First game I played through on my Steam Deck and it was great. I played 3 ages ago and after playing this I don't get why people act like 3 is such a step down from this game. I really don't like much of the stuff level design wise outside of the RPD stuff. Luckily, that's most of the game so the sewers don't drag it down too much. I also only did the Leon A route, I started Claire B but I didn't really care enough to play through the game again so soon especially when I don't really like how she plays or how little agency she has. I also watched this game on YouTube when it came out so I'm not exactly itching to play it again.

When starting the game you get to choose either Claire or Leon for the first run. This is not a common feature in any game, and when implemented it is often done only as a skin swap. In this game you will not see the complete story unless you play twice with each. At least once with each is a minimum. That gives the game some replayability even for people like me that usually do not replay games.
I played Leon first and the Claire, which by many is said to be the "wrong" way. The game director has said in an interview that not any combination is the true way. All 4 paths must be played to see the hole story. Even though I have not done this, I am certain I have not missed out on anything huge. And if I have, then I am blissfully unaware :)

Claire is here in search of her brother, Chris Redfield (from RE1), whom she has not heard from in a while.
Leon is a rookie cop, starting his first day at Racoon City Police Department (RCPD).

So the first scene is you getting to a gas station, close to Racoon City. Everything is dark and quiet. You get in and the atmosphere tells you something is up. You search around, see a guy and he points to the storage room. You get in and a zombie is eating...
I am hooked I tell you :D Go game...
After this opening, you meet up with your other character (Claire or Leon), zombies breething down your neck, and you drive off to the city.

Now Racoon City is a total mess, zombies all over the place. You have to find a way to the Police Department through all these fires, road blocks and zombies.
When you finally get there, there is still no salvation as the zombies are also in here, and you also have no way out.
You objective is to somehow find a way out of this mess. The Police Department is in shambles, and you need to figure out how to traverse this place by finding useful items, solving puzzles and managing your inventory. All the while also not get eaten by zombies. You can either run from them or shoot them. If you shoot them, then make sure to hit because ammo is sparse.

This game is tense. The atmosphere from the lighting and sounds is absolutely amazing. I never played the original, so I am not biased that way.
The game mechanics are also very nicely done. Everything works. It does not make you feel like the mechanics are part of the problem like the controls in RE1. And it also does not take away the tension.

Pros:
- Graphics are amazing
- Very good horror game
- I love the story that is present
- Sounds in the game are just perfect (from ambient sounds to gunshots and voice acting. well done)
- Puzzles are quite good. Nothing illogical. You should not need a guide for any of it
- Good puzzle/action blend
- Replay value is great and also the other short stories are worth looking into
- Difficulty setting is very balanced. The dynamic ammo thing works so well as I always felt like I had low ammo, and only once ran out completely
- Amazing modding community

Cons:
- Story is still a little too thin (but compared to RE1 much better)
- Mr. X in stalker mode is my only gripe with this game. Everything else is enough horror for me personally. I do not need the Tyrant to breathe down my neck non-stop. I love horror games but have a hard time playing them because I tense up when playing, so the added pressure of Mr. X is not for me. But as a horror fan I love him.

What a treat this was. I didn't think it was possible, but Capcom did it again. In my opinion, Resident Evil 2 Remake makes the original game obsolete. Immaculate controls, superb puzzle design, and graphics that hold up amazingly well, even 5 years after its release. What really impressed though was that it was able to take the plot of Resident Evil 2 and really got me to care about the characters in a way the original could not. It took the premise of the original and really built on it.

On top of that, the game is legitimately scary, which I know is a very subjective thing. While the scariest game in the series, in my opinion, is Resident Evil 7, this is a very close second. It's even better on a second playthrough. After beating Clair's campaign, I cleared Leon's in just one weekend, which is lightening fast for me. I can't recommend this game enough.

I haven't played many horror games, this is the first Resident Evil game I finished. My main issues with this are with how the gameplay is handled, there's a lot that seems unimmersive when it doesn't need to be. I expected horror games to have a big focus on immersion but this one plays more like a spooky action survival game.

Zombies are super tanky and randomly wake up shortly after going down. I can't run past them or melee them, why? Why does opening the map or interacting with a puzzle pause the game? Why does the game incentivise save-file cheese? I get that the original game is old but this is a modern remake from the ground up, many of these decisions make no sense to me. Once I figured out what the game was going for and started 'playing along', I definitely enjoyed it more but I still have a lot of mixed feelings.

Going through an area with a million zombies only to then find out I have to go back and waste more ammo never feels good. Resource management is a constant threat in this game but I never really felt the consequence of it, it was just something that annoyed me. The early game has a big focus on backtracking and exploration, the idea of going back and forth is cool from a perspective of conserving resources and finding the best routes logistically but in practice it didn't feel like I could really solve anything or that my decision making had much impact. Dark Souls does a much better job here even with unlimited heals.

Thankfully, the later sections of the game are less problematic here, they lean more towards action with stronger level design and pacing. I still found the boss fights to be underwhelming but generally it was pretty good. The game has a lot of strengths throughout, the environments are nice with fantastic visuals and atmosphere. It's an extremely polished game which goes a long way. The story is interesting enough and I found myself wanting to keep progressing despite the flaws, it keeps you on your toes.

Overall it's a totally mixed bag but I enjoyed it and I'm glad to try out some more games in the series. I bounced off RE7 a few years ago because I didn't like the gameplay, this one was definitely a lot better for me but I don't care to do a second run right now, I'll try RE3 next and maybe come back to this.

Eh never really could get into resident evil personally average game for myself and kinda boring. Its a blend of a shooter and a puzzle game. There a lot of back tracking and your character doesn't particularly move very fast so at times everything can feel so dragged out and so slow. Some of the game felt more like doing chores then having fun. You'll be Looking up the answers to a lot of the puzzles if you don't pay attention to the details.

I ended up modding the game and cheating before i finished it and it made things a lot more interesting XD