Having played RE2 original and RE2 Remake back to back, it did feel like a new experience to me in all but the story plot. It was a pretty new experience in my mind, despite the re-used plot and setting.
I feel like the gameplay differences for FFVII are going to be a radically different experience to FFVII, it just follows the same major plot beats — and there appears to be some attempt to shake up the plot somewhat, too.
Those kinds of remakes, I do really deeply appreciate — taking kind of the nostalgic plots and settings of old games and revamping them not only from a presentational standpoint but from a gameplay standpoint, too.
I have enjoyed my fair share of some straight presentation-uplift remakes this generation as well, though admittedly they haven't generally been quite as memorable, but still fun. Like, Crash Trilogy, Spyro Trilogy, Shadow of the Colossus. I do think we could use less of these as a whole, though.
But if devs are willing to reconsider the gameplay, I still think of it as generally a pretty fresh experience with a familiar backdrop. To me, it's a bigger and more substantial difference than say, a film remake, which is gonna be held pretty strongly only to its plot in its remake, and I don't mind one bit if devs approach remakes this way.
