It really depends. Resident Evil 2 was always a favorite of mine but truth be told, I don't think I could play the PS1 original again because the tank controls are really outdated nowadays so what the remake brought to the table was greatly appreciated.

When it comes to Metroid Prime and Resident Evil 4 (two games in my all time Top 10), I'm perfectly happy with how the originals played which is why Metroid Prime Remastered was such a joy, it was the incredible game I knew and loved but it just looked better.

I'm currently playing Resident Evil 4 Remake and I go from loving it to being annoyed by it. The knife degradation is not an addition I enjoy and I sorely miss the Wii controls when playing the shooting range mini-game but the set pieces are amazing and the improved enemy AI keeps me on my toes. The big action sequences are top notch but in the end, I don't think I'd rank the remake as better than the original.

I haven't played RE4 remake. But RE2 remake was more impressive than Prime. Don't get me wrong Prime remaster was amazing and totally worth it. I swear the controls were different, I felt much stronger and faster.

RE4R is the better game. As ahead of its time MP was, there are aspects of it that are aging (slower than the original RE4 but still).

What I prefer depends on the situation and game.
In the case of RE4 I'm more interested in seeing what they come up with for a Remake since I still find the original fun to play.

I usually prefer the ways of remasters. Updating the graphics and controls while still retaining what made the original game great. Remakes can be a mixed bag. I LOVED RE2 and was meh with RE3. Both overhauled so much from the originals, but only 1 of them actually exceeded the original whereas the other took a step back. RE4 I'm definitely loving, but there are notable changes that I'm not a huge fan of, and reading reviews online, I'm not the only one that feels that way.

I wasn't a fan of FFVII Remake either. The presentation was 100% there, but the game had so much padding and filler you may as well have called it Filler Fantasy. Hopefully SE learns from their mistakes with Rebirth, but we'll have to see.

Dead Space Remake is another example! A major change was Isaac had a voice now. You either love the change or you hate it. I loved it personally, but I didn't like the changes made to the side characters. Still a great game that probably overtakes the original for me, but still deducted a couple points. 

So as much as remakes bring to the table, it's never a guarantee that the developers can nail the feel of the original while also adding to it. In RE4's case, it's just so good I can ignore the things I don't really like lol, shows just how great the original really is, but in Metroid Prime's case, I literally have nothing to complain about because it's the same great game that I loved, just modernized in all the best ways.

Haven't played RE4 remake, but MP Remastered is brilliant.

I guess I always thought of remakes as just a complete redoing of the graphics, not as like changing the actual game. So to me Prime Remastered is what I want out of a remake. A remake I just want to be a graphical overhaul and if there are any quality of life issues I want those fixed - Prime got that with the whole new graphics and standard controls. Couldn't ask for anything more. I would have been quite disappointed if they had changed significant parts of the game which I guess according to this thread I guess is what remakes do.

I guess the only time I would want a remake to be more than just graphical upgrade and QoL issues fixed would be if the game would feel very small compared to modern games. Like OoT, for instance, while still a long game in play duration, would be considered pretty small compared to modern epic adventure games, I would want that game to be given a giant world now that we've had a Zelda like BotW to play. That's a case where I would want them to expand things. Whereas Prime feels big for a Metroid game since the 2D games are much shorter, so making changes to such an amazing game would have been pointless and would have just failed to capture the point of the remake.

Most of the answers be like "havent' played any of them bur remakes are better than remasters", defeating the purpose of the thread.

I played both, remaking a game that already had a great remaster was meh, but the game is still great to play in its new form.

And Metroid Prime is the current most impressive Switch game and even if some stuff aged (like the save points and no fast travel), I was a really great game to discover.

And as somebody who finds remasters "meh"-ish most of the time, this humble remake is an absolute blast

In the case of games I love, I'm mixed on full reimaginings as there's the risk that the changes won't always be for the better. It's a much riskier proposition that can easily go wrong.
RE4 is my favourite game of all time so I will definitely play the remake, but I'm not sure how I'll feel about so much being changed as the original is for me an almost perfect game. I feel like I may be too attached to the 2005 version to appreciate the 2023 one.
On the other hand, back in the 7th gen, I did really like the Goldeneye 007 remake, since in my opinion the original didn't age well, and the same for the 2012 Wiimake of Fatal Frame 2.

Having just finished Prime Remastered, I appreciated its authenticity and how faithful it was to the amazing original. Though the addition of a modern save system wouldn't have gone amiss, on the whole I'm glad they didn't mess with the core experience, as I feel like it could easily have been ruined if they modernized it too much.

Only complaint I have with Prime, always have, is the artifacts can be (too) easy to miss.

I never understood this. They literally tell you the exact room where they are if you scan the statues in the Chozo Temple.