Much To Players’ Disappointment, New Rumors Suggest Sony Remastering ‘Horizon Zero Dawn’ And ‘Days Gone’
It looks like Horizon Zero Dawn and Days Gone are the next pair of titles set to receive the remaster treatment from Sony Interactive Entertainment.
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The existence of the former remaster was seemingly confirmed after it was recently given an official ESRB rating.
According to the rating, Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered will be headed to both the PlayStation 5 and PC platforms, though at current it has yet to receive an official release date (and confirmation, at that).
However, Sony’s decision has sparked backlash online with fans, as many believe that the game is too young to warrant a remaster.
Horizon Zero Dawn was a massive success upon its release in 2017. It earned widespread acclaim for its story, visuals, and gameplay. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where nature has reclaimed the Earth and robotic creatures roam free, players are put into the role of Aloy, a skilled hunter whose existence may be the key to connecting the planet’s past, present, and future.
The game was a standout in the open-world genre, combining futuristic technology and ancient landscapes, and while the remaster will certainly push its graphics to a 4K resolution and constant 60 FPS performance, but considering how great the original release already runs on the PS5, one wonders just how much of a visual improvement these upgrades will actually provide.
Further, what’s the point in remastering Horizon Zero Dawn when LEGO Horizon Adventures, which will retell the events of that first game (albeit in a slightly-more light-hearted way). Do we really need the same game three times in seven years?
In the same vein, an even less exciting rumor for Sony fans, as broken to the public by Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grub, has suggested that Bend Studio’s Days Gone will also be receiving a PS5 remaster.
With that said, Sony seems deaf to fans’ desires as the rumor swirls of an even less exciting remaster than Horizon Zero Dawn. The community has already come together to say that the remaster in question is Days Gone.
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Days Gone already received a new-gen update in 2020, but that hasn’t stopped either the rumors of its remastering or fan demand for it. If the biker-zombie title does actually make its way to the PS5, this may cause further frustrations considering the game’s troubled launch and the fact that it never saw a sequel.
Nevertheless, Sony’s potential plans will likely involve polishing and improving Days Gone‘s gameplay, which hopefully could ultimately be used as a ‘testing of the waters’ for a possible sequel (which the game both needs and deserves).
Of course, an outright sequel would probably be a better option for both Sony and the community, but here we are.
Twitter user Soulrakk added to that sentiment saying “Personally I find it egregious & unnecessary,” summarized Twitter user @iSoulrakk of the overall fan sentiment towards these rumors. “Of all the games PlayStation can remaster, absolutely nobody is asking for these. PS4 games shouldn’t be getting remastered (except one) when they can’t figure out how to get us PS3 games in any form. If you’re going to remaster games, remaster PS3 games.”
Of course, this is not the first time that Sony has purportedly sought to remaster their more recent and successful titles.
For those who may remember, November 2023 saw the company produce a remaster of The Last of Us Part 2 less than four years after its original release.
While these newer games are not bad by any means, they simply don’t require remasters at this stage. This strategy clearly shows how much Sony is disconnected from the community, and it will only further push fans away from Sony, instead of either bringing in new players or working to deliver for their existing ones.
After all, one of the biggest complaints from fans regarding Sony’s focus on remastering new titles is that it shows a complete lack of care for their older classics. One of the most popular titles that could benefit from a remaster is Bloodborne, a masterpiece of the Soulsborne genre, and yet the game continues to be ignored year after year after year.
Ultimately, whether or not remasters of Horizon Zero Dawn or Days Gone are actually on the way has yet to be officially confirmed – although it’s possible they might make an appearance at tomorrow’s Sony State of Play presentation.
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