With a remake on the way, RE2 is now over 20 years old, and many here have probably played the original game several times over. The vast majority of people will probably want to wait to go back to the original title, or perhaps they already have, but for when you do go back to the classic title, I have a suggestion to make.
Play the game with item box restrictions. No, really. Some of you will read this and think this thread should be titled "If you're a masochist," and maybe when it comes to horror games I am, but I ran through RE2 last year with a strict "discarded items only" item box policy, and it breathed new life into a game that had become second nature to me. Resident Evil 2 is an incredible game, but I think there are two glaring problems that prevent it from being the best of the classic titles. Firstly, the balancing is a bit off. The first third or maybe half of the game is pretty well balanced, but beyond that point the game simultaniously throws too much ammo at you and boss fights that are over so quickly, they can hardly be called one (especially in the Japanese version of the game). You might take out some of the bosses in the game before they can even get in a single hit. The other major problem is from the sewers on, the game is basically a cutscene factory where you loop around very small areas with minimal puzzles. The latter problem isn't fixed by this suggestion, but only bringing with you what you can carry creates a situation where you're not going to pick up every single piece of ammo. You're not even going to pick up every herb. Suddenly your relationship between the items and the player changes, inviting the player to further strategize. Of course, it also means keeping the valve handle with you for almost the entire game as well as some additional backracking, so it's not for everyone.
This is not an argument that this is how RE2 should have been, and I would never suggest anyone play the game this way if they haven't already, maybe not until it's after a few times. But it rebalances the game in a way that keeps it fresh - without you having to access a Dreamcast or PC version in a modern setup.
Upon playing RE2 this way last summer, I also gave RE3 a shot, without expecting to be able to complete the game. Miraculously, I was able to, and now I'm going through it again.
This is my menu screen as of reaching the cable car, deciding whether or not to take the wrench first. I'm going ahead with ammo creation, because I'm probably not a good enough player to forego it, but I'll end up having to discard it at the clock tower like last time. Last year I found myself at the clock tower low on health and thinking it was the end. I unloaded upon Nemesis with basic grenade rounds, and managed to take it out before it could do too much damage. I'm not sure I won't end up in a situation where I can't seem to progress this time, but I plan to try.
Have you ever played an RE game with self imposed restrictions (beyond what the ranking system encourages)?
Play the game with item box restrictions. No, really. Some of you will read this and think this thread should be titled "If you're a masochist," and maybe when it comes to horror games I am, but I ran through RE2 last year with a strict "discarded items only" item box policy, and it breathed new life into a game that had become second nature to me. Resident Evil 2 is an incredible game, but I think there are two glaring problems that prevent it from being the best of the classic titles. Firstly, the balancing is a bit off. The first third or maybe half of the game is pretty well balanced, but beyond that point the game simultaniously throws too much ammo at you and boss fights that are over so quickly, they can hardly be called one (especially in the Japanese version of the game). You might take out some of the bosses in the game before they can even get in a single hit. The other major problem is from the sewers on, the game is basically a cutscene factory where you loop around very small areas with minimal puzzles. The latter problem isn't fixed by this suggestion, but only bringing with you what you can carry creates a situation where you're not going to pick up every single piece of ammo. You're not even going to pick up every herb. Suddenly your relationship between the items and the player changes, inviting the player to further strategize. Of course, it also means keeping the valve handle with you for almost the entire game as well as some additional backracking, so it's not for everyone.
This is not an argument that this is how RE2 should have been, and I would never suggest anyone play the game this way if they haven't already, maybe not until it's after a few times. But it rebalances the game in a way that keeps it fresh - without you having to access a Dreamcast or PC version in a modern setup.
Upon playing RE2 this way last summer, I also gave RE3 a shot, without expecting to be able to complete the game. Miraculously, I was able to, and now I'm going through it again.
This is my menu screen as of reaching the cable car, deciding whether or not to take the wrench first. I'm going ahead with ammo creation, because I'm probably not a good enough player to forego it, but I'll end up having to discard it at the clock tower like last time. Last year I found myself at the clock tower low on health and thinking it was the end. I unloaded upon Nemesis with basic grenade rounds, and managed to take it out before it could do too much damage. I'm not sure I won't end up in a situation where I can't seem to progress this time, but I plan to try.
Have you ever played an RE game with self imposed restrictions (beyond what the ranking system encourages)?
