I just beat Days Gone Remastered on PS5 Pro — and it's one of the most underrated PlayStation games

Tom's Guide

6 days ago

In a lot of ways, Days Gone is the black sheep of the PS4 library.
Released in 2019, at a time when PlayStation Studios was dropping critically acclaimed gems on the regular, it landed with a bit of a dull thud. The Bend Studio-developed open-world zombie game didn't reach the same heights as its contemporaries like God of War, The Last of Us and Ghost of Tsushima.
But Days Gone Remastered has now arrived on PS5, and represents something of a second chance for the game to find a bigger audience. While I doubt this remastering points to a full sequel (reportedly, plans for one were scrapped after the underwhelming reception of the first game), it does offer gamers who skipped Days Gone the first time a perfect excuse to see what they missed.
And if you were one of the many who glossed over the game upon its initial release, I implore you to circle back, because Days Gone Remastered really is worth experiencing.
The best way I can describe Days Gone is that it's pretty much 'Sons of Anarchy' mashed with 'The Walking Dead' in video game form. And come on, try and tell me that doesn't sound appealing!
You play a drifter named Deacon St John, who trudles around a zombie-infested Pacific Northwest, taking on bounties and trying to find out what happened to his missing wife.
Your main means of traversing the game's sizeable open-world setting is via a motorbike, and it's this inclusion that really makes Days Gone so compelling.
Your bike is essentially a roving base; you can only save when you're nearby, and you can store additional supplies in its various compartments. The bike is also upgradable. It starts barely roadworthy, but by the endgame, you have a powerful hog that purrs with ferocity.
Getting the additional reputation points required to unlock each new series of bike upgrades made me want to complete as much side content as possible.
But outside of its predictable open-world trapping — you'll find the usual assortment of bandit camps and zombie (called 'Freakers' here) nests — Days Gone's meaty main campaign is the real draw.
You get plenty of bang for your buck. Even a rushed run will take you 30 hours. If you want to see everything on offer, expect to double that playtime.
A common complaint at launch was that the story meanders in its first act. I can't counter this. The core narrative takes a while to get going, but once you unlock the second region, things start to click into gear, and the finale builds to something quite exciting. I do wish my companions would cool it with the radio calls, though, as you're constantly interrupted, which gets annoying.
Admittedly, there's a slightly generic quality to Days Gone. It's third-person action combat, which mixes stealth with melee brawls and shoot-outs, is routine, and it launched into a media landscape oversaturated with zombies.
Nevertheless, generic doesn't mean bad, and I maintain that Days Gone remains just as enjoyable to play in 2025 on PS5 as it did back in 2019 on PS4.
Perhaps the bigger question with Days Gone is whether it even needed remastering in the first place.
Sony has taken plenty of online flak in recent years for its habit of remastering titles that still hold up to a modern standard (Horizon: Zero Dawn Remastered is the most egregious example).
Days Gone probably falls into the category of games where a remastering was largely unnecessary. While it was a native PS4 release, it was fully playable on PS5 via backwards compatibility, and its original visuals hold up extremely well. Plus, it already received a free update that enabled the game to run at a smooth 60 fps on the PS5 console.
The Remastered edition does at least add a small smattering of additional content, including a permadeath option and new mode called Horde Assault (though to be honest, the battles with vast hordes of zombies never quite appealed to be in the base game). It also beefs up the game's accessibility settings (always a good thing) and adds full DualSense controller support.
If you're playing on PS5 Pro, the remaster adds a new visual mode and takes advantage of the premium console's PSSR capabilities. So while I doubt many players were crying out for the remaster, it's now the definitive way to play the game, and it gave me an excuse to return to a title that had been in 'I really need to replay this' backlog for more than five years. Which is enough for me.
I'll also give Sony credit for creating an upgrade path for pre-existing owners of the original. If you already own Days Gone on PS4, you can upgrade to the Remastered edition for just $10, which feels like a pretty reasonable price point for the extra bells and whistles.
Whether you're returning to the broken road or you've never driven down these apocalyptic streets before, I encourage you to give Days Gone Remastered a shot. Who knows, perhaps if this remastering sparks enough renewed interest in the IP, we'll get that sequel after all. I certainly hope so.