Nominees for Destructoid’s Best Remake/Remaster of 2023

destructoid.com:

Nostalgia is a hell of a drug. We hold the games we played in our younger years dear to our hearts, which the gaming industry can often exploit for a quick buck. Fortunately, we saw some truly incredible remakes in 2023 that actually do justice to their source material.

The distinction between a “remake” and “remaster” became especially blurred in 2023. In some cases, we saw some really comprehensive remakes. These titles reimagined the games they’re based on from the ground up, adding so much new stuff that even longtime fans had no idea what to expect. Conversely, we saw some remakes that felt more like very pretty remasters. These were games that worked overtime to feel as much like the original titles as possible, often focusing on visuals and music over sweeping gameplay changes.

And, of course, we saw many games that sat somewhere between those two extremes. Which approach should a remake take? Who knows! It’s all subjective, at the end of the day. But for better or for worse, we’re here to see which one takes the top slot in Destructoid’s own popularity contest, so let’s see the nominees.

Kicking off our list is the big one of 2023: Resident Evil 4. Leon “SmallSoda” Kennedy’s tale of survival and horror has seen rerelease after rerelease after rerelease since its original launch in 2005. Even I found myself asking “is this remake even necessary?” with how well the original title holds up. But, once I played the game myself, I became a believer. While I’ll always adore the camp of the original title, Capcom’s new take on Resident Evil 4 put a lot on the table for both veterans and newcomers to dig into. It might not do much for you if you didn’t love the original, but Resident Evil 4’s mix of fresh and familiar