Digital Foundry's John Linneman delivers the DF tech review of the Dead Space remake (2023). This is a best-in-class remake but not everything is perfect.
An executive of Electronic Arts Japan has criticised the Japanese video game ratings board for allowing upcoming action game Stellar Blade to be released uncensored while EA's own Dead Space was banned in the country.
He’s got a point. If a game is M-Rated, which is the equivalent of an R rating, I don’t get why you need to censor anything. The rating is the indicator of the content and the age appropriate. If it’s appropriate for adults… why treat them like children? 🤷♂️
This is about gore... not about anything sexual. And specifically I think it is about the realistic depiction of gore. Unfortunately I don't know the nuance of the CERO board or how it is relevant their specific culture (as a prohibition on gore may transcend age) so I hesitate to make a statement. Can anyone else provide insight to what kind of gore is considered unacceptable?
Yea, I know this is about gore, but thanks for pointing that out.
My point still stands, if a game is essentially rated for a mature audience then why censor for them as if they’re too young to view it? Makes no sense.
To answer your question: Decapitation, dismemberment, like… anything gore. They have been censoring that since CERO was established. Look up RE4 chainsaw decapitation or any MK games that made it there.
Yet, the Oneechanbara series (y'know, the game with half-naked samurai females slicing up zombies to bloody pieces) get released in Japan uncensored.
The CERO ratings board is an equilibrium.
This confuses me since I've seen so many gory Japanese movies and anime. For example, Battle Royale.
I don't know if the EA executive is going off the one close up of an arm being cut off in the demo. Maybe it's uncensored because it's the arm of a cyborg or it doesn't happen that often (didn’t see EVE dismemberment when killed in the demo) .
In the states there's a certain amount of swear words allowed to a PG13 movie before it is deemed R. So maybe it's the same in Japan for gore?
Yes I think you may be on to something. The violence is gory but I wouldn't call it gruesome.
Does EA Japan actually make games at all? Or are they just a regional publisher?
The remake teased an expanded universe, but now a sequel has no chance of delivering on it.
Honestly i believe it was mainly as retaliation for the original devs breaking off and making colisto protocol. They've done this a few times, ignoring fan demands for the return of a belived ip until someone does it for them, then they retaliate by only then announcing an entry. Colisto protocol was announced and EA announced the remake shortly after, Session finally hit consoles and skate 4 was announced, shortly after Undisputed was shown off, talks started happening about a new fight night.
I agree. Reminds me of when Inafune announced Mighty No.9 and the initial reaction of the game industry was that of celebration and suddenly Capcom said ohh shit we need to announce Mega Man 11. 😆 Still waiting for MM12 & the next X title.
i liked the remake as much as the original.. it has so many improvements, the most noticeable to me was the seemless transition between levels which should be a must and a standard nowadays.
I cannot wait for the sequel's remake too.
That's a very farfetched conspiracy.
Callisto Protocol was announced in February 2021 and Dead Space in July. They didn't just decide in March 2021 to "retaliate" by remaking from scratch Dead Space in under a two year timespan.
If anything, Callisto is the result of a has-been Creative Director whose only inspiration is his previous work, and EA took inspiration long before Callisto was known about from the insane success of the RE Remakes and endless calls at the time for the RE4 Remake.
And yet,fans of Dead Space, myself included, have been asking EA to bring back Dead Space for a better part of a decade. To which EA refused, stating that it was done with the series. Specifically after Dead Space 3 failed to meet EA's sale goals (sound familiar?) But magically, after they caught wind of The Callisto Protocol, with Glen at the helm, Dead Space remake was greenlit.
For those not counting, The Callisto Protocol call was announced in 2019, while Dead Space remake was announced in 2021. Long before TCP was announced?
You know how long it will have taken to make this game, this is some rediciulous logic.
It was a solid game and we'll have to move on and accept it for what it is. Just because we're not getting a sequel (original or remake) doesn't mean there's no point anymore in what is a great, tense, well-paced single player experience. No one's taking Dead Space Remake away.
I just hope that the game isn't so technically stitched together on PC that driver updates render the game unplayable like what happened with me and my RTX 4070 last year, requiring a driver downgrade just months after the game came out. If you're a console player then you've got no worries.
Yeah but it was a pointless remake since the original still looks pretty good. They should've done a sequel, something original or Dante's Inferno 2.
Way too many remakes now. Even resident evil 4 had already been remastered twice before the most recent one. No originality. Why not just hire the original team to make a new game instead?
For the hopes to get a new generation of people into the game. OG still looks good but it stopped selling long ago. So I get why they do remakes.
Most likely for EA to cash in on the remake craze that followed Capcom when they started remaking RE games. I am glad EA did it I enjoy the game. DS is one of my favorite franchises love the sci fi horror shit. What I don't like is EA not remaking DS2. So DS1 remake did not do well with the numbers so what. DS2 has a solid fanbase and is probably the best entry in the franchise depending on the fan. DS2 remake would have been a day one for me but I got a reminder on why I hate EA. Scrap the DS2 remake for a shitty Iron Man game.
It's because the gaming community want remakes and remasters over new games.
Thank you for recognizing that. One group always complains over remasters or remakes.gamers want them and they sell. To the once’s that complain your console has no games to do again. If you did ,they would remake them.
When it's hard to find a modern game that isn't broken, incomplete and monetized to hell, remakes are a sure bet for having a complete experience as older games weren't plagued with those issues
I think that is for the best of the franchise o be left alone then to be turned into a game as a service or something like that, EA has the awful habit of trying to monetize everything.
Isaac Clarke of Dead Space fame has appeared in many games, both as a playable character and an Easter Egg. Have you played them all?
I must say I am pleased with the re-make all around. DS was one of my all time favorite games on 360 and the re-make has gone above and beyond. It feels almost like a brand new game in the best possible way. The visuals are gorgeous, the sound is fantastic, performance is smooth and responsive (I’m playing on series x) and the subtle tweaks from the original make the game better than it was originally. A master class in re-makes. Let it be known too that this is NOT a re-master. Everything has been rebuilt. The models, environments, etc have substantially more detail, the lighting systems and fog volumetrics are substantially better and more lifelike. Everything feels better and it looks like a proper next gen game imo.
Glad they are patching up VRS on PS5 and PC ,.. because it looks so damn odd,..
The VRS stuff is weird, also quite a few severe fps drops on PS5. When Sony inevitably launches a midgen refresh, it should include HW VRS.
On the game itself though, DS remake is immense. The visuals and feel are on point and while it feels dirty to say, EA did a great job on the remake, so kudos to them - continue it with DS2 please.
There’s nothing you can get from this remake that you can’t get from the original game. Stop giving EA money.
I'm glad this remake was made, I'm enjoying it, but I think it's way overrated. A master class in remakes? I feel the remakes for RE2, FFVII, and Demon's Souls deserve this kind of praise but Dead Space just doesn't look or feel like the revolutionary masterpiece that a lot of journalists are making it out to be. I really don't get all the hype. Again, I think it's good but nothing amazing.