"In a time long ago, there lived in the kingdom of Gallowmere a sorcerer named Zarok. This arrogant, pitiless man hated his fellow citizens for their simple and peaceful ways, so he raised an army of demons and set out to take the realm for his own. The King's champion, Sir Daniel Fortesque, led the militia in the battle against this unholy horde."
--Narrator, MediEvil
The 2019 MediEvil remake for the PS4 mirrors what happened with the PS4 Ratchet and Clank remake: an older PlayStation classic was given modern graphics and updated for what was then the latest PlayStation home console. A complete single player game with no multiplayer components, it is a full experience that needs no DLC and portrays a very promising world, but it is very distinctively limited by some holdovers from an era where games might more frequently have technical limitations like horrifically ineffective or rigid cameras. The difficulty it does have is more artificial and related to the combat, just not in a clever or helpful way. There is not even a lock-on mechanic! Issues like this have no excuse in a 2019 game running on the PS4 no matter how faithfully the game is supposed to imitate the original PS1 release, if this was indeed a problem with that game as well.
Production Values
Strong overall graphics and voice acting help lift MediEvil up higher than it would otherwise be, but the written text that is seen as the narrator reads from optional books scattered about the land has multiple punctuation errors. Even worse, the game slowed down or locked up entirely at random times. Very little was happening onscreen to make it suddenly slow as if this was an online game played with a terrible internet connection. Yet, in the asylum level where far more enemies than usual are onscreen and try to attack you all at once, there was not a hint of performance issues to be found. The world of Gallowmere has plenty of aesthetic character with a very consistent and fitting art style. What this PS4 remake needed on the performance and visual end was not better graphics, but the ability to run more smoothly, though control and camera issues at times also hinder the player's exploration and experience, as I will now dive into.
Gameplay
No lock-on camera for fights, a camera that is sometimes fixed so close or far off of what one is trying to look at, no map except the world map between levels, and no damn checkpoints (you have to fully restart a level up on death, including deaths that come about because of the problematic camera) conspire to seriously hold this remake back. The gameplay is thankfully very solid apart from where it is imparied by these fairly idiotic aspects. MediEvil's gameplay is a mixture of platforming, exploration, puzzles, and combat, which at its best can be a celebration of an older style of game while showing the uniqueness of this franchise that had been dead as long as Sir Fortesque (alright, not quite as long). You collect treasure to spend on replenishing special abilities or ammunition for certain weapons, find runes to unlock mandatory pathways, and can eventually wield quite the armory: multiple swords, an axe, a hammer, disposable clubs, various bows, throwing knives, and even Sir Fortesque's own arm that he can detach and strike enemies with.
Killing enough enemies with souls fills a chalice meter and unlocks access to a new weapon in a Hall of Heroes that is accessible after each level is completed. There is one weapon or bonus the player can receive for each level, and these chapters can be replayed either to obtain missed chalices and other bonuses, amass more gold, or to simply refill your health--it does not get replenished at the start of each level. It is always ideal to play a short, early level, perhaps just the very first one (Dan's Crypt) because it involves no combat and can be used to find two energy vials. Thanks to this and the inability to dodge enemy attacks, which is in turn thanks to the lack of a lock-on feature or strafing, boss fights can leave Sir Fortesque especially in need of revisiting an older level to regain health before moving on to the next uncompleted chapter.
Story
Some spoilers are below.
Stories tell of how Sir Daniel Fortesque defeated the sorcerer Zarok before succumbing to devastating wounds years ago when Zarok threatened the land of Gallowmere--but he never actually even fought the wizard. Fortesque was shot in the skull through one of his eyes before he could even finish charging his opponent. The sorcerer was eventually defeated without Sir Daniel, but he returns 100 years later to bring about the evernight and possess the peaceful citizens he looks down on. As this occurs, Sir Fortesque is unexpectedly resurrected by the sorcerer's power, becoming Gallowmere's primary option for deliverance to the frustration of some other warrior spirits.
Intellectual Content
The story and characters and philosophical themes are minimal enough that there is no serious strength here other than that of the art, settings, and some of the gameplay. Yes, there are puzzles, yet few that are more elaborate than the most basic ones. One of the best puzzle levels has a garden maze where Sir Fortesque has to navigate the serpentine area to solve four riddles. Other levels can have their smaller mandatory or optional puzzles that, if they do not allow progression in the story, will give Sir Fortesque special items that might or might not end up being vital much later in the story, just not crucial to beating the level and unlocking the next one. A better version of this game would have had more of a story and put more weight in Sir Fortesque overcoming his reputation or examined whether his incompetent reputation is wholly deserved, but there are mild streaks of other kinds of intellectual embers here. Next to other hack-and-slash games, MediEvil is not Legend of Zelda with its puzzles and is not Darksiders or God of War with its themes. As long as no one expects something else, there is still appreciation to be experienced.
Conclusion
On an aesthetic level, the 2019 MediEvil is a stellar example of how to update an old, iconic game for a current console generation. The integrity of the visuals is not the problem here. What is asinine is that the developers actually tried to give the visuals of a 2019 PS4 game with the gratuitously restrictive, haphazard camera and ombat mechanics of a much older title. In this way, MediEvil merges some of the heights of modern games with the severe limitations of another type of game, and the contrast is not exactly something that makes MediEvil reach its full potential. The 2016 Ratchet and Clank remake for the PS4 is a far better way to more holistically update almost everything while still honoring the game that is being presented to the public once again in new skin. While a remake of MediEvil 2 could be generally excellent if these issues are not carried forward, it would be a fatal blunder to ever make a game striving to be modern with these same design errors ever again.
Content:
1. Violence: Very non-graphic violence isis part of the game as Sir Fortesque uses bows, swords, and even his own arm as weapons to fight off enemies like zombies and demons.
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