The Future Games Show saw two new remakes announced for games from over 30 years ago, including a spooky FMV classic.
This year’s Future Games Show Spring Showcase debuted a huge stack of games over the course of a brisk 90-minute running time, including Stupid Never Dies, from the producer of Devil May Cry, and Victorian co-op horror Cordura.
Among the announcements, however, were two unexpected remakes for titles even your elders might struggle to recall.
Defender Of The Crown, originally released for the Commodore Amiga in 1986 and was a strategy game where you fight for territorial control in England during the Middle Ages. It was the first game from developer Cinemaware, who were highly influential at the time, for combining (usually quite simplistic) gameplay with what at the time were ground-breaking visuals and cinematic presentation.
The game has received the remake treatment in the past, but it’s now making another comeback in Defender Of The Crown: The Legend Returns for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
As highlighted in the trailer, this remake will span three modes. Retro mode is the original 1986 game, classic mode adds revamped visuals and new systems to the experience, while Kingdom mode serves a dice-driven roguelike take where you build decks in a procedurally generated campaign.
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Defender Of The Crown: The Legend Returns, developed by Lithuania-based studio Nordcurrent, is set to be released sometime in 2026.
This wasn’t the only obscure remake at the show. A modern version of 1993’s The 7th Guest, a spooky interactive puzzle adventure which was one of the first games to be released only on CD-ROM, is getting a ‘ground-up’ remake from developer Vertigo Games.
Much like Defender Of The Crown, The 7th Guest was celebrated at the time for its visuals, notably its use of live-action clips. Bill Gates even once described it as the ‘new standard in interactive entertainment’, so there you go.
Also like Defender Of The Crown, it wasn’t actually much fun to play (and the acting was awful) so it’s going to be interesting to see where they go with a remake.
The new game features six guests who are invited to the mansion of the mysterious Henry Stauf, as you try to solve its mysteries and find clues as to what’s going on.
Based on the trailer, the mansion, along with the cast of characters, have all been given a modern overhaul. The 7th Guest remake is set to launch across PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, and PC later this year.
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