Summary
- An early comparison between Days Gone Remastered and the original game shows minimal visual upgrades, at least in some cutscenes.
- Many Days Gone fans are confused over the necessity of the remaster, but uninterrupted gameplay may be a better showcase of its graphical improvements.
- Aside from supposedly better graphics, Days Gone Remastered offers new game modes, accessibility options, photo mode features, and more.
An early comparison between the graphical fidelity of Days Gone Remastered and the 2019 original has some fans wondering whether the game needed a remaster in the first place. Unlike the comprehensive visual upgrade seen in the recent remaster of Horizon Zero Dawn, Days Gone Remastered looks to be bringing forth much milder, if not indistinguishable, changes compared to the PC version of the base game.
Developed by PlayStation first-party team Bend Studio, Days Gone launched in 2019 to mixed reviews due to bugs, glitches, and a general lack of technical polish. The issues were cleaned up in subsequent months and Days Gone eventually went on to sell over seven million copies (as of 2022). However, the prospect of a sequel looked shaky as Bend Studio reportedly went through some internal turmoil that led to both of Days Gone‘s directors exiting the team. Since then, the studio has repeatedly had to quash hopes regarding Days Gone 2, which has become one of the most-requested sequels for a PlayStation game in recent years.
Related
Days Gone Fans Aren’t Happy About Another Remaster Detail
Another detail about the upcoming Days Gone remaster for PlayStation 5 seems to have upset some fans of t he game.
Bend Studio had been working on an unannounced open-world live-service game, which was unfortunately canceled by PlayStation leadership last month. After this news, many fans didn’t expect Bend Studio to have anything ready for the rest of the PS5’s lifecycle, but the team surprisingly showed up to PlayStation’s February 2025 State of Play with Days Gone Remastered for PS5 and PC. However, while the announcement for Days Gone Remastered boasted improvements over the original in graphical fidelity, foliage draw distance, shadows, and lighting, an early unofficial comparison doesn’t really seem to prove the claims.
Days Gone Fans Puzzled About the Remaster’s Seemingly Imperceptible Graphical Upgrades
YouTuber Cycu1 recently put together a video comparing the State of Play footage of Days Gone Remastered to the original game’s PC version running on an RTX 4080 at 4K Ultra settings. At a cursory glance, the difference between Days Gone Remastered and the original game seems next to nothing. Some tight zoom-ins reveal that granular details resolve slightly better in the remaster, but the graphical jump over the original game is nowhere close to the one observed in last year’s Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. It’s worth noting, though, that Cycu1’s comparison only used cutscene footage, which may not be the best showcase of Days Gone Remastered‘s claimed visual enhancements. Actual gameplay of Days Gone Remastered could be a better way to judge the same.
There’s also a case to be made for Days Gone‘s still-impressive graphical fidelity possibly making the remaster’s improvements a bit harder to discern. It remains to be seen how thoroughly Days Gone Remastered pushes the visual envelope over the original, but it does offer a lot more in addition to shinier graphics, such as an expanded suite of accessibility options, improved photo mode features, DualSense support, and new game modes like Horde Assault and Permadeath, all for a $10 upgrade fee for existing owners.
- Released
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April 25, 2025
- ESRB
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M For Mature: Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language
- Publisher(s)
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PlayStation Studios