In an era where remasters are the new black, Days Gone has disappointed me more than I originally anticipated. Although it’s a game I truly love playing, I expected Bend Studio and Sony to fix most of its frustrating issues, but they didn’t.
When I heard that Days Gone was about to get a remastered version, I was more than excited. Yes, I did play the whole story and even the Game Plus mode, but I wanted a reason to replay the whole thing again, and that news was exactly the reason I needed.
On second thought, I wondered if this is a move from Bend Studio and Sony to see if Days Gone is worth a sequel, and probably the only reason why most players who owned the original version paid those $10 to get it: It’s about showing support.
Unfortunately, the remastered version was nothing I was expecting it to be.
The Good: All the things we get in Days Gone Remaster
I’ll start with everything that the developers added to the remastered version, and then I’ll move to what went wrong.
As is to be expected with any remaster, the game’s graphics have been improved, including its textures, lighting, and reflections. Players can now also choose between the Performance Mode (1440p at 60 FPS) or Quality Mode (4K at 30 FPS) on consoles.
Another big improvement is the environmental details, making the world feel more immersive thanks to better draw distance. Explosions, water physics, and vegetation interactions have also been refined, and there are now two new great modes that players can enjoy: the Horde Assault Mode and Permadeath Mode.
The Horde Assault Mode is basically a roguelite-style challenge where players face waves of Freakers with customizable modifiers. The best news? It’s a never-ending game that keeps on bringing bigger and bigger hordes.
The Permadeath Mode, on the other hand, is for those hardcore players who want to live the game like it’s their reality. Basically, you need to complete the whole campaign with only one life, making it extremely difficult to achieve. Died on a mission? You’re going back to the very beginning.
The Bad: Everything that went wrong with the remaster version
Did we just pay for a remastered version that’s not exactly a remastered version? This is what it feels like with Days Gone, a game that I truly loved, and I still play at least once per week.
Sure, the Horde Assault mode is extremely intense and fun to play, but after playing it a few times, I got bored with it. I wanted more of the story, and I wanted to see most of its bugs get fixed, yet Bend Studio and Sony gave us a remastered version, which is basically a blue filter.
Hey, maybe they wanted to grab some more money from the players who already bought the game, or see if it could get some more popularity, and maybe it’s worth their time and money to create a sequel – but whatever it is, it wasn’t really worth the trouble.
I’ve been looking at comparisons, and once I played the remastered version, I honestly couldn’t understand much of a difference.
Yes, there are a few great improvements – I mean, have you seen how it looks at night right now? Just, fantastic! But the bugs are still there, like John spinning and not grabbing the supplies, characters not shooting and just looking at you, and Freakers not even hitting you or being stuck. Yep, the same old same that we were facing in the original version of Days Gone.
I feel like the remaster version is just a new blue filter being added to the game, night is darker, and new modes to play something a bit different. Other than that, looking at some of the comparison pictures and videos that many players are now publishing online, some of the time, I even liked the older version more.
Here’s a video from Realistic GameZ that kinda proves my point:
Does it feel like a remastered version? I don’t think so.
I feel no difference, and I see no refinements in most things whatsoever. Apart from the night, which arguably became a whole lot better, everything else feels like, instead of getting improved, they actually got downgraded.
I do not like the new blue filter, and sometimes it feels that the game is more blurry than its original version, not to mention that most of the bugs are still there.
So, is it worth the extra $10? Well, it depends on who you ask. If you want to play the new modes and you like how it looks at night, then yeah, why not? On the other hand, supporting the developers and the game itself means that you’re also contributing to a possible decision for Days Gone 2.
One thing’s for sure, we needed a sequel, not a remastered version that doesn’t really feel like a remastered version – but we grab what we can, aren’t we?
You can find all the changes, improvements, and what has been added in the remastered version on BendStudio’s official blog.
Have you ever played Days Gone? And if so, did you have the chance to experience the remastered version? Did you like it? Let me know in the comments down below.
