The unresolved XIII cliffhanger is to this day the one that hurts the most. I couldn't believe that a game so amazing was not being confirmed for a sequel.

Friendly reminder for people to check out the "What Happened?" episode on this game. TL:DR - scumbag studio manager picked up the contract to do the remake despite the studio developers not at all being qualified for such a thing. This combined with a lot of the original game's files simply being completely lost, lead to them essentially needing to figure out how to develop a game of this size on the fly.

The remake makes me appreciate the original game more.

Not really sure who was asking for a redo of a remake but maybe people just love Adam West. I certainly do

I will give the new devs this. They tried fixing this awful mess. It still doesn't look that good, but I give them credit for trying.

The biggest problem with this remake is that I've never played the original and id rather play the original then a remake

it dosent make sense to me how it was so hard to remake this game in the first place, even with the background information its absurd

For me, it really feels that the cel-shaded aesthetic really goes best in the less shader intensive, blocky models of "PS2 era" graphics. Having relatively flat and simplisitc lighting system necessitates artists to be incredibly mindful on making their handrawn texture works appealing in multiple ranges(simpler bilinear and trilinear texture filtering where the norm back then). And back then, the line works where not achieved by some post-processing effect, but by making a buffed-up, black-filled copy of a single model, then reverse-draw it(as in, draw those copies "inside out"). Incredibly crude, and yeah, doubling all models' polygon count is incredibly unoptimized. So most games utilizing the style even go with just adding the cel-shading and the lineworks ONLY into the relevant objects and characters. But this approach oddly lends itself the naturalistic effect where visually relevant stuff in a given scene, like enemy characters and active/interactable objects, visually pops out against background stuff, giving you a not-so-subtle cue. And given that they are actually part of the model, the lineworks' thickness goes in hand with the range of an object, the closer objects, most notably, weapons in first person view, have thicker lineworks, while farther objects have less. Besides XIII, most of my best examples where japanese games of that time, Naruto Ultimate Ninja PS2, Dragonball Z infinite World, and of course, one of the best known example of the style; Jet Set Radio. Now, for anyone who got through my rant, here's something really interesting. Anyone curious about getting into the OG XIII, I recommend getting the Opaquit patch; xiii.opaquit.com/downloads.php It's essentially a fan patch that further does minor fixes on some missed bugs and glitches in the campaign, more optimization and compatibility stuff for modern OS(like, more widescreen HD resolution options for one), and my favorite additions; mutators(it's an unreal 2 engine after all), allowing more custom MP gameplay tweaks like custom player maxhealth, custom weapon spawns on maps, modified jump height, etc...and some more custom maps for MP. Also yeah, the guys that created that patch are also apparently hosting some online servers so having that patch also re-enables online play functionality, but I'm not really into that. Oh yeah, for those not in the know--and I find it incredibly weird that so many people who covers OG XIII isn't mentioning this; That game has offline-MP/botmatch support out-of-the-box. Available on all maps and gamemodes. One of the things why I personally love and keep coming back to that game.

I'm thoroughly convinced by now that XIII is one of the last games that ever needed any kind of remake. A nice, well-polished remaster for modern consoles would have sufficed but it sucks the original source code and assets were lost or whatever.

The PS2/GameCube/Xbox/Dreamcast era was the best for gaming, so many new IPs and developers trying new ideas. It was cheaper to produce games so developers were more open to try things.

When a game gets to the point that it’s style needs to be more compatible for modern times then there’s a chance that it may need a remake, but not the classic one since it still looks good to this day

I love when game devs make something serviceable.

Instead of a remake, they should've made a sequel.

Videogames in 2022 are like watching a chemist blow up their own lab You'd think they'd understand what chemicals do what by this point in time and yet every time we are left with an explosion and a promise the debris will be swept away.

Gaming has come to the point where you pay 60$ to 70$ to play the early access version (being marketed as the full release), and if you're smart you wait 6 months to a year and pay 30$ for the (hopefully) completed game.

It reminded me of the case of Carmageddon, in 2014 Carmageddon Reincarnation was released and was buggy mess with awful score. Later developers pulled Reincarnation from the stores and released Carmageddon Max Damage, same game but fixed

XIII classic will always be in my heart but not this remake

PSA! The original & classic version is currently on sale on Steam, sure it's dated, but with a couple of tweaks to the ini file you can have it looking sharp and in widescreen

All I ever wanted was a sequel to XIII Seeing them flounder so hard with this remake when the original game was so good just hurts. They should have finally made a proper follow up that included a basic remaster of the original. Shame.

My parents were cleaning up their house and they found my old xbox. I had this game but found it so hard at that time I gave up after a few levels. I'm excited to give it another try now I'm an adult.

Sounds like all this game ever needs is the original game with a few patches that support modern OSes and hardware. Because part of the point of highly stylized art is that it doesn't call for a "remake".

It's amazing to me how much they improved this remake, and yet it still falls short of the original game. What a pointless endeavor. How disappointing.

This game was always a good example of the idea that fancier graphics are great, but it’s nothing compared to a simpler one, and enough soul to push it forward. Give it life, not just pixels

For someone who played the original multiple times as a kid, I was extremely disappointed in the remake. Still beat the game but never touched it again. Im glad the update has made it playable and a lot better. Compared to the original It’ll never come close though.

A spy theme comic book styled FPS is too cool of an idea to let die.

I straight up never buy games on day one anymore. (Recent exception being Elden Ring which is turned out great regardless, but even that improved and fixed a bunch of issues much later). I just wishlist it and wait a couple of years check their state and then might try an extended demo or get them on sale

I know remakes and remasters are basically an easy way for publishers to make a quick buck, but honestly, I'm grateful for them (if they're done well). Maybe it's because I'm getting old, but it's becoming increasingly rare for me to find modern games that I can actually sit down and play all the way through. I'm tired of giant open world games full of meaningless sidequests, I'm tired of third person action games that force you to slowly walk forward while looking at some big set piece, and I'm tired of games releasing with "roadmaps" and having to wait a year to get the complete experience. These days I mostly just replay old games I love and the occasional indie game. I've also been catching up on old games I missed out on, and remasters/remakes make that even easier. I don't really have the space to keep a bunch of older consoles or a CRT (much as I would love that), and I'm too damn lazy to deal with emulation. The last time I tried to use PCSX2 it was an absolute nightmare. Half the games I tried didn't work, and the ones that did took a lot of fiddling. Maybe it's gotten better in recent years but I just can't be bothered.

This really hammers home that companies have no obligation to preserve art. The original was a pioneer in cel-shaded aesthetic in video games. If it weren't for physical copies and emulations, it would have been entirely lost.

Original is 1.49 on steam right now. I just picked it up. Thanks for the video.

XIII is a fine little shooter with timeless graphics. It never needed a remake. If I ever want to play XIII again, I will just play it again.

It astounds me how well the original game has held up in terms of its graphical style and sound design. It's just as surprising that the remake completely missed those two aspects of what made the original game special. Here's hoping we'll see a proper remake someday, but so long as the original game is still available it seems as if it provides the superior experience.

Could you imagine telling your childhood self playing PS2, "Enjoy good western games while they last, sonny Jim, because they will only get worse. Pretty soon, they're even going to forget how to finish them."

Re-downloading it now, was met with an update so we'll see how this goes.

I loved this game so much, I still remember playing it on PS2 and loving every minute of it, its too bad they screwed up the remake so badly.

I bought the OG Xbox version of this from an old computer shop in a small town. It's still in shrink wrap and cost me like 5e xDD Totally worth it |D

What I hate about modern game devs is they can't seem to put in details that existed 20 years ago, and even worse is when they are remaking a game and they can see the exact details needed and still fail or don't care. Same with modern Rockstar, it makes you lose all faith in their ability to make a game better than they could, or it makes you wonder just how good games could be, if we had those old devs back.

XIII is a rare example of a true cult classic game.

Do the patches and updates also apply to the console versions?

This game has better rag doll physics than Saints Row

My biggest pet peeve with ironsights is when they actively affect the shooting when you're not using it. Personally, Ironsights should only be there to help assist aim for more precise shots and not effect the shooting at all (Serious Sam 3 and 4's Desert Eagles are a perfect example of this)

OK, I might give this a chance now. I'll still play the original, but hearing this remake being repaired as is might give me hope.

Honestly the visuals of the original hold up so well and still looks better than the admittedly now improved remake. The original devs knew what they were doing and absolutely nailed the comic book aesthetic. Everything about it is just so pleasing to look at.

What is the outro song for the end of this video

A simple fix to the shooting would be to have ADS and shooting from the hip have the same level of accuracy. There's a few games that've done that, but I'm blanking on their names right now. But yeah - if they tightened the crosshairs, worked around the same movement values of the original, they'd be getting closer to the 7/10 I know this remake could be. 'Cause for them to score any higher, a more or less complete re-remake would be needed, imo. New assets, completely remade cutscenes, and an art director who could more closely capture the look of the original comics - etc. And with all that considered, they'd likely have to at least *double* the game's total budget up 'til now lol

what is the game at @15:27?

that 2pac changes reference was really unexpected but really nice, didn't knew you were into old-school rap, amazing content as always

This game needs a sequel. I played it when it came out. You spend the whole game unraveling a mystery that leads to nothing.. I was so let down as a kid and still I'll never know

I think your weapons changed in the OG but only if like a big cut scene where you're off to somewhere else happens right after.

Just started watching your videos a couple days ago, great content m8. I was surprised you havent made a video on Killer7. Greetings from Mexico.

Dumb question: I bought the original 13 about 2 years ago, is it difficult to get running on modern hardware? (windows 10)

What annoys me is that they didn't have to remake it. It was a great game, iconic and ran smooth enough. I would whinge and say they should have made a sequel but I'm really glad that hasn't been the case.

5:08 That snowstorm would've eating the framerate like crazy.

whats the movie at @00:38?

15:24 what is this from?? I must know please.

Lmao dude you're getting so good with your editing, legit love the audiovisual comical bits you add. 💪👌

I played the original back in the day while recovering from having my wisdom teeth pulled. It's always been a core memory of mine so I've been really disappointed by this remake.

what game is 15:24? it looks so familiar but i can't remember it

are there no sound settings in the game?

At 3:56 you show several comparison clips, but it took me a long time to figure out which was which. It would have helped if you'd put a bit of text on there that clarified it!

Thanks for looking at this again. I was curious how it was going and think I might give it a go when the price comes back down some more.

I love this guy's "show and don't talk" with memes making the 2 seconds a memorable roast

Second nature to auto 👍your vids at the beginning to minimize the forgetfulness. Vids have gotten better with time, cheers brother 👊.

I would really love to see you do a video on the syphon filter games

Honestly the enemies slowly tumbling over like a statue before the patch was actually kinda hilarious and cartoony to me, I wonder if they can add an option to toggle between those two just for shits and giggles to be honest.

14:83 I was SO sure that was going to be transition into a Raycon ad, I was stunned when it wasn't.

What is the game at 15:17 ?

im playing it now again, and its not great, the enemies seem to detects me even when I Can't even see them. Seems like the lush environment is just added over top meaning the enemies can't see the new environment

Just when I thought that I couldn't love you more. XIII?! It lives rent-free in my head and has done for the longest time. Really appreciate you breaking this down so that I don't have to touch that hot mess.

On Steam the original XIII is available for $1.50 USD while the Remake is $30. I still have the demo of the original game from Computer Gaming World magazine and was into the gameplay and design but I was a kid at the time whose limited money went to other things.

Hey man love your videos,l would like to hear your thoughts about ultrakill

Thanks for the video! Mightve been good to put on screen which version youre showing, still got it for the most part just saying for the future.

I was wondering if you were gonna do re-review. Thank you!

I don't understand why people think that hip shooting should more accurate than ads.

99.9% sure the og game resets weapons in between levels - I kinda liked it, each level felt a bit more unique because you only had a certain fraction of the games arsenal at your disposal

Something is really wrong in the game industry that they are making remakes and refurbished versions of 2k games

Makes me sad that only one generation had a chance to play this gem on the original runs (with most of them missing it, because it was obscure). I bring it up in excitement, and if the other person played or saw the remake, they can't be arsed. It's so sad.

It's a damn crime what the remakes did to XIII. Truly underrated cult classic in every sense of the word.

So gman when you gonna do that dead to rights retribution vid? I grew up with that game and i like to see your input on it

How long before these game devs start stealing the “early access” title to get away with seriously broken and unfinished games.

Dissapointed it diesent live up t9 the original, but points to the devs to try and fix it as much as possible, hopefully they work better the next game.

10:55 That cat slowly entering the screen 😆

Even if it’s not great, I’m glad it’s at least playable. The original is one of my all time favorites. The story mixes the tone of Jason Bourne and the campier X-Files stuff, which is two of my favorite franchises. On top of that David Duchovny voices XIII, and Adam West is great as always. The cell shaded graphics are still beautiful to this day, and the music is amazing as you’ve pointed out here. If nothing else, hopefully this will keep the original game alive and a better developer will pick up the IP for a sequel (or a spiritual successor)

I hate how this remake takes a photorealistic approach. Part of the original game’s charm was in its cel-shaded look and cartoony presentation.

Still crazy how bad they messed this up 😭

You don't mind doing a update video on the Half Life VR thing, do you? Half Life 2 VR Mod just launched a while ago, and it looks great.

I have no Idea what this game is. But the really simple artstyle of the original made me wanna play it.

Can you bring back the mom jokes on your videos?!?! We miss those roasting days😢😊

Good work with the coverage here. I'm not gonna play the remake, but will try to get a PS2 disc - wish me luck.

the headshot animation looks so weird, it's just zooming in the face 3 times

I was really excited for this remake and ended up so disappointed. At one point the sound completely glitched out so I couldn’t hear anything. I was hoping that the remake would be successful enough to finally get a sequel but sadly not.

1 question does the multiplayer include the game "the hunt"

16:22 remember when Tesla's Autopilot feature killed a guy on a motorcycle and then they pushed a Autopilot update to out to all the cars, ya it's exactly like buying a game except for the software bugs are deadly.

I'm hoping the 13 the remake continues to get more life improvements especially the cutscenes rendered as animated panels like in the 1st game & the option to fire both from the hip & down sight plus extra attention to the levels so they retain the comic art look of the original game including the musical scores n sfx. Then I'll seriously reconsider given em my dollarydoos.

The OG still hold to this day, what a master piece. I played it more than 50 times. Never played the remake then it was released but the new version now, has at least better combat. Some areas still don´t look good like the cave. It´s almost to vibrant. Some areas look like LSD trip. The OG has this soft unique look that doesn´t hurt the eyes. Less detail is much better. They try now to recreate the same look as the OG, but its looks more blocky and the colours still like shit. Also noticed some little details are completely gone. You can´t see the cameras, you can´t open up some lockers and many more things. Overall still not good. At least I got this mess only for 3 Euro.

I don't know why but these enemies at 10:59 back in the day I thought they were supposed to be Bill Gates. I was a very dumb kid lol

I just bought the classic version of the game on Steam for $1.61 USD - 75% off! - since I never got a chance to to play more than 20 minutes back on PS2 due to the disc being scratched.

I was a kid when I got my first PC. A very old PC with a fat screen which pretty much farted when turned on :D Today I honestly regret selling my old PC to our distant family member. I had like 20+ games which isn't a lot. Still those were original discs with games like Ghost Recon, Vietcong, Morrowind, The Suffering, Quake 2 and etc. I bought few games in my local super market over the years after I owned that PC. Those games were Prince of Persia Sands of Time and XIII. I had few other games but hard to remember now. Anyway stuff like Sands of Time or XIII are very nostalgic to me. XIII was a very fun game with a very interesting story. I still remember gameplay and story after 15+ years. Unique game for sure. Kind of sad that after so many years they made a "remaster" instead of continuing the story. Plus they fucked it up too. I don't know how it's possible to make 15 year old +- game worse. I guess pure skill to fuck up things.

11:10 Literally my number 1 issue with the Modern Warfare 2 remaster. The soundtrack is half the experience, imagine telling Hans Zimmer to keep it down.

16:22 you just explained the tesla experience

It hurts to think this great game even wasn't hailed as specially as some other games that came before it. Very underrated game man.