Despite various artistic differences compared to original compositions, let's say the "problem" with most orchestrated remakes is that they use sound libraries instead of real orchestra.
No one has that big budget for fan made projects to hire an orchestra (although it's amazing that now we don't have to).
And here I'd compare e.g. to well-made soundtracks recorded for Medal of Honor, composed by Michael Giacchino and how realistically it all sound vs how artificial some in-house remakes sound (I don't even say that these in particular).
Of course, the problem can be alleviated by good mixing, but usually in such cases, mix and master is being made by the same person who composed the remake, and they kinda loose clear look on how their music sound the more they work on it. And the same applies for mixing engineer as well. Of course, some people wouldn't even allow mixing their tracks by someone else, but - at least leaving mastering to someone you trust who won't destroy it and meet your expectations is a good practice. Hence, not everything recorded with real orchestra means necessarily success.
E.g. listen how bland the main theme (Secret) from Bad Company 2 sounds. Just the opening, catchy melody which everybody knows is good, while everything else in this track on OST is muffled and unrecognizable, even boring, while actually the whole track is fire, well played and beautifully composed. Just recording/mixing wasn't really well thought there (though now we can mix easier than 13 years ago and also entirely in the box). But in fact the whole track and especially its particular fragments are hidden gems (what I only found by accident and made a remaster of the whole track, because why not, but this is a specific case).
drive.google.com
Any feedback more than welcomed.
Edit. WiP. One fragment in the finale is messed up.
It's nice the site is still around and looking it's old self.
