Days Gone remains a strange game in Sony Interactive Entertainment’s history. While it received divisive reviews upon its arrival on the PlayStation 4 in 2019 – and justifiably so since it had glaring issues – it grew on gamers over time and established itself as a must-play zombie title. The chances of Days Gone 2, though, are pretty slim, so why did someone think it a good idea to do a remastered version for PlayStation 5?
That’s the million-dollar question, really. Days Gone looked great on PS4 in 2019, and still isn’t an eyesore in 2025. Yes, there’s an improvement in the loading and graphics of the remastered version – because of modern technological capabilities – but this isn’t a drastic overhaul like Resident Evil 2 from the PS1 to PS4. Here, it’s the equivalent of a touch-up and lick of paint.
Okay, so the graphics and performance are minor improvements at best. But what else? What’s the hook that everyone should consider buying this game on PS5 now? The story and gameplay remain the same, with the only notable additions being permadeath, speedrun, survival, and horde assault modes. Do any of these sound enticing to you? Not to me. Instead, it feels like barebones DLC features masquerading as game-changing additions when these modes are likely to be ignored by 90% of gamers who only want to play Days Gone for its story mode.
I don’t mean to be facetious, but I’m genuinely wondering who this remaster is for. Taking a look at the PlayStation Store, I notice the PS4 version of the game goes for R749, while the PS5 remaster is R949. Is someone high here? How in the world is this worth an extra R200? I remember playing Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy on my PS4 in 2021, then receiving a free upgrade when I moved over to PS5 the following year. As mentioned before, the remaster of Days Gone isn’t a radical upgrade of a title where the developers have had to peel everything back to the vectors and start over. Sure, the people who own it on PS4 could upgrade it for cheaper rather than pay the full price, but is it worth it? I say no, and I’m not alone here.
PlayFront’s Niklas Bender wrote a piece arguing that the technology upgrade for Days Gone should have been free, while the additional content could have been sold as DLC. I agree with Bender’s sentiments. Bar the spit and polish on the graphics side and better loading times, this isn’t a revolutionary upgrade. There’s no reason to be charging gamers so much more for a six-year-old title that’s already made its money many times over.
Although, is any of this too surprising? It’s the biggest problem with gaming right now and all the major studios. The industry is cannibalizing itself with all the deliberate and unabashed cash grabs. It’s so blatant and unapologetic, to the point that you wonder if someone is trying to gaslight us into believing it’s actually worth our time and money. Gamers know what’s up, though, so let these clueless execs keep dropping remasters, like Days Gone, as much as they want and hike up the prices to ludicrous heights, while everyone happily ignores it. It’s their bonuses on the line – not ours.
