The original game has always been my favourite one, not just in the RE franchise, but in general, among all the survival horrors I’ve ever played. When I first heard about this remake, I wasn’t sure what to make of it because previous remasters of the series were… well, not bad, but nothing special, and they certainly couldn’t live up to the originals.

Well, I’m happy to say this is not the case with this game! It doesn’t just live up to the original, but oh my God, it does so much more than that! A perfect example how all remasters should be made – it’s not simply an HD remake, but it was built up again from scratch, modernized and changed in a way to create an unexpectedly fresh experience for players of the original one, too.

Honours the memory of a twenty-year-old game, while creating a whole new survival horror classic that can stand on its own. Imaginative puzzles, depressing atmosphere, brutal boss battles, well-timed jump scares – well done, Capcom!

"Welcome to corporate America."

It's been a long time since I've found the motivation to replay a game's story mode--games are often long, life is often busy, and my backlog is growing faster than I can shrink it. But this game's second run system which turns your understanding of the game world inside out by sending you through it in a different way while telling a new (but connected) story within it tipped me over the edge. I beat it on my first run about a week prior, took some time off to beat Resident Evil 4 (a masterpiece in its own right), then came right back to this. I'm working through my second run, Claire's B campaign, on Hardcore mode this time, and it is intense, difficult, and even more terrifying than last time. I love it.

It takes all the strengths of classic Resident Evil, (the interconnected, puzzle-littered hallways of the police station will feel familiar to anyone who has braved Resident Evil 1 Remake's mansion--have you? It's also an incredible game!) but anything that might have even verged on tedious is cleaned up; the map marks rooms with things left to find and unsolved puzzles instead of asking you to memorize them, write them down or wander aimlessly. While the beautiful, cinematic fixed camera angles of that game will be missed, the crisp control of Leon and Claire's shooting and the increased action allowed in boss fights or more dramatic enemy encounters as a result of the over-the-shoulder camera feels like the full realization of what classic Resident Evil merely evoked with its more simplistic fights.

And the scares! It's not the most terrifying game ever made, but man is it tense. Mr. X has had volumes written about him, so I won't belabor the point, but he'll get his moments over you, as will many other enemies, sooner or later. I hope I never have to hear a set of loud footsteps approaching when I'm out at night. There's always just the right amount of ammo to make it possible to get around enemies but impossible to actually kill more than a few at a time. This combined with the ever evolving layout and paths around the station makes it an uneasy but immensely rewarding task to venture out of your save room.

This core gameplay loop of exploration, infrequent combat, and the occasional bombastic, brilliant, satisfying boss fight before the eventual return to peace makes it downright addicting for the ~8 hour length of your first campaign. It's tight and utterly devoid of chaff, and this is what makes the prospect of a second run with some changes so appealing--it's simultaneously satisfying and leaves you wanting more of it. That, to me, is the mark of a perfectly paced game, and the character switch takes such smart advantage of it that I wish more games focused on being concise, well-crafted, and replayable instead of big, big, big. The characters themselves are both easy to get attached to, too, and they each have their own arcs with a few unique supporting characters. Leon is immensely relatable, always seeming to say what I'm thinking, and Claire is both believable and likable as the unlikely hero of her story.

That's not to say it takes itself seriously all the time, of course. It's impossible for Resident Evil to totally shake off its B-movie charm, even with the insane production values of a game like this. The nine-foot-tall Mr. X dresses in a fedora and trench coat to blend in, for one. It could never avoid being hilarious. It's just that, like some of the best classic low-budget horror films (Evil Dead 1 comes to mind), this doesn't get in the way of its thrills, scares, or story. The gradual amping-up of the stakes and scope doesn't feel like a cheap or formulaic escalation, but a necessary and satisfying payoff. The narrative is just as gripping as any other part of the game, and every part of it gripped me tighter than an angry Tyrant. It's rare that a game comes out which is simultaneously so focused and so crowdpleasing, so tough and so well-designed, so highly-produced and still so passionately made. It's been so long since I loved a game quite this much, but then again, it's been a long time since I played a game quite this good.