Remasters are great, because they bring an old game that a lot of people loved into the modern era of video games, and give younger players a fresh chance at experiencing some tentpole experiences that helped shape the video game industry we have today by first shaping the creators who played the original versions of the remastered games.

When Xbox and Bethesda finally revealed The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, many of the developers that spoke in the reveal video spoke about how Oblivion was a catalyst for their career in video games. That really touched me, because it was during that same era of gaming when I had some of my most pivotal gaming experiences. So I think it's great that some games, like Oblivion, are recognized for their contributions and given some tender love and care to fit into the modern gaming landscape.

Sure, it's also a cash-grabbing easy win for Microsoft and Bethesda who need the win, because Starfield did little else besides remind everyone that Bethesda hasn't evolved in how it makes games in years, and is officially behind in the genre they were once praised for. But that's not all the remaster is.

Oblivion is an old enough game that was served well by the remaster, but it's not the only game that deserves the remaster treatment. Before I get into the list, a couple of ground rules. You won't see games on this list that are already rumored or confirmed to have remasters/remakes in the works, so you won't see the likes of Metal Gear Solid 4, a game that would deserve a place here, but should already be incoming thanks to volume two of Konami's collection series. Also, I won't be putting games on this list from the most recent console generation, so no Xbox One, PlayStation 4 or WiiU games, which is why you won't see Bloodborne on here. Otherwise, yes, of course, Bloodborne should be remastered. Or at least just patched to run at 60fps.

Everything here will be slightly older, to keep it all within games from Oblivion's era. Lastly, we're talking games that just need a visual upgrade to bring them into the modern era, and maybe a few quality-of-life tweaks. Nothing game-changing, just like how Oblivion kept all the bugs that fans liked to exploit, and didn't change too much about the underlying game that already existed.

5 F.E.A.R.

Monolith might not be around to do it, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't happen.

Undoubtedly one of the best first-person shooters of the 2000s, F.E.A.R., or First Encounter Assault Recon is more than deserving of a remaster. It's absolutely terrible that Warner Bros. shut down Monolith Productions, the studio that made F.E.A.R. back in 2005, but this is still a remaster I want to see happen. It's absolutely ripe for an upgrade visually, with intense shooter gameplay that doesn't need a lot of tweaking. F.E.A.R. is not just deserving of a remaster similar to what Oblivion got, it's a good pick for a remaster because the underlying gameplay is already incredibly solid. There really isn't a lot I would change regarding how it plays.

I would just like to see F.E.A.R. get a visual upgrade to help the gameplay and cutscenes pop even more. I'm sure there are some quality-of-life upgrades I'm leaving out, but for me, a new lighting system to really make the darkness that much more immersive, and an overall boost in graphical fidelity, and some work on the audio to make it sound all the more terrifying would be wonderful. F.E.A.R. deserves that kind of TLC, and more. It's awful that Monolith isn't around to do it, so I don't have high hopes for it happening. But I can continue to dream.

4 The Resistance series

If I could only pick just one though, Resistance 2.

In a perfect world, we would have already gotten remasters of the entire Resistance series, instead of just having the third game playable on PS4 and PS5, and the first two only playable on PS5 through the PlayStation Plus Premium classic games catalog. And they won't even be playable there for long, since PlayStation has already confirmed that the first two Resistance titles are part of the next batch of games that will exit the PlayStation Plus Premium classic catalog. They'll be playable until May 20, 2025, at time of writing. So you could very well be reading this after they've left the service, and unless you have a copy of the original games and a PS3 that still works, these games are not legally playable on modern devices.

So I'd want all three of the mainline games to be remastered, and then PlayStation Portable game, Resistance: Retribution. Might as well throw in Burning Skies too, if we're doing the series. But if I could only pick one, it would be Resistance 2. Easily the best game of the series, I love the setting and how all the weapons felt. The games just need a bit of a graphical facelift.

3 Dead Space 2

The first one's been done, now time for the real show-stopper.

Dead Space Remake was one of my favorite games from 2023, and was an excellent remake of the original survival action-horror game. I like the first game well enough, but the sequel, Dead Space 2, also deserves its time in the limelight. I'd also love to see where the story would go with the changes made by EA Motive in their remake of the first game. Of course, I'd also love to see Dead Space 2 get all the graphical and gameplay upgrades that Dead Space got with its remake.

Even though Dead Space Remake did very well, my hopes aren't very high this will ever happen, especially now that EA has Motive and seemingly every studio it can pull working on the next Battlefield game. I'd honestly be shocked if EA ever lets Motive go back to making other kinds of games, as I think it's more likely that EA resigns them to help make sure Battlefield doesn't die, in the same way that Activision just started putting its studios on Call of Duty, instead of letting them make other kinds of games. Still, Dead Space 2 deserves the treatment that Dead Space got. We can leave Dead Space 3 though.

2 Heavenly Sword

An underrated gem.

I understand I might lose a few of you with this pick. Heavenly Sword is not the game I often hear when the conversation comes up about which games should get their remaster dues. But it's always been an underrated gem for me. The action and story were on an incredible scale for 2007, and a remaster would be the perfect time for its launch title wrongs to be righted. The motion controls, for example, standout as an easy fix for a remaster, where they could be removed for players who don't want to deal with the, or kept if you wanted to be a purist about it.

As a launch game, it was a strong example of the step-up compared to the PlayStation 2 regarding what was possible on PlayStation 3, and it's easy to imagine just how more impressive it would look with modern-day hardware. I get that it's not the most popular pick, but it's still incredibly deserving in my opinion.

1 Grand Theft Auto IV

Five being bigger than four doesn't make it better.

Oblivion Remastered has a lot of players who started their Elder Scrolls journey with Skyrim realizing that the game they never went back to because they thought Skyrim was the only open-world fantasy game they needed was not just pretty good, but might even be better than Skyrim. I don't have a horse in that race, but I do have one in the battle between Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto V. I'm not saying GTA V is a bad game, just that GTA IV is a better one.

It's got a punchier story with stronger characters that you could actually latch on to, and while GTA IV's version of New York with Liberty City might not be as massive or intricate as GTA V's Los Santos, a remaster that removes the brown filtering to everything and steps up the look of GTA IV would be perfect for a remaster. Also, I would still appreciate an option to keep the brown look, for a bit of nostalgia. I know we're all going to be busy with Grand Theft Auto VI in nearly a year's time from the time of writing, but if any fourth entry in a series deserves a remaster, it's Grand Theft Auto IV.

And there's still plenty more games out there that deserve the Oblivion Remastered treatment

These are just my top picks, but they're not the only games that deserve the same treatment Oblivion got. As someone who never did play Oblivion when it originally launched, I've enjoyed going back to it and getting the modern-day graphics while still experiencing the same quirks it had when it first launched in 2007. I'm happy for those players who adored Oblivion then and are loving it just as much this time around. Any of these games next, please and thank you.