Support NeoGAF

[Pasta la Vista]

The thought crossed my mind the other day. We tend to see remakes of Japanese games made by Western devs. But I can't think of any examples where Japanese devs remake games that originated from the West.

Why do you think this is?

 

[ResilientBanana]

no

 

[Shifty1897]

Remakes are lower effort / require a smaller staff than full on brand new games. With the Yen in the toilet, it's absolutely cheaper to spend money on creating new gameplay concepts and innovating (for example, Super Mario Wonder had 2000 gameplay ideas submitted by the team) in Japan than in the US. Just a guess.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Didn’t the Wizardry series originate in the US, then became popular in Japan and got some Japanese made entries as well?

That’s about the only example I can think of.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I think they remade cyberpunk into an anime.

 

[IAmRei]

Didn’t the Wizardry series originate in the US, then became popular in Japan and got some Japanese made entries as well?

That’s about the only example I can think of.

Thats also what i thought of as well. It might slips through my mind, if there is other or not

 

[captainpat]

Most western games don’t do well enough in Japan to warrant efforts from JP devs for remakes.

 

[lh032]

japanese devs when near western games:

 

[Guilty_AI]

There's plenty of western inspired games, but never heard of remaking western games.

In fact, even western devs remaking JP games, i can only think of Bluepoint, and i generally don't even like their remakes.

 

[nial]

Didn’t the Wizardry series originate in the US, then became popular in Japan and got some Japanese made entries as well?

That’s about the only example I can think of.

Lmao, came here to use this example. Also, I believe Shanghai from Activision had remakes from HAL Laboratory and Sunsoft.

In fact, even western devs remaking JP games, i can only think of Bluepoint, and i generally don't even like their remakes.

I would say Demon's Souls is Japanese-American, especially since Japan Studio led development over Bluepoint (unlike the original which was From Software over Japan Studio). It was directed by Gavin Moore though, but was Puppeteer as well, so...

 

[Wildebeest]

Why would a Japanese person want to play anything other than a mobile game or a first party Wii game?

 

[Guilty_AI]

I would say Demon's Souls is Japanese-American, especially since Japan Studio led development over Bluepoint (unlike the original which was From Software over Japan Studio). It was directed by Gavin Moore though, but was Puppeteer as well, so...

Demon souls is one in particular that has a lot of issues. From the way they changed the music to just generally not understanding or even not respecting the source material.

 

[rubik's dude]

Can't think of any Western game to Japanese dev pipipelines, but Deadly Premonition is basically a Twin Peaks remake, so Japanese devs -> Western TV series.

 

[cireza]

Eye of the Beholder on Mega-CD was adapted by a Japanese team. It was an excellent game to begin with, and they did a stellar job on this port.

It is not a remake, but back then, ports had a lot of efforts going into them to use the hardware to its maximum. And it is the case here, with pretty much everything being redrawn, music being entirely new etc...

 

[Walter Matthau]

Ultima and Wizardry series. I guess you could say Dungeons and Dragons, but their approach was way different than the Western titles before it.

 

[killatopak]

There's plenty of western inspired games, but never heard of remaking western games.

In fact, even western devs remaking JP games, i can only think of Bluepoint, and i generally don't even like their remakes.

SH2 with Bloober, MGS3 Delta with Virtuos and maybe Spelunky being a direct inspiration from La Mulana? I don't know if DmC is considered a remake but that as well. Metal Wolf Chaos XD was remastered outside of Japan.

As for the opposite the only thing that pops into my head is Ultima.

 

[Holammer]

Gauntlet IV on the Megadrive started as a homebrew port for the x68000. It's the original arcade with enough extras to count as a remake. The soundtrack is fire and it's the best way to play the game IMO.

 

[Killer8]

japanese devs when near western games:

When they are confronted by Western game design:

 

[Robb]

Nintendo did a remake of Assassins Creed for Switch.

Spoiler

 

[sigmaZ]

Eye of the Beholder on Mega-CD was adapted by a Japanese team. It was an excellent game to begin with, and they did a stellar job on this port.

It is not a remake, but back then, ports had a lot of efforts going into them to use the hardware to its maximum. And it is the case here, with pretty much everything being redrawn, music being entirely new etc...

Checked that out on YouTube and the music the Japanese team added is incredible.

 

[lughnasadh123]

The reason probably isn't what you want it to be, but don't let that stop ya.

 

[cireza]

Checked that out on YouTube and the music the Japanese team added is incredible.

Excellent sound design on the Mega-CD. You get the redbook OST by Yuzo Koshiro, and also sound effects from enemies that are correctly aligned (left/right) and volume dependent on the distance. Everything has been redrawn to the best capacity of the MD palette. Dubbed introduction. This game makes a great usage of the hardware overall, and it is exactly the kind of game that benefited the most from a CD add-on.

 

[diffusionx]

Demon souls is one in particular that has a lot of issues. From the way they changed the music to just generally not understanding or even not respecting the source material.

There are going to be changes and interpretations. It comes with the territory. This idea that the changes are a “problem” because it’s not what From did is stupid.

 

[Plague Doctor]

OP I see your thread topic and raise you another topic (well open for anyone who wants to jump in)

Take a western developed game and propose an eastern dev to remake it.

It's kind of interesting thought experiment to see how they would interpret some of the more recent western developed games. Like what does that look like and how is it different,

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

There's a lot of dungeon crawlers that got this treatment, and I think JP devs figured out how to do it muuuuch better than the West, at least back in the day.

My favorite example, though?

Prince of Persia - the SNES/SFC version developed by NCS Masaya. Great graphics, moody music, and a dramatically expanded set of levels with more interesting challenges and more unique environments. Really just a fantastic game, and one I still enjoy playing through every now and then when the mood strikes.

 

[Thief1987]

Demon souls is one in particular that has a lot of issues. From the way they changed the music to just generally not understanding or even not respecting the source material.

Source material was an ugly and clunky garbage, no one in their right mind should respect that.

 

[Soltype]

Gauntlet IV on the Megadrive started as a homebrew port for the x68000. It's the original arcade with enough extras to count as a remake. The soundtrack is fire and it's the best way to play the game IMO.

I only play that game to hear the soundtrack.

 

[Guilty_AI]

There are going to be changes and interpretations. It comes with the territory. This idea that the changes are a “problem” because it’s not what From did is stupid.

There's a difference between change and blatant disrespect to the source material however. It's one thing to try and interpret "how would they do it with these new tools we have today?" vs "this is shit and i know better what to do"

Source material was an ugly and clunky garbage, no one in their right mind should respect that.

 

[diffusionx]

There's a difference between change and blatant disrespect to the source material however. It's one thing to try and interpret "how would they do it with these new tools we have today?" vs "this is shit and i know better what to do"

yea that’s not what Bluepoint did. You could argue with the choices they made or maybe they did not interpret the old stuff in ways you like but this is just slander.

 

[Kadve]

A classic example

 

[Havoc2049]

Checked that out on YouTube and the music the Japanese team added is incredible.

I actually prefer the Amiga/PC music of the OG Eye of the Beholder intro. The cheesy voices in the Sega CD version also kinda ruin the intro as well. The Amiga/PC versions didn't have in-game music though, like the Sega CD version, just SFX.



It seems like most of the cross-over from Western devs to Japanese devs is in the RPG genre.

The Dungeon Master series was ported to Japanese consoles and computers and had a sequel on the Saturn.

Dungeon Master Nexus (Saturn)


The Ultima series was ported to many Japanese consoles and computers and Gameboy and SNES received Ultima: Runes of Virtue and Ultima Runes of Virtue II.

Ultima Runes of Virtue (Gameboy)


Ultima Runes of Virtue II (SNES)


The Phantasie Trilogy was ported to Japanese computers and Phantasie IV was a Japanese exclusive.

Phantasie II (Atari ST)


Phantasie IV (X68000)

 

[Generic]

There's a difference between change and blatant disrespect to the source material however. It's one thing to try and interpret "how would they do it with these new tools we have today?" vs "this is shit and i know better what to do"

Doesn't the Demon's Souls remake run at 60fps? That alone makes it the best version of the game.

 

[LQX]

I sort of think a lot of Japanese games of late are inspired but Western sensibilities, even Elden Ring.

 

[Soltype]

Checked that out on YouTube and the music the Japanese team added is incredible.

pretty sure Koshiro and Kawashima did the music, shame it never came stateside

 

[Guilty_AI]

yea that’s not what Bluepoint did. You could argue with the choices they made or maybe they did not interpret the old stuff in ways you like but this is just slander.

Original devs:

Bluepoint:
"ew, japanese anime hair, we can't have that"

Even if you prefer the new one, it's stands as a fact they changed a purely artistic decision that didn't need changing because they thought they knew better. And don't get me started on the music.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Doesn't the Demon's Souls remake run at 60fps? That alone makes it the best version of the game.

Best version is RPCS3 version with higher res, 60 fps and full original vision.

 

[AJUMP23]

I think Splatoon is a Nintendo take on the western multiplayer shooter. I think it may fit your question.

 

[SHA]

Idk, older games that requires licensing renewal, since newer western games are far fewer.

 

[diffusionx]

Original devs:

Bluepoint:
"ew, japanese anime hair, we can't have that"

Even if you prefer the new one, it's stands as a fact they changed a purely artistic decision that didn't need changing because they thought they knew better. And don't get me started on the music.

It’s an interpretation of the element. They changed everything because all the graphics were redone. There’s no evidence they had disdain for the original work like you claim.

This is btw why I think publishers are wasting their time with all these remakes. You’ll never make everyone happy. Zanzibart bros have whined about every Souls remake/remaster yet for some reason continue to demand more.

 

[Generic]

Best version is RPCS3 version with higher res, 60 fps and full original vision.

But playing online in the emulator is a pain in the ass. PS5 version has 60fps and proper online. The rest is subjective.

 

[Lokaum D+]

Original devs:

Bluepoint:
"ew, japanese anime hair, we can't have that"

Even if you prefer the new one, it's stands as a fact they changed a purely artistic decision that didn't need changing because they thought they knew better. And don't get me started on the music.

Lol, even From don't use this kind of models in game, there isn't a single NPC on From software games that has anime hair. Bluepoint model fits perfectly with the environment.