I wouldn't say the game is absolutely terrible. It's just not everyone's cup of tea. As someone who likes to complete games 100%, this one definitely isn't for me.
When I played through it for the first time, I really enjoyed it, but I never understood why they’d offer two storylines if practically nothing changes. There are a couple of different cutscenes, but overall, the gameplay is exactly the same. Same locations, same puzzles—it’s all the same.
To be honest, by the third playthrough, I was already tired of it. I’ve completed RE4 Remake, RE7, and RE8 to 100%, and I was never bored or felt like I was doing the same thing over and over again, because those games have more action and variety. But in RE2, getting to 100% felt like a tedious grind to me.
I’d also like to point out a few things:
**1. Mr. X**
In the first few minutes, Mr. X really scared me. But then he started to annoy me more and more.
RE7 has a similar mechanic with Jack, but in my opinion, it works much better and is actually scarier. In certain situations, you can hide from Jack, and he might lose sight of you if you take cover behind something or if he’s looking the other way.
Mr. X, on the other hand, gives the impression that he can find you practically anywhere and will simply keep chasing you. You can hide somewhere, but he’ll still find you within a minute.
At that point, the game stopped feeling like a survival horror title to me and started to feel more like a game of “tag.” Plus, fighting him doesn’t really make much sense, because he’ll just get back on his feet and keep chasing you.
**2. The game feels very “plastic” to me**
The character animations and movements look really unnatural. In a way, they move like dolls or marionettes. Because of this, the game feels less immersive to me.
**3. The levels can be extremely frustrating**
I’ve noticed this especially on the “Hardcore” difficulty level. In my opinion, you don’t get enough ammo, so if you don’t want to waste resources on enemies, you have to just run past some of the zombies.
And, as I mentioned earlier, given how the characters move and run in this game, doing that can be extremely difficult.
**4. Weapons on the “Hardcore” difficulty level feel really weak**
There are only a couple of weapons that seem truly effective, but you have to progress quite far to get them.
I remember—if I’m not mistaken—that with a standard pistol, I had to use about 15 rounds to kill a single regular zombie. The bosses were also very challenging.
I understand that you don’t necessarily have to kill every zombie you see, but I’ll say it again: because of the way the characters move in RE2, it’s very difficult to dodge them.
Again, in other *Resident Evil* games I’ve played, I never had this problem to the same extent.
5.
I also find it strange that the game gives the impression of two completely different storylines, yet a significant portion of the gameplay remains virtually identical—the only thing that changes is that Leon spends part of the game with Ada, while Claire protects Sherry. After your first playthrough, you already know:
where a particular item is located;
what the puzzle entails;
where to go;
where an enemy will appear;
what will happen next.
I won’t argue—it was the same in other Resident Evil games; I knew where everything was and how to handle it, but there you also had to keep track of your weapons and upgrade them.
I want to make a point in the context of RE4 Remake and RE8. In those games, replayability feels completely different. In RE4, you’re constantly thinking about weapons, upgrades, money, combat situations, and different ways to play through the game. RE8 also has a much stronger sense of adventure and action. I understand that it’s silly to compare horror games of different genres, but still…
RE2, on the other hand, is built more around:
exploration → puzzles → resource management → retracing your steps through familiar territory → the next area.
On the first playthrough, it’s atmospheric.
On the third:
“God, I have to go through this building again.”
And I’ll say it again—I’m one of those people who loves to complete a game 100%—so the question arises:
“Why should I play through this three more times if I’m essentially repeating almost the exact same thing?”
I’m not writing this out of hatred, nor am I trying to say the game is objectively bad. I’m sure millions of people simply love it. It’s just not the type of game that suits me.
For me, the horror atmosphere really only works for one, maybe two playthroughs. After that, RE2 stops being scary because you already know where everything is, where the enemies are, what the puzzles are, and what’s coming next.
Overall, I understand why so many people love RE2, but for me personally, it’s probably the most boring and uninteresting game in the “Resident Evil” series when it comes to replaying it and achieving 100% completion.
