Controversial character design changes in game remakes

[shikamaru317]

Raven said:

shikamaru317 said:

This thread is about remakes. When you are remaking a game, you shouldn't be making artistic choices that are hugely different from the original game, unless they are optional changes such as new outfits and hairstyles, alongside the original look of the character as an option. The whole point of a remake is that it is the same as the old game but updated to modern graphics quality and modern gameplay mechanics/quality of life improvements. If you want to go make sweeping changes to art design, make it a reboot instead of a remake, like Crystal Dynamics did with Tomb Raider and The Initiative+Crystal are doing with Perfect Dark. You still may piss off some people, but far less people than you would if you are calling the game a remake. The name remake comes with the expectation that it will be the same as the original game but with better graphics and updated gameplay mechanics + quality of life improvements. 

You don't get to decide what a remake is about and what the boundaries are for the artists and programmers working on it. They are free to make those artistic changes to the game whether you like it or not. There are no rules when it comes to making a game, only the ones people decide to arbitrarily set for themselves and expect everyone else to read their mind about. A remake is still a game at the end of the day and developers and artists are allowed to make the choices they want.

This is what remakes almost always were until the last half decade or so. They are the ones who decided they could arbitrarily change the rules and started making artistic changes in addition to graphical and gameplay changes. They can't expect a gaming populace, many of whom have been gamers for decades and know what remakes used to be, to accept a changing definition of a what a game remake is. Especially when they know that traditional gamers are incredibly resistant to change to begin with.