Days Gone Remastered 2025 - Full Play Through - Part 6

#ps5 #daysgone #gaming Days Gone Remastered on the PlayStation 5, released April 25, 2025, is a polished revival of Bend Studio’s 2019 open-world action-adventure game, offering a definitive way to experience this cult classic. Originally met with mixed reviews due to technical issues and a slow narrative, the remaster leverages PS5 hardware to enhance visuals, performance, and immersion, while introducing new modes to boost replayability. Here’s a breakdown of its strengths and weaknesses, based on critical reception and gameplay details. Gameplay and Core Experience You play as Deacon St. John, a former outlaw biker navigating a post-apocalyptic Oregon ravaged by a pandemic that turned millions into "Freakers"—feral, zombie-like creatures. The gameplay blends open-world exploration, survival horror, and action, with a heavy emphasis on Deacon’s motorcycle for traversal. Managing fuel and repairs adds a layer of tension, making the bike a lifeline rather than just transport. Combat is satisfying, mixing stealth, ranged shooting, and melee, with crafting systems that feel intuitive. The standout feature remains the Freaker hordes—massive, dynamic groups of up to 500 enemies that create exhilarating, terrifying encounters requiring strategy and quick thinking. These moments shine brighter on PS5, with smoother performance and larger horde sizes in the new Horde Assault mode. The new Horde Assault mode is a highlight, dropping players into intense survival scenarios against escalating waves of Freakers and other enemies like human survivors. It offers multiple playable characters (including Deacon, Sarah, and Boozer), unlockable cosmetics, and "Injectors" that modify gameplay for score bonuses, adding significant replay value. Additional modes like Permadeath and Speedrun cater to hardcore players, while accessibility options—such as High Contrast mode, Game Speed adjustment, UI Narration, and Controller Remapping—make the game more inclusive. Story and Pacing The narrative follows Deacon’s search for his presumed-dead wife, Sarah, while grappling with loss, loyalty, and survival. The story is expansive, with a 30-60 hour campaign, but pacing issues persist. The opening hours are slow, with disjointed cutscenes and unclear character motivations, which can make early engagement tough. While the plot gains traction later, especially in moments tied to Deacon, Sarah, and the mysterious NERO organization, the villains feel generic, and the story lacks the emotional depth of PlayStation’s top-tier exclusives like The Last of Us. Some players find the narrative compelling, but others see it as a weak point compared to the gameplay. Technical and Visual Upgrades On PS5, Days Gone Remastered offers significant improvements over the PS4 original. It runs at a consistent 60fps in Performance Mode (1440p) or 30fps in Quality Mode (4K), with PS5 Pro adding an Enhanced Mode (1584p upscaled to 4K via PSSR, targeting 60fps). Visual enhancements include improved graphical fidelity, increased foliage draw distance, better shadows, and a revamped lighting system using a 16-band spectral model for more realistic night scenes and dramatic cutscenes. The DualSense controller’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers enhance immersion, particularly when riding the bike over varied terrain or firing weapons, though some find the triggers jarring during long rides. Minor visual artifacts, like halos around characters or noise in volumetric lighting, exist but don’t detract significantly. The game also supports save transfers from PS4, reduced loading times, Tempest 3D Audio, and an Enhanced Photo Mode with time-of-day settings and a three-point lighting system. These upgrades make Oregon’s lush forests, snowy mountains, and abandoned towns more striking, though the visual leap isn’t as drastic as some remasters (e.g., Oblivion). However, some criticize the lack of a physical release and the absence of an upgrade path for PS Plus owners, forcing them to pay full price. The story’s repetition and dated elements also draw mixed reactions, with some feeling it hasn’t aged as well as competitors. Days Gone Remastered is the best way to experience Bend Studio’s ambitious zombie epic, especially for newcomers or fans craving more horde-slaying action. The PS5’s power smooths out the original’s rough edges, and Horde Assault adds fresh, chaotic fun. However, the slow story and familiar open-world tropes may not win over everyone, and the digital-only release frustrates physical media fans. If you love survival horror or open-world games, it’s a compelling ride worth taking, especially at the upgrade price.