2020 is a strange year for video games, between the lead up to new consoles to the ramifications of the Coronavirus pandemic. The industry keeps trucking on regardless, and there are still plenty of big releases coming in 2020.
What's interesting about the year's lineup of games, however, is that a huge percentage are either remakes or remasters. Some of the biggest games of the years are based on games from years, or even decades ago. Remakes are certainly nothing new, but the amount in 2020 is certainly notable.
It's interesting to see how developers are bringing classics to the modern age, and in some cases, using them as a testing ground for new ideas. It's something that'll likely go down as making 2020 a unique year in gaming.
2020 Has Way More Remakes and Remasters Than Other Years
The most surprising thing is the sheer number of full-blown remakes coming in 2020. These aren't just simple ports or remasters, but experiences that look to redefine the original. Here's a shortlist of some of the remakes coming this year, which also happen to be some of the biggest games of the year.
- Warcraft 3 Reforged
- Resident Evil 3
- Final Fantasy 7 Remake
- Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition
- Destroy All Humans!
- System Shock
- Black Mesa
- Trials of Mana
- Langrisser I & II
- Persona 5 Royal
- XIII Remake
- SpongeBob Squarepants: Battle For Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated
That's a massive amount of remakes, and some of these are incredibly ambitious. Cyberpunk 2077, and Bravely Default 2, among others, are on the way. Still, looking at past successes can be a good way to find a way forward.
2020's Remakes Are Actually Trying New Things
Many of the remasters in 2020 represent the next step in their respective series, like Persona, Resident Evil, and Final Fantasy. Persona 5 Royal streamlines the experience with new gameplay mechanics and tightens up flaws to make the Final Fantasy 7 Remake creates one of the most dynamic combat systems in RPGs and realizes Midgar with stunning detail. Even something like Trials of Mana reimagines the game as a full-on 3D action-RPG. That's what makes 2020 so unique, is that these remakes aren't just one-to-one, but real modern takes on classics. It'll be interesting to see if this trend sticks as gaming moves onto the PS5 and Xbox Series X.
