The Wolf Among Us Remastered does a great job of reminding us how great Telltale Games once were, serving as a great testament to the immense creativity of the studio at its peak. While the team’s heyday may have long passed, this glorious revisit to Fabletown takes you right back to those golden years of the developer.
Strictly speaking, this version of Telltale Games is not exactly the original incarnation making a triumphant return from the ashes. For context, the OG version of Telltale shut down in 2018 and a year later LCG Entertainment purchased a selection of the defunct studio’s IP and assets.
“This version of Telltale Games is not exactly the original incarnation making a triumphant return from the ashes.”
The first game released by this new version of Telltale was Batman: The Telltale Series and then The Expanse in 2023. However, this being the team’s sophomore effort holds an extra layer of relevance. When Telltale 2.0 announced that it was remastering The Wolf Among Us, the question was asked whether this new and improved iteration of the studio could do justice to the modern classic that is The Wolf Among Us. Thankfully, it has managed to pull it off.
This remaster honours the core elements of the original game, by preserving its story and directorial choices while giving its world a stunning visual overhaul and adding a wealth of extra content for fans.
These choices make this more than a simple upscale of an older game, with meaningful improvements having been made to its presentation, as well as plenty of other reasons for returning players to revisit Fabletown.
If you have never experienced this tale of fairy-tale characters living in a grimy version of 1980s New York, this remaster should now be considered as the definitive way to do so.
The most immediately noticeable improvement is the upgrade to the game’s visual presentation. Rather than simply increasing the resolution of the original assets, the development team approached this remaster almost as though it was building the game again from the ground up.
This makes it feel closer to a full remake in places as opposed to a basic remaster. Every character was recreated from scratch as a high-resolution model, allowing the team to make improvements that a straightforward upscale could never come close to achieving.
While playing, the difference is noticeable almost immediately, particularly in the hair and the graphical fidelity of the characters’ faces and bodies. Buffkin is a great example of this. You can now make out every feather on his body in wonderfully crisp detail, giving the character a level of definition that simply wasn’t possible in the original release.
Importantly, these improvements never get in the way of the original game’s distinctive art direction. This isn’t a redesign, nor does it attempt to reinvent the visual identity that made the game so iconic in the first place. Bigby, Snow, and the rest of the cast still appear exactly as you remember them, only with a lot more detail.
The environments have received a similar visual upgrade, with new models and textures applied throughout. The streets of Manhattan and its rundown apartments now come with additional props that help breathe life into these locations, making Fabletown feel like a more tangible place to explore.
Some areas have received more substantial changes like The Woodlands apartments, which now have a more Victorian, turn-of-the-century aesthetic to them. This helps to create an even sharper contrast between the otherworldly nature of the building and the mundane, urban streets surrounding it.
“Some areas have received more substantial changes like The Woodlands apartments”
This makes the connection between the location and the old world from which the Fables originated even clearer, which in turn reinforces the narrative idea that these characters are trying to adjust to living in a place that doesn’t belong to them.
Animations have also been improved to make character movement feel less stiff, while various gameplay bugs have been remedied too. There are still a few minor instances of extremely brief pop-in, but compared to the pop in seen in the original, this is a huge improvement and was never distracting enough to break my immersion. I also didn’t experience any hard crashes throughout my playthrough, making for a technically sound experience overall.
The audio has been remastered, too. Both the film-noir musical score and the voice acting have been rebalanced to sound crisper and clearer than ever. These changes may be slightly less obvious than the improved character models, but the improved audio contributes to a more polished presentation overall, adding to the suspenseful atmosphere that made the original so effective.
Beyond the visual and audio improvements, there is another huge draw for returning fans. This remaster includes a plethora of additional content that offers a fascinating look at the creative process behind one of Telltale’s most beloved adventures.
A black-and-white mode adds a filter that fits the film-noir sources that The Wolf Among Us pulls from. The original’s neon-noir aesthetic remains enabled by default, and it still looks fantastic, but the monochrome presentation gives the story a fun visual alternative to those who have previously experienced this twisted fable multiple times before.
Also included with the remaster are five playable deleted scenes. These offer an interactive glimpse into some of the creative decisions that shaped the narrative of the original game, showing players some of the material that was considered and developed before ultimately being left on the cutting-room floor.
My favourite of these is an alternate ending to the Anderson Street scene, in which Bigby must cover up a crime and convince the police that nothing happened. It’s a completely different take on the original sequence, and being able to play through it is pretty fascinating.
For the truly hardcore fans, the remaster also includes over an hour of behind-the-scenes interviews with members of the development team and cast. These cover the making of both the original game and the remaster and offer a great insight into what went into bringing Fabletown to life.
Rounding out the package is an extensive art gallery featuring more than 100 images from the original game and the remaster. This gallery offers a glimpse at ideas and assets that were planned and developed but never actually made it into the finished game, which are fascinating to see for long-time fans.
“Beyond the visual and audio improvements, there is another huge draw for returning fans.”
Taken together, these extras make The Wolf Among Us Remastered feel like a real celebration of the original game. They also add considerable value to the overall package for those who want to spend more time in this world.
The most important thing about a remaster is whether it gives players a compelling reason to revisit an older game. Thankfully The Wolf Among Us Remastered does, and not just based on the strength of the original release.
The appeal of The Wolf Among Us will always remain rooted in the same things that made it stand out in the first place, with its distinctive interpretation of familiar fairy-tale characters and its grim, neon-soaked take on New York.
Those looking for an entirely new adventure won’t find one here. The central experience remains the same, and the additional scenes, interviews and gallery are supplements to the original game rather than a replacement for it.
However, that’s precisely what makes this remaster work. Telltale has recognised that the original doesn’t need to be torn apart and rebuilt from scratch. It instead smartly made the decision to preserve what worked the first time around and presents it in the best possible light.
The Wolf Among Us Remastered feels like a true labour of love. The improved character models, refreshed environments, remastered audio and technical fixes all help bring Telltale’s classic adventure to a new generation, while things like noir mode, deleted scenes, interviews and art gallery make this a robust package for returning fans.
If you’ve never played The Wolf Among Us, this is the version to get. And if you’ve already spent time with Bigby and the residents of Fabletown, there is plenty within this remaster to make another visit worth your while.
This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.
