5 Classic Games That Need a Revival

We increasingly see remasters, revivals, and reimaginings of various titles in the gaming scene. At first, it was the typical culprits – Nintendo releasing a Zelda game from its archive like Disney with its vaults, or The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim porting to another current-gen platform, or even The Last of Us getting another remaster despite it still looking incredibly beautiful across platforms. Nintendo tends to play its cards strong when it comes to the nostalgia factor, and other brands have taken notice. Now we’ve seen some great legacy games like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Final Fantasy VII, Diablo 2: Resurrected, and many others coming back in recent years.

One could have a cynical view that remasters and revivals are a cash grab to bring old IPs back into play. However, it also serves the benefit of cost-effectively gauging if there is still interest in an older brand, and realistically, the value of reliving those nostalgic moments shouldn’t be underrated. It can also bring in new entrants to a franchise, or those who would love to play some older titles that haven’t aged well for modern gamers. Here is a list of games that we’d love to see get a full-on revival of some sort.

1) Chrono Trigger

Square Enix did an amazing thing with Final Fantasy VII as it brought back the fan-favorite title that was released back in 1997 to modern platforms with the most stunning and beautiful graphics, whilst still honoring the original gameplay. Another Square Enix game that would benefit from the same love is Chrono Trigger.

In some respects, Chrono Trigger is a game that was ahead of its time when it was released in 1995. In this RPG, time travel and your actions across various epochs have an impact on the overall narrative in the game. Your decisions can follow you across different timelines, such as succeeding in saving the mother of one of your companions. These decisions and actions in the gameplay also account for twelve different endings. While there is a port of Chrono Trigger on PC with updated pixel graphics, a revival in a similar scope to Final Fantasy VII Remake is still something that isn’t on the radar even though it should be.

2) God of War Trilogy

You might be thinking God of War 3 was already remastered. You’d be right for that remaster, but God of War has always been more than just one game; it’s been a continuous story that has been told from the original God of War in 2005 to the most recent God of War Ragnarok.

Playing through Ragnarok, there are often illusions and conversations held between Kratos and Atreus about what happened to the Greek Pantheon. This dialogue serves as a clever means to catch up audiences, or remind them, of what happened in prior games that came out years or decades ago. However, for those who wish to live and experience those origin stories for Kratos, the games may not meet the modern fidelity requirement of younger games. While there are often rumors of a God of War: Greek Saga, nothing official has been announced by Sony.

3) Need for Speed Underground 2

Racing might not be everyone’s favorite genre, but Need for Speed: Underground 2 offered something completely different from other car racing games of the time – an open-world opportunity to drive and explore the city like in Grand Theft Auto. Players could freely drive across the city of Bayview, take on different races like drift races, drag races, sprint races, and the traditional circuit races. The timing of Need for Speed: Underground 2 came perfectly, considering the popularity of the first several Fast & Furious movies. Similar to the Fast & Furious movies, you could customize your vehicles in Need for Speed: Underground 2 with non-street legal modifications like underglow, NOS, hydraulics, and more.

For Need for Speed: Underground 2, there is a fan-made remaster that is currently in progress for an Unreal Engine 5 remake. The fan-made remaster is available to demo and play currently, however, nothing official has come from Electronic Arts when it comes to a fully polished revival of this classic racing game.

4) Knights of the Old Republic I and II

Over three years ago, there was a teaser of monumental import for a remake of one of the best Star Wars RPGs of all time: Knights of the Old Republic. Since that fateful day, there has been little more than broad confirmation that the Knights of the Old Republic remake is still happening. Concerns have continued to circle that the project might be canceled, despite insistence from Saber Interactive otherwise.

Knights of the Old Republic I and II offered an RPG experience with hybrid real-time and turn-based mechanics to bring to life the Star Wars universe like it’s never been seen in gaming. You were able to determine if your character would be on the light or dark side and the scope was larger than any other Star Wars game. More modern Star Wars titles often only touch a fraction of what was offered in the Knights of the Old Republic games.

5) Half-Life

If you are wishing for a remaster of a game that’s over 25 years old, while many have been waiting 20 years for a new sequel, then you must be thinking of Half-Life. Half-Life is the famous FPS from Valve, which has largely been left untouched in recent decades outside of the VR game Half-Life: Alyx.

Some recent leaks suggest that Half-Life 3 is indeed happening, but this begs the question for those who never got into the series, or those who were too young, will there be a modern remake of the first Half-Life? While there was a 25th anniversary update for Half-Life, a revival of this classic title with modern graphics and fidelity still eludes modern gamers outside of the fan-made Black Mesa. If the rumors on Half-Life 3 are true, hopefully, we’ll see an overhaul of the original Half-Life as part of the release campaign to attract audiences all over again.