Did you play through those Yakuza remasters? Did you hate the way Rockstar remastered the Grand Theft Auto PS2 trilogy? Well, you’re not alone. According to data from last year, 9 out of 10 gamers have played a remastered game in some capacity. Which begs the question: how do publishers pick and choose which games to remaster?
While we don’t know the answer to that, we certainly feel like they’re missing the mark on several classic games that absolutely deserve a chance to shine again.
Xenosaga Trilogy
As sci-fi epic stories go, Xenosaga is my gaming version of Star Wars. Spanning three games, the Namco-developed series delivers amazing storytelling, acting as a spiritual successor, albeit not directly, to the legendary Xenogears.
Xenosaga’s highest praise comes from its narrative. Drawing inspiration from authors like Carl Jung and Friedrich Nietzsche, it explores existentialism, the pessimism inherent to life, and different perspectives on faith, especially Christianity, through a less dogmatic lens. For me, playing it on the PlayStation 2 was a genuine learning experience.
That’s exactly why a PS5 remaster feels essential. This is the kind of narrative legacy that deserves preservation for modern audiences.
The gameplay had flaws. Its steep learning curve and difficulty spikes were uncommon for RPGs at the time. But considering the success of challenging modern RPGs like Elden Ring, there’s clearly room for something like Xenosaga today. Add trophy support to a full trilogy, and you’ve got something special.
Xenogears
We couldn’t bring up Xenosaga without talking about Xenogears. Still considered one of the most thought-provoking RPGs of the 32-bit era, this is the game that kicked off the “self-reflection” style of storytelling, paired with a unique visual style that blended 2D sprites with 3D environments.
Don’t be fooled by its turn-based mecha combat. Xenogears is essentially a debate across multiple themes, religious dogma versus individual truth, tradition versus personal belief, and more. It flips the classic “hero saves the world” trope by asking a deeper question, is the world even worth saving?
Its second disc did feel rushed narratively, but that’s exactly where a PS5 remaster could shine, offering a more polished experience that compensates for technical shortcomings.
Parasite Eve I & II
Square Enix, then Squaresoft, made an attempt at an action game with an old-school Resident Evil-like camera scheme, and it paid off. Parasite Eve gave us two games that mixed sci-fi, biological warfare, and a unique storytelling style that is very on-brand with Square’s writing.
While the first game is a cinematic RPG, the second leans further into survival horror, but neither loses anything in terms of quality, showing the public that RPG titles did not need to be only about medieval fantasy. Its unique vibe is still remembered to this day.
Remastering these for the PS5 would allow for an overhaul of the tank control scheme found in the second game and provide the cinematic presentation the original hardware could not fully achieve. Adding modern conveniences like autosaves and 4K visuals would make these 90s classics feel fresh again.
Vagrant Story
I’ll admit some bias here. Vagrant Story is one of my personal favorites. Set in Ivalice, the same world as Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII, it shares a universe but offers a completely different experience.
Released in 2000, it featured a deeply tactical, Fallout-esque combat system that anticipated modern RPG mechanics, where you would aim for body parts such as arms, legs, torso, and head. It was also one of the first games to take weapon types and their effects into consideration, such as bladed versus blunt or ranged versus piercing.
Tonally, it’s much darker than most Final Fantasy titles, exploring themes like duty versus identity. Even with a quiet protagonist like Ashley Riot, every character feels complex and well developed, and there are no clear heroes or villains.
Which is why it’s baffling that this game hasn’t been revisited. A PS5 remaster wouldn’t even need much. Updated UI, higher resolution, and minor tweaks would be enough. Its art direction was already ahead of its time.
The Legend of Dragoon
Another one that I consider a glaring omission, Sony’s The Legend of Dragoon pushed the PS1 to its limits, delivering impressive visuals and a unique combat system.
Its story checks all the classic RPG boxes, medieval setting, warring kingdoms, hidden truths, powerful artifacts, and betrayal. But the execution elevated it beyond clichés, exploring moral gray areas where choices mattered more than right or wrong. The “Addition” system brought real-time inputs into turn-based combat, letting players chain attacks in a proto quick-time-event style.
While the game is playable on PS5 through PlayStation Plus, that’s just an emulated version. A proper remaster would give it the performance and visual boost it always deserved.
Brave Fencer Musashi
One of the earliest games to experiment with a day-night cycle, Brave Fencer Musashi stood out for its humor and creative mechanics. The titular character, Musashi, has the ability to copy enemy powers, which added a layer of strategy, and the game’s personality made it memorable.
A PS5 remaster could improve quality-of-life features, especially the punishing final gauntlet, while enhancing its colorful visuals for modern screens.
Shadow Hearts (series)
The Shadow Hearts series is unique for its World War I-era setting and its use of the “Judgment Ring” combat system. It blends historical events with supernatural demons and a cast of eccentric characters, such as a wrestler with a secret superhero persona.
The second game, Covenant, is often considered the peak of turn-based RPGs from that generation.
A PS5 remaster of the trilogy would provide a much-needed legal way to play these games, as they are currently trapped on the PS2. The series’ tonally distinct atmosphere and dark humor would stand out in the current RPG landscape.
Burnout 3: Takedown
Not a fan of racing games myself, but for some reason, the Burnout series always catered to me, and Burnout 3: Takedown was the most advanced of all of them. This was the one where Criterion Games introduced the “Takedown” feature and a bunch of new modes for you to take down your opponents.
I make it sound simplistic, but that was the actual charm of it. Drive as recklessly as possible, eventually driving into and through other racers and watching the animation of a car bending and flying in ways physicists have yet to explain.
Fans argue that the lack of a 4K version of this game is a major loss for racing enthusiasts, and a PS5 remaster would fill a significant gap in the market for accessible arcade fun, providing a high-definition alternative to modern racers that are often criticized for being too serious.
Tenchu
Few games have captured the fantasy of being a ninja as well as Tenchu. It helped define stealth gameplay, vertical exploration, gadgets, and shadow-based mechanics that encouraged careful movement, otherwise risking a surprising encounter with an enemy who would scream for help and break your stealth.
Not only that, but the narrative was loaded with political intrigue, without flights of fancy or over-the-top twists, which helped the entire story stay grounded, plausible, and believable.
The good news is that FromSoftware owns the rights to the brand, and you can even see some of its DNA in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Although a PS5 remaster would need to modernize controls, the core experience would still hold up, as updated visuals and refined mechanics could easily bring it back to relevance.
Threads of Fate
A pioneer of the dual-protagonist character system, Threads of Fate is an action RPG that allows for two different playstyles depending on which character you control. Rue focuses on transforming into defeated monsters, while Mint uses magic and ranged attacks.
While the storyline and visuals are nothing to scoff at, Threads of Fate’s true shining moments come from its soundtrack. Also made by Square Enix, the idea was for this game to be a light-hearted contrast to Xenogears’ more somber themes, and the music, composed by Junya Nakano (Final Fantasy X; Dawn of Mana), is concise and upbeat.
Because the game is already mechanically sound, it would not be too far off the mark to suggest that a PS5 remaster would only need some anti-aliasing, a resolution boost, and updated textures to make it look and feel fresh. And if Square Enix really put its mind to it, maybe solve the cliffhanger ending that we never got to see finished.
Legend of Legaia
Legend of Legaia is a cult classic known for its Tactical Arts system, which allowed players to input button combinations such as Up, Down, Left, and Right to perform different attacks. It stood out on the PS1 for its challenging difficulty and unique world-building involving the “Mist.”
The battle system was a true jewel at the time, allowing major skills to be executed based on combinations of inputs. For example, Down, Right, Up, Down, Up, Down, Left would perform a Power Slash. This gave Legend of Legaia a strong replay factor, as many skills would still be undiscovered when you first finished the game. Furthermore, exploration could reward players with additional skills, further deepening the battle system.
A PS5 remaster would bring this underrated tactical RPG to a new generation, with the game’s 3D combat animations benefiting from increased frame rates and clarity offered by modern hardware.
Suikoden (series)
I’ll just open with this: one hundred and eight recruitable characters. Not “across all games”, but “in each game”. Suikoden comprises five mainline games plus a few spin-offs, all except two of them taking place in the same world with overlapping plots in different times.
Granted, not all recruitable characters can be party members, which means some of the so called “108 stars” will have very specific uses. But still, the fact that most of them are missable tells us that this is the type of game you’d be spending months playing.
Furthermore, this was meant to highlight all three battle systems present within the franchise: the classic Basic Battle (6-man-party faces enemies: the bread-and-butter of the games); one-on-one duel (specific characters face one specific enemy, often highlighting story-related events) and Strategic War (a tactical, army-battle where you arrange characters and units in order to defend or attack a whole region).
Technically, we did get a PS5 remaster of the first two games last year, but its own Metacritic score tells us there’s room for more, so why not bring the whole brand back?
Rogue Galaxy
This is, in my opinion, one of the most unfairly treated RPGs of its time. Developed by Level-5, Rogue Galaxy suffered from terrible timing, releasing right after Final Fantasy XII. That alone made it easy to overlook.
Still, the game offers a massive space-faring adventure packed with side content that hits a nice balance, not too overwhelming, but never too shallow. Its standout feature was the Factory system, a deep item crafting mechanic that plays a major role in progression.
The story might not stick with everyone, but the game deserves credit for blending sci-fi and RPG elements without leaning too heavily into fantasy. A PS5 remaster could finally give it the spotlight it missed.
Champions of Norrath
If you were around for EverQuest, chances are you have heard of Champions of Norrath. Set in the same universe, this game was one of the early showcases of the PS2’s online capabilities, assuming you had the Network Adapter at the time.
That said, it worked just as well as a single-player or local co-op experience. Divided into five acts, it leaned heavily into hack-and-slash gameplay, with real-time combat and a deep loot system that encouraged exploration.
A PS5 remaster would make online play far more accessible and bring back that addictive gameplay loop. It would fit surprisingly well in today’s landscape, as long as it stays true to its roots and avoids unnecessary monetization.
Dino Crisis
You knew this one was coming. Often described as “Resident Evil with dinosaurs,” Dino Crisis is one of Capcom’s most obvious omissions when it comes to modern revivals.
The first two games, in particular, struck a great balance between survival horror and faster-paced action. And let’s be honest, shooting zombies is one thing, but dealing with velociraptors that keep coming at you is a whole different level of tension.
In a recent Capcom survey, Dino Crisis ranked among the most requested remakes and remasters. A full remake would be a big undertaking, but a PS5 remaster could be the perfect first step, testing the waters while giving fans something they have been asking for.
Rule of Rose
This is one of those cases where a remake feels nearly impossible, so a remaster would be the next best option. Rule of Rose is a controversial PS2 survival horror game that built a cult following thanks to its unique atmosphere, set in a British orphanage.
Much of the controversy came from misinformation. Tabloid outlets pushed claims that simply were not true, which heavily damaged the game’s reputation. In reality, the story focuses on psychological horror, exploring themes like toxic friendships, emotional abuse, and childhood trauma.
That said, bringing it back is not simple. According to Yoshiro Kimura, one of the original developers, the rights situation would be extremely complicated, involving multiple companies, including one that no longer exists. Still, it’s one of those games where you cannot help but wonder what could have been.
Radiata Stories
If you thought Suikoden had a lot of characters, Radiata Stories takes it even further with 176 recruitable characters. But that is not the only highlight. This was one of the early games where NPCs followed daily routines and schedules, making the world feel alive despite the actions of the main characters.
The story itself is relatively simple by Square Enix standards, but it introduces a key choice, siding with humans or non-humans. That decision directly impacts your progression and even which characters stay with you.
Because of its scope, it is nearly impossible to experience everything in a single playthrough. Thankfully, it includes post-game content and a New Game Plus system called “Strong from the Start.” Even today, the game holds up surprisingly well. A remaster would simply make it more accessible.
Chrono Cross
I really do not understand why Chrono Cross received so much hate at launch. As the successor to one of the greatest RPGs of all time, Chrono Trigger, it features a massive cast of 45 characters, a stunning tropical aesthetic, and an innovative combat system that lacks traditional leveling.
While it lacks the gravitas of its predecessor, Chrono Cross still offers an enticing story, beautiful visuals, and plenty of exploration and secrets, all of which are core traits of any strong RPG. It has gained traction in recent years as a cult classic, further supporting the case for a PS5 remaster.
We did get a remaster, subtitled “The Radical Dreamers Edition,” in 2022, but it was not well-received due to performance issues, including constant frame rate drops. Perhaps bringing Chrono Cross to the current Sony console would serve as a proper do-over.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
This is something that I personally feel we are owed by Rockstar Games. And that is because of a remaster that already exists. Let’s be honest. The PS2 trilogy remaster Rockstar released a few years ago failed in every possible way. And considering San Andreas was the best of the three, the story of Carl Johnson and his gang-related, family-driven narrative deserved better.
So consider this a request for a do-over. Rockstar needs to bring at least San Andreas back in proper remaster form, focusing on performance and visual integrity, and fixing the issues that plagued the 2021 release.
Outrun 2
Another racer, OutRun 2 is a masterclass in classic Sega arcade racing, featuring bright visuals and a drift-focused driving system that was quite innovative for its time. My memory might be playing tricks on me, but I do not recall many games using a similar mechanic until Need for Speed Underground 2, which is another discussion for another time.
OutRun 2 is often described as timeless, successfully evolving the original arcade formula. Since it already has a strong visual identity, it would only need a resolution boost on PS5 to feel modern. Fans are eager for Sega to bring it back for a new generation.
Final Thoughts
We specifically curated this list for remasters, not remakes, for one simple reason. Every single entry here deserves to be played in its original form, with updated textures, sound, and technical improvements like modern control mapping for PlayStation 5.
That is not to say they do not deserve remakes. Personally, Vagrant Story and The Legend of Dragoon have gameplay systems that could shine even today. But the nostalgic experience of their original versions is something that newer generations should also be able to feel.
After all, that is what remasters are about. Taking something great and giving it a fresh coat of paint. I would put money on that.
