Remakes of games from the '90s have been common today as seen with the new releases of Crash Bandicootand Spyro the Dragon recently. Now we get another remake in the form of MediEvilwhich releases exclusively on the PS4.
The MediEvil franchise was popular back in the '90s when the first game came out on the PSOne. Aside from a sequel, the series remained dormant as no game from the franchise released on Sony's other consoles ever since.
Well after a two-decade-long rest, MediEvil is back with an all new remake of the first game. This remake on PS4 is just as enjoyable as the original and will prove to be a tough challenge for new players.
The biggest and most obvious change in this remake is the major graphical upgrade. Gone are the jagged edges of PSOne polygons because MediEvilon PS4 is a wonderful sight to behold.
Everything has been built from the ground up as the game looks wonderful in 4K if you are playing on PS4 Pro. The character models are smooth and the environments look so much better than they did before.
Story wise, MediEvilon PS4 follows the same plot as the original. The evil Zarok is back after a 100 year hiatus and it's up to a knight named Sir Dan Fortesque to save the day.
The funny thing about the story is that Sir Dan Fortesque is not a hero when he was alive. He died early in battle getting killed with one arrow. Now revived as a literal living skeleton, Sir Dan Fortesque has another chance to defeat Zarok and finally become a hero for real this time!
In terms of gameplay, the controls are mostly the same as they were back in 1998. Some might say the combat is outdated, but I think they're suitable for a hack 'n slash game like this.
Mr Fortesque has lots of weapons in his arsenal. This includes a mix of swords, clubs, crossbows and more. You need to diversify your firepower because some enemies are stronger than others and baddies usually outnumber you.
That being said, this remake has made a few changes to the gameplay to make things a little bit "easier". For one thing, I noticed that some boss fights have been nerfed and enemies' life bars are much shorter than they were in the original game.
Nevertheless, MediEvil for PS4 is still just as tough and challenging as its 1998 counterpart. This is because the game has a lack of checkpoints and there is not an abundance of potions around for you to replenish your health.
If you die on a certain level, you usually have to start from the beginning all over again! Even if you die during a boss fight, you're forced to go back to the start and repeat everything you have just done. It can be a little frustrating at times, although this is how the original game was like.
You also need to kill a lot of enemies if you want to grab what is called a Chalice. If you kill enough enemies, you earn a Chalice that gives you the opportunity get better weapons. Getting better upgrades for weapons is important because you don't want to progress in the game using only your default items…
Not to mention grabbing the Chalices also allows you to unlock the true ending so it's worth the effort. You can still complete the game without Chalices, but you are missing out if you don't go the extra mile.
Another thing I did not like about MediEvil is the lack of a mini map. There are some levels that feel like you are in a maze and it gets hard to navigate through them. This does not help when the game also has an inconsistent camera system on top of this.
In some cases, you are freely able to control the camera using the analogue sticks. However, in some areas the camera stays fixed which I thought was annoying. It's only a minor issue, but a better camera would have made it easier to find all of the game's hidden areas.
Anyway, MediEvil may not be a perfect remake, but it's still a fun game to play through. Fans of the original game will love the revamped graphics and the gameplay has relatively stayed unchanged. If you are new to the franchise though, be warned that this is a tough game for you to play!
Verdict: 8.5/10