# Chapter Select, [[S5E4 - Resident Evil 2]] Transcript This transcription was completed on March 4, 2026 with the application MacWhisper on macOS. This was done automatically, without human input during the transcription process. The transcription used the Parakeet v3 model. My hope is that by offering this transcription – however accurate it may be done by a machine learning/AI – will help you, the listener. I’d love to offer full, proper transcription some day, but that is not feasible at this time. Thank you for listening and reading. I hope you enjoy the show and that this document was helpful. Enjoy. --- Me mad. *00:00* Are you playing on hardcore? *00:00* Mm-hmm. *00:02* Are you going for the plat? *00:03* No. *00:05* You're not gonna join the club? *00:06* No, I don't want to play through this four more times or whatever. *00:08* Ah it's fun. *00:12* It takes you can beat it every morning before you even start work. *00:14* It's like takes 90 minutes, if that. *00:19* I would rather play other things. *00:22* That game's not that great. *00:25* Game's ten out of ten. *00:27* Say ten out of ten? *00:29* Uh-huh. *00:31* For Resident Evil 3? *00:32* Uh yeah. *00:34* Man. *00:35* Must be hard to be wrong so much. *00:37* Low standards. *00:38* Oh, it blows every other game we've played out of the water. *00:40* What? *00:44* You're uncracked. *00:49* I'm not. *00:50* My current ranking would be of let's just say what we've played so far this season. *00:55* So I've played Village before, but we'll leave it out. *01:01* I would I would go three two zero seven one probably right now. *01:05* Wow. *01:12* Pretty bad. *01:14* Two's barrier beating out zero too, by the way. *01:15* What? *01:19* I love zero so much *01:20* I don't understand how he likes zero but doesn't like one. *01:22* That is very strange. *01:26* Is it because you can put items down? *01:27* Yes. *01:29* Ten out of ten. *01:30* But there's no item boxes. *01:31* It's like ten times more annoying. *01:33* I didn't find it annoying. *01:35* Why is your camera inversed, Max? *01:37* Is it showing up spell drawn on your end? *01:40* It's well I just know the way that it normally is and Can you read the word The Last of Us? *01:43* No. *01:49* Can you Whoa, now I can read it upside down. *01:50* There you go, that's normal. *01:54* Okay. *01:55* That's normal. *01:56* I don't know. *01:57* Discord's actin' funky. *01:58* Anyway. *02:00* Alrighty. *02:01* Um, is this Ricky's. *02:02* Third time on here or second? *02:05* Third. *02:07* Ricky did Super Paper Mario, Furious 7, and now this. *02:08* He beat Mike to three because Mike Mike will also have his third episode *02:13* This season. *02:18* Mike did nuts and bolts, Tokyo Drift, and he will do Village with us. *02:20* You both did bizarre games. *02:27* Bizarre games. *02:30* Super Paper Mario and Nuts and Bolts. *02:32* Both. *02:36* Super Paper Mario is good. *02:37* Ish. *02:39* Good-ish. *02:40* Than nuts and bolts, that's for sure. *02:43* Nuts and bolts is weird. *02:45* I don't understand how you never mind. *02:49* We'll get into it later. *02:52* I don't understand how you think three is better than two. *02:53* Oh. *02:56* That episode will be fun, because it's I think infinitely better. *02:58* What? *03:04* This has been crack. *03:05* God. *03:07* I've only listened to one so far. *03:09* This has been the hardest ones to listen to. *03:11* Because I get so mad. *03:14* Did you hear me did you listen to the first episode of this season? *03:15* Yes. *03:18* And he's like, oh, complaining about all these things that are like just like *03:19* like structure of the game and like I'm like, I don't know if you like Resident Evil then he also just plays them wrong. *03:24* Well this was this was the thing. *03:32* Because I kill Yeah. *03:37* I kill everything. *03:38* Yeah, you know. *03:41* That's and I told him not to do that too. *03:42* You just if there's a one zombie and a *03:44* Hallway, you just run around. *03:48* I'll save it for the podcast, but I think that this should teach you not to do that. *03:50* Hmm. *03:55* Did you watch *03:56* The I watched like ten minutes of I need to finish. *03:57* Did you get to the stabbing part where I learned that you can stab downward? *04:00* No. *04:06* Yeah, I was playing I was playing I sent it to I sent the video to him Logan. *04:07* But he didn't watch it. *04:12* He's like, wait, what are you doing? *04:13* And I'm like, what are you talking about? *04:14* He's like, I didn't know you could stab zombies on the floor. *04:16* I'm like *04:18* What? *04:20* He's like stabbing up and down. *04:21* I'm like I thought And then this brought up questions of like *04:24* Well, how did you defeat certain bosses in the game? *04:29* He's like, what are you talking about? *04:31* I'm like, well like the bat boss and I guess the zero you have to like aim up a little bit to hit it sometimes. *04:32* He's like, oh I didn't do that. *04:40* What? *04:42* I don't remember doing that, but I certainly have never stabbed I've certainly never stabbed or shot anything downward. *04:43* in the old games. *04:51* So I was gonna say even in the modern ones you don't do that? *04:52* Well in the modern ones it's just third person shooting I can do. *04:54* Yeah but shoot I shoot them in the leg and then shoot 'em when they're on the ground. *04:57* Okay. *05:01* I certainly have not stabbed anything on the ground because I just used you don't cut off their legs? *05:01* Like if they're sh laying there? *05:06* You can cut off their legs is what I'm saying. *05:08* In the remakes you can. *05:11* Yeah. *05:13* Yeah, sounds about right. *05:14* These are the best games, says Max, and then he doesn't even Well first of all Or three You don't even need to do it. *05:17* Actually three sucks because I don't think you can chop off legs *05:25* You don't even need to play. *05:28* I'm playing three right now and I don't think you can. *05:30* You don't even need to. *05:33* But why would they take that the *05:34* That seems a little suspicious. *05:36* Here's Max's problem with three is that the reason why he likes it is because it's shorter, which means he sped run speedran it a lot. *05:40* Which means he unlocked all the fun weapons, which means he was doing like bazooka runs with the game, probably. *05:48* The last two runs. *05:53* The last two runs. *05:54* The last two runs were bazooka runs because they had to be. *05:56* But no, that's not why. *05:59* That's not why. *06:00* That's probably why you like it the most, because you had bazooka and cracked guns and you're just blowing everything up. *06:01* Yeah, because then it's very fun. *06:08* No, that's not why. *06:10* I mean that is a part of what makes that game great, but that is not why I love it. *06:12* I'm almost done with it. *06:16* I'm thinking about it. *06:17* Well if you're shooting stuff with Carlos, you should be *06:18* I'm defending Jill as I just did her back. *06:22* 30 minutes from the end. *06:25* So yeah, I gotta go to the what warehouse and the lab, and I think that's it. *06:28* So yeah, I just played it for like two or three hours last night and got mostly through it. *06:34* Ten out of ten. *06:40* Okay, so yeah, and we'll probably start talking about the original game and stuff. *06:42* At least a bit *06:48* Because I know Ricky and I have played that one, right? *06:50* Mmm. *06:53* No. *06:54* You haven't played Original RE2? *06:55* I wasn't allowed to. *06:57* Mmm. *06:58* I've played it, but I don't remember literally anything about it. *07:00* I watched all the cutscenes. *07:03* Yeah, some of those old cutscenes. *07:06* The one where they drop in Mr. *07:11* X is really good. *07:13* I wish they had that in the and that there was like a reason for the helicopter to crash. *07:15* Like I kind of wish that stuff had been kept in. *07:20* Yeah. *07:23* I was I was surprised to see the helicopter crash thing. *07:23* In the game. *07:27* Because I did see that cutscene where the guy's like shooting the sky because he's being attacked. *07:27* Where's Mr. *07:32* X Oh Tyrant deployed? *07:33* There it is. *07:35* Let me see this. *07:36* I've seen this before, but I just forget. *07:36* It's just really silly. *07:38* Just in a giant box. *07:43* Or he's hanging from a Which isn't that what they do with Nemesis and 3? *07:46* Yes, Nemesis just crashes. *07:51* Well. *07:53* Yeah. *07:53* Does he crash right onto the roof? *07:55* They don't really show it. *07:57* They don't? *07:59* Okay. *07:59* I thought they did. *08:00* Maybe in the old game. *08:01* Maybe that's what I'm thinking. *08:03* And the remake they don't. *08:04* They show him like they show the scientists like working on him and putting him in the box and loading him onto a helicopter and then he just explodes into Jill's apartment to start the game. *08:07* Oh, that's right. *08:16* That's awesome. *08:17* I was watching who's you this. *08:19* Do you think Do you think Nemesis is better than Mr. *08:24* X? *08:28* No, no, no, no. *08:29* I'm not that dumb. *08:30* Okay. *08:30* I'm not that dumb. *08:31* I was gonna say. *08:32* No, Mr. *08:33* X is the pinnacle. *08:34* I are I would think it's as far as big scary people that chase you in V Resident Evil, I think it has to go to Mr. *08:35* X, followed by *08:42* Big tall vampire lady and then Nemesis. *08:44* No. *08:47* I'd say Jack is better than Big Tall Vampire Lady. *08:47* Oh yeah, I forgot about Jack. *08:50* Jack is definitely Mr. *08:52* X-Vane for sure. *08:53* Like of scary. *08:55* I'd say Jack is better because he's more intimidating. *08:57* I never found Lady D all that spooky. *08:59* I found her spooky. *09:04* Exactly. *09:07* I can't wait to play that in VR here. *09:08* Get to that part of the game. *09:10* That'll be fun. *09:12* What are we doing after three? *09:14* Oh yeah, it's Code Veronica. *09:16* Code Veronica. *09:17* That masterpiece. *09:18* I say that having no idea what that game's about. *09:20* Yeah, I'll probably r R E three after we finish this. *09:23* And then um *09:26* Ahead of Max again. *09:27* Somehow. *09:29* Somehow this guy goes from two games behind to one game ahead. *09:30* I was just in the remake zone. *09:36* Well, I'm in the I'm about to when I boot up RE3, it'll probably feel like going home. *09:39* It won't take me very long. *09:44* Ricky, do you watch The Circle? *09:47* Is that a part of your reality TV? *09:51* I watched the first couple seasons. *09:53* I know I don't watch it currently. *09:55* Isn't there a dude on there? *09:58* Uh he you might not know this actually, but I think there's a guy on there who was supposed to be on Big Brother and he got he negative or he got tested for COVID and he's like a big douche. *10:01* Is that *10:10* There's a guy from Big Brother on there. *10:10* Actually, he said he was on Big Brother, so really? *10:12* Maybe he's a liar. *10:17* He's a partier in Vegas. *10:18* Like he has he has douche energy. *10:20* He's a partier in vagus. *10:22* Like I think he that's what he said his job was essentially. *10:24* Like he goes to parties in Vegas. *10:27* What's his name? *10:30* Uh Brett. *10:31* I'm pulling it up. *10:33* Um trying to find him. *10:34* Brett Robinson. *10:36* Wait a second, is this a different dude? *10:39* Is this You said oh Brett was a Cause another contestant actually meets him? *10:41* Yeah. *10:49* And go immediately says, Big Brother. *10:49* So I assume he was at least on the show. *10:52* He was on on. *10:55* Yeah, okay. *10:56* I thought there was another guy who wasn't on. *10:56* There could have been a previous contestant that was from Big Brother. *11:00* Who's this Marvin guy that might be *11:05* Be who I'm thinking of. *11:07* M Marvin from the circle? *11:08* Yeah. *11:11* I don't know if he well, he never mentioned anything. *11:12* Well, he didn't get on the show, so he like got cast and then got COVID or something. *11:15* Uh yeah, he got replaced this last season. *11:20* Uh okay. *11:24* He was fired. *11:25* He got announced to the public and then *11:27* They removed him because he had oh he it was he he didn't have COVID. *11:30* He had been on another reality show and they were mad. *11:34* Was that other reality show, The Circle? *11:38* No, it was uh what was it? *11:41* It was some *11:46* America's Got Talent. *11:48* He was on America's Got Talent? *11:50* Yeah. *11:53* Dude, he's probably the douchiest contestant. *11:54* Yes *11:58* So he does not wear a shirt, period. *11:59* Like the man is probably the most sculpted *12:04* reality TV person I've seen in a very long time. *12:09* It's mind blowing. *12:13* And he never wears a shirt. *12:15* And he thought the dude apparently has three *12:17* Degrees. *12:20* He's like a chemical engineer. *12:22* But he couldn't figure out that the women the two women he was talking to eventually talked to one another and realized he was playing them both, like trying to date both of them. *12:24* Yeah. *12:34* He was like, why is this happening to me? *12:35* Like he couldn't figure it out despite three college degrees. *12:37* Some people just aren't good socially, you know. *12:41* What did he do? *12:44* What happened to Chris Rock? *12:46* Sorry. *12:48* Why I don't even know what I said. *12:50* Like why? *12:52* Oh, where's Chris Rock? *12:53* Wasn't it Chris Rock or No, Nick Cannon. *12:54* Nick Cannon does the *12:57* Pre-show to America's Got Talent, right? *12:58* I don't know. *13:01* I don't watch it. *13:02* He's got too many children, probably. *13:03* Does Nick Cannon have a lot of kids? *13:05* How do you not know this? *13:07* Yes, lots of kids. *13:09* He has like ten kids with like eight women. *13:10* No. *13:13* Yeah, this is like a running gag. *13:15* Oh, oh. *13:17* I mean it's on it's like a punchline at this point. *13:18* It's so absurd. *13:21* That's insane. *13:23* He's like, nah, I don't believe in contraceptives or whatever. *13:24* So is his talent just taking his clothes off? *13:29* Uh maybe. *13:32* And then Terry Cruz joins him shirtless. *13:34* Oh nice. *13:36* Maybe his talent is knowing Terry Cruz. *13:37* I think Terry Cruz is the host of America's Got Talent now. *13:40* Oh, or maybe that. *13:43* Huh. *13:48* That would make sense. *13:49* Terry Cruz does have talent. *13:50* NFL player, actor, old spice body wash, yeah, good at commercials. *13:53* He uh draw he was in the spin-off *13:59* He was in the anthology series for Walking Dead. *14:04* He was in a one-off episode with uh Olivia Munn, I think. *14:06* Who used to be it's Olivia Munn, right? *14:11* She used to do uh 24 TV or something. *14:14* He was a good episode. *14:18* He was a prepper in that episode. *14:20* Hmm. *14:22* I could see that being real. *14:24* Big prepper energy. *14:26* Yeah, you didn't put four in your ranking, Max. *14:29* Oh, that's true. *14:32* Where it belongs. *14:34* Uh *14:36* Let's see, three above three three two zero four one. *14:39* Yeah, probably. *14:44* Now is it four VR? *14:46* Four VR would change it a little bit, because that game actually is like mechanically sound. *14:48* This is implying that this is implying that zero. *14:54* I love that Max is like, uh, Re4, not a mechanically sound game. *14:59* But RE0, top three for sure. *15:02* It's like what? *15:05* I had more fun with zero than I did four regular. *15:07* Yeah, I l just love shooting. *15:13* mutated scorpions and snakes and bats and cnipedes. *15:15* Oh no. *15:20* I would rather kill those than the grasshoppers. *15:21* That show up in the sewers of RE4. *15:26* Those grasshoppers can go die in a hole. *15:28* It's not much different than the grasshopper things that show up in three. *15:31* Oh, those things were the worst in zero. *15:34* Those things up in the tower. *15:36* Uh *15:38* No, in three. *15:39* Grasshoppers in three. *15:41* Yeah, in the power plant area. *15:43* Oh, you're in there for two seconds. *15:45* They impregnate Jill. *15:48* It's real gross. *15:49* Very gross. *15:51* That's right. *15:53* Did we we all did both runs, right? *15:55* Mm-hmm. *15:59* Yeah. *15:59* Yeah. *16:00* Just checking. *16:00* I mean I know you guys have done both runs in the past, I suppose, so it's more *16:01* I did the inverse of what I did last time. *16:06* Yeah. *16:09* Did we all do Claire and then Leon? *16:10* No, I did the opposite of that. *16:13* You did Leon and Claire. *16:14* I did Claire, then Leon. *16:16* Logan did Claire. *16:17* And then I went back and did Claire be halfway through again playing the way Max plays just to try to understand him. *16:19* I hated it. *16:27* Oh my gosh. *16:30* That's hilarious. *16:32* You can't understand this mess over here *16:34* I can't wait to play five and six with Max and probably teach him a lot of things he doesn't learn. *16:39* You can you can shoot guns? *16:44* What *16:46* Alright, I know you can shoot a gun. *16:47* You can combine herbs? *16:49* I could I know that. *16:51* Oh my gosh, that would be incredible. *16:52* Wait, how'd you do that? *16:56* Hello everybody and welcome to Chapter Select, a seasonal podcast where we bounce back and forth between a series exploring its evolution design and legacy. *16:59* For season five, we are covering the Resident Evil franchise. *17:08* I am your host, Max Roberts, and I am joined, as always, by Logan Moore. *17:11* Hi, Logan. *17:15* Max, I have an important question to ask you before we talk any further about this game, and it is *17:16* Would you eat the burger that is at the start of this video game? *17:22* It looks like it looks tasty or do you think it looks horrible? *17:26* It looks like a melted glob, but I would eat it, I think. *17:30* I can't tell if that would make I think that would make for a good burger though, wouldn't it? *17:37* Yeah, I think so. *17:41* Burgers they're like a little too uniform and look a little too perfect where you can see it all segmented and it's different parts. *17:42* Like I'm thinking like in and out. *17:49* Where it like, yeah, you can see the tomato, you can see the patty, you see the cheese, you see the onion, the lettuce, and it's like individual parts. *17:50* I don't think those burgers are as good. *17:56* Now when they're like amorphous globs that kind of have just like melted together. *17:57* Those are pretty good burgers, I would say. *18:03* That's why five guys is better. *18:05* I would agree. *18:07* I think so. *18:09* It's uh *18:09* Delicious in that way. *18:11* Yeah. *18:13* So thank you everybody for listening to our review of Cheeseburgers designed by Capcom. *18:13* Join us on the next episode where we talk about hot dogs. *18:18* I don't know. *18:22* We should actually do a full season on burgers and we just eat a different burger. *18:22* Bounce back and forth between different restaurant chains to sp *18:27* exploring their evolution design and legacy. *18:31* Or we could just choose a single restaurant chain and we can bounce back and forth on the numbers on the menu. *18:34* So start with a number one number in eye. *18:39* Yep. *18:42* There you go. *18:43* Perhaps. *18:43* Taco Bell season is gonna be season six. *18:46* Get ready. *18:49* Oh jeez. *18:49* All right. *18:51* Resident Evil 2 is on tap though this week. *18:52* We've got a guest joining us for this episode. *18:55* Ricky Freck will be joining us in just a couple moments, returning chapter select alum. *18:57* But before he gets here, let's run through all of the *19:04* basic information about RE2. *19:07* Obviously, to make this clear up front, we have played the remake for this episode. *19:09* We are going to be analyzing and talking about the remake rather than the original game. *19:14* That being said, as we do this rundown here, we're also going to talk about the original game and when that came out and all that good stuff. *19:19* So, per usual, Resident Evil 2 was developed by Capcom. *19:25* It originally released on PS1 N64 Dreamcast, GameCube, and PC. *19:29* Not yet once, but it rolled out across all those platforms at different times. *19:34* The remake then came to PS4 and Xbox One PC. *19:38* It then ended up later coming to Switch via Cloud and PS5 and Xbox Series X and S. *19:42* The original game released on January 21st, 1998. *19:49* Which is actually the day we're recording this, which is January 21st. *19:54* Kind of cool how that lined up. *19:57* Happy 25 years, RE2. *19:59* It is 25 years, my goodness. *20:01* Um *20:03* The remake launched on January 25th, 2019. *20:04* The original game director of RE2 was Hideki Kamiya. *20:08* The remake game directors were Kazunori Kadoe and Yasuhiro Anpo. *20:12* The producer of the original game was Shinji Makami. *20:17* The remake's producers were Yoshiaki, uh Hirabayashi and Tsuyoshi Kanda. *20:21* The music in the original was done by Masami Yueda, Shusaki Uchiyama and Siyun Nishigaki, and the remake's music was done by Shusaki Uchiyama and Shinlon King. *20:28* Or gang. *20:42* Gung. *20:43* I don't know. *20:44* But sometimes with I know that that's uh *20:47* There used to be a baseball player called uh Jungho Gung, and it was spelled like Kang like that. *20:50* It was pronounced Gung, but I think he was Korean, and I don't know if Xinhuang Kang or Gung is. *20:55* I would assume they're Japanese, but I'm not sure. *21:02* Anywho, uh, the Metacritic score on the original Resident Evil 2 was an 89 out of *21:04* uh 100 which there's only 13 reviews for it uh on metacritic so it might not be the best barometer uh as for the remake *21:12* It has a staggering 91 out of 100 aggregate score, and that's after 85 different reviews from various critics. *21:21* So no matter how you shake it, this is definitely one of the most *21:28* Lauded and praised entries in the series. *21:32* Is your review part of that Metacritic Average? *21:35* Yeah, it it definitely would be. *21:38* So I contributed to this one. *21:40* I believe I gave Resident Evil 2 *21:42* A nine? *21:45* Uh we could actually find out here within just a few short moments. *21:46* Yeah. *21:51* Resident Evil 2, I gave a 9 out of 10, and I said my stinger quote here says *21:51* Uh, Resident Evil 2 is likely the single most excellent video game remake ever created, and I'm hard pressed to think of anything else that could even compare. *21:58* There you go, folks. *22:06* That's Logan's review. *22:07* I like Logan said, we did play Resident Evil 2 remake here, and that's what we're going to be talking about. *22:09* But I do encourage you. *22:15* Um to look at the previous versions as well. *22:17* Digital Foundry has a great video that analyzes all of the original ports of this game from the PS1, GameCube, Dreamcast. *22:19* to the phenomenal N6D4 port, which just like shouldn't have even been physically possible. *22:27* That was the first one. *22:33* I remember my dad rented that from Blockbuster at one point and played it and I tried to watch it and he was like, don't watch me play this game. *22:34* Leave. *22:39* Yeah, the N64 port is mind-blowing that it even exists. *22:40* So I definitely recommend watching that. *22:45* There will be a link to that video in the show notes. *22:47* It's a super *22:49* insightful deep dive into all the versions of the original Resident Evil 2. *22:50* For sure. *22:55* But as for this episode, we're going to primarily talk about the remake, as we've said. *22:56* And to that end, let's welcome back to the show for a third time, Ricky Freck. *23:01* Hey Ricky, how you doing? *23:06* I'm good. *23:07* How are y'all? *23:08* Is is it a competition between you and Mike to see who can get on the show the most? *23:10* Uh yeah, I guess so. *23:15* I mean *23:18* I don't know, stop playing things we don't like and then or stop playing things we like and then you won't have to deal with this, I guess. *23:19* If that's your goal. *23:25* I think if you do a Yakuza season, Mike and I have to take over the podcast and you guys become the guests for a season. *23:32* Yeah. *23:38* Basically, I probably would play the Yakuza games wrong. *23:39* That's probably what would uh yeah you would. *23:43* I I assume, knowing what I know about you, I would assume you would do it very poorly. *23:45* There's side quests in this game? *23:50* There's a Dyber Man? *23:52* I know there are side bus in Yakuza, 'cause I watch Donkey. *23:53* You can race your little RC cars and find an emotional plot about the man who owns the RC car place. *23:57* That's true. *24:02* And that goes over like four or five games too, so Oh my gosh. *24:03* Yeah, they they've got some uh they've got some very uh long-winded storytelling in that series. *24:08* Okay, we're not talking about Yakuza today, we're talking about Resident Evil 2, Ricky. *24:15* This is a game that uh *24:19* I feel like we've ta you and I have talked about at least a fair amount because we used to work together at Dual Shockers when this game released. *24:22* So you and I have talked about this one *24:29* with one another quite a bit. *24:32* Um what's your own history with RE2 though, not only with the remake but also the original game if you have any history? *24:33* Uh so yeah I do have history. *24:42* When I was a young child, I guess like a preteen, uh my cousins and I would like, we'd bring our consoles to each other's houses after Christmas and play whatever game the other person had gotten. *24:45* So my cousin got the first Resident Evil for GameCube. *24:57* And if you if it wasn't your game, you had to print out the guide off the internet back in the day when that was a thing. *25:00* And then be the the guide person and tell the other person what to do. *25:07* Uh and so we did that and I got really scared at one part. *25:11* I believe it was probably the spider part. *25:14* And so my mom decided I wasn't allowed to play Resident Evil games anymore. *25:17* Uh so I didn't play any anything *25:21* Past one until maybe seven. *25:25* Not because I wasn't allowed, just because I kinda like I don't know *25:29* You weren't allowed to play Resident Evil games until you were almost thirty. *25:33* Uh just be like I just fell off, I guess. *25:37* But what I did do, and this is where my history is weird, I think. *25:39* Is our library had the S. *25:43* D. *25:46* Perry novelizations of the Resident Evil series. *25:46* And so I read all the novels and knew the story before I played the game, which maybe is why I didn't *25:50* play them until later on because I had already read what happened and didn't feel like I needed to play them. *25:56* So I've known the story and I've read the second book like, you know, ten times now. *26:02* But didn't play it until the remake. *26:07* Which is a weird way to experience Resident Evil, I guess. *26:10* I here's my question about the book, and I don't know if you would remember this, but maybe you would since you remember it so much. *26:14* What's the canon? *26:19* story within Resident Evil 2. *26:21* Is it Leon showing up to the police station first or is it Claire? *26:23* Like, cause both are kind of *26:27* mixed within the game itself to where there's no one true route within the game, but I assume there is within RE lore. *26:29* Yeah, so the way those books are written to make up for the zapping system is it's like omnipresent narrator. *26:37* Okay. *26:44* So um they're going you're going back and forth to them. *26:45* I don't like *26:48* So I think I don't even think they go to the gas station in the book. *26:50* I think it starts like Leon goes into the town and it's like a ghost town and he comes upon somebody that's being eaten by ravens. *26:53* And then Claire comes out of nowhere, and then they get hit by the truck, and then they have to get to the police station. *27:01* And there's also, I mean, I don't want to, we don't need to delve too deep into the books. *27:07* Oh, we could if you want to. *27:11* Um, but *27:13* I listened to the first one of these that y'all did for Resident Evil 1. *27:14* And you're talking about how one of the things you kind of I believe you said you kind of liked was that there's no like *27:18* main villain outside of Umbrella Corp, which is still true in the books, but there is like this overarching *27:24* somewhat good person, somewhat bad person, named Mr. *27:33* Trent, who like works for Umbrella. *27:37* And then as you get so *27:40* This was one of the reasons I don't like four very much is because uh the fourth book was written before the fourth game. *27:42* So it's very different and it starts to like bring in the umbrella corpo uh CEOs and stuff and starts to introduce them as real characters and then you have to they fight them *27:50* Um and they go the the fourth book is actually like uh they go to this underground testing facility where they're testing out different new types of bioweapons and they fight like uh *28:02* Pterodactyls and Mutant Rams and all kinds of crap. *28:13* So the fourth game when I played it was just not as uh intense as the book was. *28:18* Well, we talked about it in our Resident Evil 4 episode, but that game's development was obviously *28:23* all over the place for a couple years span there. *28:28* So that was probably an idea they had at one point and then it just got left on the cutting room floor and then they switched it up and they're like, let's do Spanish villages and stuff. *28:30* So that would make sense that that book would come out like that. *28:39* They could always bring it back here in the remake. *28:43* I hope so. *28:46* Be way clear. *28:47* They could *28:48* Yeah. *28:48* Max, what's your own history with Resident Evil 2? *28:49* I bought the remake on a whim uh that I had just heard things are very positive about it. *28:54* So I snagged it just at a GameStop and *29:00* played through it and I did Leon first because that was the one character I had recognized and knew *29:03* From the series. *29:11* And I was surprised going through the police station. *29:13* I was like, this is a Metroid *29:17* Vania game. *29:19* You go through, you get items, you come back, you get more items. *29:20* The whole world is connected the entire time. *29:23* You can uh uh can go anywhere by the end of the game, really. *29:25* Had you played seven at all up to this point? *29:29* This was bef I had played seven in VR, but I hadn't beaten it. *29:32* This was the first Resident Evil um *29:37* And arguably I didn't even beat it because I only did the Leon run. *29:39* I never went back and did the B run with Claire. *29:42* Can I ask how that happened? *29:45* Cause you see the stinger after the credits and you're just like, Oh, I guess there's a s a thing that's it. *29:47* He n he knew because you were you were you were talking to me about this and you're like, Oh, I did the first run. *29:53* I was like, Well now you gotta do the second. *29:58* I just think you didn't *29:59* I started it and I think I was just like, this is the same thing. *30:01* And I moved on to other stuff. *30:05* We'll talk about it, but it's fairly much the same thing. *30:07* And *30:11* But I was surprised no one had told me that this was essentially a Metroidvania style like world navigation spooky game. *30:12* And I really enjoyed my time with it, not enough at the time to obviously like keep going and and see everything it had to offer, but I had fun with it. *30:20* And then uh *30:29* Now we're back, and I'm we've replayed it for the show all the way through this time for myself. *30:31* And uh it's interesting to come back to this game having played others now and seen *30:38* what the series goes on to offer, where it's come from. *30:44* And this game, this remake specifically, kind of in the middle of all of that, where the original RET was so important. *30:48* the remake was important and now we kinda have a I have a better picture of the franchise as a whole, I think, at least so far. *30:54* And so it's it's interesting to be back playing it on the new PS5 version as well, which has, you know, new visual features and things like that. *31:01* Logan, what about you buddy? *31:08* Yeah, for myself, I mean I've told my residual story on this podcast uh already this year, how it I I had played all of them previously. *31:11* So I am the sole person here who has played OG Resident Evil 2, but I can't recall. *31:19* Well, this there's a caveat with this. *31:26* One, I only did one run. *31:28* So I think I just did Leon's run, and then I never did *31:30* the went back and did players because I back in the day I was like, oh I think they're just the same. *31:32* You just choose one character or the other and then you play and you that's all there is to it. *31:37* So I've only ever done one run of it when I was younger. *31:41* Um and not only that, but I think I beat it in a single day. *31:44* Just like a single sitting even. *31:48* Because that game's like it's pretty short. *31:50* It's like three hours, I feel like, the original. *31:52* Okay. *31:55* Um you can you can rush through it pretty quickly. *31:56* Um and I think I was probably consulting a guide to help me because those games are difficult when I was younger. *31:58* Um so yeah, I beat it in like a single I I have a very clear memory of beating that game. *32:04* in like one sitting after school one day and starting it like when I got home from school and by the time it was like seven or eight, like I'd beaten it. *32:10* I was like, oh, okay. *32:17* On to Resident Evil 3, I guess. *32:18* Uh so I had played the original, but it was such a long time ago and it was just one run. *32:21* Remake I reviewed back in the day at Dual Shockers when it came out, gave it very high marks. *32:26* I think it's *32:32* Excellent. *32:34* I had never done all four runs. *32:35* So the first time I played I did Leon's A and Claire is the B. *32:37* This time I switched it up, did Claire A, Leon B. *32:41* So now I've seen all four different possible *32:44* permutations of this game. *32:48* I think this I don't know. *32:49* I think this might be the best Resident Evil game post *32:54* RE7? *32:58* I don't know. *33:00* So like the mod the RE engine era of Resident Evil? *33:01* Yeah, of like this modern revival era of Resident Evil that we're living in. *33:04* I think this could be the best. *33:09* And I think that's because it's the most for as a remake, I think this is still so similar to the original games. *33:13* They really, really kept intact what the games were *33:22* back twenty years ago, twenty-five years ago, I guess at this point, geez. *33:26* And I feel like it really stays true to that formula while modernizing everything else. *33:30* And I think that's really impressive with this game overall. *33:35* Um and then there's just so much else. *33:40* I mean we'll we'll get into it here, but *33:42* I mean everything with Mr. *33:44* X, I think some of the storytelling is actually pretty good in this game too, which we can talk about. *33:45* Um more so than some of the other *33:50* Resident Evil games. *33:53* There's still a lot of good amount of schlock and cheesiness as well. *33:55* And uh but overall I think that this might be *34:00* I don't know if this would be my favorite, but I think objectively speaking, like I can't, I don't have many problems with this game. *34:05* I think it is *34:14* top notch in a lot of ways. *34:15* Um and I think it's one of the best remakes ever, if not the best. *34:17* Like I I it it's on a very short list of *34:24* uh top tier remakes in my opinion um for all of gaming. *34:27* And I think that's why we played this rather than going back to the original is because I I think it does keep intact, like I said, a lot of what the *34:32* the original Resident Evil 2 did to where even though we're we probably like if we wanted to really do our whole bounce back and forth, look at the legacy of the series, I think we could have should have maybe played the original, but this remake is so *34:41* good and stays true to the uh initial Resident Evil 2 that I think there's I I I think that it's this was a good choice for us to to play this one. *34:55* What what do you guys think? *35:05* Ricky, I guess *35:06* Where do you land? *35:08* Because I know you've played all of these games as well. *35:09* I I don't know if you're in line with me thinking this is one of the best in the series, especially in the more modern era or or what? *35:12* Uh yeah, this would be my number three overall behind Village in the first one. *35:20* I think Village is the best one they've ever made, but I don't know if like objectively I could say that. *35:27* I just think *35:32* I like how dumb it is. *35:33* I yeah, that's my thing with Village 2. *35:34* Yeah. *35:36* So. *35:38* Max, what about yourself? *35:39* At least within the ones we've played so far this season and what do you think about the game overall? *35:41* I can't speak to the original, right? *35:45* It's I don't have any context for it, but *35:47* I appreciate the modernization that this game has. *35:51* It's a lot of the stuff introduced in RE7, which makes sense with the, you know, the new engine and just design and things. *35:56* But this game is. *36:02* So good at immersing you in the environment with its sound and mechanics. *36:05* It's just it's all there, as little friction as possible with *36:13* some of the mechanic stuff like something we've complained about in the past with the old games, like the maps, and just their *36:17* not as useful as they could be. *36:26* And and this game, that's completely removed with doors being labeled as soon as you try to interact with them. *36:28* And knowing where keys go and just item management, it's it keeps in touch with some of the old stuff that you would see in like Resident Evil 1 or 0. *36:35* needing to use the item box, moving things, expanding your inventory, solving puzzles that way. *36:45* You know, what do I carry? *36:49* What do I sacrifice? *36:51* It's those same decisions, just *36:53* completely modernized. *36:55* So it does capture the spirit of at least what I'm familiar with with the old games. *36:56* But it makes it look pretty, it sounds great, it plays great. *37:02* It's just a really *37:05* rock solid game. *37:08* I see why it was received so well, it's praised so much, and why it's still popular to the, you know, this day, being out, I guess now for three or four years now for just the remake. *37:09* It's still a bar that they *37:20* strive for it seems and I think looking at things like Resident Evil 4 remake *37:22* I think that idea, that spirit of capturing the original while inventing some new things. *37:30* I I it can see it in the remake that's getting ready to come out, and I think this stems from that. *37:37* It this is a very important game in the series. *37:42* as a bridge in the modern era. *37:45* I want to stay with you, Max, because I think again, Ricky and I have talked about this game a good amount. *37:47* So I I *37:55* I kind of know where Ricky and I stand on this in some aspects. *37:56* I think just from our pre-show conversation that we had briefly about the game, uh, I think you have *38:01* more problems that you haven't let on with this game? *38:07* And I'm kind of curious what those might be. *38:09* And we can use maybe some of your criticism as jumping off points for more specific aspects of the game here. *38:12* Okay. *38:20* That's uh that's good. *38:21* That's a good idea. *38:24* I think my biggest one is one that I've we hinted at actually earlier talking about my story with this game, and I've really fully realized here *38:25* uh having played it all the way through this time is I think the world is not as interconnected between the two playthroughs as they would want you to believe or feel. *38:34* It is largely the same game, both playthroughs. *38:46* It doesn't feel like a a double campaign that pays off necessarily. *38:51* You don't *38:56* I don't think you learn enough playing one or the other or see the interaction of the worlds like this time around I did Claire first and then Leon. *38:58* And like as I'm playing through as Leon, I there were very few things that Claire had done that impacted the world. *39:07* You know, these are supposed to be events going on concurrently. *39:15* And it doesn't feel that way. *39:19* Uh there's you're doing the same puzzles. *39:21* You're doing you know, where things like where Claire would have cleared the way. *39:24* That's not clear for Leon. *39:30* Or you fight the same bosses. *39:32* You do the same boss fight in the same spaces, even though Claire theoretically just knocked down um *39:33* Uh G is it the G thing? *39:40* I William Birkin. *39:42* Birkin. *39:44* Just Birkin. *39:44* I didn't know what the the monster's name was, but clear *39:45* Claire knocks Birkin down and he falls. *39:50* And then Leon shows up and pushes through the same bookcase and there's Birkin again and we have him fall again. *39:52* Like the wor it just doesn't feel cohesive like the two sides are acknowledging each other really all that much. *39:57* You do *40:03* And Mr. *40:05* X doesn't really show up in Claire's run all that much. *40:06* So it just feels Which run you mean if it's *40:10* I guess the A run. *40:14* The A run of Clear doesn't have a ton of Mr. *40:14* X. *40:17* I suppose that might be different in her B run. *40:17* Yeah, because once uh I guess once you escape the orphanage with Sherry *40:22* Birkin comes in and kind of slashes him up or whatever. *40:26* Yeah. *40:29* Yes, like slices him in half. *40:30* It just Yeah. *40:32* disjointed, which I was a little surprised at um c this time like fully playing the game this time around. *40:34* It didn't *40:44* It didn't really show me why it was worth having this game be a two-playthrough type of game. *40:45* That's been my I mean, uh you can *40:51* go read my review right now uh from four years ago and I think I mentioned the exact same thing. *40:53* I think that is the game's biggest problem uh is that it just does not *40:58* feel cohesive between the two campaigns and you're doing the same things and oh I gotta collect three medallions and I gotta blow up this wall and I gotta do like you are doing the same tasks for the most part. *41:02* Obviously there are differences with, you know *41:12* Claire's whole uh story with Sherry and then Ada Wong showing up in Leon's campaign, like those are the two main differences and uh things do start to change a bit like when you get into the sewers and *41:16* Um, but you're still doing the same puzzles, even things like I guess this would make sense, but like uh like the locker codes remain static across both of the playthroughs and things like that. *41:28* Like that feels fine. *41:39* It's more *41:41* Why aren't the lockers already open if I I wish there was some sort of save file recognition. *41:42* Like if I had opened this in the past, why isn't it open in the playthrough? *41:47* Or it's just Logan, have you played Code Veronica? *41:51* Uh I have, but it's been fifteen to eighteen years. *41:55* Because what what you guys are describing, yeah, what you guys are describing is what happens in Code Veronica. *42:00* Not to like spoil a later podcast, but *42:06* If you leave stuff behind as Claire when you come back through as Chris, so you can make Chris's run easier by making Claire's run harder and vice versa. *42:09* So and obviously that game That's interesting that game came after two, right? *42:18* So I guess part of it is like *42:24* The original two maybe couldn't have done that kind of stuff. *42:27* Maybe, I mean, I don't know. *42:31* And then you get Code Veronical, they do do that stuff, and now we're in a remake, and it's like, do you want them to remake it? *42:32* More faithfully or you want it to be a more cohesive game? *42:40* I don't really know what the answer to that is. *42:44* I just know like I think it's worth saying that they do figure this out later. *42:46* Yeah. *42:50* And they do do it the way you guys want it to be done. *42:51* Well they largely just after Code Veronica, they also pretty much drop dual campaigns as a whole. *42:54* Like I don't think that's a thing. *43:01* Like four or five I mean I guess *43:02* Six wouldn't be dual campaigns. *43:04* They're just four individual campaigns instead that are their own things. *43:06* They don't really cross over. *43:11* They just made the *43:13* Campaign's co-op, I guess. *43:14* Yeah. *43:15* I mean besides four, obviously. *43:16* Yeah, I yeah. *43:17* That's um that's my main issue with the game, uh for sure, Max. *43:18* Um so we're *43:23* l in agreement on that for certain. *43:25* I that I'd say what? *43:27* A good sixty to seventy-five percent of the campaigns are similar? *43:29* Because there are differences. *43:33* Again, like there are different set pieces. *43:34* There are different *43:36* sections where you're controlling Sherry and you're trying to escape the orphanage or you're controlling Ada and running through the sewers and none of those last very long or anything like that. *43:37* But there are there are differences. *43:46* And some of the puzzles do get a little bit mixed up. *43:48* Like I'm thinking of like the chess puzzle is different in both of the campaigns. *43:51* The chess puzzle is different. *43:56* Which but *43:57* I appreciate it being different from a gameplay perspective, but from a world building perspective, why is the electricity just entirely different the second time around? *43:58* Like it d so there's *44:07* I just never understood like how they explain from a story perspective how Claire or Leon, whoever, whoever whoever is the character you're not playing as, how they get down into the lab. *44:10* And things like that because the explanation would be, oh well, you saw how via their playthrough. *44:22* It's like, well *44:28* I guess, but also they don't really ever cross over and they're doing the same tasks like we're saying. *44:30* So it is a it is a weird thing and it's just something you c have to sort of *44:35* put out of your mind for the most part, I I imagine. *44:40* Like that's kind of how I I view it. *44:43* Like they're not gonna tell a single cohesive story, but you get what they're going for and you understand broadly like what *44:46* is happening. *44:54* That's why I asked Ricky though, like what the what the books canon uh through line was. *44:55* Was it well so yeah *45:02* So the way I've always viewed it is that it's like an alternate history, the second playthrough. *45:03* Like it's not necessarily they're supposed to be happening at the same time. *45:07* Yeah. *45:10* Because in the books you do have *45:11* like Leon, I believe I could be wrong, but I believe Leon does more fights with Mr. *45:14* X just like he does in the game. *45:19* Yeah. *45:20* And so they don't ever fight the same bosses, obviously. *45:21* Um, but they are like they're hitting the same beats and you so you have *45:23* More of the Birkin stuff happening with Claire, obviously because of who she teams up with later with Sherry. *45:28* And then Leon's kind of like *45:35* the mercenary side uh with Mr. *45:38* X and Adawong. *45:41* So it's definitely like, I don't know. *45:42* That I think maybe helped me think of it as like two alternate histories because in my mind. *45:45* Leon never fights Birkin, right? *45:51* So That's kind of how I've always viewed it too, like I I create my own sort of *45:54* I I've I've always had a canon in my mind, like Leon's the one who gets to the police station, he's the one who's running around the police station dealing with with Mr. *45:59* Axe and and around and 'cause like cause it just makes more sense narratively for him to be the one *46:06* going through the station because he's the rookie cop and oh I'm I'm supposed to he was he was going to the police station anyway. *46:12* Having Claire be the one that gets in there and is interacting with uh what's the guy's name who's bitten. *46:19* Marvin. *46:23* Yeah, Marvin. *46:24* Like that stuff just doesn't make *46:25* as much sense narratively. *46:27* It makes far more sense to Le for Leon to show up and be like, hi, I'm the rookie cop who was supposed to come here and for him to have those connections and things like that. *46:29* Story stuff as I actually let's stick with this story because I know we're largely talking about it, and I mentioned this before. *46:39* Um, I do think there are some strong storytelling elements of this remake in particular. *46:44* It just depends though. *46:51* Um in this game. *46:59* Maybe I'm maybe you guys feel differently about that, but it comes off *47:00* I don't know. *47:05* It like w what did you guys think about about their through line in the game? *47:07* I'm just confused most of the time. *47:12* Like *47:15* How does Ada survive the fall? *47:16* Why it's Resident Evil. *47:19* Okay, sure. *47:21* How does Chris punch a boulder? *47:22* You just go with it. *47:24* The strength of Chris. *47:25* There's like this fake romance there, but then Leon is so easily manipulated into not believing Ada just at the mention of an evil scientist lady. *47:28* So like they're hold trust. *47:39* It just feels very goofy movie type energy where it's we're in love, we're rivals, we're in love, I've fallen. *47:42* I don't really know Ada's angle. *47:51* Honestly, I didn't know *47:53* Ada like works for Wesker until I played four. *47:56* She's a mercenary, so she just kind of does what I guess. *47:59* She gets hired. *48:02* So really I just kind of believe she was an FBI agent the very first time I played this a couple of years ago *48:03* She just their relationship is strikes me as goofy in this game. *48:09* Um as a noted Leon hater. *48:15* Uh I could care less. *48:17* Claire's story's way better. *48:19* Yeah, I think Claire's story has a little bit more of an emotional punch just because it involves Sherry and there's a family dynamic there. *48:20* I will say Sherry's pretty um *48:27* Sherry's pretty flippant about everything that's going on in her family and she doesn't seem too torn up that her dad's a big old monster and her mom's a evil scientist. *48:31* Like you get to the end of the game and she's like, Wow, Leon and Claire, you guys sh you guys should adopt me. *48:40* We could become a big family. *48:45* It's like homegirl, your parents are dead. *48:47* They just blew up. *48:49* Like you're not torn up about that at all? *48:50* Like *48:53* She just rolls with the punches in this game. *48:53* To be fair, her parents kind of suck. *48:56* That's true. *48:57* They're very bad parents. *48:58* Maybe she just doesn't like them. *48:59* It's true. *49:00* They are very bad parents. *49:01* But uh I didn't care for Sherry. *49:02* All that much. *49:06* Well guess what? *49:07* She shows back up at Resident Evil 6. *49:08* She does not. *49:11* Yes, she does. *49:12* I think she's in the campaign with Wesker Sun. *49:14* Oh my god. *49:17* I believe that is correct. *49:18* Oh okay. *49:21* I'm buckling up for that. *49:24* I just it felt fine, I guess. *49:26* Playing as Sherry was worse than playing as Ada. *49:29* Ada's actually capable of doing some stuff. *49:32* Oh really? *49:34* Well Sherry just does all st s child sneakiness and that like orphanage puzzle of he's gotta move stuff out of the way. *49:35* You have to basically that is like a creepy set piece though, because it's like a pervert *49:43* I didn't find it creepy. *49:49* I found it annoying. *49:50* I mean thematically, yes, it's creepy, but mechanically I found it annoying. *49:52* Yeah, because you have to wait for him to ri m maneuver his way around the room. *49:56* Like it is it is kind of drawn out just a bit. *49:59* Um, I get that, but the set piece itself is solid. *50:02* Ada's is just I'm gonna turn on some electronics with my little gizmo, and so *50:06* And then you gotta dodge Mr. *50:12* X who comes out of nowhere. *50:14* Which we'll talk more about him, I assume, as later on. *50:17* The one thing I when I say that there's strong storytelling in this though, I do think *50:21* Um, I do think a lot of the side character performances are pretty good though. *50:26* Um I I most of the main cast isn't that great. *50:30* Uh the brief *50:34* 90 second to two minute cutscene with uh Kendo is really good, I think, and it's really it takes a second to show how *50:36* Uh the outbreak is actually impacting people who live in the city, which I really like because a lot of times all you ever really see in this game is the main cast. *50:45* evil umbrella people, evil humans or whatever, like the cop, uh the the police chief in this game. *50:54* Like everybody you're running across is pretty mu pretty binary. *51:01* They're either either very evil or very good *51:03* Except for I guess Ada is kind of like in the middle. *51:06* And so you never really meet just everyday people that are getting messed up as a result of what umbrella is caused. *51:09* And so I think that's a I think that's one of the standout moments in *51:15* uh this entire game is just that two-minute cutscene with Kendo and his daughter and her him having to put her down. *51:18* It's it's pretty impactful for *51:26* Especially just coming out of nowhere, largely. *51:28* Mm-hmm. *51:31* I I liked it. *51:32* I I I like the *51:33* There's a letter from Jill there, which is new. *51:37* I think that's added later. *51:41* Yeah. *51:42* I think that was added via an update afterward. *51:42* So I like that. *51:45* I did not play it *51:48* But correct me if I'm wrong, there is a an optional mission with Kendo, right? *51:50* One of the extra gameplay modes *51:56* That was one of the DLCs that they added things afterward. *51:58* Yeah. *52:03* So I like Kendo's inclusion. *52:03* I *52:06* I was trying to think, like, who does Claire run into that's impacted? *52:09* I mostly I suppose Brian Iron Chief Irons, but he's a villain, not really Yeah. *52:13* He's there's no sympathy there. *52:21* He's just a creepy uh taxidermist slash I'm gonna kill people and stuff them with whatever *52:22* taxiderma stuff. *52:30* I was gonna say that's still taxidermy. *52:32* It is. *52:34* I don't know what you do do you fluff them up? *52:35* Is it like a stuffed bear? *52:37* Let's not say that maybe. *52:38* So I'm Yeah, it's like the stuff from Build a Bear. *52:42* You just like you grab that hose and you just fill it in. *52:45* S but who else declare doesn't really run into anyone else, does she? *52:52* Um not that I remember. *52:56* I I think sh I I feel she has a larger *52:58* connection with what's what's Lady Birkin's name? *53:01* Annette, right? *53:05* Yeah. *53:06* Yeah. *53:07* She has a larger crossover with Annette and her campaign, at least briefly. *53:07* Um especially toward the end. *53:13* Yeah, when she's trying to save Sherry because Sherry's become infected. *53:16* Um so she has a little bit more crossover with her and then Chief Irons and *53:19* It's about it, I think. *53:24* Um Do you even see Chief Irons as Leon? *53:26* No, I don't believe so. *53:29* You can't get into his office or anything because you never get the heart key or diamond key. *53:30* You find some like files that mention him, I believe, but that's about it. *53:35* I speaking of files, I think the environmental storytelling and like the item pickup world building is *53:39* great across both playthroughs because it does flesh out Chief Iron's creepy nature, but also the scientists in the umbrella lab, like the whole world *53:48* the stor environmental storytelling down in the lab, I think, is awesome. *53:58* The the vine creatures growth and expansion down there. *54:02* the one scientist who you have to get the ID bracelet for to I think level two or three or something. *54:08* Like if you go back and use the a modulator to open that up to get the *54:15* last item expansion slots. *54:21* Like his zombies in there and he has a note talking about how he's a genius and he'll never die and there he is dead. *54:23* So I think there's cool world building and storytelling and fleshing out those characters that you obviously never really interact with. *54:31* Especially like *54:38* I mean we mentioned Chief Irons, but I think it's cool you can find notes because initially if you don't read any of the extra files or notes that you come across, you kind of wonder like why is *54:39* The police chief, this evil dude. *54:49* Like, why is he doing this? *54:51* And you can find files that obviously flesh out that he's like on umbrella's payroll and he's being *54:52* Um he's being paid to to keep tabs on Sherry and he's working for them while also being the police chief. *54:57* So he's he's been paid off and stuff like that. *55:03* So like *55:05* Certain motivations of characters you wouldn't really understand unless you do that stuff. *55:07* I I agree. *55:10* I I that's I think consistent across all the Resident Evil games, though. *55:11* I think it's one of the few franchises where *55:15* When I do pick up collectibles, I do actually read them to further understand what's happening. *55:18* Um, because they're usually never too long and they they they do a great job of filling in the gaps with the narrative stuff. *55:26* We've talked a lot about storytelling. *55:33* Probably far more than I anticipated we would, if I'm gonna be honest. *55:35* Uh let's start digging into gameplay a little bit more. *55:39* And let's just talk about world design because I think that is this game's strongest *55:42* point. *55:48* Um the police station is obviously pro the best area in this game, I think, by far. *55:48* The lab and the the lab's far more linear and the sewers are *55:56* I don't know. *56:02* The sewers are okay. *56:02* But the p the police station itself is, I think, fantastic. *56:04* That's like probably *56:07* I don't know. *56:10* I I think the PlayStation could be, especially with how it's seen in this remake, could be the best area in any of the Resident Evil games, especially uh based on what we've played so far, the season max. *56:10* Um, I don't know how you guys feel about the different areas in this game. *56:20* I assume we're all hot on the station itself though. *56:25* Um yeah, I think like *56:28* I was kind of struggling with you saying it's the best of the series, but um I guess I'll skip past that because I think the Spencer Mansion is probably still better. *56:32* Um but I know y'all don't like that very much from what I heard last time. *56:42* I like the Spencer Mansion. *56:45* It's just I I if if you if you if there were if there were map *56:46* If there were map if there was a map that was as intuitive as the one in r remake here, then I think that would be a good one. *56:51* I mean it's in your brain. *56:56* You just put it in here and then you got it. *56:57* That's all you need. *57:00* Nope. *57:01* Doesn't want to trade that. *57:01* Yeah, I do think the police station's really cool. *57:02* Like Mac Max was saying earlier about it being like semi-metroidvania. *57:04* That's the most fun puzzle in the Resident Evil games for me. *57:09* It's like *57:13* I'm in this safe room. *57:13* I know Mr. *57:15* X is above me. *57:16* I need to make it to this certain place with enough *57:18* uh weapons or enough room in my inventory to be able to pick stuff up, how do I do that without dying? *57:22* Like that is the best *57:27* like puzzle the series has, right? *57:30* And I think that because of Mr. *57:32* X and the police station, that all comes together. *57:34* I don't know if it's that's maybe why I think *57:36* Like the Spencer Mansion is a cooler place because a lot of the police station being cool is because of Mr. *57:39* X being cool. *57:47* You know what I mean? *57:47* I agree. *57:49* I because *57:49* I felt that way playing through his clerk 'cause Mr. *57:50* X doesn't really he shows up still, but not at as early and *57:53* Mm-hmm. *57:59* So that kinda it did make my playthrough with Claire a bit more antsy because I had previously done the Leon A run. *58:00* So I was like *58:06* Is Mr. *58:07* X gonna show up? *58:08* Like I'm tiptoeing through the place and eventually he shows up. *58:08* The the police station, at least this remake incarnation, I can't speak to the original. *58:12* fixes the problem I had with Spencer Mansion, just unique identifiable spaces outside of the map, you know, actually being *58:20* functional and useful because it's just a modern game. *58:31* The police station is memorable in the sense of *58:35* It used to be an art museum, so there's but now it's a police station, so there's this strange mashup of architecture and and room design. *58:39* There's the offices for the stations and the armory, but then there's the showers and then there's this room with old art and a library. *58:48* Like it's *58:55* Each room fits because of this mishmash cohesion of police station and and art museum, but also *58:56* just these rooms stand out and it's so much fun to navigate and figure out and eventually you have the whole main area of *59:05* the police station mapped out in your mind and you're running through it, you're blazing, Mr. *59:15* X is on your tail. *59:20* You're like, I need to get over here. *59:21* It's like what you were saying, Ricky. *59:23* How do I get to this room or get to this space optimally? *59:24* while having room for the items I need without being attacked, and then Mr. *59:29* X shows up and throws your whole route off. *59:33* And I had a scenario where it's funny, I was testing *59:36* A note you pick up says the lickers, right? *59:41* That's what they're called? *59:44* Mm-hmm. *59:46* The lickers can't see you. *59:46* They don't have eyes. *59:48* They only listen. *59:49* So I was testing that in my Leon run of the game, and so I'm like creeping past them, and so that first hallway down to the left where the liquor shows up, I snuck past. *59:50* Now *01:00:01* Immediately kind of around the corner in that hallway is the clover door, which eventually is where you get the jack for the bookshelf in the library. *01:00:02* But because I was sneaking past the liquor, I never interacted with the door, thus not marking it on my map. *01:00:12* And later on I'm looking for the jack and I I couldn't remember where it was, and so I *01:00:19* didn't r realize I needed to go check there. *01:00:26* But upon my return, having looked it up, I was like, of course, it's the one room the door I didn't touch because there was a liquor right there. *01:00:29* I didn't kill the liquor, so it's still there. *01:00:37* There's still zombies in the hallway. *01:00:39* And who shows up? *01:00:41* Mr. *01:00:42* X. *01:00:43* And it just turned I might have the footage for it, but it turned into this mad chase of Leon with *01:00:43* very little health. *01:00:49* Mr. *01:00:50* X is like pushing all the enemies out of the way, but they're getting back up trying to kill me. *01:00:51* I'm running in this tiny room trying to pick things up. *01:00:56* He's punching me. *01:00:59* I'm just trying to run away *01:01:00* with this jack and get to the library where at least I have more room. *01:01:03* And so it creates this dynamic *01:01:07* play space when all of the elements are coming together and you know the map, because then you're like, well I can get to the library by going down this hallway or I can ditch Mr. *01:01:11* X by cutting through here and *01:01:19* and taking the long way around. *01:01:21* And so it's a great location. *01:01:23* The police station in particular is just awesome to explore and and run around in. *01:01:26* Yeah. *01:01:31* We've talked obviously a lot about Mr. *01:01:31* X. *01:01:35* I mean we may as well have a larger conversation about him because he is the *01:01:35* Stand I feel like I'm restating all my things I wrote in my review four years ago, which is kind of funny. *01:01:41* But I a lot of what I said, that is one of the reviews. *01:01:46* A lot of times I'll write reviews for games and then *01:01:49* Six months or a couple years later uh time goes by and I look back, I'm like, uh I would say different things about this game, I think. *01:01:51* This is like one of the few games where like what I thought of it back then I think largely holds true to where I'm at now *01:01:57* Um and Mr. *01:02:02* X really is the star of the show in this game, for sure. *01:02:03* And I I I think, yeah, what's so great about him is just *01:02:08* The game is already, I don't want to say difficult or hard, but you've already got enough going through your head when it comes to trying to keep track of *01:02:14* where certain items are at and where you what your what your overall goal is. *01:02:23* Okay, I need to get these medallions. *01:02:26* Okay, I need to blow up this hole in the wall. *01:02:28* I need to do this. *01:02:30* And so you're trying to *01:02:31* You're trying to map out in your mind how to get around the police station and where you need to go and what areas you haven't explored yet. *01:02:33* And at the perfect time in this game, at least in the *01:02:40* Uh definitely with Leon's more so than Claire. *01:02:45* They do drop Mr. *01:02:49* X and it just completely changes how you view *01:02:51* your objectives within the police station because then now all of sudden where you were starting to feel pretty comfortable and you had started pathing out *01:02:55* how to get around this area. *01:03:02* Now you have to reroute yourself. *01:03:04* And and the in the area and the police station is so interconnected that there are so many different routes you can take to get from point A to point B. *01:03:07* And that's what's awesome is that *01:03:15* Uh Mr. *01:03:17* X might be in your way, but you can go around, but it's gonna take more time. *01:03:18* And even then you don't know if he's gonna path somewhere himself that will end up within the new path that you're trying to take to go around him. *01:03:22* And so it just adds this constant stress and I I yeah, stress and angst more than anything because when you actually do see him and run into him, he's not like horrifying. *01:03:30* Uh it's more just fear of dying. *01:03:43* Like he's not a jump scare enemy really. *01:03:48* He's not a *01:03:50* Like i i it's a it's a different kind of horror, which I really like in in this game. *01:03:52* It's it's just a constant sense of dread. *01:03:58* Yeah. *01:04:00* Because you can hear his footsteps and you're worried about dying and you're trying to keep your health up and *01:04:00* Yeah, even when you come across him, it's i I there's never like a jump scare moment or are you shaking uh uncontrollably because you're so frightened to come face to face with him. *01:04:06* It's just like, uh, this guy's giving me *01:04:16* This guy's giving me fits. *01:04:19* I hate him. *01:04:20* And so that that's what's great about him, is it's a different type of horror, I think, that this series has not really done. *01:04:21* Um, I don't want to say they've never done, uh, because they've obviously repeated this sort of thing a lot with Jack in Resident Evil 7, Lady D in Resident Evil 8. *01:04:29* the Nemesis to some degree I would say, um more so in the original Resident Evil 3 than the remake. *01:04:38* Um but yeah, it it's Mr. *01:04:46* X is *01:04:49* phenomenal and it's easily the best part of the game. *01:04:51* And I I think it makes Leon's campaign the better of the two for sure. *01:04:54* That he just remains this unstoppable *01:04:57* Force that doesn't go away until you finally have to get stuck with him on a elevator platform and you have to have one final battle with him to finally *01:05:01* get this guy out of the way. *01:05:13* Um and I I I I think that's great because especially and I'm I'm talking about the end of the game with there when you're trying to run away, but *01:05:14* The moment in Leon's campaign when you're trying when the timer's going and he busts through the door and Leon's like, oh my god, this guy again? *01:05:20* Like he's been chasing you for hours at this point. *01:05:27* And he just is still there and he's not stopping. *01:05:30* It it it it makes for a great through line. *01:05:33* Um and he shows up everywhere. *01:05:36* Again, in Leon's campaign specifically. *01:05:39* Like uh you're in the lab and you you destroy all the plants and you're like, okay, cool, I can get this thing, and then boom, he comes out of nowhere. *01:05:41* You're like, oh my god, again, are you serious? *01:05:48* Like he just shows up everywhere. *01:05:50* uh when you least expect him a lot of times and it's even outside the police station he's yeah easily the best part of the game I think. *01:05:52* I Mr. *01:06:00* X is iconic *01:06:02* You know, he has this undeniable design and presence *01:06:05* From the bowler hat to the trench coat to the th the thud of his name. *01:06:13* His name *01:06:20* The his brute strength, his Where does the name actually come from? *01:06:21* Uh sorry to cut you off, because it's never said in the game itself. *01:06:25* He's just referred to as Tyrant. *01:06:29* Is this a *01:06:30* I I don't I don't know if Ricky would know if the I wanna say it's a uh file you read somewhere, but I could be wrong. *01:06:33* That could be incorrect. *01:06:42* I couldn't remember I I couldn't remember reading anything in the game that explicitly said Mr. *01:06:43* X. *01:06:47* Anytime you find anything that references him, I thought it just referred to him as Tyrant. *01:06:47* So according to the Resident Evil fandom wiki, one of the Nick's names used in licensed materials is Mr. *01:06:52* X, a name never used in Resident Evil 2 itself. *01:07:00* It is possible the name was a result of a mistake on Capcom USA's part. *01:07:03* Early concept art of T's dash zero zero to license E's is known as Tyrant X. *01:07:09* Um so it sounds like it was a name that just has kind of survived through copyright. *01:07:16* It's later used in like comics and magazines and *01:07:23* There's even a mention apparently in Resident Evil Resistance. *01:07:27* So it seems like it's a name that has survived from the early concept phases of it and it's just stuck with *01:07:30* Fans have just latched onto it. *01:07:38* It's a better name than Tyrant, especially because Tyrant, when I when you say Tyrant, I think of original Resident Evil. *01:07:40* Mm-hmm. *01:07:46* The final boss in that game. *01:07:47* So yeah, Mr. *01:07:48* X is just *01:07:49* a much better name. *01:07:50* Sorry to cut you off. *01:07:50* No, you're totally fine. *01:07:52* It's it is a better name. *01:07:53* It also gave birth to arguably *01:07:54* one of the greatest memes of i at least certainly in resident evil, which is modding the game with, you know, uh X gonna give it to you when Mr. *01:07:58* X bursts through the wall or something. *01:08:08* Like *01:08:11* There is just there's something undeniable about this monster. *01:08:12* And especially in Leon's campaign where he is the constant instead of Birkin, just shows up, shows up, shows up. *01:08:17* And it's so much fun. *01:08:26* And once you get over that initial fear of him *01:08:29* he really does become just a puzzle to solve and move around. *01:08:33* His footsteps are more scary than his actual physical presence. *01:08:38* He's just a blast. *01:08:44* I will say *01:08:46* He is a bit at least in the police station initially, he's a bit easy to just *01:08:48* Uh leave behind. *01:08:56* Um, I think specifically back to that library scene, like where you gotta jack and move the bookcases and stuff. *01:08:58* You can just run circles and like he never really strays from following you directly. *01:09:04* It's only when he shows up out of nowhere and then you're reacting instead of leading him. *01:09:11* Where it can get a little nutty. *01:09:17* So, but if you have him in a solid pursuit, he's not really that big of an issue. *01:09:19* He's more of a nuisance at that point. *01:09:24* Which is a bit of a downer. *01:09:28* He doesn't *01:09:29* surprise as much once you're familiar with him. *01:09:31* Then the surprises come back again later when when you're in the greenhouse or when you're in the *01:09:35* the lab trying to escape, but that's more amplified because of the nature of those set pieces, and it's the end of the game. *01:09:40* So the thing about this game that freaks me out with him, sorry to cut you off, is that *01:09:47* In the original Resident Evil 2, obviously with the set cameras and stuff, you can see him when he's coming after you at times, so you can kind of maneuver a bit a little bit better. *01:09:52* Because this is a third-person game, though, when you are running from him, you obviously cannot *01:10:01* See behind you? *01:10:05* Unless you I guess could you turn the camera and run towards the camera, I guess? *01:10:06* Well I feel like that'd be very dangerous. *01:10:10* But then you can't see where you're going and there could be zombies in front of you and stuff like that. *01:10:12* Yeah. *01:10:16* So *01:10:16* You can't see him a lot of times when you directly come into contact with him. *01:10:17* And that's what's that's what freaks me out the most is just hearing the footsteps and the sound design in this game is *01:10:21* Immaculate. *01:10:27* Like Ed is so so so good. *01:10:28* I I I think that's partially why he is um as good as he is in this game, and it is because the sound design is off the charts. *01:10:30* Um *01:10:38* And yeah, just not being able to again, yeah, he's not that scary when you come across from him uh come across him, but running from him and just *01:10:40* knowing that he's behind you and you don't know if you're outrunning him a lot or if he is gaining on you, that creates that stress and uh that's the *01:10:48* fear part of it, I guess. *01:10:57* Yeah, that was that was what I was gonna say was that it feels you can definitely tell they've played Outlast, which is um that's like a constant thing where people are chasing you. *01:10:59* And you don't know if they're right behind you or if you have some time, but you just have to like make a choice which way you're gonna go. *01:11:08* And if you're wrong, you're probably gonna be dead, and you have to start over. *01:11:14* And that's the same feeling I get where like the hair's up on the back of my neck and I'm like sweating and cursing and hoping he doesn't get me. *01:11:17* Um so *01:11:24* It definitely is like, oh, these guys played a lot of Outlast before they made this game. *01:11:25* Even though they're very different games, you know, that's a first-person game, uh, a lot more. *01:11:29* Um gross. *01:11:34* I wanted to come to you real quick, Ricky, because I mentioned that I think Mr. *01:11:37* X's presence in Leon's campaign makes his the better of the two, and you kind of made a *01:11:41* face at that in in turn. *01:11:46* Do you so you think Clayers is the better of the two campaigns, I assume? *01:11:48* I think *01:11:53* Yes, I think Claire is more has more fun guns to play with. *01:11:54* Yeah. *01:11:59* I think Claire's side story with Sherry is much better than uh Leon's with Ada. *01:12:00* Uh I think that I actually care about Claire and I don't I mean again I don't like Leon. *01:12:07* I've never liked Leon uh *01:12:16* And so that's part of it too, I will admit. *01:12:18* There's like a definite bias there. *01:12:21* But yes, I think I think like that's one of the ways that it's like so wild to me that Max didn't play *01:12:24* Claire B because to me, Claire's run is the run, right? *01:12:30* Like that is the one you should play every time. *01:12:35* And so I always start Claire A and then go Leon B did the opposite this time. *01:12:38* And I was like, oh, you know, there's less Mr. *01:12:42* X here, but it's still like the story's way better. *01:12:45* I'm having more fun shooting people. *01:12:50* I get a grenade launcher. *01:12:53* Well, like let's talk about the weapons. *01:12:55* Um, because I do agree Claire has m many better weapons because she's got what the grenade launcher, she's got the SMG as well. *01:12:57* She's got the standard. *01:13:06* Yeah, she's got the pistol, uh the electric thing. *01:13:09* Yeah, the electric spark plug, spark bolts. *01:13:12* She's got way more unique weapons in hers, whereas Leon is more *01:13:15* Two pistol variants, which is a little bit odd. *01:13:19* One which he just holds like a pistol, then when he turns sideways like he's a like shot. *01:13:22* Yeah, kill shot. *01:13:28* Uh there's a shotgun, which feels *01:13:30* Great. *01:13:32* I mean shotguns and resident roll are always excellent. *01:13:33* So I I that might be the best feeling gun in the game to just *01:13:36* Pop a zombie's head with that right away, but the grenade launcher in the SMG stuff is a little bit more unique for sure. *01:13:41* Yeah. *01:13:48* I'm a big fan of the grenade launcher. *01:13:49* I like it better than the shotgun. *01:13:51* The shotgun does not light people on fire. *01:13:52* Um, so that's a letdown in my book. *01:13:55* Leon eventually gets a flamethrower though, so at least you you can catch people on fire in his place. *01:14:00* Yeah, but I don't think the flamethrower is very good. *01:14:05* Yeah. *01:14:07* No, I I it's certainly not as exciting as the stuff that Claire is getting. *01:14:07* I uh they all feel good. *01:14:12* They're all fun. *01:14:16* I just *01:14:18* They just didn't strike me as Maybe it's just a research staple at this point. *01:14:21* I'm just getting familiar with it. *01:14:27* We're this is our fourth episode, so maybe I'm just feeling *01:14:28* some sort of weapon complacency with the same stuff every game. *01:14:32* But I'm not the most exciting gun to get was the spark plug shooting thing, because it was new to me. *01:14:37* 'Cause I didn't do clear last time, so I never got that gun before. *01:14:46* So that uh it didn't feel as inventive and Leon getting that one pistol that you just collect parts for and keep upgrading it. *01:14:49* That was actually really disappointing because it was an extra pistol. *01:14:59* Like I would have ha rather had different weapon variety or something there. *01:15:02* I mean most of the staples are what? *01:15:06* Standard pistol, there's a mag, there's a shotgun, there's a grenade launcher. *01:15:07* Those are the big ones I can think of. *01:15:13* And then there's usually some other more unique things around those. *01:15:15* If you want unique weapons, I'd say *01:15:19* five has some more unique stuff. *01:15:22* Cause isn't there a bow in that game? *01:15:25* You might be right. *01:15:30* I can't remember. *01:15:31* It's been a long time since I played five. *01:15:32* It's been a long time since I've played five too, so I could be completely *01:15:33* uh speaking nonsense there, but I I I think you can. *01:15:37* Um but yeah, I feel like there's way more unique weapons in five from what I remember. *01:15:41* But again, that's much more of an *01:15:45* action focused game. *01:15:47* So yeah. *01:15:49* I will say one thing I will say about the weapons is it could just be my playstyle too. *01:15:50* Because having the SM because basically what I do is I walk into a room, if there's a zombie in there, I shoot it in the knee until it can't walk anymore, and then I consider that zombie dealt with. *01:15:55* And then I don't like kill it. *01:16:05* I just run past it. *01:16:07* So having the SMG that can just like take out their knees real fast uh makes it like perfect for me the way I play. *01:16:08* SMG is definitely, yeah, you gotta learn how to *01:16:16* use the SMG and it ri it really is to just handicap the zombies more so than trying to shoot them in the heads or whatever because *01:16:20* Yeah, it's not great for for that at all, by any means. *01:16:28* What did you guys think of the sub-weapons? *01:16:32* The grenades, the knife? *01:16:35* being A equipable between the three of them, like only one equipped at a time, and B the whole if you're grabbed, you can use one of them to get the creature off of you. *01:16:38* What did you think of that system? *01:16:50* Cause I don't think I've seen that in any of the games we've played so far. *01:16:53* I like it. *01:16:57* I use it a lot where *01:16:58* If I know like oh I have a flash bang, I'll just get bitten because I don't have a lot of ammo. *01:17:00* So I like being able to use it tactically when I'm out of ammo to just like take out a room and get cleared out. *01:17:05* So I think it's a good system. *01:17:12* I don't know. *01:17:13* I don't really use a lot of like throwing the grenades at people. *01:17:14* I only use it as like a defensive thing. *01:17:18* I'd say that's how pri I primarily use it too. *01:17:21* Um at the time we're recording this, I'm playing through RE3, which we'll talk about. *01:17:23* Eventually later in the season as well. *01:17:29* That's not in that game. *01:17:31* And I don't really understand why, because I do like its inclusion here. *01:17:32* Do you think it's do you think it's because of the dodge roll? *01:17:36* But uh Jill has might be because of the dodge roll. *01:17:39* I think the knife also does not the knife in RE3 does not have a uh *01:17:42* have like a st what is it called like a it doesn't get destroyed. *01:17:48* Yeah. *01:17:52* Yeah. *01:17:53* There's a there's a name for that. *01:17:53* Weapon durability? *01:17:54* Yeah, a durability bar is what I was thinking. *01:17:55* Thank you. *01:17:58* Yeah, so the knife cannot get destroyed in RE3, but still you can't even do it with the grenades or the flashbangs or the grenades. *01:17:59* Um which was kind of disappointing. *01:18:08* I d I definitely like that far more in RE2. *01:18:10* It's a little bit more forgivable in that sense. *01:18:13* But then again, RE3 is a little bit more action heavy, I guess. *01:18:16* So they're kind of *01:18:19* Trying to encourage you to fire guns. *01:18:21* So we once again prove that I play these games differently than you. *01:18:23* I'm *01:18:29* using these sub-weapons proactively instead of reactively. *01:18:30* I'm not trying to get grabbed and use them to push off. *01:18:34* I'm throwing grenades into groups or *01:18:37* flashbains to stun them so I can maneuver out of a sticky situation. *01:18:40* I've I definitely do that as well, but there are some enemy types in the game. *01:18:44* Like I think of the mutated *01:18:48* Whatever the heck they are in the sewers uh that can the G adults? *01:18:50* The big globy gloop things. *01:18:57* Yes, yeah, whatever those are. *01:18:59* I think of those as ones that I *01:19:01* would use my subweapons on quite a bit to get them off of me. *01:19:04* Um standard zombies sometimes if they were getting on me and I had a *01:19:07* frag grenade on me for instance and I'll I s and I wanted to save that and use it for later I would just let them bite me and shove them off and then keep going because I would use the grenades at times on bosses and whatnot. *01:19:12* Or uh to just flash bangs if there's a lot in a certain area, just clear the way and keep running. *01:19:25* So uh I would use it as a mix of both, I would say. *01:19:31* We've talked a lot about the weapons, and I think kind of going along with that, we could talk about the bosses in this game, which we've also touched on a little bit. *01:19:34* How do you guys feel about the bosses in the game? *01:19:41* Oh there's only two, but you do fight them in multiple instances. *01:19:45* There's the Birkin fight in the basement area. *01:19:48* There's the Birkin fight in the *01:19:52* on the platform where you b blast him off. *01:19:55* And then there's the I guess the two different bosses at the ending. *01:19:59* Or well then there's the uh the final Birkin *01:20:03* I don't know. *01:20:06* The Verkin fight where you run into a net and she freezes him, and then you go down in the center area and you fight him there. *01:20:07* And then there's the final fights for both Claire and Leon. *01:20:13* And then the *01:20:16* Final final fight itself, which is I don't know, but whatever. *01:20:18* Yeah. *01:20:21* With all those taken into account, what did you guys how do you guys feel about the bosses in this game and I like almost every Birkin fight. *01:20:22* I think the Mr. *01:20:29* X fight is kind of whatever. *01:20:29* Because it's just like dodge him until uh Ada randomly comes back to life and throws you a rocket launcher. *01:20:32* Although I will say *01:20:40* If you can if you can just shoot them once and you get to keep a couple rockets, the next part where all those zombies come out and you can just blow them up is very satisfying. *01:20:42* I did that. *01:20:50* I was able to pull that off and get the the trophy for that one. *01:20:51* Like beating him within what five minutes of stuff. *01:20:54* I did that too. *01:20:57* I I tucked away all my mag ammo for that fight and I'm like, I'm gonna try to get this trophy. *01:20:57* So I think I had like twenty mag shots when I fought Mr. *01:21:02* X. *01:21:05* I just unloaded. *01:21:05* Again, we just play very differently. *01:21:08* I the *01:21:13* I'm not a fan of Birkin. *01:21:15* He feels so samey every time it's shoot the shoulder, shoot the eye, shoot the shoulder, shoot the eye, which is the same thing as the gloopy goblin. *01:21:16* sewer monsters. *01:21:28* Shoot the eye, shoot the shoulder. *01:21:29* And then Mr. *01:21:32* X is feels more like an endurance boss fight rather than *01:21:33* Like I'm succeeding and deteriorating something, I don't know. *01:21:37* It's just how long can you last until you get a rocket launcher? *01:21:41* So *01:21:44* Well, you have to deal damage to him. *01:21:45* It's not based on timing or whatever. *01:21:47* You do, but it's also Yeah *01:21:50* They're they feel cool. *01:21:54* They're very epic and grand, especially the later ones in the game, but nothing felt particularly challenging or *01:21:57* inventive or like I had to come up with something that fight with Birkin in the center of the lab, they give you so many items there that you're never short of anything you could possibly need. *01:22:06* Uh it's just they're not tough. *01:22:20* And I played the game on normal both times. *01:22:24* They didn't jump up to hardcore or anything like that. *01:22:26* I wasn't pursuing the platinum this time around. *01:22:29* But I just there's such a lack of variety. *01:22:32* And there's not even really sub bosses or anything like that. *01:22:35* The closest, I guess. *01:22:40* I guess is the alligator. *01:22:42* But that's just Yeah, what are you talking about? *01:22:44* That's fun. *01:22:46* That's a Crash Bandicoot level. *01:22:47* He gives a grade one-liner after he kills it, but I forget what he says. *01:22:49* I forget too. *01:22:53* I think he might just say like die you effer or something like that, like and then blows it up. *01:22:54* It's but that's not a boss fight, that's like I said, a crash bandicoot level. *01:22:59* I'm surprised Logan you and care for that. *01:23:04* Um well most Crash Bandicoot levels don't end up with alligators exploding into a thousand pieces. *01:23:06* If only they did. *01:23:13* So I was actually pretty bummed out by the boss fights and variety in this game. *01:23:15* I think I think the boss fights uh visually and set piece-wise are almost always pretty cool. *01:23:21* Um I really like being chased down around in a maze with Birkin the first time you encounter him. *01:23:28* I love crashing the crane into him. *01:23:35* I think that's a cool idea. *01:23:38* That's a bad fight. *01:23:41* That's a bad fight. *01:23:42* Well, why is it a bad fight? *01:23:43* Because if you do *01:23:45* It's so just cumbersome and he can get up so fast and then walk after you've already initiated the swing and then if you're Max is just saying it's bad. *01:23:47* Maxie, yeah, I think I think you're I think you're I think you're tattling on yourself. *01:23:58* Cause I would just blast him down and immediately press the thing and then it would hit him. *01:24:02* No, I would hit him. *01:24:06* I'd hit him. *01:24:08* He'd fall to his knees. *01:24:09* I'd go push the button and then he'd get up and walk out of the way. *01:24:10* And then you're trapped. *01:24:13* You either get hit by the thing or you played I mean I played this boss fight twice. *01:24:15* I mean played that boss fight twice between both campaigns. *01:24:19* Never had that happen once. *01:24:21* Bad gamer. *01:24:23* You're ratting on yourself. *01:24:24* It's not a fun fight at all. *01:24:26* That crane thing's so slow. *01:24:28* I think it's unique for sure. *01:24:31* Um you have to do it twice. *01:24:33* Also like there's a trophy to do it once *01:24:36* Hit it once? *01:24:39* Mm-hmm. *01:24:41* Yeah, you can do it. *01:24:41* What what's the difference? *01:24:43* What are you doing differently? *01:24:44* You just have to deal more damage to him. *01:24:46* Yeah. *01:24:47* The crane deals damage to him. *01:24:48* And so once you get him his health below a certain threshold, that knocks him off. *01:24:50* You don't have to do the crane twice. *01:24:53* I don't like that at all. *01:24:55* That's terrible. *01:24:58* Bad gamer ratting on himself. *01:24:59* Bad gamer. *01:25:00* What are you doing damage to him with? *01:25:01* A gun like with everything else with your guns, with your grenades, with everything and it gives you. *01:25:04* Yeah, if you if you knock him down, you just keep blasting him for a little bit. *01:25:12* Yeah, I don't like that fight at all. *01:25:16* Uh I thought that fight's fun. *01:25:18* And then um I I do really like *01:25:21* the final tyrant fight. *01:25:24* It is not uh it's very straightforward. *01:25:26* You're just unloading everything you have at him because it's the end of the game by that point. *01:25:30* So there's really nothing *01:25:33* to it. *01:25:35* Uh but I like that it is the final standoff with this dude that has been chasing you the whole time. *01:25:36* You think he's actually finally dead. *01:25:43* You don't re I mean, I didn't really think it *01:25:45* But he blows up or whatever, and then you're running away and you get down the elevator and he blasts through the wall and he's got his now he's got a giant claw and you're like, oh my god. *01:25:47* So that's a great *01:25:56* visual moment I think him coming out of that fire with his clothes burned off and he's now shirtless and he's got a huge claw for a hand. *01:25:58* And you know that this is finally the instance where, okay, this is this is it. *01:26:06* So I think that's a really cool fight. *01:26:13* Just *01:26:15* visually and thematically within the game overall, but the fight itself is nothing that unique again, you just *01:26:17* fire away until you get a rocket launcher and then it's over. *01:26:25* And then I think the final the final fight too, like I I I think that's the only thing that I would say *01:26:28* It's kind of a bummer as you beat the A route of whoever you're playing and then it gives you the stinger there at the end, like, oh, you're not actually done. *01:26:33* And then you play the B route and you get *01:26:40* Yeah, it does. *01:26:42* I don't remember this stinger. *01:26:43* I don't remember feeling an incentive to keep going. *01:26:45* Just see like tentacles like creaking through the train door or whatever. *01:26:47* Yeah. *01:26:51* You can skip the credits too and then it still shows it. *01:26:55* I don't remember this. *01:26:58* It's right there at the end. *01:26:59* I I believe you. *01:27:00* I just I don't recall. *01:27:01* You get there and you hop on the train and it's like, oh no, we're being chased. *01:27:07* And you again, it's just big, large, blah monster, and you fire everything at its eye, and then that's it. *01:27:10* Uh so even that stinger doesn't really pay off *01:27:16* I think. *01:27:19* Um, I'm also not a huge fan of Claire's chain gun boss fight. *01:27:20* Again, it's kind of *01:27:26* Against Birkin, the final form of Birkin there, or the pseudo-final form before you eventually blow him up once and for all on a train at the very end on the B-run. *01:27:27* I think that fight's fine, I guess. *01:27:37* I don't know. *01:27:40* The boss fights uh it's not what stands out to me the most in this game, but I don't think any of them are necessarily bad. *01:27:40* Um but then again I played all of them correctly and so did Ricky and like Matt. *01:27:47* I would agree with you mostly, but I do think the first Birkin fight was really good because I like being in that small corridor. *01:27:52* Yeah and you can lose him very easily if you're playing on harder difficulties and then like *01:27:58* the panic of trying to find him and there's a ways for him to hide his eye. *01:28:02* I think that's a good fight. *01:28:05* And it's it's the first time you come across anybody like that because I don't think Mr. *01:28:06* X has shown up at that point. *01:28:10* Um *01:28:12* Unless I am wrong. *01:28:13* It's the first real like big baddie like that that shows up in the game. *01:28:14* Yeah. *01:28:20* And so I think as a first initial boss fight within the game, it's actually pretty *01:28:20* pretty good and pretty intimidating in that sense. *01:28:25* Yeah, I agree. *01:28:27* I like the first Birkin fight because it's a memorable environment. *01:28:28* It's a windy little maze. *01:28:32* And you know, you've got a you've got a judge turning around shooting him. *01:28:34* And it's not in the traditional sense where you can't move and shoot, like you can you can move and shoot freely in this game, but *01:28:39* There is that trade-off of stopping, shooting, and running away for your life and what items do you use. *01:28:47* That's a good one. *01:28:53* I just my big beef was just the repetition of the same enemy and a lack of *01:28:54* change in the objective of taking the boss out. *01:29:00* Yeah, you do make a good point that with the whole thing being Birkin is constantly mutating and that's why he keeps coming back to life, they could have done more. *01:29:04* To make the mutations feel different. *01:29:13* Yeah, instead it's just more eyes. *01:29:15* Now I have an eye on my back. *01:29:17* Now I got one on my knee. *01:29:19* I do kind of like the one where you get the the chain gun though, just because I don't know. *01:29:22* I like chain guns. *01:29:26* So giving you a chance to feel powerful is cool, even if the fight is not *01:29:30* Anything to write home about. *01:29:34* Well all the all the Resident Evil games always do that at the end, or most of pretty much most of them do, um where you get to the end and you've got some super mega weapon that you are using to take down the super big boss. *01:29:35* Uh it's not on the level of three, but yeah, three's a little different in that regard, but uh yeah, it's they they always do a good job of that, and even the chain gun fight, again, it's there's nothing really unique about it. *01:29:46* And you're just firing away, but I do like obviously getting that weapon and unloading for those two or three minutes that you do have it and you're in that fight. *01:29:59* Let's touch on a couple other things. *01:30:09* I think we're getting close to the point here where we we'll wrap up. *01:30:10* Um did you guys have anything you wanted to say about the puzzles in the game? *01:30:14* Anything stand out to you really in particular? *01:30:18* I know we talked about how *01:30:20* They were too similar across both of the playthroughs and there wasn't enough that really um and you're just kind of doing the same things. *01:30:22* Um I didn't know if there was anything specific that you guys wanted to shout out that you thought was strong or if you thought the *01:30:28* Puzzles overall were pretty weak or anything like that. *01:30:34* I really hate the electronic puzzles. *01:30:37* Yes, with the chess pieces. *01:30:40* Yeah. *01:30:42* No. *01:30:43* The circuit boards. *01:30:44* You get those little like beeping things. *01:30:48* It's you have to press a button and it lights up. *01:30:50* Memorize the And then you have to say those. *01:30:52* Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. *01:30:54* I hate doing those. *01:30:55* Well, not only that, but it's kind of underwhelming that all that's inside them is *01:30:56* The uh the buttons for the button. *01:31:02* The spare keys. *01:31:04* Yeah, the spare keys for the button. *01:31:05* But that those unlocked *01:31:07* I know, but it's like, ooh, this thing that they locked up in a special safe. *01:31:09* What's inside? *01:31:13* Key to key to a panel. *01:31:14* Okay. *01:31:16* Um whatever. *01:31:17* And I know I get that the actual *01:31:19* rewards you get are then in those lockers, but it's still kind of funny. *01:31:21* Yeah, I the puzzles I think the this probably has the least *01:31:25* traditional puzzles so far. *01:31:31* They're I think the puzzle is more the environment and how are you going to get to a place. *01:31:34* So really that's where it is. *01:31:39* I *01:31:42* You know, one thing that does change at least in the A-B run is the medallion puzzle up front, where whoever you're playing as a second time gets a torn page in the manual. *01:31:43* That feels slightly cheap to me because unless there's an item I missed to pick up, I was just trying to remember how *01:31:53* what the solutions were. *01:32:04* And I was able to remember most of it and then just brute force my way through those puzzles. *01:32:06* But I was it felt weird that *01:32:11* They they just strip the solution away from you and it's like, well, I hope you remember what you did the last time you played. *01:32:16* That's not true. *01:32:23* I th no, the B so *01:32:24* So what they do is instead there's a role of film that you have to find and develop that has the that is a picture, a snapshot of the panel of the Saul version of the medallion panel. *01:32:27* And in that sense, I like that because it makes the B run, the film uh developing area actually important. *01:32:38* And I don't think it is in the A run at all other than developing film *01:32:46* for extra items that you can get in the lockers and things like that. *01:32:51* The B run, I think the it is actually needed that you go to the film room and develop that because you have to find out what the *01:32:55* uh medallion code his to unlock it. *01:33:03* Otherwise I I think that whole area is kind of like there's like five or six rolls of film in the whole game and I think most of them are largely *01:33:05* unimportant, if I remember correctly. *01:33:13* Well there is the film that gives you lets you open the hidden place in the star's office that always gives you a gun upgrade. *01:33:15* That's good. *01:33:23* But that's that is an item, but you can't *01:33:24* A lot of that stuff you can find without like you can find the the jeweled box without developing the film. *01:33:26* Yes. *01:33:33* Yeah, yeah, yeah. *01:33:33* But you can't open that. *01:33:34* Uh for some reason, you just I guess don't see that drawer unless you've developed the film. *01:33:36* The hidden spot or whatever the hidden is. *01:33:42* Yeah, there's two of them. *01:33:45* Yeah, I I I agree. *01:33:46* It's uh *01:33:48* So yeah, so you just brute force your way through the puzzles and that's interesting, Max. *01:33:49* You didn't even know that there was a roll of film in the B-roll or in the B-run that you could find. *01:33:54* Yeah, I just remembered like two of the shapes and I was like, okay, I'm pretty sure this is what it was. *01:33:59* And then just No, the game the game is not saying I hope you remembered what we did in the A run. *01:34:05* Uh that's sure what it felt like. *01:34:11* Cause I also didn't find this film that you're talking about. *01:34:13* Well clearly 'cause you wouldn't have needed to, because it's tucked away in some part of the police station that you then have to use because that's meant to be like the last one that you get. *01:34:17* I think, based on how you would navigate around. *01:34:26* I don't know. *01:34:28* I just remember because two of them. *01:34:29* The book has one still in there. *01:34:31* But it's the other two that I brooded my way through. *01:34:33* And it was just like, okay. *01:34:36* Here we go. *01:34:39* But they should have been solved anyway, because Claire had done it for me in previous run. *01:34:40* But I guess they're not concurrent events. *01:34:44* Is there anything else you guys want to say about some of the core elements of the Resident Evil series in this game that maybe we didn't touch on, such as uh just overall horror, I feel like we've touched on a little bit, or *01:34:47* Um the inventory system. *01:34:59* I don't feel like there's a lot to write home with the inventory system this time around. *01:35:00* It's far more streamlined than normal. *01:35:03* It's very much like RE7's inventory system. *01:35:05* Yeah. *01:35:09* It's the same. *01:35:10* thing except without vertically rotating self-rotating items. *01:35:11* It's just all horizontal lines. *01:35:15* Uh didn't really ever feel too stressed about item management. *01:35:17* uh just stuffed things in item boxes and kept things pretty light and brisk. *01:35:22* So with that then let's uh *01:35:27* Touch on music briefly. *01:35:31* And I I think uh incorporate if we if you guys have anything else you want to say about the sound design as well, we can touch on that here. *01:35:32* I know we kind of I mentioned it before how great I think the sound design is in this game. *01:35:38* Music-wise though, um *01:35:42* There's not a lot in this game. *01:35:45* More so than normal, if I'm recalling. *01:35:47* Um like I've been again, I mentioned that I've been playing RE3 lately, and there actually is *01:35:50* Quite a bit of music in that game. *01:35:54* RE2 though, I I don't think there's a ton, honestly, and it really does lean heavily more so than before on just the sounds of these areas that you are in. *01:35:56* And I think it creates some truly uh disturbing environments at times. *01:36:05* Obviously Mr. *01:36:11* X stomping around, but *01:36:12* Anytime you hear anytime you hear a zombie go and you're you but you don't know where it's at or where it came from, that unnerves me. *01:36:14* Personally, uh, especially because a lot of the police station in particular is shrouded in darkness, so you don't know where certain things are coming from. *01:36:22* Uh I I I think this game does a great job with sound mixing and things like that. *01:36:30* As far as the actual music though, not a lot that I can remember. *01:36:35* Again the save theme stands out per usual. *01:36:39* I think we will always mention that in all of these, but *01:36:42* Otherwise, yeah, not a lot to say on this front. *01:36:44* I'm a little surprised. *01:36:47* I had a few sons I wrote down. *01:36:50* I think the Mr. *01:36:53* X pursuit theme lends itself into Mr. *01:36:55* X as well. *01:36:58* That's it stands out so strong. *01:36:59* With his footsteps mixed into it, it just really is a strong pursuit theme. *01:37:03* It's really great. *01:37:10* I also I may not have liked the boss fights gameplay-wise, but that Birkin fight when you are lowered down in there and then all of a sudden the choir just comes in. *01:37:12* Yeah. *01:37:23* And I forgot about that one. *01:37:23* It's so grand. *01:37:25* And just things are blowing up, the lab's gonna self-destruct. *01:37:26* It really lends itself to this over the top. *01:37:31* It feels Japanese in that way, just grandiose. *01:37:36* Orchestrated moment. *01:37:40* It's super great. *01:37:41* And then I don't know if either of you *01:37:43* Maybe in the past you have or you did for this playthrough, but I did dabble with two of the all the bonus modes or whatever. *01:37:46* And one of them was the fourth Survivor, which is where you play as Hunk, I think. *01:37:55* Oh. *01:37:59* Banger. *01:38:00* Banger song on that. *01:38:00* Holy smokes, that song goes hard. *01:38:02* Yeah, I f I forgot about that one, yes. *01:38:05* I wrote *01:38:07* That uh it has mission impossible vibes. *01:38:08* Like that song I tried the mode twice and I I failed uh both times. *01:38:11* I was gonna ask if you beat it. *01:38:16* Yeah. *01:38:17* I did not. *01:38:18* Um *01:38:18* Shocker, the guy who tries to kill everything ran out of ammo very early. *01:38:19* And then when he tried to s run past everything was like, this is terrible. *01:38:25* They grab you. *01:38:29* They all grab you. *01:38:30* So *01:38:32* Uh but I was like this man misses his dodge roll. *01:38:32* For real. *01:38:36* I I shot him in the knees. *01:38:37* I was like dropping him down to the ground, but you get to the police station and of course they make you run through the whole stinking building *01:38:39* And uh can we just for just a moment, we get through this police station, we're running around, we get up to the roof. *01:38:46* I mean, I'm talking we are *01:38:55* This close to getting to the outside and downstairs to the helicopter to finish this mission. *01:38:57* And all of a sudden Birkin shows up too with Mr. *01:39:02* X literally right behind you. *01:39:05* Like that, come on. *01:39:06* That was creep. *01:39:07* It's awful. *01:39:09* It was so frustrating. *01:39:10* I don't think you escap I don't think you escaped there though. *01:39:11* No, you have to get down st you have to go down the roof and out and around down to the fire escape. *01:39:15* It but you're close. *01:39:21* Like that's the close, you're very close there. *01:39:22* But that's when Birkin show is super terrible. *01:39:25* But the music, holy cow, they go hard for Hunk. *01:39:27* Yeah. *01:39:34* Hunk's like really Hunk's one of those k we haven't talked about Hunk at all, but Hunk's like low-key, like one of the most popular Resident Evil characters uh amongst like hardcore fans, and he's barely *01:39:34* I mean, he's just got a side mode in this game, and he shows up he's shown up in a couple other things over the years, but uh Hunk is like really beloved for some reason. *01:39:48* Uh I mean he's cool, but it's just *01:39:58* Yeah, you can play Operation Raccoon City to see more of Hunk things if you're into that. *01:40:01* Oh, oh. *01:40:07* Time to look that up. *01:40:09* Did you have anything uh about the music or sound design you want to say, Ricky? *01:40:11* No, I just want to shout out whoever the lady is that does the zombie screaming. *01:40:15* For the ladies specifically. *01:40:21* Yes. *01:40:23* Absolutely terrifying. *01:40:23* Yeah, I think the lady zombies are much spookier as well. *01:40:25* It's like more *01:40:29* It's like more ear shattering than the the dude screams for sure. *01:40:31* I agree with you. *01:40:36* Yes, sound design across the board is *01:40:37* Did either of you play with headphones? *01:40:41* No. *01:40:44* No. *01:40:44* Oh guys, it sounds so good. *01:40:45* Because then I don't like I don't like it. *01:40:47* Then you're getting that 3D positional audio where you can really hear Mr. *01:40:49* X *01:40:52* In the Oh, it's so good. *01:40:54* I you gotta play it with with headphones on. *01:40:55* It sounds like it's a good idea. *01:40:59* I know that's like prob that's probably one of my like most common gaming sins is I don't play it with headphones on. *01:40:59* But I do have a good soundbar and I have a good sound system, so *01:41:05* Yeah. *01:41:08* It's not a sin. *01:41:08* You're fine. *01:41:09* Yeah. *01:41:10* You can hear it. *01:41:10* You got it. *01:41:11* You're good. *01:41:12* All right. *01:41:12* Let's wrap up then and talk about legacy, which I think is interesting because *01:41:13* Obviously there's a two-pronged legacy here, because both the original game and the the remake. *01:41:20* Because we played the remake, I think let's try to uh talk more about the legacy of *01:41:26* That game. *01:41:32* I a actually I'll do I'll say this to combine both of them. *01:41:33* I think that this game's legacy is that it was so good and so beloved that Capcom did decide to remake it, what, twenty years later, and then the remake *01:41:35* was everything that fans wanted it to be and probably and more, honestly. *01:41:45* Like I said, I think this is one of the best remakes of all time. *01:41:50* And the fact that Resident Evil 2 is *01:41:55* This game's been out four years, I wanna say. *01:41:57* And I feel like it's still very relevant and still very not relevant in the sense that it's like like a live service game would be or something. *01:42:00* like that. *01:42:07* But if if somebody was to ask me like, oh, what are some great games of the past five years that I may have missed out on? *01:42:07* Like this would be near the top of the list. *01:42:12* So I'd be like, oh, are you into Resident Evil? *01:42:14* If so, you should play Resident Evil 2. *01:42:16* It's great. *01:42:18* And so in that sense, I think they've really done a fantastic job of making the older era of Resident Evil still relevant here so many years later. *01:42:18* Um and I I I think that I think that's really cool because *01:42:28* A lot of older games from yesteryear we just uh we just kind of keep them in our memories and not much else, and I I think it's I think it's really *01:42:32* Cool that in this new era of Resident Evil we're in where they're doing wild things with Resident Evil Village and uh we still have these games that center around Raccoon City. *01:42:42* And Claire and Leon and stuff like that. *01:42:53* Like it's it's keeping this stuff relevant and it's keeping the franchise accessible for new people who are looking to jump into the series and looking to *01:42:55* um discover what these games once were. *01:43:03* I mean with Max for example who's never played these before. *01:43:07* I I think it's really cool that you can jump in and get to know these characters and stuff and get to know these stories within new ways. *01:43:11* Um *01:43:17* What about yourself, Ricky? *01:43:18* Yeah, I think, I mean, even outside of Resident Evil, I think this remake has pushed a lot of stuff forward. *01:43:20* I don't think you'd get the upcoming Silent Hill remake *01:43:26* Without this being so good. *01:43:30* Like I think that pushed Konami to do that. *01:43:31* I don't know if you could say the same about the Dead Space remake, but I do think that's a good thing. *01:43:34* Um sorry to cut you off, but this game sold incredibly well. *01:43:44* Yeah, this game sold it wasn't just like critically acclaimed. *01:43:47* This game w I think pushed like 10 million copies almost. *01:43:51* Yeah. *01:43:54* So like it showed that there's an audience who wants this. *01:43:54* And I and obviously like within Resident Evil, right now there's three and about to be four, so they're pushing that stuff. *01:43:58* Hopefully someday we get *01:44:04* I mean, I would love a one remake. *01:44:06* I think everybody most people would. *01:44:07* Code Veronica would be a really good one to get remade. *01:44:09* But on top of that, my hope, personally *01:44:12* is that we um we start to see these characters start popping up in the like mainline games again because it's been a while since we've even even as a Leon hater *01:44:16* I would love to see what Leon's up to. *01:44:26* What has he been doing? *01:44:27* So I'm hoping we look forward in like two or three years and this is the stuff that brought those characters back forward, you know, because it's so popular. *01:44:28* Yeah. *01:44:37* Um *01:44:38* Get rid of Ethan. *01:44:39* I'm not get rid of Ethan. *01:44:39* I mean he's gone. *01:44:41* I like my I like my dead boy. *01:44:41* Spoilers. *01:44:43* Well spoilers for eight, I guess. *01:44:43* I didn't play I didn't play the *01:44:46* Rose expansion if you're gonna don't say anything about the Rose stuff. *01:44:48* But yeah, so I like Ethan, but I definitely, you know, these characters are like near and dear to me as the *01:44:53* uh the SD period I was as a youth. *01:45:00* So it would be good to see them coming back and I hope that that's like where the legacy takes us, I guess. *01:45:04* Yeah. *01:45:09* Yeah. *01:45:10* Sorry to cut you off real quick, Max, before you share yours and to kind of tie in with some village stuff. *01:45:10* I I remember you and I talked, Ricky, after we both beat Village. *01:45:16* about how we hope nine does bring a lot of the cast members back and that they're all old and that they're all like mid-50s or something and it's Chris and Leon and Jill and they're all *01:45:20* They're all uh doing their Murtaug thing from lethal weapon, I'm getting too old for this sh and like I think that'd be great if this is Resident Evil 9, just all old people. *01:45:31* Again, I guess Chris is in *01:45:41* village and he doesn't look that old. *01:45:43* Uh yeah. *01:45:46* But I I obviously there's a time jump with Rose and stuff after af after that game. *01:45:47* So if you would come back to them, it it would stand to reason that they would all be dealing with *01:45:51* virus outbreaks for the good better part of 30 years or something like that by that point. *01:45:56* So I think that would be really cool if they did that too with nine. *01:46:01* It would be fun. *01:46:05* Quickly uh sales data for you. *01:46:06* The game uh sold to four million copies within a month. *01:46:09* Okay. *01:46:14* Within a month of its initial release back in 2019 and by July of 2022, uh it had sold over 10 million copies. *01:46:15* So this game has sold incredibly well. *01:46:23* It's been *01:46:26* It's on PS4, Xbox, and then they just did PS5 and Xbox series console patches. *01:46:27* There's the PC version, of course. *01:46:33* Now it's on Switch via cloud, so it's again continuing that trend of accessibility with Capitol. *01:46:36* And this is I mean, it's worth stressing, sorry, that like survival horror games are quite niche. *01:46:41* Like *01:46:46* If you sell five million, that's successful within this genre. *01:46:46* To do 10 is like really showing there's a hunger for this type of stuff out there. *01:46:50* Yeah, it's I think it's a great first Resident Evil game for someone to play. *01:46:55* I think it it's an improvement over Resident Evil 1 just as far as accessibility and like *01:47:01* scope and excitement. *01:47:08* It there's just more going on there. *01:47:10* But this game, Resident Evil 2 *01:47:12* is so important to Capcom, both in its original release and this modern remake, right? *01:47:17* It was the original game came out in an era where Capcom wanted every sequel to be bigger and better than the first game. *01:47:22* And that led to great results, but a lot of hard work. *01:47:31* You know, we we touched on it up in the rundown, but uh *01:47:36* Hadeki Kamiya was the director on this game originally, right? *01:47:41* And he would go on. *01:47:45* He's the guy over at Platinum, right? *01:47:46* Yes. *01:47:49* Yeah, like so he goes on to make Devil May Cry, which s was birthed out of Resident Evil 4 development, and then he comes on to platinum and he's doing Bayonetta and all that stuff. *01:47:49* So we've got this great legacy and this super strong sequel that really builds up the world of Resident Evil. *01:47:58* And then we get this remake, which we talked in our Resident Evil 7 episode about the importance of the RE engine, but this continued the trend of Capcom. *01:48:06* just re-releasing their games. *01:48:17* But there's pressure here. *01:48:19* Resident Evil 2 was precious at this time and is still is is to this day. *01:48:20* And we get this remake that really goes all out and makes this awesome. *01:48:25* awesome game that reimagines the gameplay mechanics into modern third-person shooter type controls and just design. *01:48:31* And it looks great and it feels like it's the it's what you want out of a remake. *01:48:40* And now we're getting ready to go into that again with Resident Evil 4, which I would argue is the next most beloved, if not more beloved. *01:48:45* in the grand populace of Resident Evil. *01:48:55* And it whatever shakes out with that remake here, it started here with this RE2 remake. *01:48:58* And so it's so important. *01:49:05* to to the franchise and to Capcom. *01:49:07* So it's it's a game that I've uh th that we're gonna treasure for a long time, I think, and will be talked about and discussed and as influential *01:49:10* for years and years to come, like it has been for the past twenty-something years. *01:49:22* Yeah, to just add one more thing, like when this game came out too, I think RE7 was such a hit that it was like a surprise. *01:49:27* Like *01:49:33* And got people thinking like, okay, I think Resident Evil is coming back. *01:49:34* I think we're on an upswing here. *01:49:37* And this game really just reaffirmed that. *01:49:38* Like this game cemented that no Capcom is like back at the top of their game. *01:49:41* Resident Evil is indeed *01:49:46* Once again, a franchise that we can talk about positively and be excited about uh looking forward. *01:49:48* And not only that, but I I did want to stress that *01:49:54* Like remakes have been part of Capcom's DNA and part of Resident Evil's DNA going back to what 2001? *01:49:56* So like the fact that we knew years before RE2 release that they were supposedly working on this. *01:50:03* And that that alone generated excitement. *01:50:08* I remember I I remember that. *01:50:11* Um being excited to hear that Capcom was once again going to remake an older Resident Evil game because they had obviously done that. *01:50:13* previously with RE1. *01:50:19* So for them to come back and do it again with this, and it's obviously much different than the Re1 remake uh that came out over 20 years ago. *01:50:20* But it again just shows that Capcom, when they do remake these games that are a little bit older, they know what they're doing and they treat them with the care that they *01:50:27* deserve and uh they also know what fans want from them. *01:50:36* And I think that does it for Resident Evil 2. *01:50:39* Thank you so much for listening. *01:50:42* If you'd like to find more episodes of Chapter Select, you can go to chapterselect. *01:50:44* com, check out previous seasons and whatnot there. *01:50:48* You can follow the show at Chapter Select. *01:50:51* If you'd like, you can follow Logan on Twitter at Moreman12 and his writing over at comicbook. *01:50:53* com. *01:50:58* You can follow Ricky on Twitter at Ricky Freck and his work over at GamePurr. *01:50:58* And then if you'd like, you can follow myself on Twitter at Max Roberts143 and my writing over at Max Frequency. *01:51:03* Thank you so much for listening, and until next time, adios. *01:51:10* Chapter Select is a max frequency production. *01:51:15* This episode was researched, produced, and edited by me, Max Roberts. *01:51:19* Season five is hosted by Logan Moore and myself. *01:51:23* Season five is all about Resident Evil. *01:51:26* For more on this season, go to chapterselect. *01:51:29* com forward slash season five. *01:51:32* Follow the show at Chapter Select and check out previous seasons at ChapterSelect. *01:51:34* com *01:51:40*