izigame.me

If there was an option somewhere in between "recommend" and "do not recommend", I'd probably have chosen that... but I also only paid $10 for this thing, so maybe I'm more inclined to go easy on it. It's absolutely not worth the full price, and I'm kind of on the fence as to whether or not it's even worth the $10.
THE GOOD:
- The updated graphics look very nice for the most part, and make the environments feel more vibrant. While the visuals in the original are perfectly fine, I did often find myself wishing they had a little more "oomph", which this version provides. I've seen people complain that it's over-saturated, but personally I prefer the richer, more dramatic colors and lighting.
- There are also small changes to the environments themselves beyond just visual effects- there's more foliage, some of the structures (rocks, buildings, etc) have been tweaked, and there are added objects in the environment to make the world feel a bit more immersive, like piles of firewood stacked at the edge of campsites or red algae growing on the wreckage of a crashed spaceship.
- The level cap has been raised to 99, which is a bit much considering the game was originally meant to be beat at level 30-36, but it does eliminate a somewhat frustrating aspect of the original where certain skill checks (particularly the ones required to get the "best" endings of each DLC) were so high that you'd either have to pour a bunch of points into those specific skills in preparation for only a handful of late-game skill checks (while 90% of the other checks in the game could be cleared at much lower skill levels) or pay a hefty fee to re-spec your character. It also makes it easier to become overpowered, sure, but that happened anyway even back when the level cap was 30 because it was never a particularly challenging game to begin with.
THE BAD:
- Performance, performance, performance. While my copy isn't suffering quite as badly from performance issues as some others (possibly because I got it after the patch) when I first booted up the game there was serious stuttering, lag and other performance issues. It got a bit better after I exited and re-opened the game, but there's still some noticeable stuttering, flickering, minor visual glitches and texture pop-in when reloading saves. Load times are also noticeably longer than they were in the original, where I can run all settings at max with zero issues. Also worth noting that I haven't gotten past the starting area yet, and I've seen people say that the performance issues get worse in later areas, so it's possible that the relatively minor issues I'm currently experiencing are just the beginning.
- While I prefer the new graphics overall, the lighting in interior zones (towns, buildings, etc that require a load screen to enter) seems a lot darker than the original for no apparent reason. This is especially obvious with NPCs- some of the characters whose faces were previously illuminated by the warm orange glow of whatever light source they were standing near are now cast in shadow, as if the light bulbs in their shops and homes are no more luminescent than those glow-in-the-dark stars you put on the ceiling of a kid's bedroom.
- Despite the player's level cap being raised to 99, enemies and items appear to still be capped at around 30. EXP gain also appears to be unchanged, meaning the average player will likely only get a handful of extra levels higher than the previous cap by the endgame, unless they mindlessly grind for dozens of hours.
In summary, this is NOT a complete trash fire with zero redeeming qualities, at least after the patch. If you've got the original game and its DLCs and are curious about the remaster, ten bucks isn't bad- especially since the issues become apparent very early on, so if you're unable or unwilling to tolerate them you'll probably know before you've exceeded the time limit for refunds. Otherwise, though, just play the original or wait to see if they release another patch that properly fixes this thing, because it's certainly not worth $40+.