Hello again! I’m back again with another grouping of titles I wish would get the remaster transport to this generation of consoles.
I know, I know… folks say remasters are lazy cash-ins by companies but I see them as a potential resurgence, especially for those hard to acquire games. I no longer have an Xbox or Gamecube and I never had a Dreamcast, so there are some games that are just out of my reach for the time being.
With remastered titles, these long lost games can be replayed or experienced for the first time. I believe remasters belong in the video game industry to keep titles from fading away into obscurity; unless the game is absolutely horrible and deserves to be lost to the void.
Keeping the same theme as my last contribution to this topic, the five games listed below are games I personally want to come to any console or handheld of this generation. Without further delay ladies and gentlemen, part two of the Fanatical Five (er, 10) remasters lineup.
Yakuza 1 & 2
After being converted to becoming a Yakuza fan after Yakuza 4, I noticed right away that Yakuza 1 & 2 never made the leap over to the PlayStation 3 console. However, in Japan, both can be bought as a PlayStation 3 remaster collection. This collection exists, but never made its way over to the states, leaving us with the only options of importing or hunting for a PlayStation 2 copy.
Currently, both Yakuza 1 and Yakuza 2 can be brought individually for about $30 a piece (depending on the store). This comes out to $60+, equaling a full retail priced game. Now, for those of who don’t mind waiting on a long shipping process, both games can be purchased as the Japanese exclusive PlayStation 3 remaster collection called Ryu ga Gotoku 1 & 2 HD Edition. The collection only costs $34 through Amazon but the game wouldn’t arrive until a month or so after purchasing.
I want to experience the Yakuza story line from the beginning since I’m currently invested in the lives of Kiryu and company. The Yakuza games have so much to do and when I’m not busting heads with outrageous combo moves, I spend some time at the hostess clubs, arcades, street racing and much more. These games always have a ridiculous amount of content to provide.
If I must, I would order the Japanese collection since that’s currently the best way to proceed in terms of pricing and current console set up. For selfish reasons, I wouldn’t mind the entire Yakuza series and Yakuza: Dead Souls being brought to current gen. The likelihood of this happening sits around the possibility of not happening ever. If we ever did get Yakuza 1 & 2 remastered for the states, I’d consider that a lucky home run.
Skies of Arcadia
Talk about a game where you either have it or you don’t. Skies of Arcadia originally came out on the Dreamcast and then the GameCube a few years later. After those two releases, this game never saw the light of day again besides the occasional cameos in Valkyria Chronicles and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed.
Known as a Dreamcast cult classic, myself and a niche portion of the gaming community would greatly appreciate if Skies of Arcadia were to release again. I remember seeing an magazine ad inside either Game Informer or EGM for this RPG and going “I totally want to play this game!” Of course, I never did because I never owned a Dreamcast and didn’t even know the game was re-released for GameCube until a year ago.
As a fan of JRPGs, it bums me out that I’ve never gotten to experience Skies of Arcadia. Looking through old gameplay videos, it’s quite easy to notice the visuals have not withstood the test of time so well. A remaster would serve Skies of Arcadia greatly because not only would the visuals improve from such a project, but this third shot at life allows players to either revisit or take to the skies for the first time. At the very least give it a chance, it’s been 13 years since the game’s last release.
Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core
If a genie appeared before right now and asked me which PlayStation Portable title I’d wish to see on Vita and/or consoles, Crisis Core would be my immediate answer. Why? Because not only did I greatly enjoyed playing the game throughout my years in high school but also for my OCD with playing games in chronological order.
It’s been years since I played Crisis Core and like the fool that I am, I traded in my PlayStation Portable and library for some bizarre reason. I’ve kicked myself for my foolish decision every time it’s brought up. The action RPG gameplay really drew me towards Crisis Core after having played Kingdom Hearts 2 a few years before this game got released. I loved the idea of playing an RPG game where characters could move in real time, as opposed to turn based.
Not to mention, Final Fantasy VII is still my favorite Final Fantasy title within the franchise and any excuse to revisit Midgar with an okay reason for me. Seriously, I’m even open to the idea of replaying Dirge of Cerberus all over again. With Final Fantasy VII being remade for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, I think the atmosphere is right for Crisis Core to finally come back.
Shenmue/Shenmue 2
Shenmue fans have been begging for a sequel since Shenmue II released on the Dreamcast and Xbox many years ago. The Shenmue story promised to span across four games as a “revenge epic in the tradition of Chinese cinema.”
It only took 12 years or so for fans to finally get what they so desired: the long-awaited Shenmue III! Shenmue’s director, Yu Suzuki, announced a Kickstarter fund for the project and it was quickly funded within minutes. The reason why I want a Shenmue remastered collection boils down to me wanting to experience the story firsthand, as it leads up to whatever plot Shenmue III conveys.
As someone who never owned a Dreamcast growing up, Shenmue wasn’t freely available to me. The Dreamcast version of Shenumue II initially launched only in the Japan and European regions. A year later, the Xbox port of Shenmue II released in North America and Europe. This port did include the original Shenmue but only as a cinematic experience and not a playable game.
Despite the Shenmue series attracting such a large cult following, both games failed to recoup the development cost, which caused the series to be considered a commercial failure. This sent the third sequel in developmental limbo. Regardless of the commercial failure, the series managed to landed on multiple “greatest games of all time” lists, including publications like IGN, Den of Geek and more.
.Hack Series
Over the years, I’ve experienced many games come from many different developing studios. As such, I have a few favorites among developers and I consider CyberConnect2 as one of them. This team handled the Ultimate Ninja Storm series and one of my absolute favorites, Asura’s Wrath. It recently came to my attention that CyberConnect2 also developed titles for the .Hack series. I never had the chance to get ahold of any .Hack games but I’ve always wanted to play them as a kid.
The studio developed eight .Hack games, all of which released worldwide except for .Hack:Fragment—this one is a Japanese exclusive. As a action JRPG fan, I would love a chance to play through these games. A good friend of mine speaks highly of the .Hack series and as I’ve said before, CyberConnect2 is among my top favorite developing studios.
And there we have it again folks! While the possibility of these games getting re-released hovers around a 10 percent chance, I think a few of them could be justified. Yakuza, Crisis Core and Shenmue all have new content launching in the future. A great way to bring about new fans would be to let them experience the predecessors once given the HD makeover. Who knows… maybe one of these games might be brought to this day and age. I’ll certainly keep my fingers crossed.
