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In the era of remakes, developers have come under fire time and again for rehashing classic titles instead of pioneering new ideas. However, taking a beloved game from a different era and reimagining it for modern audiences is no small undertaking. Devs have to preserve everything that was amazing about the original story and gameplay, while polishing areas that might have been held back by the technology and capabilities of the time.At GDC 2025, Anna Oporska-Szybisz, senior level designer at Bloober Team, gave us the inside look at what is required to take an already beloved game and catapult it to new heights, discussing the difficulties faced when building levels on Silent Hill 2 Remake. As a die-hard fan of the 2001 hit, the weight was heavy on her shoulders as she set out to rebuild a place treasured by horror fans around the world.Managing fan expectations around classic gamesOporska-Szybisz started the breakdown with a surprising point: fan theories. One of the hardest things developers face when remaking games as popular as Silent Hill 2 is the relationship players have built with the story. She stated that remembering is caring, admitting that developers do look at the theories players share online, taking those perceptions into account when restructuring the story.Related:This sensitivity to the player isnt a small undertaking, as everyone who played the original game took something unique away from James story. When building a new title, devs dont juggle as many preconceived notions of what the narrative or mechanics will deliver. In a remake, however, every element is an equation, one part innovation, two parts nostalgia. If not balanced correctly, the remakes story might be unrecognizable or fail to resonate with longtime fans of the series.Oporska-Szybisz specifically had to tackle this when redesigning the Labyrinth level of Silent Hill 2 Remake. The notoriously difficult maze of puzzles and boss battles stumped many players in 2001, including Oporska-Szybisz, and she wanted to make it better without losing the iconic and nostalgic elements of one of the games final challenges.Dont fix what isnt brokenOporska-Szybisz broke down the process of reimagining the Labyrinth, and laid out the three rules she uses to approach the rebuilding of a remake level. Good Enough describes elements of a game that dont have issues. If its not broken, there isnt any reason to scrap it and start over. She explained that they try not to overdo things that only need small adjustments.Related:The almost enough bracket covers elements that almost hit the mark, but maybe didnt have the polish they needed. Silent Hill 2 has several puzzles that were aggressive and innovative for the time, but lacked some of the quality-of-life mechanics that are available today. These puzzles, maps, perspectives, and visuals are perfect candidates for a bit of reworking.The not enough bracket encompasses mechanics that were held back or poorly balanced in the original. In this category, Oporska-Szybisz specifically calls out the cube puzzles in Silent Hill 2 that manipulates the perspective of a room with very few clues to help the player through the puzzles requirements. The goal was to fully reimagine this puzzle to make it intuitive and approachable.She mentioned one of the biggest hurdles in remaking games is that its tempting to change a lot to make it 'better' but its often best to find a middle ground, when reworking elements in remakes. The original game was loved for a reason, and too much of an overhaul can actually hurt the game, not bolster it.An iconic level remasteredUsing all the criteria she had broken down, Oporska-Szybisz then jumped into the painstaking process of what it takes to remake a well-known game level. The Labyrinth in Silent Hill 2 was an infuriating combination of difficult puzzles and impossible navigation. When I first played it, I became so turned around that I put the game down for months. James hand-drawn map was early-00s fog-of-war in the worst way. All the corridors looked the same, all the rooms were the same color, and it became a hazy blur to navigate.Related:Oporska-Szybisz saw these problems in her playthrough and decided to go back to the foundations of what a Labyrinth can be. She looked to the classic Greek myths surrounding Theseus and his journey through the Labyrinth. She realized that the remake could rebuild this location with the same hints, using the setting to tell a story rather than just challenge the player.The team split the once one-note level into three areas: Rotten, Desolated, and Ruined. Each is distinctive in color, offered different enemies, and required different strategies to navigate. They were also a depiction of the stages of James grief, literally leading him through the maze inside his own head.Oporska-Szybisz's team took something that had once left controllers thrown on a sofa and turned it into a beautiful piece of symbolic storytelling. They also took care to preserve elements of nostalgia from the original Labyrinth, like Pyramid Heads cameo and most of the well-known puzzle rooms.Remakes arent easyOporska-Szybiszs breakdown of the level-rebuilding process in Silent Hill 2 Remake offers a unique look at the complexities of breathing new life into classic stories. If done correctly, long-time fans can enjoy a world that they loved with modern niceties, while new fans can join in on a world they might not otherwise have the chance to experience.Remakes are often the key to accessing titles that have been lost thanks to lacking or poor-quality ports. Devs may have to scrap and rebuild a remake concept multiple times to balance that "good enough" space Oporska-Szybisz spoke of. What is the right amount of symbolism without throwing it in your face?, she asked as she explained the difficult process of injecting inspiration into level elements, how do you keep the glimpses of the past while offering something fresh and exciting?Its hard work, but the art of it is vital in preserving titles we love and passing them on to new generations of players.
