Resident Evil 2 (2019)

Just beat Leon A and man...it did not win me over by the end. The fact that Lickers and Mr X are not worth fighting really limits the interesting combat and resource decisions you can make. It also just wasn't that tense. I finished the game with over 100 handgun ammo, a dozen or more shots of shotgun ammo, something like 4 grenades, multiple knives, and more healing items than I could physically carry.

The lack of music really played to its detriment as well. I get they were proud of the zombie moans...and they should be the sound design was great...but the lack of music turned great into grating...

If I had to vote now I'd give it a 3/5...so far my impression is...aggressively okay. I'm not really looking forward to my next run but I want to push through because I suspect hard mode might fix some of these personal gripes and I want to run through claire b first too.

Sidenote it's also a tad annoying not knowing which rooms you need to search more to unlock and which ones are claire exclusive. Then again it doesn't matter too much since mr x made exploring those parts not especially fun anyway.

I finally finished my first play-through with Leon. I'm definitely not a big fan of horror games since I don't particularly enjoy being scared like a lot of people do, but for some reason, I've usually enjoyed the RE games. My first was the RE1 remake on Gamecube and LOVED that game. Now, playing through RE2 Remake, I am falling in love with the series all over again.

The game is gorgeous, the gameplay is fun, and the story and characters are interesting. I really can't think of anything negative to say about it.

I'm definitely looking forward to my second run as Claire.

Finally dove into resi 2. Just met Mr. X for the first time. So far all I can say is...eh? It's good...I like it. And I appreciate that there are more puzzles than 7. I don't really enjoy the fact that there is no reliable way to bait zombies like in the classic games, and Mr. X is already getting on my nerves (and not in a good way) after just 2 encounters so that's worrying. So far I like it, but I'm not in love.

The extra side puzzles are fantastic though, really enjoying that you can put in the time to solve some things and deck yourself out. Haven't died once yet and I'm not sure if that's a pro or con. Never really felt in serious danger while playing.

And, both stories have been completed! Really enjoyed this one. I love that classic Resident Evil puzzle box gameplay. And I love that the two characters here have completely different weapons, which makes the playthroughs feel different enough. One thing I wiiiiill say: it's weird that the two stories seem to directly contradict each other despite the fact that they're supposed to be happening in tandem with each other. I suppose it would be a LOT to ask for 2 separate full games in one, but it's def weird when a character/boss straight up dies in one story and then I jump to second run and the story just retcons it. It made it very difficult to actually piece together the chronology of events, which was a slight disappointment.

All that all said, I think it's a really smart game to bring back in 2019. OG Resident Evil's criticism of corporations and the military industrial complex is surprisingly (and unfortunately) still relevant. I don't think the series gets enough credit for how biting a critique it is.