Sony seems to be continuing their long-running trend of working on remasters for games that probably (almost certainly) don't need to be remastered. The latest seems to be Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, which was recently rated by the ESRB for both PlayStation 5 and PC.
The ESRB page for Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered (still live at the time of posting), does not really provide any information on what is really "remastered" about the game. The original Horizon Zero Dawn was released for PlayStation 4 in February 2017. The PC release of the game came out in August 2020.
Rating Summary
This is an action/role-playing game in which players assume the role of a hunter (Aloy) surviving through a post-apocalyptic world. Players guide Aloy as she learns to hunt robotic creatures and animals in the wild. Aloy uses arrows, spears, and explosive traps to injure and kill machines, boar, and occasional human enemies. Animals and humans emit small puffs of red blood when struck; one sequence depicts an abandoned camp with large blood stains on rocks and trees. The game contains a brief reference to sexual material (e.g., “Eighteen months hard labor in exchange for thirty years lounging around Elysium watching porn?”). In text/audio files, characters sometimes reference fictional drugs, overdoses, and getting high: “...not even out of junior high and already a drug addict”; “...I ran across a pusher who was selling Razorwing for eight bucks a tab”; "I'd spend a few days getting high, then OD on Overcast." The word “sh*t” appears in the text/dialogue.
This is an action/role-playing game in which players assume the role of a hunter (Aloy) surviving through a post-apocalyptic world. Players guide Aloy as she learns to hunt robotic creatures and animals in the wild. Aloy uses arrows, spears, and explosive traps to injure and kill machines, boar, and occasional human enemies. Animals and humans emit small puffs of red blood when struck; one sequence depicts an abandoned camp with large blood stains on rocks and trees. The game contains a brief reference to sexual material (e.g., “Eighteen months hard labor in exchange for thirty years lounging around Elysium watching porn?”). In text/audio files, characters sometimes reference fictional drugs, overdoses, and getting high: “...not even out of junior high and already a drug addict”; “...I ran across a pusher who was selling Razorwing for eight bucks a tab”; "I'd spend a few days getting high, then OD on Overcast." The word “sh*t” appears in the text/dialogue.
While details on the remaster are nonexistent so far, it is speculated that Sony is readying this remaster to be included alongside the launch of the PlayStation 5 Pro. The assumption being that Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered will utilize some of the upgraded Decima engine features used in 2022's Horizon Forbidden West, along with a 60FPS 4K option.
It is also possible that additional content may be added to Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. Another controversial "remaster" from Sony, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered, added in an entire roguelike survival mode, scrapped but playable levels, and several other gameplay additions in addition to the slightly upgraded visuals.
