Summary
New games are great, but older titles that you’re already familiar with or need to check out are a viable option as well for these new systems, including thePlayStation 5. A lot of these games are still in the top echelon in their genre and still hold up today.
For a truly amazing remaster, the developer needs to go above and beyond in elevating the core game, and sadly, certain remasters didn’t do that at launch. However, many have been fixed up at this point and are well worth buying and playing today.
These can be either PS4 or PS5 remasters, as the only requirement is that you’re able to play the game on a PS5 console.
TheMetal Gear Solid: Master Collectionwas decent on release but had a lot of issues, particularly with MGS2 and 3. In many ways, the Xbox 360 and PS3 HD Collection were superior in terms of image quality, but in November 2024, Konami finally released a big update that made the Master Collection superior.
In MGS2 and 3, you can upscale the resolution to 4K, make the internal resolution full 1080p, and even have the option for higher-resolution video sequences. With the numerous bug fixes in the Master Collection, Vol. 1 is by far the best version of these games you can play.
Moving from one Konami franchise to another, one of the best things the company did after Kojima left was remastering Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner on PS4. One of the best action games of all time, this Mars edition runs at 4K 60fps and is the definitive version of this masterpiece.
To boot, you can play in VR now, though it’s a bit wonky to set up on PS5, and it proves to be an intense experience. Anyaction game fan who owns a PS5must have this game.
Since playing PS3 games on PS5 isn’t the best experience, many people want to play those titles natively on the console. Grand Theft Auto 4 is still a no-go, but you at least have the firstRed Dead Redemption. The 2010 classic open-world western romp remains a blast, though a bit lacking compared to itsall-time great sequel.
If playing on PS5, it runs at 4K 60fps, compared to 4K 30fps on Xbox Series X. This makes it the best console version available, though you don’t have the multiplayer. Despite the missing content, you still get Undead Nightmare and all the single-player DLC that was included in the multiplayer packs, such as the Explosive Rifle and Tomahawk challenges.
Some people may forget now, but one of the reasons the Resident Evil 2 remake ended up being developed in the first place was the huge success of the HD remaster of the first game’s remake. The2002 Resident Evil remakeby itself is one of thebest remakes ever made, and this HD remaster delivers. On PS5, it runs at 1080p 30fps, which was the usual for remasters during the early PS4 era.
There’s other aspects, though, like two new costumes unlocked right away, leaderboards, and an alternative control scheme. What’s awesome about this remaster is that you can actually swap to the original 4:3 aspect ratio. Most people will likely stick to widescreen, but for pursuits, you’ll want to switch to 4:3 as you see more of the complete image.
One of themost beloved Ubisoft games of all timehas to be Beyond Good & Evil, and its 20th Anniversary Edition, released in 2024, was perfect for fans. Sure, you get the whole campaign of the original with everything intact, plus better visuals, a speedrun mode, and bonus extras, but there’s new content.
With Beyond Good & Evil 2 taking so long to develop, it was incredible to see a whole new item questline that gives you multiple sneak peeks into what you’d see in the sequel. That is going above and beyond in a remaster.
Any video game exclusive to other regions just sucks, no matter where you live in the world. That was the case for a long time regarding the fourth instalment in the Fatal Frame series, Mask of the Lunar Eclipse.Exclusive to Japan only on the Wii, Koei Tecmo finally released a worldwide remaster on all modern platforms in 2023.
Like the entire series, Fatal Frame 4 is another haunted house simulator, but it’s a really fun one, as always. Having updated visuals in the vein of the fifth Fatal Frame, this remaster looks great and contains everything seen in the original, even some new memos. The new costumes are nice as well, and it’s just great to finally have this game available worldwide.
While many PS3 games remain unavailable on PS5, at least you can enjoy the originalUnchartedtrilogy in the best possible way. Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection packs in all three PS3 instalments in 1080p 60fps, and to be frank, 60fps for Uncharted is a complete transformation. Once you start these versions, you never return to the originals.
Like Beyond Good & Evil, there’s a speedrun mode, but with online leaderboards this time, which is nice to see. Uncharted 1 was also changed to remove the motion controls, which is a big plus. Sadly, both the cooperative and competitive multiplayer in Uncharted 2 and 3 were removed, but besides that, The Nathan Drake Collection is about as perfect of a remaster as you could get.
Like Metal Gear Solid, theGrand Theft Auto Definitive Editionswere rough on release. In fact, the collection was outright bad across the board, with so many issues, and the graphics looked awful compared to the original. It took a few years, but Rockstar finally fixed this collection to make it a must-buy.
Therehave been numerous bug fixes, and the graphics have been heavily improved, especially regarding the new Classic Lighting option, which is on by default. The trilogy now has the same atmosphere and feel as the originals, compared to the dull look the collection had at release.
The collection also features many quality-of-life updates, like the control scheme from GTA5 and checkpoints. It’s a solid remaster and the best way for beginners to play these older GTA games.
