Tag: Resident Evil 2

Completed Leon B scenario.
Playing Leon B scenario I can see that the two pistols with different ammo exists here as well. This scenario feels like the toughest yet, I haven’t been running out of ammo or being limited by inventory as much in my previous two runs.

The biggest issue are the lickers. Even upgraded Magnum can’t get them in a single shot, so dealing with two at a time is a problem.
The only improvement is that I learned to fry the plant zombies in the Lab to a crisp, so I don’t waste ammo on them later. Still, I had maybe a clip for Magnum left by the time I reached the train, and no shotgun ammo at all.

Unlike the original, there are less differences in cutsenes. The only major difference is who stabs the final form of Birkin in the eye. With Leon it is even more hillarious, as he blows half the train with a rocket launcher before doing so.

With that, I don’t see a point in playing Claire A, I think I’ve seen enough of that.

Completed Claire B scenario.
I’m ashamed that it took me so long to understand that those zombies are Dead Space necromorphs, basically. It’s often more efficient to cut their limbs off that to go for a headshot.

I also understood the logic with the .45 and 9mm ammo: it’s the same for grenades. You can only find flame rounds, and you can only craft acid rounds.

In the original, Sherryl pendant contained the vaccine. In the remake, it’s a key to open the vaccine locker.
As I mentioned in the original, Mr X was only chasing Leon, and Birkin was only chasing Claire. In the remake, they actually added a scene where Birkin tears Mr X when he tried to kill Sherryl.

Before the penultimate battle with Birkin Claire is given a minigun. This isn’t explained (in the original minigun was a bonus weapon for New Game+), and Claire doesn’t even seem to be surprised about it.

Finally battle on the train is made much more dramatic, thanks to 20 years of technological advancement and dynamic camera. But it’s still funny (common tropes, I guess) that Claire fires dozen Magnum rounds into monster’s eye, then poket it with a sharp stick, and that’s when the eye explodes.

The way the story was structured, I thought they would leave out the B scenario, but no, it’s there. Time for Claire B scenario then.
Confusingly, Claire has two pistols, both of them revolvers, though. One of them has ammo laying around, but it can’t be crafted, while for the second, it’s the other way around.
Lickers were giving me a lot of trouble with Leon, as unless you have a Magnum, they can’t be killed quickly enough. With Claire’s grenade launcher, it just takes a single grenade.

Betrayavous police chief Irons is introduced in a completely different manner. Instead of killing his daughter so she doesn’t turn into a zombie, he kidnaps Sherryl, and that’s how she loses her pendant.

We get to play as Sherryl in the orphanage. This is a classic stealth episode.
Actually, Claire has 3 pistols! 3rd is an automatic one, with an extended magazine. An the obsolete second revolver doubles as Magnum, which doesn’t make any sense, but is a cool idea.

Completed Leon’s scenario.

Once you get the upgraded Magnum, it becomes far easier, as before that it’s very hard to tell how many bullets a zombie will take. With Magnum, it’s just one.
There are plant zombies, making the same sounds as mushroom zombies from Last of Us. You need to shoot their weak spots, just like in Resident Evil 4, and you need to burn them down or they will come back again, just like in Resident Evil 0.

I enjoyed both final stage of Birkin and Mr X. I must say, probably one of the most enjoyable bossed in Resident Evil history. The only problem I have with them, same as with zombies, actually, is that it’s not clear if they are damaged based or just weak spots based. Think it’s the latter, and you can beat them even with a regular pistol, as long as you aim.

The most major part they changed is that in the original, Leon throws the sample after Ada’s “death”. In the remake, Leon drops it trying to save her from the fall.

I like the approach to Leon’s pistol. In the original, you could find an upgrade kit for it, with a stock that enabled burst fire. Here, you find an extended clip, then later the stock as well.
I made it harder on myself as I took the wrong turn to meet Claire and missed the shotgun key. So by the time I finally got back, I was running out of ammo and healing items.
They have a very interesting solution of how Leon is able to carry his arsenal. Since he has only 3 guns, they are rendered all the time: shotgun on the back, one of the pistols in the holster, and another at hand. The only thing the game doesn’t bother to render is the oversized stock, because it would probably clip through everything. Same goes for the cutscenes.
When I replayed the original, although it was a long time ago, again, it surprised me that Leon actually never met Tyrant. Here, you get to face both Birkin and Mr X. I guess they didn’t want to waste all the stalking tech. Fighting Mr X doesn’t seem to bring any benefits, just waste of ammo.
The alligator in the sewers is pretty standard by modern standards. But it still made me smile.
After Leon saves Ada he falls uncouncious, and we get to play her chasing the Evil Female a bit. She plays like Batman Arkham, able to see cables through walls. The episode is not too annoying, but I’m still glad it’s over.

Ironically, I planned to play Resident Evil 2 Remake after I finished Resident Evil 2 on Dreamcast. Then… I got distracted.
First amazing fact that I have to admit: real time graphics from 2019 look better than CGI from 1999.

Calling it a remake though is probably incorrect. It is it’s own game, that shares some of the key characters, but changes everything else. From how Leon and Claire meet at the gas station, to Leon exploring the part of the police station that was boarded in the original. This also includes RE4 style controls: over the shoulder camera, aiming, fast reload, no need for typewriter tape (unless you enable it) and autosaves.

The only other bit they kept from the original is a very small discrete inventory, that can hold only 8 items, no matter how small (a single key) or big (bunch of planks) they are. But there are now multiple inventory expansions available instead of just a single one.

Rules for zombies have also changed. In the classic games, I would always trade health for ammo: I would prefer a zombie to bite me, if I knew I’d pass it only once, instead of wasting half a clip on it. But now they are much quicker to grab you, and you go down in a couple of bites. Knives are now Last of Us shivs: you can use them up to 3 times to escape a grab, but then you need to find a new one.
Another interesting change: Lickers, the eyeless monstrocities, are actually blind now. They were always eyeless, but other than that, it didn’t affect gameplay of the original.