As far as I can tell, no one has taken anything away from you.
These developers were modding before. They weren't writing new games.
And based on the quality of many new releases and IP, I'd say that bringing the best of these old franchises to a new audience is great. Not all new games are great. Did you enjoy
Forspoken?
Wo Long?
Redfall?
Gollum?
Shakespeare is still performed on stage. People still sit in concert halls to listen to Bach. Wagner Ring cycles take place every year at multiple venues across the globe. You can watch restored versions of Hitchcock movies,
Casablanca, etc.
Heck, your comment is almost ironic since your TPU avatar features a video game character from 2001. Would you play a remastered version of
Max Payne?
Remember that
Max Payne doesn't run flawless on modern systems (hardware and software) as documented at PCGamingWiki:
www.pcgamingwiki.com
A remaster would clean up much of these issues and make it easier for newcomers to install and run the game without employing a bunch of workarounds.
And remember that people are playing on different hardware in 2023 than they did in 2001. A game like
Max Payne was designed for CRT monitors at much lower resolutions, lower refresh rates, and limited color range. On a modern 4K LCD or OLED monitor, those textures look terrible and the low-polygon count models look very primitive.
Sound design has also progressed. Today's gaming gear features 3D spatial audio, something not widespread twenty years ago.
That grainy, blotchy VHS tape of Sir John Gielgud playing
Hamlet simply doesn't cut for some today, including some who might have watched him live on stage.
