The remake is pretty, the music is wonderful, the world feels bigger, it's done with a lot of attention and effort, it's more accessible... but remakes are almost always


and this one is not an exception.


The original LBA felt like an immersive sim even though it wasn't. This was misleading but felt great. The remake is more fair but but this fairness comes at the cost of a sense of richness and depth, making it feel less engaging:

• No more stealth whenever you want (I understand they did this because stealth mostly didn't work in the original, but it was nice to have the illusion that you can do it). Right now, it is reduced to a few very limited, scripted events and that's it.
  
  
• You can talk to LESS guards than in the original. Talking to enemies led to funny situations where you'd ask a clone about your arrested girlfriend and he'd tell you "This is none of your business" or directly hit you in the face, or guards that tell you to calm down or literally explain what they see as wrong with you (wearing an incorrect uniform). Some wouldn't react other than attacking but the fact that you could still tell them something was great.
  
  
• Missing NPC Routines Similarly, in the military camp there are some scripted NPC behaviours that are gone (the soldier looking for a toilet), which previously added humor and life to the setting...
  
  
• Broken NPC Routines ...while other NPC behaviours are broken just like in the original (the soldier that is afraid of you runs away from you and in the end gives you money to leave him alone... then immediately goes to his "normal" state, which is... shooting you. This was broken in LBA1 but here, it could have been fixed).

All these decisions were made because LBA is not as detailed as modern action-adventures such as Hitman, Red Dead Redemption 2, Dishonored, Kingdom Come: Deliverance. But ironically this approach ("we can't do it well, so we won't do it at all") now makes it even poorer in its mechanics.

• The Good - What drove me to the original LBA was how well it showed the oppressive world. The remake does it well, too, even more so, because the dialogues are much better. People are still afraid to help you, some betray you.
  
  The terror is expressed better (abandoned houses, destroyed in war). There's gradual descent into darkness (as it's done in LBA2 - your normal life is changed by the dictatorship without you noticing it at first) and also, the universe of LBA1 and LBA2 are made more coherent and connected - landmarks from LBA2 are retroactively and masterfully put in LBA1.
  
  
• Missed Opportunities - The surveillance machine on Citadel Island, which is similar to the flying cameras in Half-Life 2 but even more so, to the marching surveillance scene in INSIDE (where you have to do the same movements as everyone else while being watched), was not communicated well in the original LBA. It wasn't clear that it was forcing people to stop in their tracks, including you. Now this is even less clear.
  
  
• Less sexual truth - Because the game has become feminist in the most modern sense, Zoe is not a damsel in distress anymore, she's (as the trailer shows) leader of the resistance - this is perfectly okay, but guess what else? That lady that used to seduce the big clone so that you can sneak past now... doesn't, instead, this scene is replaced with something childish and unconvincing. So empowering women means denying the reality that they can use their sexual powers to solve problems. You'd think a French game wouldn't succumb to this, but here we are.
  
  
• Less mystery, more absurdity - In the old game it wasn't clear that (when getting in prison) the person slapping Twinsen is Funfrock. Now it is. I don't know how this makes any sense.

Also, there are


which, sadly, is the typical state of a modern game and modern, bloated software. Some bugs are dialogue related, others are visual, some are physical (collision / proximity to interact with something), some are broken scripted NPC events (like the ones I described above), some are even showstoppers (can't speak with a key NPC unless you're lucky).

I'll report dozens of those that I found to the team but that's not what truly matters. Let's look at the


How has the overall game changed? I'll give you just a few examples:

• Less Secrets To Unravel - The horse in White Leaf Desert / Principal Island didn't transport you anywhere in the original game, but he was there to show you the metroidvania aspect of the game - not being able to speak to animals in the beginning vs being able to. It's removed - and the game has less depth (again).
  
• Less Unique Surprises - no flowers saying "ouch" when you step on them. Another funny surprise that the player can figure out is gone. Was it too "low-tech" to stay? Fine, but nothing replaces it.
  
• Bad delivery - the NPCs that run away from you because they don't trust you could have disappeared behind a building / obstruction instead of you being able to reach them. Yes, the environment now works differently (they can't run to another "zone"), but they could go behind something, disappear and respawn later instead of the clumsy thing we have now.

I don't want to fill this section with nitpicking, so I'll just summarize with:

The main problem is that the game is less rich.

Some clunky mechanics, some things that may look ridiculous or underdeveloped, have been removed. However, a lot of depth has been removed with them, with nothing to replace it, and as a result the game feels more bland.


I bought the game three times (on GoG, Epic and Steam) to support the devs and I don't regret it. I'll probably buy it on Switch, too.
Steam doesn't provide a "meh" option, which would better represent my mixed feelings. Instead, I have to choose between thumbs up or thumbs down. I find it hard to force myself to continue playing. I also wouldn't recommend the game to friends because the moments I consider magical are botched. So I guess it's a thumbs down.

The remake is pretty, the music is wonderful, the world feels bigger, it's done with a lot of attention and effort, it's more accessible... but remakes are almost always [h2]LOST IN TRANSLATION[/h2] and this one is not an exception. [h3]Immersive Sim Illusion - Gone[/h3] The original LBA felt like an immersive sim even though it wasn't. This was misleading but felt great. The remake is more fair but but this fairness comes at the cost of a sense of richness and depth, making it feel less engaging: [list] [*] [b]No more stealth[/b] whenever you want (I understand they did this because stealth mostly didn't work in the original, but it was nice to have the illusion that you can do it). Right now, it is reduced to a few very limited, scripted events and that's it. [*] [b]You can talk to LESS guards[/b] than in the original. Talking to enemies led to funny situations where you'd ask a clone about your arrested girlfriend and he'd tell you "This is none of your business" or directly hit you in the face, or guards that tell you to calm down or literally explain what they see as wrong with you (wearing an incorrect uniform). Some wouldn't react other than attacking but the fact that you could still tell them something was great. [*] [b]Missing NPC Routines[/b] Similarly, in the military camp there are some scripted NPC behaviours that are gone (the soldier looking for a toilet), which previously added humor and life to the setting... [*] [b]Broken NPC Routines[/b] ...while other NPC behaviours are broken just like in the original (the soldier that is afraid of you runs away from you and in the end gives you money to leave him alone... then immediately goes to his "normal" state, which is... shooting you. This was broken in LBA1 but here, it could have been fixed). [/list] All these decisions were made because LBA is not as detailed as modern action-adventures such as Hitman, Red Dead Redemption 2, Dishonored, Kingdom Come: Deliverance. But ironically this approach ("we can't do it well, so we won't do it at all") now makes it even poorer in its mechanics. [h3]Atmosphere - Good And Bad[/h3] [list] [*] [b]The Good[/b] - What drove me to the original LBA was how well it showed the oppressive world. The remake does it well, too, even more so, because the dialogues are much better. People are still afraid to help you, some betray you. The terror is expressed better (abandoned houses, destroyed in war). There's gradual descent into darkness (as it's done in LBA2 - your normal life is changed by the dictatorship without you noticing it at first) and also, the universe of LBA1 and LBA2 are made more coherent and connected - landmarks from LBA2 are retroactively and masterfully put in LBA1. [*] [b]Missed Opportunities[/b] - The surveillance machine on Citadel Island, which is similar to the flying cameras in Half-Life 2 but even more so, to the marching surveillance scene in INSIDE (where you have to do the same movements as everyone else while being watched), was not communicated well in the original LBA. It wasn't clear that it was forcing people to stop in their tracks, including you. Now this is even less clear. [*] [b]Less sexual truth[/b] - Because the game has become feminist in the most modern sense, Zoe is not a damsel in distress anymore, [spoiler]she's (as the trailer shows) leader of the resistance[/spoiler] - this is perfectly okay, but guess what else? That lady that used to seduce [spoiler]the big clone so that you can sneak past[/spoiler] now... doesn't, instead, this scene is replaced with something childish and unconvincing. So empowering women means denying the reality that they can use their sexual powers to solve problems. You'd think a French game wouldn't succumb to this, but here we are. [*] [b]Less mystery, more absurdity[/b] - In the old game it wasn't clear that (when getting in prison) the person slapping Twinsen is Funfrock. Now it is. I don't know how this makes any sense. [/list] Also, there are [h3]More Bugs[/h3] which, sadly, is the typical state of a modern game and modern, bloated software. Some bugs are dialogue related, others are visual, some are physical (collision / proximity to interact with something), some are broken scripted NPC events (like the ones I described above), some are even showstoppers (can't speak with a key NPC unless you're lucky). I'll report dozens of those that I found to the team but that's not what truly matters. Let's look at the [h3]Gameplay[/h3] How has the overall game changed? I'll give you just a few examples: [list] [*] [b]Less Secrets To Unravel[/b] - The horse in White Leaf Desert / Principal Island didn't transport you anywhere in the original game, but [b]he was there to show you the metroidvania aspect of the game - not being able to speak to animals in the beginning vs being able to[/b]. It's removed - and the game has less depth (again). [*] [b]Less Unique Surprises[/b] - no flowers saying "ouch" when you step on them. Another funny surprise that the player can figure out is gone. Was it too "low-tech" to stay? Fine, but nothing replaces it. [*] [b]Bad delivery[/b] - the NPCs that run away from you because they don't trust you could have disappeared behind a building / obstruction instead of you being able to reach them. Yes, the environment now works differently (they can't run to another "zone"), but they could go behind something, disappear and respawn later instead of the clumsy thing we have now. [/list] I don't want to fill this section with nitpicking, so I'll just summarize with: [b]The main problem is that the game is less rich. Some clunky mechanics, some things that may look ridiculous or underdeveloped, have been removed. However, a lot of depth has been removed with them, with nothing to replace it, and as a result the game feels more bland.[/b] I bought the game three times (on GoG, Epic and Steam) to support the devs and I don't regret it. I'll probably buy it on Switch, too. Steam doesn't provide a "meh" option, which would better represent my mixed feelings. Instead, I have to choose between thumbs up or thumbs down. I find it hard to force myself to continue playing. I also wouldn't recommend the game to friends because the moments I consider magical are botched. So I guess it's a thumbs down.