Forgotten PlayStation classic is being remade, and it looks better than ever

There's an argument to be made that there are entirely too many remakes and remasters out there these days.

Certainly, I think we can agree are plenty of remasters that do very little to justify their existence. I'm looking at you, Grand Theft Auto Trilogy. But every now and then something comes along that reminds us a fresh coat of paint can make all the difference in the world.

You may not be entirely familiar with the Broken Sword series of point-and-click adventures, depending on how old you are. The first game, Broken Sword: The Shadow Of The Templars, came out all the way back in 1996.

I was just three years old at the time, and so more or less unable to get to grips with the nuances of a point-and-click puzzle adventure. But I've since learned The Shadow Of The Templars is regarded as an absolute classic of the genre, a blend of Monkey Island and Uncharted long before Nathan Drake was ever a thing.

While I don't have a particular affinity or connection with the original game, after a brief hands-on with the upcoming remake Broken Sword - Shadow of the Templars: Reforged, I'm pretty confident the Broken Sword series has found a new fan in me.

The first thing I noticed while playing through the game on a Steam Deck is that Reforged is absolute gorgeous. Every scene and frame of animation has been completely redrawn and reworked from the ground up, giving us a much better view of the world's stunning architecture and Disney-esque character designs.

Shadows and lighting have been completely reworked, giving scenes a much more dynamic feel, while also serving to make it much clearer what you can and can't interact with at any given location - a must for a point-and-click game. And as a fun bonus, purists can switch back to the original graphical style at any time with the push of a button, similar to the classic Halo games in The Master Chief Collection.

Broken Sword co-creator and managing director of Revolution Software Charles Cecil explained to me it was important to include the original visuals, as well as make sure that the game's puzzles - however obtuse one or two of them may be - remain exactly as they are.

One such example is the infamous Goat Puzzle, a brain teaser Cecil gleefully informed me actually has its own Wikipedia page. Despite being the bane of many a gamers' life back in 1996, this bizarre and hard-to-solve puzzle remains in Reforged exactly as it was. I have to respect that commitment.

It's also worth noting that Reforged doesn't have a traditional hint system because Cecil and the team decided this could lead players to simply hitting that metaphorical panic button every chance they get. Instead, the game will gently and gradually guide you in the right direction by doing things like highlighting objects of import, just to keep you on the correct path.

Broken Sword - Shadow of the Templars: Reforged is aiming for a 2024 release, and based on what I've what I seen it could be on the better remakes of the last few years. Faithful, but willing to make smart changes where necessary, I'd be surprised if this didn't pick up scores of brand-new fans alongside returning veterans.

Topics: PlayStation, Steam, PC