Resident Evil 2 (2019)

For as much as I hated the RE1 Remake, I had an absolute blast playing this game.

On Normal difficulty, I didn't have to worry about running out of ammo (though I came close near the end of my Claire 2 Run). Maybe that means it's easier than RE7, and maybe I just knew what to expect this time. The map is awesome and takes the cryptic 90s bullcrap out of an old game.

The story? It's fine. But I'm mostly here for dumb fun.

The 4th Survivor & Ghost Survivor modes once you beat the game? I played for about 10 minutes and bailed hard. Not my kind of thing.

Resident Evil 2 Remake was definitely a step up from the original. Not only were the characters and story more complex, but the world felt far more carefully constructed. The incorporation of elements such as the Tyrant made you completely rethink how you would go about playing. Bosses and enemies were sometimes a bit unfair (especially with the high number of shots they would take to kill paired with rare ammunition), but were still more fun to fight. Finally, the themes of the game seem to be coming more to light as a criticism on corporate America while still simply providing a fun zombie survival-horror.

4.25/5.00

Full Review: https://watchreadgame.com/resident-evil-2-remake/

Maintaining the horrifyingly tense atmosphere of the first one and recreating everything from the ground-up, this is just as good as the original. The police station is the best part, since traversing through its dark halls and managing the "Mr.X Factor" becomes the highlight of the entire thing. On the sewers, thngs get a bit weird, but the interconected environments makes up for it. The pacing quickly gets back up when you reach the lab and the ending is just as incredible as it was on the PS1. Everything here feels fresh and new, yet extremely faithful to the original. I love how they kept the intensity of the combat system, forcing you to always be aware of your surroundings and always hope for more bullets and health items, while having just enough to get by. If you played the OG, you'll get a nostalgia trip, while drowning in the many surprises and twists that the campaign throws on you.

The gameplay is good, albeit VERY difficult. I still don't think they managed to capture the magic of the "over the shoulder camera" as well as in RE4 or RE5, but what they did here was amazing. Backtracking doesn't feel as boring as in the original and its actually a fun and fundamental part of the game. Puzzles are fine and the "AHA!" moments make you look like a genius, even if things just happened naturally. I just wish it had less puzzles. It can break the ominous mood, sometimes.

One thing that bothered me: I'm not in love the story. It suffers from the same problem that the first Remake did. I know that RE always had that "B-Horror-Movie" feel to it and I appreciate that it does that with quality, but couldn't they just... fix this? I LOVE the characters, but the writing feels bland! Claire and Leon's interactions were better on the original because there are almost none in here. Maybe it's the fact that OG handled the differences between A & B runs better. Also, this game is dark. Intentionally dark, but TOO DAMN DARK!

As for the extras, I liked them, but not all of them. The Tofu and Hunk's scnenario were fun but Ghost Survivors just felt objectivelly hard, for no reason. I feel like these modes would've worked better if they added new crowd control movesets, like in RE4. But anyway, it's more RE2 and that's great!

This one might be the scariest game I've ever played and one of the best Remakes ever. It made me love the franchise even more. Despite a few hiccups, this is a MUST PLAY!

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Total time played: 9.5 hours

Difficulty: Standard (Normal)

I loved this game, Capcom delivered. t keeps the essence of RE at its core and the graphics make it a satisfying experience. I only played Leon's storyline though because, as much as I love the Resident Evil universe, I'm not high willing to go again through a 6 ~ 8-hour campaign to discover a few more rooms. I already know the story from the old RE, so I'm not doing Claire's campaign.

PROS

• It takes a few risks storyline-wise, but the ones it takes are cleverly done.
• The gameplay is fluid, no more door animations (which is amazingly pleasant) and it keeps on bringing a different atmosphere to each room. That is amazing.
• Nice upgradable inventory system.
• Graphics are amazing, and head explosion animations are jaw-breaking, literally.
• Sound effects quality is there, as I expected on a RE game
• Has a few DLC's I might play in the future

CONS

• Cutscenes sometimes give you the feeling that Leon is very stupid.

I was waiting to finish this game and expecting to buy RE3 Remake just after, unfortunately, due to comments and reviews people are making online I'm not trusting this RE3 remake for a 70 euros budget. I'll wait till it gets cheaper to buy it.

COOL SHOTS

Zombie trying to rip-off a vending machine

Leon inside Umbrella's lab

Some cool neon red barrels (I was just stunned by the light effects in this particular scene)

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.