Lets back track to 2015, right smack in the middle of the dead period there was an announcement that RE2 was going to be remade "We Do It!" Obviously this was exciting news but after that silence. RE7 came and set the ship right but still no word on RE2 until E3 of 2018 it was finally shown and it looked like a dream come true. The graphics were stunning, the RPD never looked so good. Zombies would fall to pieces depending on where you shot. The third person look was a sigh of relief after RE7. It all sounded too good to be true, how faithful to the original classic would it be?
It was very faithful in ways and not so much in others but overall the reception was beyond positive. RE2 remake was the first GOTY winner since RE4, winning nearly as many awards as Death Stranding did that year, and my personal GOTY. This game was an all time classic just like the original was. The genius came from how Mr. X was handled, adding an exciting unpredictable element to the core formula which was recreated to perfection in full 3D with real aiming and behind the back camera. The dev team kept nearly every element that made RE2 special and updated it, it is a remarkable achievement.
As much as I say RE7 resurrected the franchise it was RE2 remake that propelled the franchise back to the top of the gaming world. The king of survival horror was back in every way with what I think is the very best old school style survival horror game ever made.
Oh what a game, this is a MASTERPIECE. The way this game handles the original formula is incredible. Anpo and Kadoi knew the key to the old school games was the thrill of staying alive, that fear of not reaching that item box in time, low on items but knowing you have to cross that hallway you didn't get to clear. This remake builds on that by pushing the pressure to 11. The game is relentless, rarely giving you a moment to breathe, constantly pushing you to the next uncomfortable room, whether you are ready or not. Mr. X is the key ingredient, not some boring hide and seek stalker like the Bakers, here there is no hiding. It's purpose is to disrupt your plans, you cleared a path and perfectly set your inventory to just have enough space for this trip, NOPE, here comes the tyrant, detour time. Oh now you have to cross rooms with zombies, did you leave that licker alive, well tough shit now you better run! PRESSURE, the entire game is glorious pressure, the best the old RE formula has ever been.
Its been a few years since I played this game so it felt like a first run, I didn't have much of a plan of where to go, I let the game just play out and it was magical. Just like the old games even when you learn the patterns the fun comes from speed running and mastering it. I did Leon first, then Claire 2nd run, both were fantastic though I might lean Claire due to her story being better, and a better final boss. Claire is amazing in this game, her relationship with Sherry is so good, her no nonsense attitude makes for a perfect hero; can't wait to see her in Code: Veronica. Leon is great too but a bit more subdued, I do think Ada is really well done here and acts more like a spy would. I do have an issue with Annette getting a massive change with her being a sympathetic character rather than an evil monster, I miss that vile version of her. Yeah the zapping system isn't really present. The two runs don't change depending who goes first like in the original. It is definitely a knock on the game but I still think the overall campaign is amazing.
I love how this game has so many elements of past RE games. It has ammo crafting, defense items, looking at items in 3D, and of course now being able to aim fully. I thought it would be way too hard to do classic zombies in this way, just shoot them in the head and thats it, too easy. Well this game made even the zombie a threat, these guys are amazing. The randomized damage makes for every encounter to be an unknown, being able to dismember them also adds a layer of strategy. The Lickers got some steroids or something because in this game they are killing beasts. Even something as basic as how far the camera is from the character to how wide the hallways are could have drastically hurt this game but in every way it was nailed.
I had a blast replaying it, I could play it over and over and over. Yes we can nit pick what the original does better, whatever, I feel this game is better overall but I won't be upset if someone likes the original more. It just feels like this remake is more of a complete game, with better boss battles, core gameplay and even the level design gets a boost. I think its the best of the OG formula, none of the old games are as intense or fun to play as this one. I love this game to death and still can't believe it turned out the way it did.
Somewhere between major Capcom studios working on 7 and 2, Capcom with help from M-Two started working on a Resident Evil 3 remake. It was a heavily rumored secret, no one was shocked when it was unveiled in December of 2019, coming out a few months later. The quality of RE2 remake raised everyone's expectations, imagine taking the amazing Mr.X and making it better. Nemesis actively stalking you the entire game, fans imaginations were running wild. But something went wrong along the way, no idea if it was time constraints, lack of proper vision, but the end result is a RE3 that gutted so much of the original and left a very linear shell that did not live up to the quality of the remakes. Reaction to the game was still positive but much less praise than the last entries. These relatively poor reviews actually influenced RE4 remake to not make the same mistakes and in a way gave us the incredible remake we got. Maybe this was necessary, maybe RE:3 was the sacrifice to maintain quality for the rest of the series. It is a shame because of what could have been.
I share the common opinion that it's a fun game but a very disappointing one. It's very linear and very short, almost playing out like a movie rather than a RE game with strategic item management and path finding. It's also not a full action game like RE4 so it sits in a bad spot where it does nothing exceptionally well. It is still an absolute wild ride, for the few hours it lasts its non stop action, a few standout sections and fun bosses. Its short length makes replaying it extremely easy, I beat it like 5 times in quick succession. Sadly it came with no bonus modes, no mercs which is absurd. It did have REsistance, some wasted online add on but it was mostly a separate entity. I had not played this game since launch so it's going to be kind of fresh.
This is an odd one, it's instant noticeable the difference in level design and feel. Zombies come from all sides now, there are way to many turn a corner or open a door and ha got you! That's stupid design. Nemesis is a pain, in the few times he actually chases you he moves faster than you and has attacks that can combo kill you. Yes you have a dodge now but still not the most ideal method to get away from him, instead you better hope to have a grenade or run past something that can stun him. Oh speaking of grenades now they are equipable weapons, no more defense weapons compounding the sneaky zombie problem. There was an elegance to the enemy encounter design of RE:2 that is just missing here.
Level design also takes a huge hit. The street level has some snaking paths but ultimately there is only one way to go. The game is really one long line to the end, filled with action setpieces. The little leeway to explore usually comes from a locked cabinet in a room so just run back there after you have a key. There is no real strategy to find the best path through a level as it's all pretty straightforward.
I do like what they do with the characters. Jill is as badass as ever, she comes off confident but with a caring demeanor. Carlos gets a nice boost, he seems to do more and feels more of a character. Nicholai is as slimy a bastard as ever.
The boss battles against Nemesis are pretty decent. The final one though is a mess on the super hard modes, watch a video on it to see. No gravedigger is another huge loss. I did like the hospital siege, it's a sort of action RE moment.
At least it's short and non stop, there is an energy to it that makes playing it a breeze. There aren't any real hiccups or boring slow sections, but there isn't any real depth to it. The massive cuts to the locations from RE3 is incomprehensible, how do you not do the clock tower. How do you not properly do a stalker nemesis who is random and is not a scripted enemy. It's a big disappointment in that regard but it's not bad.
What a fun time to be a RE fan. RE7 revived the franchise, 2 was a masterpiece. 3 was a hiccup but hey still nice to see the series be so prolific. In the middle of all this was the rumors around the next major entry, Village. The development of this game was all over the place, I'm not going to get into it just that it was going to have classic monsters, werewolves, vampires and the like. It was a unique take for the series, I was curious how it would all fit. Returning was Ethan Winters and his first person view point (also VR). Eventually it was shown that Village would be much more like RE4, there was a suitcase, a merchant and more of an action focus.
At launch Village fared well, not reaching the review highs of RE:2 but around the same as 7. Capcom described the game as a sort of horror amusement park, each region controlled by a leader which will serve as Ethan's rogue gallery. Lady D became a huge hit, it was fun to see all the memes. I really enjoyed the game, it was a wild roller coaster ride with some good ideas. Eventually the VR version came out exclusively to PSVR and wow that was incredible. The action which felt a bit rough in standard mode felt so much more free form in VR. That mode did show me the shortcomings of the game though, there just weren't enough big action levels to really explore the action, something RE:4 would fix.
I replayed the game in standard mode but I finally got to try the third person mode. I didn't do the whole game in third person but switched it during bigger action sequences and it wasn't that great. Clearly this game was made for first person and it's interesting to see how level design, movement and so many little choices impact the feel of a game. I am playing RE:4 now and the difference in how the camera moves in third person and even the feel of the main character is very noticeable.
I really enjoyed this playthrough, i think I can finally say 8 is clearly better than 7 to me. Village is unique in that it has a central location and you gain new items to access new areas, almost like a Metroid game. For the first time in the series there were optional missions and totally optional secret areas, secret bosses and items. This game has some really well done level design, it doesn't get the praise it should for how connected the entire world of village is.
It's also interesting to see how this game was a test run for many elements we saw in RE:4. Yellow tape guiding the player and optional side missions to name a few. Clearly the original RE4 was an inspiration but this game never went full in on action, instead focusing on different moments for each region of the map. The castle has a stalker and more classic RE like levels with limited combat. House Beneviento and Moreau are more scripted sequences that are kind of slow on replays. The stronghold is by far the most RE4 section, with levels designed to let Ethan move and shoot effectively. While the elements for action are there the levels don't let it shine. Even the Chris section is super linear and enemies kind of just run at you.
I want to talk about the factory cause I still think it's one of the strongest parts of the game. The enemies are unique and give a classic RE feel with tight halls and dangerous around every corner. Great atmosphere as well. Bosses are really good across the board, nice and varied with some standouts.
The story is so damn weird, this game might as well be called The Strange Adventures of Ethan Winters. The ties to the series isn't terrible, I guess it makes sense that a young Spencer might stumble on a random village with a crazy parasite and have umbrella logos all over… or maybe not. The worst part is Chris' role which is just absurd. Why he doesn't tell Ethan what is happening is so confusing that late in the game random NPCs even admonish him for it. Oh and Ethan's revelation is pretty cool but also opens a huge set of questions. And then inexplicably we jump like 20 years into the future to see an older Rose, way to spoil that Chris is fine. I'm glad Ethan's story is done, I did like him more in 8 as he gains confidence, still the choice to keep hiding his face is so dumb.
I did play Shadows of Rose again, only my second time to do so. It wasn't that bad, it's has some cool ideas like turning small while being hunted by dolls. It allowed RE to go full fantasy which is unique. I do like how it gives Ethan a moment to connect to his daughter and bridged the two mold villains.
Village in concept alone is one of the strangest RE games but I think it's a very good one. Both 7 and 8 seemed to serve as a test bed to return to classic RE and action RE respectively only to have the remakes of the two best in each category be masterpieces. I now wonder if RE9 is a test bed for CV or if it will stand on its own.
My rankings so far
RE4
RE2 Remake
RE2
RECV
REmake
RE5
RE1
RE8
RE3
RE7
Rev 2
RE3 Remake
RE0
Rev 1
RE6
Gaiden
Good stuff Vader. You're definitely making me want to replay some of these games.
And just to weigh in, I've pretty much caught up on all of the games of the past decade and I think REmake 2 currently holds the title of my favorite in the series. Such a smooth and well-paced game. Pretty much balanced in every way.
A franchise damaged, an industry that has moved on, Resident Evil was lost. Capcom seemingly didn't know what to do, but the first hints came from the strangest of places, a VR tech demo. Capcom decided to ditch the action games and get back to the horror roots while creating a brand new engine and focus on VR. The Kitchen demo simply hinted at things to come, it wasn't until 2016 E3 that the first trailer hit. I was in a theater watching the Sony conference, the trailer showing shots in first person of a creepy house, an amazing song, and horrifying Texas Chainsaw like atmosphere. No one had a damn clue what it was until the VII flashes and Resident Evil comes on screen, the theater went NUTS. Crazy part is there was a demo! I had to get home!
If you weren't there it's hard to describe the discourse around RE7 and it's absolutely silly looking back at it now. First off the demo… wtf! They released the demo in chunks, basically what we got the first time was some demo you cannot complete… who does that. Why is there a finger?!? What does it do?! PT had popularized this style of game so I and many others thought the demo hid some wild secrets, it did not. We just had to wait MONTHS to actually finish it. Besides making people lose their mind over a finger, the demo made a bunch of people believe that RE7 had NO GUNS. This went on and on and on until the next trailer showed a damn gun and the demo was updated to have a gun.
The switch to first person also caused the fandom to collectively lose their mind. I admit I was one of those, RE is a third person franchise, I don't care much for first person so I was a bit upset. But there was a reason for the first person and it was because this game was going to be in VR. Now I am a huge VR fan, around 2016 I had an oculus rift and was enjoying the first VR gaming experiences, the idea of a RE game in VR was captivating. There was a problem though, VR was exclusive to PS VR something I didn't feel worth buying. So I did not play RE7 in VR till a few years later.
To top off all the controversy, none of the classic heroes or even the classic story seemed to be present. Was this a full reboot? No, they promised it was not but it was still shocking to see something so detached from the franchise mythos. Even with all that drama surrounding the launch of RE7 there was no denying it felt different, modern, with the times in a way the last few did not. Clearly taking inspiration from the current horror favorites of the time, RE7 was going to show everyone they can do that style better, take the crown back as the premier horror game franchise and damn it they did it.
We can all argue about the game itself, it isn't my favorite RE game, it has its issues but man was it important, was it special. It made RE scary again. It made the general gaming industry take notice again. It pushed VR more than any game had done at the time. It was welcoming to newcomers and was an amazing return to form for franchise vets. RE7 joins RE4 as milestone game and moment for the franchise, another successful reimagining that has lead to what I feel is the greatest era for RE.
I think what makes RE7 work so well is its absolutely incredible atmosphere. This is easily the scariest RE game of all time, the setting, visuals, sound design, all of it works perfectly together. From the opening moments mimicking Evil Dead to a crazy family hunting you down Texas Chainsaw like, this game clearly had a tonal identity. In VR all that was enhanced even more, I can only imagine what it must have been like to experience this game for the first time in VR, must have been mindblowing.
Replaying the game I am reminded of what works and didn't for me. For one the return to classic gameplay was a huge plus. Give me item boxes, give me limited inventory and items. It felt so good to be back to navigating creepy hallways, solving puzzles and avoiding monsters. While the formula was there it was off just a bit.
Let's start with Jack, a new stalker enemy, first since Nemesis. My issue with him is the game expects you to hide, so many popular horror games of that time were hide and seek games and I hate hide and seek games. So this game expects you to cower behind furniture and avoid Jack. Yes you can down him but at a heavy cost that's not worth it. He's also a bit more scripted than say Mr. X, appearing at specific points. But what really hurts is that for a segment of the game he is the only threat in the house. Sure the basement is filled with molded but out in the upper floors it's either him or nothing at all. That's not really RE like…
Let's talk about the molded, I think some of the worst RE enemies. They don't react to shots well, they are visually bland and all enemies are just some form of black blob thing. They are a lot like the abyss monsters on Revelations (Nakanishi the director of both games) but maybe worse.
After the house you go to the boathouse and once again get chased by a stalker, this time you can't even get close or it's over. Once again a full segment with no real monsters but a single stalker that is heavily scripted. The puzzles and atmosphere is fine, for a first play it's pretty scary but on replays it's simply learning a pattern and going through the motions. People generally say RE7 starts off great and gets worse… if all you care about is atmosphere and scares maybe. It's not until after those two segments when molded begin to populate the world and finally you fight… like in all RE games.
I loved the Lucas segment, again it sucks on replays cause it's just something you learn to do once, no way to really change it. The barn fight was brilliant, traps all over, big new monster, exciting section that's how you do a setpiece. From there you get to the ship which I feel is easily the most classic RE section of the game. Here is a maze like area with a bunch of locked doors where you have to run around halls filled with monsters and survive as you find your way out. Yes it's visually boring, yes it becomes too action heavy as the game gives you an abundance of ammo and switches characters on you. If you do the video you also do it twice which is a bad idea. But still this segment is what RE is all about, to me just highlights how 7 is almost there but not quite. The rest of the game is an action game, without any of the fun of a final lab.
This game feels like a collection of different events. Each section feels different from the last in gameplay and style. While the game has a uniform atmosphere, the gameplay does not. It's also very short, which is fine, plenty of short games in this franchise but it is noticeable. I feel like Village embraced the sort of amusement park game design and did it better, 7 acts like it's one big scary game but it's a lot like village with wild gameplay swings.
I will say the boss battles are fantastic. Jack's boss battle in the slaughter room feels like something out of MGS, with multiple ways to trick him and use the chainsaw against him. Marguerite I think might be an all time great RE boss, again feels almost MGS like as she stalks you around the cabin. I loved fighting all of them and they are highlights for sure. All except the final boss which sucked, the Lucas's fight in Not a Hero to me is the true final boss.
Story wise it's interesting from a what is going on and disconnected view of the series. I like the slow reveal of what the new virus is, Eveline makes for a compelling threat. Ethan though… I don't get it, why make him so bland and what's with hiding his face. The whole be an avatar for the player thing is so dumb, he clearly has a personality, it's actually a fun one, he is as sarcastic and has one liners like Leon but it just never reaches Leon level cause they decided to do the dumb hide the character thing. The Bakers true story is actually emotional which is nice to see, overall it's a very good story for a RE game.
RE7 I think has the best collection of DLC and extras of the series. The banned footage games and scenarios are all fun and interesting. Not a Hero is a quality expansion that lets you get that action fix starring fake Chris (I will never accept that face, wtf was that). End of Zoe is a fun and ridiculous campaign. There is so much to do, so many cool concepts that flesh out the game, very well done.
I may sound down on the game but the whole experience is better than the sum of its parts. That atmosphere, those graphics, that lighting, the tone all work so perfectly together that I couldn't be helped be super immersed even if it's pretty standard RE stuff. I can totally see why this might be someone's favorite RE game and why it might be a hated RE game. What matters is that when this franchise needed to find itself this game came and gave us hope, gave the series direction and I will forever appreciate it for that.
My rankings so far
RE4
RE2
RECV
REmake
RE5
RE1
RE3
RE7
Rev 2
RE0
Rev 1
RE6
Gaiden