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LTTP: Resident Evil 2 and 3 Remakes (spoilers abound)

TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
So recently, I got the bug up my butt to replay the entire RE/Biohazard series peppering in the games that I hadn't played until now (those being 2R, 3R, 7 and 8) I'm currently up to Salazar's castle in RE4, and this has afforded me some time to let my experiences with the two newest remakes marinade in my head for a bit.

Resident Evil 2 felt to me like a pretty perfect remake. This isn't a fresh or controversial opinion. I thought the changes made to the police station were logical for the more realistic setting. The darkness that covered the station was great for the horror atmosphere, as well.

I'm really pretty impressed with how well Capcom managed to translate the old staples of classic Survival Horror gameplay into the newer over the shoulder perspective. Puzzles were reimagined but remained largely consistent with their debut appearance. Enemy placement and difficulty alongside ammo and health distribution just felt like it was done by people who really understood game design and how to create tension via emergent gameplay.

Mr. X's implementation was really cool, too. He really added a new puzzle solving and horror aspect to traversal of the RPD, and this was welcome considering the scope of the game wasn't gigantic, so finding ways to make these areas exciting and threatening again was really cool.

And one of the coolest elements was the Clock Toweresque segment with Sherry. Not much to say about this, and it was pretty heavily scripted, but the quickest way to instill fear is with helplessness. It was challenging enough, with generous enough checkpoints to make fail states not an exercise in frustration.

Now for 3R...

I've heard A LOT of complaints, from length, to utilization of Nemesis, to cut content, but...I really enjoyed this one, too. It rearranged things far more than 2, but the pacing was pretty masterful and the campaign was very tight. Yeah, Nemesis was more of a setpiece than before, but it's not as if he wasn't heavily scripted in the original either. I think the story and characters were a lot more coherent this time around, as well. It really struck me as the T2:Judgement Day to RE2R's Terminator.

Thoughts? Questions, concerns? Shit posts?
 
For myself, I just can't seem to get into this series past Code Veronica. I love the first few games in the series, and I have completed all of them in the series including the spin offs, but I only like 1,2,3, and code Veronica. What I really want is More Devil May Cry, and for Onimusha and Dino Crisis to come back.
 
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TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
For myself, I just can't seem to get into this series past Code Veronica. I love the first few games in the series, and I have completed all of them, but I only like 1,2,3, and code Veronica. What I really want is More Devil May Cry, and for Onimusha and Dino Crisis to come back.

Code Veronica was like the magnum opus of the traditional games. Super challenging, super macabre, super cheese. Loved every second of it
 

Kuranghi

Member
I have to sleep because its 3am here but I'll come back or PM with discussion about tomorrow, in short I loved both but RE3R a bit more.

If someone told me they could only play one I'd say RE2R, but I consider RE3R much more exciting overall and with better pacing, its like a film in length when you know the route, so better for gaming with someone watching which I like to do a lot.
 
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TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Probably the most I've enjoyed an Resident Evil game since RE4.
Don't get me wrong I enjoyed all the RE games.
But RE2remake & RE3 remake took me back
To greatness of REmake and the original 3
I'd be interested to hear what you think of RE7/8
 

TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
Probably the most I've enjoyed an Resident Evil game since RE4.
Don't get me wrong I enjoyed all the RE games.
But RE2remake & RE3 remake took me back
To greatness of REmake and the original 3
I'd be interested to hear what you think of RE7/8

Yeah, I plan on posting my thoughts when I complete them. RE4 was my first RE game, so I kind of worked backwards from most people, but I love both types of gameplay, I'm interested in what I'll think of the first person perspective
 

laynelane

Member
One of the things I enjoy about RE2R is the enemies are dangerous. In the original game, I never felt any anxiety or fear when dealing with enemies and I never avoided them either - that includes Mr. X. In the remake, there are enemies I just straight-up try to avoid shooting, eg. Lickers, 'cause it's not worth it. And Mr. X is no longer an encounter for getting free stuff every time I downed him like in the original. I appreciated those kinds of changes since it made the game more challenging and tense. I also liked the extra story touches that were added, particularly the encounter with Kendo. Added some real emotional weight to the story. I agree with your other points about both games, as well. The characters in RE3R were great and I hope we see Carlos in a future game. My one critique would be I think they should have had Nemesis stay in his original form for longer. Pretty much kept him similar to the original game in that aspect.

I just started RE7 too. I'll be looking forward to your post on it and RE8 when you get to it.
 
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DForce

NaughtyDog Defense Force
Resident Evil 2: Remake - Probably my favorite Resident Evil game ever made.

Resident Evil 3: Remake - I wish they stayed true to the original. I wanted Jill explored the Police Station instead of Carlos and the Clock Tower shouldn't have been removed from the game. With that being said, I still think it's still a very good Resident Evil game, but it could have been better.
 

angrod14

Member
Huge RE fan, but I'm into the action-horror Resident Evil rather than the survival-horror one.

- Having said that, I liked RE2 Remake, but I didn't enjoyed it as much as fans of the original games did. It was just too creepy sometimes, zombies were bullet sponges and I just hate running like a little bitch through the levels instead of blasting every enemy in a section before moving forward. There was also too much backtracking for my tastes.

Mr X was an absolute annoyance, it completely killed exploration in the RPD and it was just too anxiety-inducing. You can't even kill the guy no matter how much or with what you shoot him.

The puzzles kinda hurt replayability too. They were fun to solve in the first run, but in the subsequent ones they're just too tedious and kill the pacing. Also you have to gather all the weapons again when you start a New Game (I know, except for the extra ones).

- RE3 Remake, on the other hand, was the shit. Much more action oriented, much more ammo and less item-managing bullshit. Very little backtracking: you clear an area, you move on for good. Nemy was much less annoying than his predecesor and so much cooler. Zombies were still sponges but you can at least dodge them now. Pacing was super tight; Carlos was awesome. Still felt like a little love letter to the original and a complement to RE2 Remake rather than a full fledged game, but I'll take it any day over 2 Remake.

Neither one touches RE4 greatness. I hope Capcom announces the Remake of that one and don't fuck it up.
 
RE2 is fantastic. RE3 is a decent game, but it just misses the spirit of what made Resident Evil games from the PS1 so good - the metroidvania style adventure games set in the 3D survival horror environment.

The puzzles, backtracking, etc are all done so well in RE2 Remake, but completely missed in RE3 Remake. Plus, RE2R really felt like a re-emagining of RE2. RE3R changed too much and had too much cut. It just felt like a short, action dlc to RE2R.
 

Shubh_C63

Member
Re2-remake was my first RE game that I actually played and fell in love with it instantly. Same with Re-3, the shorter campaign didn't bothered me that much.

That being said, I can't get over just how amazing the Re-Engine is. Runs on dog shit machines and is incredibly beautiful.
 

killatopak

Gold Member
Mr. X in RE2R was the downfall of RE3R.

I felt like they should have just saved that for RE3R.

Mr. X should be the more like the set piece of the two just like in the original.

Side A of RE2R was almost perfect. Side B felt more of the same and didn’t really change much up to my disappointment. Side B should be where they introduce Mr. X as a differentiator of the two Sides.

RE3 gameplay felt perfect but the execution of the enemies and story pieces was a downgrade. A lot is cut and it felt like more fast paced especially after the first area of the game. No Gravedigger, no Live Selection, Brad’s death is such a disappointment, so many set piece where you just walk/run forward to progress like a qte in disguise.

Despite that though, I do replay RE3 a lot more. The progression system is really nice and I’m glad it got back on RE8. The only caveat I have is the jump in difficulty in certain parts of the highest difficulty. Some of them are really just one hit kills with very little room for error.

Biggest disappointment for me is the lack of mercenaries in 3.

Do I like them a lot? Yes, I do. Are they better than the originals? I don’t think so. REmake is still the gold standard. Superior version in every way.
 
I really liked RE 2: Remake but im still on the fence about Mr.X because in the original, he was this surprise thing in your second play through and because the police station is so iconic I got annoyed I cant like enjoy the area, look into details etc because he was always there. I get it why they did it but I still wish they left it as in the original that he is not ON by default.

RE7 was great with that stuff, very limited. But then its like they just started peppering the endless chase formula in all titles. We got it in Re2, RE3, RE8 has them as well. Its like a new thing that all horror games are going for. Even Layers of Fear 2 added an unstoppable threat.
 

TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
Mr. X in RE2R was the downfall of RE3R.

I felt like they should have just saved that for RE3R.

Mr. X should be the more like the set piece of the two just like in the original.

Side A of RE2R was almost perfect. Side B felt more of the same and didn’t really change much up to my disappointment. Side B should be where they introduce Mr. X as a differentiator of the two Sides.

RE3 gameplay felt perfect but the execution of the enemies and story pieces was a downgrade. A lot is cut and it felt like more fast paced especially after the first area of the game. No Gravedigger, no Live Selection, Brad’s death is such a disappointment, so many set piece where you just walk/run forward to progress like a qte in disguise.

Despite that though, I do replay RE3 a lot more. The progression system is really nice and I’m glad it got back on RE8. The only caveat I have is the jump in difficulty in certain parts of the highest difficulty. Some of them are really just one hit kills with very little room for error.

Biggest disappointment for me is the lack of mercenaries in 3.

Do I like them a lot? Yes, I do. Are they better than the originals? I don’t think so. REmake is still the gold standard. Superior version in every way.

I kind of agree that the second run should have been the place to introduce Mr. X. It would have given the campaigns more of a different feel from one another and invoke that kind of "this is the mode for people who survived the first time," vibe.

As for 3, yeah, it's kind of disappointing the cut content, but I'm mostly upset about the areas. I always thought about what the clock tower or the Dead Factory would look like in modern graphics.
 

Werewolf Jones

Gold Member
Funny how the remake quality goes in order.

Remake>>>>>Remake 2>>>>>Remake 3

Gutted B scenario and Netflix original script in RE2 remake kills it for me but it's still good.

RE3 remake is just a rushed product that should have really come out this year and it'd be an 8/10 game.

Fuck Capcom wanting RE to be a yearly series.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
RE3R is fine but they obviously cut some corners. The game is undeniably fun though and the pacing is excellent. RE2R is better but not a game I would replay right away since its slower and bigger. RE3 I can fire up and beat in a sitting. And Nemesis isn't that much different. He appears on set locations like in the original, he's gone if you advance the story. The difference is that he cant be permanently downed each time. And he skips his phase 2 mutation. After you set him on fire on the rooftop he's no more than a repeated boss encounter.

The old RE3 is better. If you translate that to modern technology then we would have more areas, more weapons (in the game proper), more enemy types, better Nemesis mutations and Mercs. Its like nothing from classic RE3 made it over to the remake, except for the characters, plot and the fact it takes place in Raccoon.
 
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Kuranghi

Member
A big reason why I prefer 3R over 2R overall is the cutscenes, I do agree as someone else said that RE2R can feel kinda shitty-netflix-show-esque but I think thats a lot down to them not being confortable with the new style of cinematography introduced with RE2R, RE7 was FPP so its completely different from a 3rd person game.

With RE2R I love all the gameplay sections as in RE3R, but with 3R I also look forward to every cutscene as well, it seems like its a more sucessful version of this horror-movie-game amalgamation they are going for with the 2/3R & Village so far. Where you can play through the whole game in less than 3 hours after first run and with infinite ammo and its still challenging on the harder difficulties, even if you don't run everywhere.

I love that about it, replaying the game multiple times faster and faster, not for speed running, just for keeping the narrative at a more realistic pace. I like that the B scenarios in 2R save you time by changing item placements but the Shop added in RE3R gives you the lockpick and bolt cutters from the start (+ hip pouches to carry them so it doesn't break the flow of the game) which means you can just skip a bunch of backtracking, I only wished they added all the guns with infinite ammo for the fun of that, because I just ended up using a trainer to do that anyway for increased fun on replays while trying to get records.

They added that in Village though so I like where they are going, I hope RE4R (if it exists outside that RE4 VR remake) really nails it by combining the 3 and Village shops (where appropriate, inventories are different obviously).
 
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