Discussion Episode 1: Strategy Game Remasters

The debut episode of Critical Moves Podcast dives into the world of strategy game remasters. Are they a way to preserve classic titles, or just a quick cash grab? The hosts—Nuno, Al, Tim, and Joe—offer their takes, debating nostalgia, gameplay improvements, and whether remasters help or hurt the genre.

Al doesn’t hold back, calling most remasters lazy, while Joe and Nuno argue that some, like Command & Conquer Remastered and Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, actually improve on the originals. Tim brings up community-driven projects like OpenRA, questioning whether fan-made efforts outshine official remasters. The discussion also covers the difference between remasters and remakes, using Pharaoh: A New Era and Age of Mythology Retold as examples.

The hosts also name games they’d love to see remastered:
Battle for Middle-Earth – Joe wants a modern Helm’s Deep battle.
Dawn of War – Al thinks the original deserves a second chance.
Total Annihilation: Kingdoms – Tim argues for its unique setting.
World War II: Frontline Command – Nuno calls for a revival of this forgotten gem.

Of course, no discussion on remasters is complete without mentioning the disasters (Warcraft III: Reforged). The conversation gets heated over whether remasters stifle innovation or help keep strategy games alive.

What do you think? Are remasters a blessing or a curse for the strategy genre? Which games deserve a remaster, and which should be left in the past?

Let’s hear your thoughts!

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Amazon Music. Or find us on your preferred podcast service by searching Critical Moves Podcast.

I had the morning off work and some free time this morning, so thought why not listen to the first episode of the podcast.

I have to say, thoroughly entertaining and brought back real nostalgic feelings from my early pre-teen years when we got our first computer and I discovered lots of RTS games. Having listened to the episode and heard your discussions, I can tell I'm a bit younger than you all - I didn't get my first PC until about 2007 and so lots of these games discussed had been around for a while by then, but by far my favourite as a kid was Command & Conquer!

Listening to this episode gave me such nostalgia that I actually went ahead and downloaded Command & Conquer: Rivals on my Android phone, just so I could play a few games and see if it felt anything like the old PC version I used to play... vaguely similar, but in nowadays disappointing gamification-crappy way that most mobile apps are.

Hearing @Al's reminiscence about Rome: Total War gave me an overwhelming urge to play it, too - I never played that before and I don't have a PC capable of playing games right now (a crappy little Chromebook), but it's making me want to go out and invest a few hundred quid in a PC just to play all these old games that I missed out on!