How to Remake a Classic Videogame Narrative

Ah, “remakes''—a word that sends shivers down the spines of movie-goers everywhere. Videogame remakes however are received by audiences far more positively, often gaining critical acclaim.

2023 saw the release of two fantastic remakes in the form of Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 and EA’s Dead Space. We’ll be looking at what the devs improved about these narratives, plus what steps Konami are taking in their upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake. I’ll also be discussing how these techniques can be applied to traditional fiction when retelling our most beloved tales.

Respect the original

What did players adore about the original? I'll put it plainly: removing anything that was loved in the OG would be catastrophic to the remake's reception. Turn to your community and find out what drew them to the original and what kept them playing. This goes for any story you're rewriting—there's a reason certain stories are enduring.

It’s no secret that the dialogue in the original RE4 had a b-movie cheesiness to it, however many of the lines are beloved memes at this point. The remake replaced a lot of these lines in favour of a more serious tone, but they pop-up in the names of the achievements. It’s a fun surprise for players, and shows Capcom didn’t just heartlessly cut them and forget the soul of the original.

Write for a contemporary audience

If you're remaking a story, there's a good chance that a large amount of time has passed since the original was published, so some things may have aged poorly. Take Luis from RE4: in the original he was a sleazy, self-proclaimed ladies man and a bit of a scatterbrain. In particular, one line sees him comment on Ashley’s “ballistics”, the camera panning to her breasts.

Remake Luis, while still flirty, has had his more egregious lines removed in favour of genuinely suave quips. This time he simply calls Ashley the “missing senorita”, and Ashley gets her own comeback. Not only does this make Luis more sympathetic (making his death later in the game much more emotionally impactful), but gives Ashley a stronger presence than her 2005 counterpart.

Tighten up the tone

If you’ve decided to remake a story, then there’s inevitably something that you want to change about the original, or something you should change to justify charging people for an old title. More often than not with videogame remakes, that thing is tone.

The opening in the new Resident Evil 4 makes it immediately clear that this version of the story is going to be darker and much more serious, with a sombre, less cocky Leon and moody lighting that comes courtesy of the new and improved RE engine. It follows the same tone as the Resident Evil 2 & 3 remakes, creating a cohesive style across the series that's more in line with the modern titles.

Set up overarching plots earlier

More often than not, classic videogames were only concerned with the story they were telling in the current game they were working on. They didn’t do much set-up for a sequel—especially for games that turned into their own franchise, which were often experiments that weren’t expected to become series.

With the original trilogy established, the Dead Space remake had the hindsight of knowing the story of the entire series. The changes they made were minimal, however they did reorder some things, namely bringing forward some story beats from sequels. The remake introduces unitology, which didn't make its appearance until the second game in the original trilogy, despite it being the main antagonistic force in the series. By bringing its introduction forward, the lore surrounding unitology is deepened and makes it a much more consistent, sinister force.

Make characters more complex

This is how you turn a good story into a great one, and videogames are no exception. In the original RE4, Major Krauser was no more than a henchman for the series overarching villain, Wesker. Remake Krauser has no relationship to Wesker; he has his own motives for joining the evil Los Illuminados cult, born of fear and a thirst for revenge.

Not only this, but his relationship to Leon has been turned from being his former to comrade, to instead his former mentor. With this shift in power dynamic, our fights with Krauser feel more intense, more personal than before. This also leads Leon to completing his own bittersweet character arc: of surpassing his tutor. It’s infinitely more interesting than the original, with many players stating that Krauser is their favourite boss of the remake.

Deepen the lore

Lore enhances the story you’re already trying to tell, and it doesn’t have to come from exposition dumps or extended monologues. There was a lot of mystery surrounding RE4’s main antagonist Lord Saddler, with his only motivation being a lust for power, so typical super villain stuff.

The remake weaves a much more sinister story: through documents and epitaphs found in the world, we learn that the ancient Saddler family has had a hold over the region for millennia through their power and influence. We feel much more sympathetic to the possessed villagers we’ve had to slaughter, and Saddler feels less like a cookie-cutter villain and more like a mastermind with a genuine belief in his divinity.

Take advantage of modern hardware

The beauty of higher graphical fidelity is that it enables subtle details to be shown on screen, which is great for immersion in your story. Just by looking at the teaser trailer for Konami’s upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake we can see a much more sophisticated, dream-like tone that the psychological horror franchise always craved.

We also see from a close-up that protagonist James has been aged up, who now shows wrinkles on his face. In an interview with IGN, series producer Motoi Okamoto remarked how everyone looked younger in the old PlayStation 2 graphics, as the hardware didn’t allow for finer details. They decided to age James up to be more realistic to the story, and it compliments the themes they’re going for perfectly.

Conclusion

As with all remakes, successful ones are a careful balancing act of respecting what was beloved about the original story and modernising it for current audiences, to meet the industry’s current standards for gameplay, graphics and storytelling.

I love it when existing stories are given new context, whether it’s feminist retellings of ancient myths, TV adaptations or beloved horror games. Videogames have incredible storytelling potential, so it’s always a good day when narratives are paid closer attention to.