For a lot of PlayStation fans, the release of The Last of Us: Part I perplexed them. The game – less than a decade old, and already remastered for the PS4 – was treated to a magnificent remake by Naughty Dog, much to the bemusement of sceptics. Now there’s speculation that Sony will also remake Horizon Zero Dawn, a game that’s just five years old.
According to PS Studios boss Hermen Hulst, the decision to remake The Last of Us was only partly motivated by its upcoming HBO show. Speaking with Axios, he explained that the original release was “a little ahead of its time in terms of its creative vision, [and] against the limitations of the technology at the time”. As such, the platform holder wanted to have a “definitive version”.
Referring to the television adaptation, starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, he said that it wasn’t the “sole reason, or maybe not even the main reason” for the remake. He added: “Obviously, if you can let that coincide, that’s the Holy Grail, right?” We imagine it’s not going to hurt, with interest in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt rocketing following the success of the Netflix show.
These are interesting comments from Hulst, though, and they appear to suggest Sony will consider other remakes for games it considers important in its catalogue – assuming they were in some way restricted by the technology of the time. To be fair, it’s nothing new: we’ve seen the company revisit releases like Shadow of the Colossus in the past – a title which also received a remaster and a remake, just like The Last of Us.
Is there any outing in PlayStation’s portfolio that you think it should remake? As always, share your suggestions in the comments section below.
[source axios.com]
Comments 88
One of my top 5 favorite games but I won’t be buying it for a 3rd time. However, for those who’ve yet to play it and this will be their first time. You’re in for a treat and a roller coaster of emotion! Can’t wait for the show!
Legend of Dragoon would be a dream come true and ICO should be remade awsome game.
Still hoping the gaming gods give us a full remake of Ico, but not holding my breath.
I've been lucky enough to borrow a copy of the last of us from a friend who paid full price. Its an understatement to say I'd be disappointed if I'd have spent £70 on it.
For me, experiencing the story, voice acting etc for the first time on ps3 was amazing. This brings nothing new apart from a lick of paint, even to the point where Ellie still runs out from cover into the path of enemies only to remain unseen.
To say this is the 'definitive' version and was held back by previous technology kind of makes a mockery of every game currently being released that is cross gen.
The remaster and remake of Shadow of the Colossus couldn't be played on the same system though, and the remake price at launch was less than the original, not more. It's not a great comparison. If TLOUP1 was $39.99 and the PS5 didn't have backwards compatibility, there would be a lot less people complaining about it's existence. I also don't remember the SOTC remake having an intentionally misleading marketing campaign.
@everynowandben All fair points for sure.
Hasn't been outright confirmed but the TW3 PS5/Series X versions are meant have 4K, 60 fps, Ray Tracing, improved textures, draw distances and character models plus some tie in content based on the show all for the price of nothing if you already own the game. Again CDPR have yet to 100% confirm all that but if its all true it just shows how much Sony were taking the p*ss with the £70 price.
Interesting statement.
Ever since Battlestar Galactica I've been a big fan of things that were ahead of their time getting another shot or even just a bit of polish.
PlayStation have a lot of titles in their catalogue that were ahead of their time. Why stop at Medievil, TLoU and Horizon?
Killzone and/or Resistance are what I'm dying to see next. I missed the first few games in those series and I'd love to play full on remakes of both.
The likes of PlayStation and Square Enix have massive back catalogues of beloved titles they could do this with for years alongside new games and franchises.
Does anyone know who owns the licence to Alundra?
It'd be great of they remade (and maybe even expanded) Uncharted: Golden Abyss. I'd buy that again for sure.
Or The Order 1886 is one that could use a thorough reimagining, but I'm pretty sure that one is dead forever.
Tbh, if they added even 30 minutes of new content to TLOUP1, I would have bought it for $70 day one because I'm an idiot for stuff like that.
The story telling, the voice acting, the writing is top notch in TLOU. I hadn't experienced that level of "realism" before in a videogame. In most videogames, especially back then, when characters are talking to each other, it feels kinda stiff and unnatural.
That's one of it's strongest suits imo, the graphics still look great, even on Ps3. While it does look significantly better now, also with it's facial animations etc. I don't feel a semi remake was necessary, but I guess it's cool. Would rather have seen a spin off in TLOU universe instead.
Shadow of the Colossus deserved the remake. Heck, Ratchet and Clank deserved the remake. They were games of a clearly passed era. TLOU did not. As others have said, it’s already available on the current platform. If TLOU had the $10 upgrade like Death Stranding or Ghost of Tsushima, I would’ve been supportive of Part 1, in fact. Hearing that HZD might be getting “remade” is frankly disappointing. I became a fan of PlayStation because it wasn’t afraid to be a little different and a little weird. PlayStation’s ecosystem used to feel brave, and that’s good for the brand. Even through PS4, the brand felt like it embraced risks although most of the games tended run similar in genre. I don’t want to see PS5 be the console where Sony sticks to the past. If Sony really does believe in generations, it’s not just hardware, but the software too!
I'm a little uncomfortable with people using backwards compatability to beat this game with. BC is a good thing, people saying they might have bought a remake if it wasn't there is awkward.
Lolololololololol…………………….okay……
@Shepherd_Tallon Exactly. I mean if we're going to talk about "ahead of its time" being a reason then goodness we have a whole lot of games that need remakes. GTASA, ZeldaOoT, RDR, don't even know where to start.
All these Naughty Dog remake games are not made for PS players, PC players are their main target.
$ony cares more about PC players than PS players now.
Story was emotionally draining, add the pandemic and it’s a game I’d rather not visit ever again. Really depressing story.
TLoU remake was awesome but I hope Sony doesn’t just start remaking everything because it’s cheaper than investing in new games and ‘easy money’ for them with minimal imagination or effort.
This console gen has been the least exciting gen ever, so far. It’s a good job we have games like Fortnite to keep us entertained lol
@Bunchesopuppies if you thought the first one was depressing good luck with part 2. I hope you don’t live in a high-rise 🤣
so is that a ps6 version confirmed? you know that will be a better console, with better games....
oh and it was made because they knew they could milk tlou fans again. simple as.
@Amusei yeah, I’ve just started playing Alan Wake Remastered - which was released a few years before TLoU - but the dialogue is hilarious (unintentionally I think).
TLoU dialogue still holds up today. It was a very mature game for its time. ND definitely raised the bar.
"ahead of its time?" wtf??
Give me a Mark of Kri remake man.
@thetraditional I'll second that. Alundra, Dragoon, Vagrant Story from SE. You'd have to think that all of those games are on the cards to come to the classics collection eventually. Would love to see it happen.
B-L-O-O-D-B-O-R-N-E
———Bluepoint remake!!!!
Hmmmmm I think something like Resident Evil 4 was ahead of its time. TLOU was more a very refined third person action game with deep story telling.
I’d rather play RE4 again to be honest. I disagree with games trying to be movies . I think games are more fun when they are ‘gamey’. But that’s just me.
Pr speak for a lot of ppl are annoyed with our full price remakes .....if only we'd have picked older games to remake to make ppl happy but last of us is a cash cow with the new TV series
Not sure about a remakes but of stuff they published, I would buy Folklore 2.
Game Republic people ended up at Tango... and they now over at Microsoft. Not a chance in hell.
God of War. I mean the original, I’d hate for someone at Sony to think GoW 2018 needs a remake.
Sounds like an excuse to me but oh well.
You can smell this BS from a mile away.
@Choppaz The fact there is a market for this shows that consumers seem to be preoccupied with graphics. I’d prefer quality of life upgrades or accessibility options over graphics any day.
SOCOM & Syphon Filter could do with some Naughty Dog like remakes or even new games.
Non Sony games I'd love a similar quality remake of:
Pull the other one If they thought it was ahead of it's time then why constrain the remake to what the PS3 was capable of & not design it around the ps5 while keeping the story the same lol
Removed - off-topic
Hermen, I appreciate what you have done for Sony so far but I can smell bs from a mile away lol
@WallyWest To be fair CDPR have some consumer confidence to gain back after CP2077.
I would like a Devil Dice/Bombastic remake pretty please
Like the others are saying this is BS, they only did this to milk us gamers again for the third time.
I still won't be buying this until it either hits $20 New or free with PS+, whichever happens first.
@Shepherd_Tallon I've been pining away for YEARS for remakes of the Resistance series as it's one of my all-time favorite series. Luckily I have all 3 still for my PS3 and recently played them but boy would those games be GREAT for remakes in current gen and especially if they included the MP portion too!
And I'm in the same boat with you on the Killzone series. I missed the first 3 of those and would LOVE to have those remade, MP and all so I could experience them for the first time ion PS5.
Definitely a lot of word salad from Herman here. TLOU1 wasn't held back by the technology it was on. It was an excellent game on PS3 and its still an excellent game to this day. Sure it's obviously prettier in its remade form, but it's not really that improved over what the Remaster already offered.
That's why I would rather have Playstation focus their remakes/remasters on games that aren't easily available on modern technology. Demons Souls made sense since it was stuck on PS3 and otherwise unplayable until the remake. Shadow of the Colossus made sense since it was only on PS2 or PS3 until the PS4 remake.
TLOU1 and Horizon were already easily available before these remakes and both already played great on PS4 and in Horizon's case already plays even better on PS5. Remaking them only makes business sense, not consumer sense.
The "ahead of its time" argument doesn't hold up because there's no experience you can have with TLOUP1 that you couldn't have had with TLOU on a PS3 in 2013. If "ahead of its time" just means that ideally the game would have had better graphics, then pretty much every game ever made is ahead of its time.
There's no way in which TLOUP1 is "definitive" and TLOU isn't. Both will look like complete ass in 20 years. The original was a full-budget AAA experience with no corners cut; you can't get more definitive than that.
@BritneyfR_ee I played Alan Wake remastered for the first time when it released for Ps5. I remember being bummed out as a kid that it was a Xbox exclusive and had such high expectations for it. And when I finally got to playing it, I was like 😐 it's not a bad game but damn it's rough, especially the combat wtf 😹 still looking forward a little too the second game. I hope they leave that whole flashlighting enemies behind, it got dull after about an hour.
I get the frustration with the necessity and the price of the remake, but I played Part 1 and Part 2 back to back and damn do these games flow together nicely now. Actually felt like one continuous game. What happened to Joel in Part 2 hit me that much harder as a result 🥺
One of the games i've always thought that was "ahead of its time" was the original deus ex. Yeah last 2 were pretty good but nowhere near as good or ground breaking as the first..that could do with a total remake (in my personal op.) The last of us has been a brilliant money spinner for sony and its plain to see that future consoles will also get a "definitive how it was really meant to be" version too..i know there are millions of people who love this series and i am not knocking them but i just didnt like it..the whole thing was just pretty boring and i just didnt feel a connect with the characters..
Unless they remake other games that have no TV shows coming out, this is complete BS right now. One could say that it is odd timing to have it drop many months ahead of the show's eventual release on HBO Max, but the first real trailer for the show dropped just weeks after the game did.
Obviously I can't know without a shadow of a doubt that he's lying, but given that their marketing for the game was extremely misleading and that they've done plenty of questionable things this generation, I find it hard to take them at their word right now. Who's to say that this isn't just them spinning things just like they did with the marketing for the remake? Especially since he chooses to say the original release was ahead of it's time. No, it wasn't. It wouldn't have been considered maybe the best game of the console generation and be a huge success if it truly was ahead of it's time.
@thetraditional @Shepherd_Tallon According to Wiki,Matrix Software have been quite active both on mobile & console with various Japanese publishers since Alundra.
According to Alundra's wiki,it was published by Sony in Japan,Working Design in the U.S. & Psygnosis (Obv.,owned by Sony by then), in the EU. Would love to see it on PS Deluxe's PS Classics range,though given it got delisted off the PS3's EU PSN Store presumably the old publishing deal must've lapsed!😑
Since Mr Hulst is all for games ahead of their time getting remakes,I look forward to his Colony Wars remake announcement!🙄😂
Agreed,there's a bucket load of old PS1/PS2 Classics that should be at least released on the classics label but unfortunately they seem unwilling to pour resources into it under current management.
People need to start recognising that companies will not only continue practices, but also double down on them if they receive enough money for them. Microtransactions and NFTs, as a couple of examples, are only extant because people spend money on them. If a large enough number buy these remasters, they'll probably start doing the same every five years, every two years, maybe annually.
Remasters should be reserved for games that need it, real classics. Burnout 3 and SH2 would be my personal choices.
Understand people's perspective, from my side though:
Swapped PS for XB at 360/PS3 gen (I know), so never played TLOU before completing it last night. Paid full price, but will trade it back in for a net loss of £16.
Would I have enjoyed it in its original or remastered formats? Definitely.
Am I happy ND gave me a version that holds up visually to some of the other ps5 games I play? Definitely.
Uncharted series
They should consider remaking Horizon tbh. That's screaming out for a remake!
Everyone saying this game shouldn't been made because the PS5 is backwards compatible is sending a wrong message. You're just saying to the companies don't make your consoles BC so you can just port every game you released on the previous console. Just like Nintendo does right now, easy ports of every big Wii U game to fill the gaps with the excuse you can't play it on switch and nobody played it on the Wii U. There should be a just reason to release it again, extra content or a really big graphical upgrade. I bought the last of us because it's my favourite game, is it worth 70, for me it was in between. I do think these games should not be more then 40 if there is no extra content. They should focus on ps one and PS2 games. The PS3 and PS4 still look good as they are. There are so many great games made in the '90s and early '00s that could really use a upgrade. Gameplay and graphically.
@WallyWest They better hurry up on that we got God of war bearing down on us.
I get that but they still overpriced it and should've done more remaking for the remake label and price.
Still a huge fan, so of course, I bought this and thoroughly enjoyed getting the platinum.
Of course it wasn't the main reason. A TV tie-in is a means to an end, the main reason is always money.
@somnambulance Ratchet and Clank 2016 is how you do a remake and they didn't even really highlight that! Loved that version!
They really should be putting all these wasted resources into porting over everything that's stranded on the ps3 and concentrate on the good stuff that isn't playable on modern hardware. But as we know, corporations like money and that's the only language they understand.
Even though I think the last of us is an epic and legendary game, I dont think it was anywhere near "ahead of its time" it is at its core a bog standard third person action adventure game with a good story.
The game didn't do anything gameplay wise that other games hadn't done before, get from point A to point B.
What actually is ahead of its time? Which couldn't be fully realised with the tech?
The remake remake is basically a graphical overall, and that's it really, nothing from what I have played of the new version is really that much different, gameplay wise or even AI isn't mindblowingly different, so how technology 1 gen up from its other remake, the game actually scored worse than the original. I just dont see it.
Games like shenmue were ahead of its time when it was made, there was nothing like it, a dense open world with its actual day night cycle, shops and bars closed at certain times, you could knock on every door and something would happen even if it was small and with a dedicated fighting game built within it, all this hadn't been done before on that scale and hasn't truly been replicated since.
We all know the only reason to make another was to go with the TV series why even try and deflect that. I'd actually rather him say that this version they have made is for hardcore fans and new comers. Not this rubbish. Rant over hahaha
lol sure Sony "ahead of it's time". You can only say that if it didn't meet sales expectations which it did. Get a better PR team for your money grabbing excuses.
I fear that games are now going the route of comics and movies. This is why DC and Marvel suck now constantly restarting their stories to seem relevant. Japan is a much smaller country and yet they have boundless creativity with their stories. Maybe the West should look into why they are stagnating as opposed to rehashing and retelling just to keep the funds coming in.
MGS was ahead of its time. MGS3 was ahead of its time and still shows up modern games from a gameplay perspective.
TLOU was a good / great game but ahead of its time...what was revolutionary about it?
@MattBoothDev Exactly. Both Ratchet and Clank and Shadow of the Colossus are examples of how to make an excellent remake that modernizes an old game and makes it available to a new audience. Dark Souls is another sterling example as well. These remakes showed off what was so great about the older titles, but also specifically improved them to the point where they feel like new experiences. The point is that Sony seemed to know what they were doing with remaking their IPs until Part 1, which was totally unnecessary. Even if it’s the best way to enjoy the first TLOU, it’s not a remake in the same vein as the other remakes in that it truly is mostly a high gloss paint over the base game. I expect Part 1 to get paired with PS5 at some point in the future to beef up its sales.
Just PR speak... I think Sony viewed it as a safe investment, that is all.
Bloodborne. That is all I have to say.
The resistance trilogy and mgs4 being trapped on ps3 stinks but I highly doubt either would happen
@WallyWest yeah cause cdpr are the gamers friend yeah?
Its like people want to forget what they did to everyone.
I can't be the only one that thinks The Getaway needs a remake.
@Thelegend159 I'd say the approach to storytelling and motion capture, personally. They'd done a lot with Uncharted but I think they broke some seals with TLOU.
Still glad I'm not a fan of this series or I would be disgusted with this BS. Even more glad I have never given these guys my money, at least in respect to The Lsst of Us.
I'm not buying it. MAG is a game that was ahead of time. Nowdays we have games with big player counts, massive maps and have cross-play. If anything should have a remake for being ahead of time then that would be one of them.
@get2sammyb In the leaked document, it stated Horizon remaster, not a remake.
@Titntin At least they offer free worthwhile upgrades. Anyway you haven't countered my point you just moved the goalpost.
@elvisfan1 you're not the only one, still dream of that PS3 tech demo
@PC_Peasant
Yepp they do, about time they gave us some love.
Ahead of its time ahahahahahahahahah
Wait, he's serious?
Tell me one thing that doesn't make it exactly a product of its time, from the zombies to the gameplay to everything in between.
@WallyWest
I never intended to counter, but to remind you and anyone else reading that in terms of basic honesty and letting players know what they get, there is no worse developer after the cyber punk shenanigan's.
Cheer leading for them is something I find distasteful, but you shake that pom pom if you want.
If they spend the next decade being properly supportive of their customers and fans and producing free updates to make up for the horrible game they launched, then they could turn it around rather like Hello games have done after letting people down. However, they have only just got CP into the state it should have launched at (ie playable), so they are still very much in negative equity as far as I'm concerned no matter how many promises they make (they broke a lot of promises too...)
Hey Sony, if you see so much backlash for this remake the least you can do is SHUT UP ABOUT IT!
@Titntin Yeah i don't really care about Cyberpunk in this topic as it has zero bearing. Reports are saying TW3 for "current gen" will have those features, it hasn't been confirmed by CDPR themselves but their wording does imply at most of it is true. They are offering all for that free, Sony meanwhile charges full price or near full price for their remasters.
@Korgon??? There's no business without consumers. We buy these games time and time again. So Sony makes them time and time again. Its a simple never ending cycle. For every hater there's a consumer swilling to splash the cash.
The remaster of Colossus was decent and had a very good 3D mode. Looked great when on top of a shrine. The remake was a huge leap though. PS2 to PS4 is a bigger graphical leap than PS3 to PS5. Considering the draw distance and LOD (level of detail) of an open world game back then.
I remember when the initial leak about its existence from Jason Schrier came up it seemed like a big part of it was employee retention at Naughty Dog. Part of the team were working on the multiplayer TLOU game, the next single player project was/is in the planning phase, so they had to have something for the rest of their team to work on or risk highly talented people leaving or having to let them go. I think it was initially being developed somewhere else as a PC port, but they moved it to Naughty Dog proper to give them something to do.
Still, it should have been £35 tops.
@NEOTDS
What I was trying to say is from a business perspective I get why Sony would do remakes like this. Choose the game that already has a captive audience and remake it to sell it again for more money while also possibly getting some new fans who never played the older versions. Business sense.
From a consumer perspective (or my perspective at least) however it makes much less sense. I already played these games and am still able to easily play them today. If Playstation is determined to remake/remaster older titles then I would prefer they prioritize games that are less easily available than a game that came out only 5 years ago. This team at Guerilla could have worked on a Killzone collection for example. 1,2, and 3 are not available on modern hardware in any way. Horizon is widely available already. No sense consumer wise.
Sorry if my original message didn't get that point across.
Sony is pathetic now
If you dont like Sony or their games, the door is there... Use the b*****d!
@WallyWest If we are discussing the credibility of cdpr, cybrrpunk is incredibly relevant.
At this point, promised features for these updates to tw3 are still rumour, so we need to wait to see what gets offered and when. Ill be as happy as anyone to see them and im looking forward to jumping in again once we have them.
If they provide significant update for free, that will indeed be good, but we dont even have a feature promise yet, sonit could still be a mere 60fps res boost patch.
Whilst the tlou remake was arguabbly priced too high, it went far beyond a simple patch, so trying to equate an undelivered rumoured patch with a full game remake seems a little disingenuous to me.
It will be nice to see what they finally deliver, but this gen is two years old now, it should have been out ages ago! Its a testament to the quality of the original title that we all still want it though.
Im hoping they deliver!
@Titntin We're not discussing credibility or Cyberpunk so again it has zero bearing. TW3 is meant to offer a lot for nothing, its not a patch its a proper version PS5 version like Cyberpunk was and TLoUP1.
@WallyWest
When you talk about unconfirmed and unreleased updates to a very old game to suggest Sony are evil for charging for a complete remake, of course the credibility of the company is in question?
With no details or published roadmap of what's to come , how does anyone believe anything is coming at all?
Simple, they look at the company and decide if their promises are credible or just hot air. CDPR has taken a hit to their credibility that quite obviously affects what people expect from their promises. To suggest it has no bearing is completely illogical.
Edit. If you were to have said' if CDPR deliver on what we think we might get for tw3 on PS5, then that would show up Sony in a bad light' I'd simply agree.
But right now you are comparing a rumour with a published product.
It'll only be "definitive" until the next generation rolls around, where it'll be re-released again, this time featuring even shinier puddles.
@Titntin I never said what TW3 is meant to offer is set in stone, i said from the off it was based on reports and that CDPR has yet to 100% confirm it. The only confirmed stuff is native PS5 and Series versions and tie in content for the show however the its been reported they have redone textures, character models and improved draw distances, 4K and 60fps is just standard at this point so clearly that will be there. Considering its taking 2 years to do i think its clear its more then just 4K and 60fps
@WallyWest Your still guessing mate, so its hard to accept your original point that it means anything. But I have to say, im hoping you are correct and they have gone over and above a simple patch, especially since its taken so long.
I assume your a fan of tw3, and I am too, love that game, so we are not too far apart. I just dont hate Sony for making and selling games that lots of people want is all! 😂
Thank you for reasonable discussion which didnt get too negative, I genuinely appreciate that.
@Titntin Yeah you too.
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