The word overrated gets a bad rep mainly because everyone just automatically chalk it up to being mediocre or bad. RE2R is overrated, but neither of those things. I'm gonna be reviewing this as a new-gen player that never played the original games (but wants to).

I started with Leon's part so let's get that out of the way. This series really hasn't given me a good impression on him, and this game is no exception. He has a couple good moments but overall I think the voice acting is what kills it for me. He's way too nonchalant in some scenes and appropriately serious in others, which really makes me confused on what they were going for here. Were they trying to balance the camp and seriousness through Leon's performance? Because it was pretty badly executed here. My other issue with the narrative was Ada. I don't know if it was like this in the original but their love story here was extremely rushed, which caused the ending revelation to have no payoff. In the end, I wasn't a big fan of his segment narratively because nothing else really happened, but the gameplay and level design is great. I genuinely enjoyed the accessible nature of the game without it feeling too easy, because some sections here are no joke. Same with Claire, considering a majority of it is the same.

The second run does help add a nice challenge initially, but eventually kinda devolves into the same path. I wish there was a little more differentiation between the two paths with Leon and Claire other than closing off a couple areas and opening up others, but it's not too harsh of a complaint. I still do appreciate the changes done to puzzles and rearranging certain objects to mix things up. I did find the fact that certain things that happened in one person's story literally make it impossible for the other to happen, but I kinda just chalk that up to ludonarrative dissonance. Personally, I prefer Leon's segment over Claire's by a little bit gameplay-wise, due to being able to open a few more things. But Claire's story is MUCH MUCH BETTER than Leon's. I prefer her as a protagonist too. Her reasons for coming to Raccoon City and the stakes in her side of the story is genuinely interesting, and I never felt like gameplay was trying to distract me when nothing was going on, because there was always something going on. The added context about the orphanage and Annette make the narrative more gripping and sinister, and Sherry was actually interesting as a character. The only flaw in this game is the Chief Irons subplot not being done well, as his reasons for wanting the pendant/antivirus is never explained. You get a little more context on his involvement in one of the Ghost Survivors levels, but that level is non-canon and the fact that I need to play it to even get a gist of what role Irons played in the whole Umbrella conspiracy is pretty dumb. Free DLC or not, it wasn't there at launch, and it isn't canon, so I'm not giving the game credit for that. Everything else about the story was great though, and it actually kept me invested. THE POST CREDITS BOSS FIGHT SLAPPED AND I WAS VERY HAPPY WITH THE WAY THE OVERARCHING NARRATIVES ENDED. THE TRUE ENDING IS FUCKING AWESOME AND THE ROCK COVER THAT PLAYS IN THE CREDITS IS BADASS. Absolutely fucking iconic.

As for the extra modes, I gave them all a try and found them to be pretty challenging, even on training mode. I only ended up beating Runaway. However, despite the challenge, getting better at these levels is actually fun and rewarding, and genuinely helps train you on new strategies that you can apply in the main story. I do plan on beating them all sometime to unlock and try out the No Way Out encounter. The fact that the game gives you this shit for free is cool. And I can't leave out the badass 4th Survivor mission that was there at launch either. It feels like Resident Evil's version of Mile High Club and I love it. I also hate it because I keep getting stuck at the hallway with the plant zombies and Mr. X, which is SO CLOSE TO THE END. I'm 100% gonna push myself to beat it before moving on to RE4 Remake.

Overall, I am impressed by the game, but not by much. It's not as good as people say it is and I recommend curbing your expectations a bit. But it's still a mostly competent experience that is definitely worth playing. Especially if you're a newer fan that started with RE7 and 8 like me, because it will definitely humble you a bit.

This game kicks some serious ass. Some of the best combat in gaming. The humor is very self-aware and still indulges in its ridiculousness in all the right ways. After 11 years, this is what the franchise needed. This version adds in Vergil and Legendary Dark Knight difficulty, which gives this game even more replay value than before (it already had six difficulty modes and Bloody Palace). Only complaints I have is that I found the ending to be kinda weak and the game does get a little repetitive around towards the middle. I also think Lady and Trish do absolutely nothing in this game and that's a real shame. They completely get sidelined. But other than that, this game is absolutely amazing. I love how varied each of the three characters feel and the amount of enemy variety in the game. The overall level design is simple but effective, which works in the game's benefit. This should be the blueprint for future DMC games to come, which, after this one, have the potential to be some of the best games of all time. I highly recommend checking this one out if you're into over-the-top hack-and-slash combat or even want to get into the genre or series. This was my first DMC game and it was super accessible. For newcomers, I do recommend seeing a recap on Youtube. The game itself has a recap but its mostly meant for people who have played the older games before, as it just kinda bombards you with information and not everyone is gonna retain it all. Can't wait to see where Capcom takes this series next, especially with what the ending set up. DMC6 when?