Remakes

My excitement for the FF7 Remake has considerably died down in  comparison to how excited I was in 2016, to the point I'm preparing myself to accept it's not coming. However, as I ruminate about the remake I'd been waiting a while for, a question popped up: what's the big deal about remakes?

The quick and easy answer is that video game remakes allow us to re-experience video games using the latest technologies, which were not available at the time they were originally made. Sounds simple enough, but question: how does the new technology enhance the original game? Am I just playing the original game with bells and whistles on it?

One of the first remakes I ever played (before I even knew what a remake was) was Super Mario All-Stars which was a packaged remake of the three NES Mario titles, plus the first ever western release of the original Super Mario Bros 2. Focusing on ONE remade game (the original SMB) the remake added: updated sprites, 16-bit music, actual backgrounds, and a SAVE FEATURE. That last feature significantly changed the experience of playing Super Mario Bros, turning it from a "one playthrough equals one sit" type of game to a "play at your own pace" type. I suddenly didn't need to spend and entire afternoon trying to beat the game to BEAT the game!

But was the game better for it? I'd say it was more forgiving, because the core challenge was still there. The level layouts were unchanged, the enemies were simply given new sprites, and all in all, nothing significantly NEW was added. It was the same game, just prettier and with a new save feature.

Sometimes a remake removes elements that frustrated gamers to no end. Take the remake of the original Final Fantasy for the PS1, which removed the tendency for character's attacks to miss if they were attacking an enemy that died that turn. The remake also added some scenes to expand on the story a bit, such as adding a scene at the start of the game showing the Conerians building the bridge you'll need to legit start the game. If I'm honest, I prefer the PS1 version to the original NES version of FF1.

And of course there are the remakes that add features to a game that were added to later games in the franchise. Take Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen for example, which not only updated the graphics and removed the bugs the original games had, but also added the Pokemon Abilities that were introduced in Ruby/Sapphire, while also adding the new Types added in Gold/Silver. This added new strategies to the game; as an example, the Ghastly line now had access to Levitate, making them immune to Ground attacks, thus removing a weakness.

The point I'm trying to get across here is that a remake is the perfect chance to streamline and fix the mistakes the creators made when originally releasing the game; beyond bug fixtures, it's the addition of features that would have been impossible with the tech they had back then. It's about playing the first Pokemon games with Pokemon Abilities, or the removal of mechanics that were hair-pullingly bad like the aforementioned one in FF1.

Not to imply that ALL remakes are good, of course. Some, like FFT: War of the Lions and Lunar: Silver Star Harmony remove elements that may had been absurd, but gave the original games a unique flavor. Yes, the original Final Fantasy Tactics had hokey dialogue and a laughably bad translation, but the remake took that out and added this ridiculous, pathetically flowery faux-Shakespearean English that REALLY took me out of the game a lot. I guess my problem was that the purpureous language used made the script seem far too much as if the writer was trying to sound Shakespearean, rather than to allow us to immerse ourselves in the world of Ivalice. Take this line of dialogue as an example:

Wieglaf: "No spoony bard could weave a sweeter tale!"

Now of course I am by no means saying the original script was perfect; far from it, it was in dire need of a rewrite. The original FFT script was messy, to put it lightly. Many sentences made little sense, and some were awkwardly worded. Such as this line:

Wiegraf: "Even if we escape, we'll get caught sooner or later and be in their power!"

Lunar SSH took out Silver Star Story Complete's campy translation and pop culture references and replaced it with more appropriate, but far less memorable dialogue. Take as an example the revelation of the Magic Emperor. In the PS1 version, Magic Emperor says some RIDICULOUS lines peppered with the hammiest laughter you'd typically hear in a 1970's cartoon. In the PSP version, he's much more subdued, a bit more menacing, and far far FAR less campy. The latter version is more effective as a serious villain, but the former is much more memorable (if for the wrong reasons.) Compare these two lines:

PS1 Version: "Quark, shall be the cornerstone of a new world order. MY world order! But! Who shall be my queen?"

PSP Version: "Quark, your power will be key in the reawakening of that which I seek. But first..."

There's a deliciousness in the hammyness of the PS1 version that made it memorable and quotable, which are traits utterly lacking in the PSP version. The PSP version is much more serious and truer to the spirit of the original Japanese version, but it has its share of problems beyond just the less memorable translation; mainly, the Limit Break-style special attacks make the game much easier. If this is a good or bad thing depends on the player; personally, I like a challenge.

A remade game isn't necessarily a BETTER game than the original; in fact, a remake is at risk at bringing in new problems in place of old ones. Maybe it's a less memorable script, or contemptuous voice acting, or that the remake didn't add much to justify the price tag. It's the same principle as remaking a movie; you're bringing in new technology to fix old problems, but you're opening yourself up to new ones. Maybe it's the framerate drop of War of the Lions, the lack of voice acting in Lunar Legend (in a series that practically pioneered voice acting and animatics in JRPG's), or the out of place voice acting in Re:Chain of Memories, where a 14 Sora sounds far older than he should (due to his voice actor, Haley Joel Osment, having long since entered puberty and become a man)

So this brings me back to one of the reasons why I've cooled down my enthusiasm for the FF7 remake. Simply put: what can a remake offer me that a simple mod can't? How can current technology possibly improve the original game beyond prettier graphics and voice acting? Could Final Fantasy 7 even work as an Action RPG when the original was such a great menu-based RPG? And what about the idea of expanding the story; would it fix the plotholes of the original game? And if so, would it accidentally create new ones in order to better fit the Compilation?

But most importantly: would the original game still be good, even after the remake? FF7, for all its flaws (and it does have many) is one of my all-time favorite games. This is why I was so excited for the remake, and why I am now much less enthused. All I want is for the remake to be good.

A game remake won't necessarily be bad, and likewise a remake isn't necessarily better than the original. No matter what, if you didn't like the remake, you can still always play the original.