Summary
Though some people have a bone to pick about how many of them are out these days, remasters can be the definitive way to play a game for many people who missed it the first time around. Remasters can sharpen visuals, tighten controls and add several quality-of-life features that people weren’t even complaining about 10 to 20 years ago.
Plus, all these titles are on Steam, so players with powerful builds can squeeze even more juice out of them! Keep in mind that all of these games are remasters, not remakes. They’re not built from the ground up with new engines by new teams. They are all previously completed games that received a visual or mechanical makeover.
BioShock
The original BioShock was one of the most influential games of the 5th generation thanks to itsunprecedented worldbuilding, but just nine years after its release, it received a remastered edition that would make the underwater world of Rapture look even more immersive. Every enemy, plasmid ability, weapon, and environmental catastrophe has been improved drastically.
Whether you haven’t played the game in over 15 years or never played it at all, BioShock Remastered is a great way to play this FPS classic on Steam thanks to enhanced textures, an unlocked frame rate, and 4K resolution compatibility.
While it may be too old for many modern players, Planescape: Torment was critically acclaimed back in 1999, primarily for its writing, and it is still considered a major cult classic and one of the best-written stories in the history of video games. The 2017 Enhanced Edition brings remastered music and graphics for 21st-century PC audiences.
The original version of the game lacks many of the QOL features this remaster has added, including quicklooting, a comprehensive combat log, camera zooming, and more. you may experience one of gaming’s finest casts, stories, and settings with less mundanity.
8Killer7
If you think that cel-shaded art styles age like fine wine, you owe it to yourself to check out Killer7. This is a very surreal psychological thriller whose game mechanics, characters, political story line, and enemy design are as unique and weird as the visuals and soundtrack.
Though it was originally released for the PS2 and Nintendo Gamecube way back in 2005, many things about Killer7 have aged quite well. The gameplay, though ferocious and bizarre, is simple and easy to learn, and thanks to improved aspect ratios and resolutions, you may experience one of the weirdest games ever made in HD glory.
Dark Souls
With the Prepare To Die Edition permanently removed from the Steam store, there’s only one way to experience the classic that put FromSoftware on the map for players everywhere, and boy is it a good one. Dark Souls: Remastered is a great way to play the first of the trilogy, and that goes for both newcomers and veterans.
It may not be the biggest graphical jump a remaster has ever offered, but where this version truly shines is the lack of glitches and frame rate drops found in previous versions. Plus, if you have a beefy enough computer, you can download many lore-friendly texture mods that will make this game look like it was just released this year, making yourfavorite buildslook fancier than ever before.
Mass Effect will always be one of the most influential trilogies in gaming history; its sprawling dialogue trees, memorable casts, and exotic worlds to explore have cemented it as a sci-fi classic. Better yet, it has so much replay value thanks to all the morality-based decisions and teammate configurations.
With the Legendary Edition, there’s never been a better time to revisit (or visit for the first time) this iconic series, and the trilogy has been remastered with UHD visuals, 21:9 aspect ratios, improved audio for weaponry, and Directx11 compatibility. As a bonus, the dozens of DLC originally released for the three games are included as well.
5Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered
The 2018 Spider-Man got a lot of buzz for being a PS4 exclusive and a killer app for the console. Fast-forward just a few years and now this beloved superhero classic is already on PC for Steam users to purchase for themselves.
As great as this game was on consoles, it’s even better on PC; this remastered edition allows you to swing across New York City with unlocked frame rates, ultra-high-definition resolutions, and ultra-widescreen support. Fast-paced web-slinging and crime-fighting deserves to be done on the best hardware with the best specs.
4The Wonderful 101: Remastered
If any game deserves to be considered on a list of the most underrated video games of all time, Wonderful 101 rightfully deserves a high place on that list. Created by the talented minds over at PlatinumGames responsible for titles like Bayonetta and Vanquish, Wonderful 101 is a unique combination of Pikmin and their own patented hack-and-slash combat styles.
With dozens of little soldiers at your disposal, you’ll be using them to morph into bigger and bigger weapons to fight even bigger bosses. This PC remaster was supervised by the original director, Hideki Kamiya, and was designed to ensure that all gameplay elements are properly ported onto PC systems, so what was once a lost Wii U classic can now be set free on Steam and PC.
3Zero Escape: The Nonary Games
Nintendo DS games aren’t what most people think of when they look for remastered ports on Steam, but there have been quite a few making their way to the platform lately. One of the best series on the DS is the Zero Escape franchise, a connected set of games that combine puzzle-solving with elaborate visual novel story-telling that blends science-fiction, philosophy, and many strange theories about human nature and paranormal phenomena.
The Nonary Games collection combines the first two games in the Zero Escape trilogy: 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, and its sequel, Virtue’s Last Reward. Both games offer superb narratives that will make you rethink what the gaming medium is capable of.
2Yakuza Remastered Collection
Before Yakuza 0 took the world by storm, this massive Sega franchise was experiencing humble success in its home country. With this juicy remastered collection, you’re able to play Yakuza 3, 4, and 5 and experience the evolution of this series' combat and sprawling urban settings.
With Yakuza 3, the franchise introduced the calm beaches of Okinawa. In Yakuza 4, a landmark for the franchise, it introduced several playable characters, up to four. In Yakuza 5, there are a whopping five different cities and five characters to play, so this is a set of games bursting at the seams with content, even for a trilogy collection.
Out of all the remaster jobs and remaster collections that are available today, it’s possible that none of them can touch The Master Chief Collection. You are not getting two or three games, but six complete titles that have all been retouched with improved visuals and audio, so this is undeniably an incredible bargain that no fan of first-person shooters should ever pass up.
Arguably the greatest feature of The Master Chief Collection is its ability to swap between remastered and original graphics on the fly for Halo 1 and 2; at the touch of a button, you can seamlessly switch between the classic style and the modern style and see the “before and after” of the strongest weapons and thestrongest enemies. This is an amazing feature that old fans can take advantage of for nostalgia’s sake, or players new to Halo can see just how big of a jump this remaster is offering them.
