Sony and Bend Studio’sDays Gonewas an outlier in the company’s first-party offerings when it originally released. Suffering from technical issues and coming across as a formulaic open-world game at a time when the cracks in the genre’s foundations were beginning to show,Days Gonefailed to achieve the same kind of critical praise that had become part and parcel for Sony’s first-party titles. But through the strength of its gameplay and story,Days Goneachieved a bit of cult classic status, which was only enhanced by the game’s place as one of the early PlayStation-exclusive PC ports. With the arrival ofDays Gone Remastered, though, this underrated PS4 title is finally getting the second shot that longtime fans felt it deserved.
The most obvious improvements thatDays Gone Remasteredmakes over the original are its noticeable visual uplift and stable performance, but there’s more to it than that. Beyond the surface-level polish thatDays Gone Remasteredprovides, its arrival sees it delivering what could only be described as the definitive edition of a once-overlooked hidden gem in the PlayStation catalog, complete with all the post-launch contentBend Studiohas supported the title with throughout the years and a brand-new game mode that shows off how impressive its enemy tech is.Days Gone Remasteredgives the original something most games never get — another chance to make a good first impression.
Days Gone Remastered’s Gameplay Still Feels Fresh in 2025
Almost paradoxically, what felt somewhat old-hat at the time of the originalDays Gone’s release now feels fresh in comparison just 6 years later. For context, whenDays Gonefirst arrived in 2019, the title was just one of several open-world action games and had the unenviable position of releasing not just hot on the heels of massive hits likeMarvel’s Spider-ManandRed Dead Redemption 2, but also in the wake ofThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s paradigm-shiftingopen-world game design. But thanks to some aspects unique toDays Gone’s gameplay,Days Gone Remasteredfeels at once familiar and forward-thinking in 2025.
One of the few open-world games of its time to lean heavily into survival and crafting elements,Days Gonewas at the cutting edge of a veritable gold rush for thesandbox survivalgenre throughout the 2020s, and playingDays Gone Remasteredis a reminder of how well the game blends a more traditional narrative-driven action-adventure game with an open-world survival game. Together with the plethora of gameplay modes that are available as part of theDays Gone Remasteredpackage, the only limits making the game’s campaign feel too familiar are the ones enforced by the player. Combat and traversal inDays Gone Remasteredare as satisfying as they’ve ever been, and they’re supported by an impressive amount of gameplay and difficulty modifiers that help customize the experience.
The Improvements to Days Gone Remastered Make Good on the Original’s Premise
To its credit, Bend Studio continued to support and update the originalDays Gonelong after its initial release, eventually bringing the game to a technical state of polish more in line with what most players would expect from afirst-party Sony game.Days Gone’s PC port would also be another win for the property that helped it achieve a brand-new audience it wouldn’t have otherwise attained. Both of these post-launch improvements now come together inDays Gone Remastered, ushering in a triumphant return to console for the title that sees it look and play better than ever before, complete with a slew of new content, modes, and balance tweaks that make it the definitive version of an underrated hidden gem of the 8th console generation.
Between the original player base on PS4 and the reported 1.7 million units of the title sold on Steam,Days Gonehad a clear cult following before therelease ofDays Gone Remastered, which sees it positioned to make an even bigger impact a second time around. And withDays Gone Remasteredpresenting what’s arguably the best version of the game released thus far, players are getting to experience the title in a way that more closely aligns with what its original fans and developers already saw in it.
