10 POINTLESS Video Game Remasters

10 Pointless Video Game Remasters

Nothing like doing menial work to get the consumer's hard-earned cash. Welcome to MojoPlays and today we’re looking at the 10 most pointless video game remasters. For this list, we’ll be looking at games that did the bare minimum to get the “remastered” subtitle and suckers like you and me to purchase the same game twice.

“Batman: Return To Arkham” (2016)

It’s hard to remaster games that already feel modern with decent visuals and excellent gameplay, but WB found a way to do just that with the remasters of both “Batman: Arkham Asylum” and “Arkham City”. “Return To Arkham” does what a lot of remasters do, simply give the game a shiny coat of paint with better visuals and frame rates. All these visual upgrades actually bring it up to the level of “Arkham Knight” with small changes like Joker's hair being a tad darker to match his look in “Origins” and “Knight”. All the characters’ outfits are much more detailed, down to the fibers on Batman’s suits and the baddies having rips and blood on their clothes. Did we really need this remaster though? While it’s nice to have the improved visuals, nothing else really changed, but at least we can play these games on modern hardware. Now give us a remaster of “Arkham Origins”!

“The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition” (2021)

Skyrim is the game that seems to be ported to everything. The “Anniversary Edition” was supposed to be the ultimate version, but when this remaster came to modern hardware with the Xbox Series and PS5 release, it left some fans wanting more. On the surface, “Anniversary Edition” looked to be packed full of content, and it was, just not much new content. Included were “Skyrim’s” three original pieces of DLC with Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn. Creation Club came back and all 48 items came along with the addition of 26 new items. “Anniversary Edition” felt like the 50th port of “Skyrim” we received and it came off as a cash grab, but we love spending time in Skyrim so we gladly purchased it and spent another 300 hours building a new character.

“Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Collection” (2016)

Let's take possibly the best three “Assassin’s Creed” games, give them a facelift and take a few things away in the process. “The Ezio Collection” gave “Assassin’s Creed II”, “Brotherhood”, and “Revelations” significantly better visuals, smoother gameplay and included all the DLC for each game. However, some are still locked behind the very annoying Ubisoft Club, along with some rewards like the Bloodlines weapons and a few capes. So if they’re giving us all that great DLC, what are they taking from us? Well, “The Ezio Collection” doesn’t have the amazing multiplayer from “Brotherhood” and Revelations.” In the end, it was just another way to release another “Assassins Creed” game and continue the tradition of annual releases with minimal effort.

“Grand Theft Auto V” (2013)

It’s rather crazy to think that “GTA V” is ten years old, has been on three generations of consoles, and is the same game we received in 2013. The first port of “GTA V” came in 2014, just one year after the initial launch, and while it gave us better visuals and some minor changes, the biggest change came with the addition of the first-person mode. While the PS4 and Xbox One versions were good enough for most gamers, that didn't stop Rockstar from wanting more money from the fanbase. In 2022 we saw the game come to yet another generation of consoles with the PS5 and Xbox Series, and to no one's surprise not much was changed. Sure, we got three graphical options which included 4K at 60 frames and better textures and draw distance, but the biggest changes had to be the improved controls and snappier switching between characters, making it feel seamless. Small features that in hindsight seem pointless due to most people playing “GTA Online” more than the main game.

“BioShock The Collection” (2016)

Yet another remaster that gives us a better game overall and takes some features and modes away. For Xbox gamers, this collection is more pointless than on PlayStation or Switch, as all three games in this collection are playable via backward compatibility. The original games had a unique enough art style that didn’t feel dated and didn’t need an upgrade. However, if you were to get this pointless collection of remasters, you would get all the DLC from all three games to go along with the shiny new graphics. There were some weird choices for things to be cut, most of which came from “BioShock 2”. Just like most modern remasters, the multiplayer was left out, but I don't think anyone was really complaining about that. A few songs were changed, most likely due to licensing. The biggest feature taken out however is an accessibility feature, the colorblind mode for the hacking was removed. I think I’ll skip this remaster and just play the 2007 version in all its glory.

“Far Cry Classic” (2014)

While not as pointless as the linear port we got in “Far Cry Instincts”, “Classic” attempted to bring the first game up to par with the smash hit “Far Cry 3”. “Far Cry Classic” was given better visuals which the game desperately needed, as well as more modern gameplay changes. The addition of aiming down a sight with iron sight weapons and new sprinting animations made the game feel fresh. Some of the areas were altered too with well-placed walls to add cover. All in all, this sounds like it was a great remaster, but there is one thing that made it feel pointless… Did anybody want this? “Far Cry Classic” was released when the third entry was gaining a fanbase and each game felt drastically different, even with the new additions.

“God of War III Remastered” (2010)

Nothing is better than smashing Zeus’s face in stunning 1080p, now is there? “God of War III Remastered” suffers from the graphical jump from the PS3 to the PS4 not being quite as noticeable as the jump from PS2 to PS3. The remastered version did give us some great detail in the character models and world, but that just isn’t enough for most players to embark on Kratos’s last true hack n’ slash adventure. Other than your typical additions to remasters like all the DLC being included, the only other addition is a photo mode, so we can have a vogue Kratos with some good filters and angles.

“The Last of Us Remastered” (2014)

How are there only two games in this series and 5 releases? “The Last of Us” may be one of the kings of pointless remasters and yet we still buy every one of them. The madness of the remaster blitz started less than one year after the original release, with “The Last of Us Remastered” which brought the PS3 game to the PS4 with slightly enhanced visuals and the “Left Behind” DLC. “Last of Us Remastered” wouldn’t be the last time we see the first game get an upgrade, however “The Last of Us Part 1” wasn’t pointless as it gave the game a huge facelift with the jump to the PS5 along with using the DualSense in interesting ways, even if they took away the fantastic multiplayer mode in Factions. It’ll be interesting to see how the remaster of “The Last of Us Part II” will hold up. At least they’re giving us a fun roguelike mode!

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered” (2020)

When you think of “Call of Duty” you probably think of the multiplayer and not so much the single-player campaigns. Well, prepare yourself for one of the most pointless remasters known to man with “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered”. For some reason, Activision thought players only wanted a remaster of the campaign. It's fun and all, but let's be honest, we want to play Rust on our PS4s and Xbox Ones. At least purchasing this gave us the Classic Ghost Bundle and other goodies for “Warzone”, so there’s one plus.

“Dark Souls Remastered” (2018)

Most gamers fell in love with the “Dark Souls” series with “Dark Souls 3”, so many gamers wanted to go back and play previous games in the series. Luckily, FromSoft gave fans a remaster. However, it ended up feeling just a tad pointless and a travesty for PC players. For starters, the release of “Dark Souls Remastered” essentially locked the original game to the PS3 and 360 as the PC version was replaced with the remaster. As most players were jumping into the game after playing “Dark Souls 3”, you would think the controls would have been upgraded to feel more like the third, but they weren’t. Other than some visual upgrades, the remaster is a carbon copy of the original game.

There are plenty of pointless remasters that didn’t make this list, I’m looking at you “Wonderful 101”. Let us know in the comments which remaster you think is pointless. We publish content all week long so be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest content.