4.5/5 ★ – cjfelty3396's review of Resident Evil 2.

Resident Evil 2 Remake is everything I can imagine a survival-horror game being, with memorable locations, terrifying creatures, passable characters, and a fulfilling journey from “cowering in a corner” to “blowing crap up.” I am reviewing the game after beating the Claire A campaign, and intend to save future playthroughs for return visits rather than powering through them all back-to-back, but this first playthrough will stick with me for a long time. The #1 reason I was able to stick with this game through its terrifying opening half in the Police Department is because it feels SO DANG GOOD TO PLAY! The controls are like butter, and the mechanics are so fine-tuned that it never feels like a challenge is insurmountable, no matter how much you ammo you have or have not stockpiled. The labyrinth of dark hallways, holes-in-walls, and conveniently marked locked doors that constitutes the Police Department may be one of the greatest environments ever created. The tension is palpable as the game’s sound- and light-design shine, and the map system in this game is the greatest of all time…. At every point, the coloring of the map, the marking of points of interest, and the UI around Key items allowed me to get a full grasp of the task at hand without any major stress. Then there’s the infamous Mr. X (in game, the Tyrant), whom I heard so much about before playing, only to still be surprised by his appearance when it came! I’ll confess that I used a guide for parts of the Mr. X section, but even that could not resolve the dread every time I heard his footsteps overhead or opened a door to be staring him down face-to-face. Once you depart the Police Department, the game stays good, but it shifts its focus as the player becomes more deadly and the enemy types become more varied. There was never a ridiculous difficulty spike, but I definitely spent more time running through environments in the second half of the game than I did in the first half, because I knew I had the arsenal to handle anything that jumped out at me. My one complaint with the game is that it “ends” 3 different times, only for more bosses to pop up. I could have done with a more definitive ending after the first time I felt fulfilled by the major boss fight. My final note is just that Claire’s story in this game is wonderfully heartfelt, for a Resident Evil game. Before I began, I asked the GG| Discord which campaign to start with, and all but one person said Claire, so I don’t know much about Leon’s story. However, Claire’s campaign really had be hooked, and landed emotionally as Claire took on a new and unexpected role about 1/3 through the game.