Can *The Last of Us* Remaster, Criticized as It Is, Be Saved by Diablo 4’s Free Trial?

The news tonight isn’t complicated. Remakes, leaks, releases, free giveaways—the core all points to one thing: old IPs are still carrying the show.

First, The Last of Us. Original combat designer Benson Russell publicly criticized Naughty Dog’s remake approach. The issue isn’t the HD upgrade itself, but that after reworking combat encounters with The Last of Us Part II’s technical framework, large parts of the original scripting, spawn points, and combat logic were replaced. That criticism carries weight, because he spent eight years at Naughty Dog and only left in 2015. Once a remake stops being a layer over the original and becomes a replacement version, controversy is inevitable. Are players paying for an upgrade, or for a “rewriting of history”? Those are not the same thing, and they shouldn’t be sold as if they are.

Falcom’s side is even more straightforward. The full remake of The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC, Trails in the Sky the 2nd, is set for a global release on September 17. Veteran JRPG players will be watching closely, because what this kind of game fears most is a facelift that refreshes the surface but leaves pacing and system details untouched. If you’re a longtime fan of the series, it may be best to wait for the first round of gameplay footage and reviews before deciding; if you’ve never played the original, a full remake is actually the easiest point of entry.

Mafia is also picking up speed. Foreign media report that Hangar 13 is simultaneously working on a remake of Mafia 2 and the sequel Mafia: Homeland, with clues including the team recently being spotted recording weapon sound effects for Mafia 2. The signal is already quite clear—at the very least, it shows the project is more than just talk on paper. Take-Two executives had previously also publicly affirmed the commercial performance of Mafia: Homeland. If this so-called “soft reboot” can continue to materialize, then the series will truly have a new lease on life.

The approach for the Chinese mainland server of Diablo IV is more pragmatic. Officially, the base game will be available to claim for free from April 28 to May 27, 2026, but it will not include any DLC. During Season 13, after the launch of the second DLC, Lord of Hatred, both new and returning players can obtain the Paladin mythic-themed skin “Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden” as long as they create a new seasonal character and level it to max. It’s a very standard strategy: first use the free base game to bring players in, then use seasons and cosmetics to keep them around. The key question is whether the following seasonal content can hold up against player fatigue.

Finally, Forza Horizon 6. Ris Elliot of analytics firm Alinea Analytics said that on pre-orders alone, the game has already sold 500,000 copies on Steam, generating more than $30 million in revenue on Valve’s platform a month before its official release. This result says two things. First, open-world racing still has a solid, stable market. Second, the brand’s pull is stronger than many people think. For players still on the fence, there’s usually no need to rush in at launch with games like this—waiting for optimization feedback and the first promotional discount is often the better deal.

Taken together, these five pieces of news make it very clear what the industry is selling right now. It’s selling the certainty of old IPs, the memories of longtime players, and the easiest possible entry path for newcomers. The problem is just as clear: remakes can be better, but don’t erase the original’s sense of existence in the process.