This seems to be a semi-common occurrence with HD facelifts. The characters get more detailed but lose the ability to emote.

This is the new Fatal Frame remaster. Wii above, PS/Xbox/Switch/PC below

  • ssjmarx [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I'm guessing this happens because devs can't just import new faces on top of the old rigs, so they either have to severely limit the scope of the remaster to keep it compatible or completely re-do the face rigs which would be expensive (and the whole point of 99% of HD remasters is to make a quick buck).

    Sure would be nice if they brought in modern facial capture tech and re-recorded all the scenes with actors though.

    • save_vs_death [they/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      more often than not, the original rigs and models are lost and they remake these things from scratch, which is why they usually get more triangles in the models but half-ass the rigging

    • robot_dog_with_gun [they/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      yeah, i remember a friend who does mods for dead or alive saying that importing faces is a huge nightmare. I'd guess the old face models don't have nearly enough bones for whatever engine "improvements" have been made and doing something about that is too much dev time for a remaster cashgrab.

    • TheronGuard [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      I guess at that point you might as well remake the whole game from scratch instead of upscaling some textures, replacing character models and adding ReShade.

      I wonder if it isn't an aesthetic choice. The game after this went for a more anime doll look and it could be that's just the series' style now