Polished up remaster or cheaper original?

[mαrkαsscoρ]

This had come to mind for me w/ a few games. Say there's an old game you've been meaning to play that had gotten some kind of enhanced re-release (remaster, remake, etc.), but the original game is much cheaper and you have a means to play that one. Which one would you generally go for? And as such, do you have any specific examples where this applied w/ a game that you were interested in?

 

[Turo602]

I try to avoid buying used, so finding a brand new yet cheaper original copy of a game seems a little unlikely. Especially if I let it fly under radar the first time, I don't see myself paying full price for a remaster anyhow. I just wait until they're cheap themselves because it's much more convenient.

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

I'll go for the enhanced re-release unless there were some really bad changes made to it. For instance, I wholeheartedly recommend the 2023 remake of Dead S;pace over the original even though the original is much cheaper.

 

[A Link In Time]

I almost always go for the remaster because it has modern quality of life improvements. I think the one exception would be Resident Evil if I were to dive deeper into the franchise. There are substantial differences between the originals and the remakes even for a game like Resident Evil 4 that already previously featured the over the top third person camera angle.

 

[GrooseIsLoose]

I would prefer the original for most games except if I didn't like the graphics like in OoT or MM original

 

[Echolight]

This had come to mind for me w/ a few games. Say there's an old game you've been meaning to play that had gotten some kind of enhanced re-release (remaster, remake, etc.), but the original game is much cheaper and you have a means to play that one. Which one would you generally go for? And as such, do you have any specific examples where this applied w/ a game that you were interested in?

well well well, doesn't this sound familiar

hah but yeah remember metroid prime?? Ultimately I decided to go with the original on the wii because it came with not just the first one, but all three in the trilogy.

Honestly for other games it'll depend how cheap the original is, and how much they improved it in the remaster/remake. I'd say I'd usually go for the remake. But yknow if the remake had some very major changes/improvements, like how the LA remake on the switch looks totally different from the original, I'd ideally like to go back and play that too. On the other hand, if it was like how TP or SS only got a slight improvement on the graphics, I'd just stick with one version and wouldn't bother going and buying the original/remaster, depending on which one I have.

the thing with metroid prime is that it had more than one game in the download itself, was half the price of the remaster, and plus the eshop was closing down. But generally I'd say I go for remastered versions personally. And I'm still planning to buy metroid prime on switch one day in the future.

one game as an example is ori, I know it was cheaper on steam at the time I bought it, but they had it on switch and plus it was the definitive edition, so I decided to go with that. I also choose to buy the physical editions of games even though it costs more because holding the case and having a collection makes me happy hah

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

well well well, doesn't this sound familiar

I hate that I actually forgot for a second when I read this, even though this scenario definitely came to mind when I made the thread, ha

 

[Echolight]

I hate that I actually forgot for a second when I read this, even though this scenario definitely came to mind when I made the thread, ha

oh haha wait really, man you forgot, how could you?? I can't believe this, I went to all the work of making that reference and everything
(im jokingg dw)

but yeah I mean I'd be surprised if you didn't think of it when you wrote that, as I read your post, it felt like you were just describing word for word exaacctlyyy what we were talking about just a month earlier hah

and hey it's a great thread idea, you always got some of the best threads (meanwhile I can't think of any lol), just kinda funny how that lined up yknow

 

[Farore's Chosen]

Cheaper original. Unless the original really sucks.

 

[twilitfalchion]

I usually favor remasters over the original unless there's some changes that negatively influence the game as an experience, like preferring Wind Waker on the GameCube over the HD version.