How do you guys enjoy your remasters?

[retromangia]

Hey guys,

just wanted to know what everyone else thinks about this...

TONS of older games are getting Hi-Def remasters lately... Jak & Daxter, Tomb Raider, ICO/Shadows of Colossus... the list keeps growing.

Now... The way I see it, there's 2 ways to go about enjoying these games..

1.) Play the older original release first, to enjoy the games for what they were at the time.  Then, play the Remaster afterwords, so you can really compare and see how much they have improved the title.  The only downside to this option, is that you've already experienced the game before hand, so the story and gameplay leave no surprises.

OR
option 2.)  Skip the original, and jump right into the remaster... some would say to enjoy the game in the best way possible, with improved framerate & graphics, and as a fresh experience.

I've been wanting to ask this question for a LONG time now... please chime in and tell me what you think. 

- Retro

[abe]

Generally I prefer playing the original before the remake/remaster, but there are some exceptions. Particularly with new games, like The Last of Us Remastered for the PS4. There isn't going to be as significant of a difference between the original The Last of Us and its remastered version (which released a little over a year after the original) as there is with something like Ico. The HD remaster for Ico came out a whole 10 years after the original, and I like to see how much of a difference it can make on how the game looks and feels from its original version. That's one of the reasons I still haven't opened my copy of the Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection, because I want to experience the originals first.

[bobster]

I'm terribly inconsistent when it comes to this topic. Generally, I like to play the originals, but with the Star Ocean series I went with the PSP updates for the first two games. I guess it helps that the first one wasn't localized until the PSP version.

I'm playing through the Final Fantasy games again so I've been playing the remastered versions as well. But I've played the originals before (some of them as ROMS with English translations) so I just wanted to see what was new.

[Limeface]

For me, I'd usually opt for option 2. I want to play the "definitive" version of a game and a lot of the time that ends up being the remaster. For example I've been playing through Kingdom Hearts 1 again with the 1.5 remix and I don't see myself ever going back to my PS2 version again.  Sometimes a remaster gets additional features like the PS3 Kingdom Hearts releases or the PSP version of Final Fantasy IV. I also love it when remasters get bundled. I picked up Bayonetta 2 because Bayonetta 1 and 2 were included together, which I thought was awesome.

The one remaster that I really don't know yet which version is definitive is Xenoblade with the New 3DS version coming out. I can see that game being fantastic on a handheld, but the environments and creatures look great on the Wii.

But then on the flip side some games I view the original release as superior. Conker's Bad Fur Day isn't as censored on the N64 as it was on the Xbox so I opted for the N64 release when I sought out that game.

[retromangia]

Abe! It's funny you bring up The Last of US...I was going to use that myself as the ONE example where I would skip the original... but didn't want my first post to drag on lol.. Yes, Since the PS3 and PS4 version aren't really that much different, it's best to skip the PS3 version all together in this particular case.

However, something like Banjo Kazooie.... There's the N64 original, and now the HD version on Xbox Live Arcade.  Although part of me wants to play the HD release first, to enjoy it the best way possible as a fresh experience... I think I'd appreciate the HD release even more after playing the N64 original.  Call me torn, but that's why I asked this question in the first place  

[argyle]

If I didn't play the game when it was released the first time around, then I will ALWAYS opt to play the remaster unless I hear that it has significant issues. The only one that comes to mind that I hear has arguably game-breaking issues is Silent Hill 2, and that's one I played on the PS2 when it first came out.