rather you forgot.

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The remake bombed at the box office, 
it was savaged by critics, Roger Ebert

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called it "pointless", and Hollywood 
has never tried such a thing again.

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*Pumbaa Farts*

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For the most part.

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But in the world of video games...

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well this is actually how a lot of remakes work.

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Despite using all new engines and assets,

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the goal is to be as faithful as 
possible to the original game.

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To make a beat-by-beat 
recreation of what came before.

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But with a few conservative 
tweaks to the gameplay or content.

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Now this can certainly lead to good games.

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And I've used these remakes to catch 
up on titles I missed upon release.

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But I think there are two big 
problems with this approach.

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For one, it can lead to games 
with absolutely cutting edge

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graphics - but gameplay that feels 
dated and surpassed by later titles.

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And two - if you've already played the original,

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then this perfect recreation offers 
little incentive to pick up the remake.

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So that's why Capcom doesn't follow this 
trend - while its remakes are heavily

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influenced by the original games, it liberally 
changes both the gameplay and the content.

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For gameplay, take Resident Evil 2.

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The PlayStation 1 original has these fixed,

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CCTV-style camera angles, and 
Leon moved around like a tank.

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For the remake, Capcom did experiment 
with keeping this viewpoint...

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but ultimately went for something more modern: 
turning it into an over-the-shoulder shooter.

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And for content, look at Resident Evil 4.

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This remake mostly follows the 
beats of the original game,

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but regularly makes changes - content 
is moved around, played out of order,

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expanded, shrunk, cut entirely, 
and replaced by brand new stuff.

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So even if you've played the original, 
this remake is full of surprising twists.

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Take the iconic village siege from the 
opening of the game - seems familiar enough,

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but then I went up this tower and, 
oh, that's not how I remember it.

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And then I rounded this corner 
and, oh no, what's happening now?

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Capcom says "if we remade the game so 
players do the exact same thing as the

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original, that's not really 
going to be fun or interesting".

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Of course, it's not enough to just say "throw 
out the source material and do something new".

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Remakes are playing to our 
nostalgia for the original,

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and any changes can feel like 
blasphemous meddling with perfection.

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There are no shortage of remakes that have 
angered fans by changing things too much.

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Whether that's Ratchet's characterisation,

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Peter Parker's face, or Venture Beat describing 
Shadow of the Colossus's new graphics as "too good".

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So, Capcom says its remakes "show love for 
the original work through their content,

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which includes both where the remake makes changes 
and where it remains the same as the original".

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They know when to stay faithful, and 
know how to stray from the source.

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One way to do this is to focus 
on capturing the sensation of

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playing the original game - even if 
you're not copying the exact details.

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For Resident Evil 2, Capcom says a 
guiding principle was that "whenever

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people play this, they should get the 
same feeling we got back in the day,

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even though the outer layers are different".

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So while it loses the forced camera perspective,

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the developers still wanted the game to 
be tense and claustrophobic - and so made

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it difficult to aim exactly where you want, 
and kept the camera tight behind Leon's back.

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A smart approach is to identify some 
pillars of the original - things

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define the DNA of what made it 
so beloved in the first place.

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For Resident Evil 4, that included stuff like 
its lighting-fast pace, its b-movie dialogue,

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the way you can tackle encounters in different 
ways, and how fun the game was to replay.

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The designers behind the Dead Space remake 
had a similar idea - with "sci-fi horror,

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unbroken immersion, and creative 
gameplay" as the pillars.

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"Any novelty, enhancement, enrichment,

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or whatever had to fit inside one of 
those pillars" - the developer says.

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Importantly, these pillars 
should be feelings, not features.

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Aesthetics, not mechanics, to bring 
us back to the previous episode.

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This allows developers to change how the game 
works, without messing with how the game feels.

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For example - Leon can use his 
knife for some brand new moves

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like a parry, and a stealth takedown.

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This could change the feel of the 
game, making Leon overpowered.

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But by making it so the knife can break and 
need to be patched up by the merchant, Leon

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stays one step behind, and the remake stays true 
to the survival horror feeling of the original.

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So - this approach can be 
used to address the three

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main things that all remakes should consider.

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Number one is modernisation.

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Remakes are entering the industry today,

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and so people expect modern conventions and 
conveniences like fast travel and quick save.

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And they don't want to see mechanics that are...

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I don't want to say dated, 
so let's say unfashionable.

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That's why Capcom pulled the 
button-bashing quicktime events

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from RE4 - "QTEs are not popular 
in today's games," the devs said.

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But, any change to the mechanics is 
going to have a knock-on impact to

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the rest of the game - and risk ruining the feel.

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Take the new Goldeneye remaster - it makes 
sense to update for modern first-person shooter

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controls, but that makes the game, which 
was designed for much clunkier inputs...

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well it makes it a bit of a cakewalk.

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Resident Evil 4 could have 
fallen into the same trap.

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In the original game, Leon couldn't aim and move

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at the same time - he became a turret 
every time he pulled out his pistol.

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But not adding strafe was an intentional 
choice on Capcom's part - in 2004,

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it said "we didn't want to go into 
the shooting / army type genre".

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The remake, predictably, lets Leon strafe - and

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he generally moves around like 
a typical shooter protagonist.

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But to counterbalance this change, the enemies 
are now more aggressive and more numerous.

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So despite Leon's newly nimble movement, the 
game still feels as pulse-pounding as ever.

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Number two is addressing 
criticism of the original.

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If there's one thing that puts me off from 
replaying Resident Evil 4, it's Ashley.

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This lengthy escort quest 
can become an annoying bit

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of babysitting that threatens to spoil the fun.

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Of course, it would be tempting to dramatically 
change how she works in this remake - perhaps make

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her invincible and helpful, like the partner 
characters in games released since 2005.

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But that would change the dynamic of the 
original game - so, instead, Capcom made

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more considered changes, with careful tweaks to 
her AI, her health bar, and her characterisation.

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No game is perfect, and there will always 
be elements that don't gel with fans...

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or indeed the developers.

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Talking about The Wind Waker, Zelda boss Eiji 
Aonuma says "right after the game was completed,

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there would be discussions about how we wish 
we could have done something [different]" -

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and so the Wii U version 
makes some welcome changes,

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like speeding up a contentious 
late-game fetch quest.

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And number three is making the game 
more approachable and accessible.

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A remake is trying to win over people 
who never played the original - and that

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includes those who bounced off the first 
game, or were never able to start it.

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The first Resident Evil Remake was 
intentionally designed to ease in

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new players, with Capcom accepting that the 
first game really threw you into the deep end.

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And Resident Evil 2 through 
4 all come with an assisted

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difficulty setting with features like 
health regeneration and aim snapping.

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Old games can be notoriously difficult 
to get into, and rarely accommodated

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players with disabilities - so 
it's good to see remakes that

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make things more approachable, 
and add accessibility options.

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The Last of Us Part 1 is a notable standout,

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with perhaps the most extensive suite 
of options seen in a game thus far.

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But it's usually important to 
make these changes optional.

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In the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl remakes, 
the devs added a team-wide EXP Share,

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which means that when you win a battle, 
all of your Pokemon get experience points.

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This wrecked the balance and made the 
game super easy, barely an inconvenience.

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It could have been a good option for those who 
want an easier time, but it's actually just part

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of the game and can't be disabled, which 
annoys those who want more of a challenge.

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I kinda feel the same way about this 
button in Resident Evil 4's remake

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which automatically tidies up your attache case.

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And I know I could just "not press the button",

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but it's right there! Of course I'm 
going to press the button! I am weak.

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So, Capcom doesn't try to perfectly recreate 
the original game, when it does a remake.

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It freely changes characters, plot 
points, mechanics, puzzles, and content.

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This makes each remake feel as 
fresh as a brand new release,

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and enjoyable even to those who have 
finished the original a million times.

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But it uses the sensation of playing 
the first game as a lodestar,

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to carefully guide new changes 
- keeping Resident Evil 2 scary,

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and making sure Resident Evil 4 still 
feels like an action-packed rollercoaster.

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And I think this also helps explain Capcom's 
least-loved remake: Resident Evil 3.

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By nerfing Nemesis - by turning Jill's 
invincible stalker into a simplistic set piece,

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RE3 doesn't accurately capture the sensation of 
the PS1 original - and so kinda fails as a remake.

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But when done right, says Capcom, "a 
remake of a game can deliver a new

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experience to players while also touching 
upon the memories we have of the original,

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which is an appeal that is different from 
the appeal of a completely new game."

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But there's one problem when it comes to making 
such massive changes in a remake.

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You see, the reason why Psycho was 
dubbed pointless is because the 1960

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original is readily available, 
and eminently watchable today.

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In general, it's reasonably easy to remaster 
a movie - which means to go back to the master

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recording, and make a new print with an improved 
picture, for a modern format like Blu-Ray.

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This means that, in Hollywood, remakes are free to 
liberally adapt the source material - completely

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changing the film to work in a different time, or 
a different culture, or with a different audience.

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Change what you want: the 
original is always available.

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But games are different.

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Old games get stuck on disintegrating 
hardware, digital games get delisted,

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online games see their servers go down, 
and entire storefronts go offline.

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And it's really tough to do a straight 
"remaster" of a game - and there are

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no shortage of crummy ones to point to.

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Truly great remasters, like Metroid 
Prime on Switch, are a rare treat.

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So, for some players - well, 
they're counting on a remake

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as the only way to revisit their old favourites.

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And they want it to be exactly 
the way they remember it.

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They're looking for that ultra faithful 
recreation with a few modern updates.

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They want Gus Van Sant's Psycho.

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But I don't think this means we 
need more shot-for-shot remakes:

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it just means we need better 
game preservation - and to

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praise publishers who provide 
access to the original titles.

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Because no matter what you think 
of the new Resident Evil 4 Remake,

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it ultimately lives alongside an excellent, and 
very moddable, HD remaster of the original game.

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The RE4 Remake doesn't try to 
overwrite or replace the 2005 original,

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and I'm sure I'll be replaying both in the future.

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Sadly, the older Resident Evil 
games are not so easy to play today.

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And I hope Capcom rights that wrong in the same 
way it does its many, many Mega Man compilations.

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But other developers are showing how to do it.

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Nightdive Studios is currently 
working on a wild new remake of

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System Shock - but after acquiring the 
IP it also released the original game,

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an enhanced edition, and even 
dropped the source code online.

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And remember when Zero Mission 
let you just boot up Metroid 1,

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right there, in the game? That was neat.

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Just don't be like Rockstar, who removed the Grand

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Theft Auto games from Steam to make 
way for its disastrous remasters.

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Or Blizzard, who removed Warcraft 3 to 
make way for its, again, disastrous remake.

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So, what do you reckon? Is Capcom 
king of the remakes? Or do you

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prefer more faithful recreations? Let 
me know in the comments down below.