For those not in the know, demakes are 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:games that have been remade, but in such a way that they could run on gaming hardware from a bygone era. From Bloodborne to Furi to Final Fantasy 7, we've seen demakes made by fans and developers alike. What makes demakes so fascinating is how these titles capture the spirit of mod꧅ern games while simultaneously distilling them down into a retro form factor.

Related
168澳洲幸运5开奖网: The Best Game Demakes

Disco Elysium for a Gameboy and ꧟Portal for an Atari 2600 are just two of the amazing demakes that you'll want to play.

While every demake is neat, I'd say that it is pretty rare that they are flat-out better than the original game. Which makes sense, as a PS1 version of Bloodborne isn't likely to hit as hard. However, I think there are some games that wo✨uld benefit greatly from a demake. Games that would be better off being simplified, or, at the very least, would benefit from a retro aesthetic.

8 Bla𝔍ck Myth: Wukong

Stop Monkeying Around In Large 3D Spaces

Standing in front of a Ginsengling minion in Black Myth Wukong.
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168澳洲幸运5开奖网: Black Myth: Wukong
4.0/5
8.4/10
Released
August 20, 2024

WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL

Black Myth: Wukong is an action RPG rooted in Chinese mythology and based on Journey to the West, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.

You shall set out as the Destined One to venture into the challenges and marvels ahead, to uncover the obscured truth beneath the veil of a glorious legend from the past.

As the Destined One, you shall encounter powerful foes and worthy rivals throughout your journey. Fearlessly engage them in epic battles where surrender is not an option.

Aside from mastering various staff techniques, you can also freely combine different spells, abilit💟ies, weapons, and equipment🐷 to find the winning strategy that best suits your combat style. 

ESRB
M For Mature 17+ // Blood, Viol🎃ence
Developer(s)
💛 Game Science
Publisher(s)
Game Science ꦓ
Engine
Unreal Engine 5 🍬
Steam Deck Compatibility
Unknown
OpenCritic Rating
Strong
How Long To Beat
39 hours
PS Plus Availability
N/A
Wiki

Black Myth: Wukong is a game that does a few things very well: it features a number of novel abilities, and it is stuffed with exciting boss battles that tend to require the player to utilize parry-like counterattacks. Unfortunately, the game falls supremely short in its level design. The stages take a metroidvania-esque approach to progression, but are overly large and largely uninteresting. I just don𝐆't want to spend my time haphazardly stumbling around a dꩲessert or a frozen lake.

Do you know what game was released around the same time? Nine Sols. A 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:2D, metroidvania, soulslike that featured parry-centric combat and was packed with incredible boss battles. Front to back, it is a brilliant experience. You see where I am going with this, right? Wukong would benefit greatly from the demake process. A simplified Wukong would almost certainly feature less faffing about in large, uneventful biomes, allowing players to get straight to the boss-fighting goodness. If Wukong took a page out of Nine Sols' book, the end result could be 🐲glorious.

7 Starfield

Simplicity Is Elegance

Starfield Creation Club Mods
mixcollage-08-dec-2024-02-24-pm-6140.jpg
168澳洲幸运5开奖网: Starfield
4.0/5
8.5/10
Released
September 6, 2023

WHERE TO PLAY

SUBSCRIPTION
DIGITAL
PHYSICAL

Sta♎rfield is the first new IP from Bethesda in a quarter of a century, launched for the next-gen Xbox Series X|S and PC. Taking place outside our own Solar System, you play a member of the Constellation, a collective of explorers set on discovering new worlds.  

ESRB
M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, S🐎uggestive Themes, Use of Drugs, Strong Language, Violence
Developer(s)
Bethesda
Publisher(s)
Bethesda
Engine
proprietary eꦑngine
Cross-Platform Play
✤ no multiplayer
Cross Save
no
Steam Deck Compatibility
yes
OpenCritic Rating
Mighty
How Long To Beat
20 Hours
X|S Optimized
Yes
File Size Xbox Series
101 GB (September 2023) 🍌
Wiki

Metascore
86

A game with a grand scope and scale is always going to be impressive. However, while the id🍎ea of limitless possibilities and endless new experiences sounds incredible, thജe end result often ends up lacking that feeling of intentionality that makes a well-designed game so appealing. That's most certainly an issue Starfield suffers from.

A good demake takes the premise of a game and reinterprets it. I think if you look at a game like Star Control 2, you could get a pretty solid idea for how Starfield could be distilled down into a simpler, more constrained experience, that would almost certainly lead to a game that is more fun to play. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Sometimes less is more.

6 🦄 Life Is Strange 🍨

A Game That Would Benefit From A Change In Perspective

A screenshot of Life is Strange, in which Chloe lockpicks her way into the principal's office while Max watches.
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168澳洲幸运5开奖网: Life is Strange
8.0/10
Released
January 30, 2015

WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL

DON'TNOD Entertainment, Feral Interactive, and Square Enix bring you a story rich game about a young woman's life where player chocies matter and determine how the story goes. An indie hit, the game also features a defining soundtrack that sets the atmosphere for the story.

Life is Strange is an award-winning and critically acclaimed episodic adventure game that allows the player to rewind time and affect the past, present and future. Critics describe it as Twin Peaks meets Heavy Rain or Gone Home meets The Walking Dead but with time travel.

Follow the story of Max Caulfield, a photography senior who discovers she can rewind time while saving her best friend Chloe Price.
The pair soon find themselves investigating the mysterious disappea🧸rance of fellow student Rachel Amber, uncovering a dark side to life in Arcadia Bay. Meanwhile, Max must quickly learn that 🐽changing the past can sometimes lead to a devastating future.

ESRB
M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol 😼
Developer(s)
Dontnod Entertainment 🅷
Engine
unreal engine 3, unreal𒅌 engine 4 ⛎
OpenCritic Rating
Strong
How Long To Beat
15 Hours
PS Plus Availability
🥃 Extra & Premium 🦩

Life Is Strange is a game with a strong fanbase that hella loves its characters and world. More than anything, it is a title driven by its script, not its gameplay. It is basically a modern take on the adventure game genre. I can't shake the feeling that the transition to 2D would benefit i𒈔t greatly.

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168澳洲幸运5开奖网: 12 Best Adventure Games On Stꦇeam

Ready for your next adventure?

Life Is Strange is not at its best when you are spinning the camera around, looking for the object the game wants🧜 you to interact with. The forced perspective used in classic adventure titles woulꦬd help declutter the experience, so that people could get back to ruining Max's life by forcing her to make terrible decisions. As god intended.

5 𝓰 🀅 Pokemon Sword And Shield

Returning To The Time When Pokemon Strived To Be The Greatest There Ever Was

 Scorbunny jumps and pounds fists with Pokemon Trainer Gloria in Pokemon Sword & Shield.
pokemon-sword-and-shield-cover-art.jpg
168澳洲幸运5开奖网: Pokemon Sword and Shield
4.0/5
5.5/10
Released
November 15, 2019

WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
PHYSICAL

Taking budding trainers to the UK-influenced region ൲of Galar, Pokemon Sword & Shield adds 81 new Pokemon, Dynamax and Gigantamax transformations, co-op Max Raid battles, and the open-world Wild Area.

ESRB
ꦕ E for Everyone: Comic Mischief, Mild Cartoon Violence
Publisher(s)
Nintendo
Engine
Unity
Multiplayer
ܫ Online Multiplayer
Cross-Platform Play
no
Cross Save
no
Franchise
Pokemon
Steam Deck Compatibility
no
Platform(s)
Switch
OpenCritic Rating
Strong
How Long To Beat
26 Hours
X|S Optimized
no
Metascore
80

Look, it isn't a secret that the most recent generations of Pokemon have been somewhat disappointing. However, while the 9th generation has a number of detractors, the 8th generation's Sword and Shield entries are particularly scorned. Maybe it is time for Nintendo to admit what is so obviously true: 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Pokemon ꧒works ꧑better as a sprite-based, 2D game.

I get it, Game Freak is notoriously stubborn, but just look at Sword and Shield, those are some ugly games. Meanwhile, the first five generations a🐎re all straight-up gorgeous. Game Freak isn't willing to invest the time and money necessary to make a modern Pokemon game that maintains the same standards we saw in the first five generations, so why not just go back to what worked? As an added bonus, by starting with a demake of Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield,ꦏ they can right a past wrong in the process of chasing greatness once again.

4 ⛦ Doom: The Dar൩k Ages

Ripping And Tearing In Two Dimensions

Secrets In Doom: The Dark Ages
doom-the-dark-ages-cover-art.jpg
168澳洲幸运5开奖网: DOOM: The Dark Ages
3.5/5
8.6/10
Released
May 15, 2025

WHERE TO PLAY

SUBSCRIPTION
DIGITAL

DOOM: The Dark Ages is the prequel to the critically acclaimed DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal that tells an epic cinematic story worthy of the DOOM Slayer’s legend. In this third installment of the modern DOOM series, players will step into the blood-stained boots of the DOOM Slayer, in this never-before-seen dark and sinister medieval war against Hell.

DOOM: The Dark Ages is a dark fantasy/sci-fi single-player experience that delivers the searing combat and over-the-top visuals of the incomparable DOOM franchise, powered by the latest idTech engine.

REIGN IN HELL - As the super weapon of gods and kings, shred enemies with devastating favorites like the Super Shotgun while also wielding a variety of new bone-chewing weapons, including the versatile Shield Saw. Players will stand and fight on the demon-infested battlefields in the vicious, grounded combat the original DOOM is famous for.

STAND AND FIGHT - Experience an epic story of the DOOM Slayer’s rage in this cinematic and action-packed story. Bound to serve as the super weapon of gods and kings, the DOOM Slayer fends off demon hordes as their leader seeks to destroy the Slayer and become the only one that is feared. Witness the creation of a legend as the Slayer takes on all of Hell and turns the tide of the war.

DISCOVER UNKNOWN REALMS - In his quest to crush the legions of Hell, the Slayer must take the fight to never-before-seen realms. Mystery, challenges, and rewards lurk in every shadow of ruined castles, epic battlefields, dark forests, ancient hellscapes, and worlds beyond. Armed with the viciously powerful Shield Saw, cut through a dark world of menace and secrets in id's largest and most expansive levels to date.

ESRB
ꦯ M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence ไ
Publisher(s)
Bethesda Sജoftworks 🌟
Engine
id Tech
Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer 😼 🅠
Franchise
DOOM
PC Release Date
May 15, 2025 💛
Xbox Series X|S Release Date
May 15, 2025 ﷽
PS5 Release Date
May 1🎃5, 2025
OpenCritic Rating
Mighty
How Long To Beat
15 Hours

Doom: The Dark Ages is a solid FPS. In a world where the other modern Doom games didn't exist, I'd probably say it is an excellent game. But they do exist, and it feels hard to deny t♕hat The Dark Ages doesn't feel a little watered down in comparison. The difficulty has been reduced greatly, and the encounter design feels less deliberate and well-thought-out. It feels like Doom: The Dark Ages focu♒ses more on spectacle than on providing tense, visceral, heart-pumping action. The solution feels obvious: it's time to go back to basics.

A demake of The Dark Ages could deliver some of the raw visceral impact of classic Doom, help the game recapture its difficulty balance, and revisit someﷺ of the Doom level design principles of yesteryear. Before things completely go off the rails, Doom should rediscover its roots, and what better way to do that than with a demake of the most troubled game in the modern era🍰?

3 💦 Castlevania: Legacy Of Darkness

Correcting The Mistakes Of The Past

A closeup of Cornell from Castlevania Legacy of Darkness taken from a Japanese advertisement.
mixcollage-15-dec-2024-12-26-pm-2999.jpg
Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness
Platformer
Action-Adventure
Survival Horror
Systems
Released
December 8, 1999

WHERE TO PLAY

PHYSICAL
ESRB
🦂 T For Teen // Animated Blood, Animated Violence
Developer(s)
Konami Computer Entertainment Japan, Konami
Publisher(s)
Konami
Engine
unreal
How Long To Beat
7 hours

Oka꧑y, I am pushing the definition of "popular" here, but I like the idea of this demake so much that I'm looking to get away with one.

Ca🎃stlevania: Legacy Of Darkness is a very cool game. Not only does it star a werewolf, which is always a plus, it also features an enticing, gothic world filled with some pretty cool boss encounters. However, while Legacy of Darkness feels better to control than its clunky predecessor, try as they might, Konami was never able to fully wrangle that camera. Despite finding Legacy of Darkness to be a very compelling package, and thinking that it was a noble attempt at transitioning the Castlevania formula to 3D,🎐 it just never worked as well as you'd want it to.

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168澳洲幸运5开奖网: ꦫ How Many Castlevania Games Are Ther🥀e?

Ever w💦ondered𒊎 just how many Castlevania games there are? Well, wonder no more.

But do you know what would fix the camera control issues and clunky controls? Flattening everything and putting it in a form factor that simply makes sense. There is no doubt in my mind that a 2D vers🤡ion of Legacy of Darkness has the potential to be an all-timer. It is time to accept that Castlevania just doesn't work in 3D, and, in the process, give the best attempt a new lease on life. It deserved better than to languish in its crude 3🥃D form.

2 ♛ 💝 Street Fighter 6

Here Comes An Old Challenger

Chun-Li and Ryu spar with stylized auras in Street Fighter 6.
mixcollage-07-dec-2024-07-41-am-4307.jpg
168澳洲幸运5开奖网: Street Fighter 6
5.0/5
10.0/10
Released
June 2, 2023

WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
PHYSICAL

Street Fighter 6 continues the long-running fighting game series from Capcom. It adds World Tour and Batt🔥le Hub modes, and also includes the option to switch to a more accessible control scheme.

ESRB
♋ T For Teen Due To Mild Blood, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence ꧅
Developer(s)
Capcom
Publisher(s)
Capcom
Engine
RE Engine
Multiplayer
🌜 🍰 Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer
Cross-Platform Play
🎃 PC, PS4, PS5, & Xbox Series X|S
PC Release Date
ꦅ June 2, 2023
Xbox Series X|S Release Date
𝓡 June 2, 2023
PS5 Release Date
June﷽ 2, 2023
Nintendo Switch 2 Release Date
June 5, 2025 ♚
OpenCritic Rating
Mighty
PS Plus Availability
N/A
Metascore
92
Platforms That Support Crossplay
PC, PS4, PS5, & Xbox Series X|S ꦯ

A lot of the picks on this list are, to some degree, criticisms of these games. However, if you look at 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:my 2023 GOTY list, you'll see that I think very highly of Street Fighter 6. Two years in, I'm still enjoying it greatly. I ⭕have well over a thousand hours played. However, while I think Street Fighter 6 is super rad, and I think it looks great, it still doesn't look as good as Street Fighter 3: Third Strike.

A quarter of a century later, using all the latest technology, Capcom still hasn't been able to top it, and when I look at Third Strike, I can't help but feel that sense of longing. Do I want to see what Marisa, Kimberly, Aki, and Manon look like in sprite൲-force? You're damn right I do. In some ways, this is a less interesting demake, as it would largely be an aesthetic change. But what an aesthetic change it would be. The heart wants what the heart wants, and I won't apologize for that.

1 Fallout 3

I Do Want To Set This World On Fire

The Vault Dweller walking towards a ruined bridge in Fallout 3.
mixcollage-06-dec-2024-09-48-pm-8939.jpg
168澳洲幸运5开奖网: Fallout 3
Action RPG
Systems
Released
October 28, 2008

WHERE TO PLAY

SUBSCRIPTION
DIGITAL
PHYSICAL

Fallout 3 takes place in a ruined area around Washington D.C. two hundred years after the Great War. In a game met with critical ac๊claim, you must traverse this wasteland looking for your father, while solving the mystery of his🃏 disappearance.

ESRB
M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drug🧸s
Developer(s)
⭕ 𝕴 Bethesda Game Studios
Publisher(s)
🅰 Bethesda Softworks
Engine
Gamebryo
Franchise
Fallout
Platform(s)
PS3, Xbox 360, PC
How Long To Beat
23 Hours
PS Plus Availability
Premium
Metascore
93

The first two Fallout games are absolute classics. However, back when Fallout 3 was being developed, the top-down CRPG genre was largely seen as being unprofitable. Well, we now live in the era of Baldur's Gate 3 having set the world on fire, so there has never been a better time to take the series back to its roots. And a 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Fallout 3 demake would be a brilliant toe dip.

For starters, the base game still has a lot of charm, but 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:it💎s visual style ಞhas not aged gracefully. Additionally, replacing the clunky gunplay with the original duology's take on turn-based combat would be a fantastic upgrade. And the issues with the main campaign🀅's writing? Well, Microsoft owns most of the st💛udios that were formed from the bones of Interplay Entertainment, so they could even have some of the original creators help shepherd this demake.

However, even without doing a once-over on the script, shifting Fallout 3 to the timeless aesthetic of the original games, and adding turn-based combat back in would be glorious. This is the demake that needs to happen!

Next
168澳洲幸运5开奖网: 10 Best Non-Pixel 2D Games

2D games don't have to pixel art to look great.