From the direction that the game series was headed after 4, it was surprising with how Capcom's experiment with RE7 turned out and even more so with this remake of the classic Resident Evil 2.

Having been a person who played the original many years ago, I was quite hyped for an opportunity to get a hands on taste of the new but familiar take. Needless to say, I think it has the possibility to be a resounding success. I'll list some pros and cons I found with my few hours of testing with the game alongside a trainer to keep that one-off time away.

Pros
+ The graphics are a definite step up over the original. Pretty much a give-me, but they went beyond the minimum amount expected from a 2019 game. Gore is gruesome and slick with the environment feeling pretty alive and dead at the same time.
+ The zombie designs are pretty remarkable and terrorizing. Chunks and body parts will fall off when slashed and shot which effects how they will approach and attack you. Shot a zombie in the midsection with a shotgun and witnessed it crawl towards me while its motionless torso was slowly left behind. Curious to see how this can apply to all the other enemies.
+ The lickers are already having me dread their encounters. The window scene still has the same tension-inducing effect even if it's in a different spot.
+ The UI and controls. They feel very smooth and easy to navigate. This game was definitely optimized with PC also in mind, and it's comforting to see that even the performance of the game was stable the entire time through. This is a good sign for the release of the final product.
+ The aiming. I love the mechanic in how standing still eventually makes your shots more accurate. This would make the tank playstyle more rewarding as it is risky in not staying as mobile. It makes the addition of the better controls feel like it takes away too much of the threat had like in the original game.
+ The characters have some great voice acting. While I do have nostalgia for the old lines, this was a needed step up which goes well with the modern take of the game. I'm feeling worse for Marvin now that he feels like a better fleshed out (out) character.

Cons (Mostly 'muh emershun')
- Button prompts are probably one of the sneakiest ways in how immersion can be broken. The old Resident Evil games had you required to investigate and see what could and couldn't be interacted with. While pre-rendered backgrounds had clashed a bit with the 3D rendered objects here and there, it felt natural. This demo readily shows you all the button prompts that are pretty much giant signs of "OVER HERE! INTERACT WITH ME!" which I feel takes away from the sense of exploring around the really well crafted rooms and props. Disabling the HUD helps solve this, but it takes away the crosshairs which leads me to...
- The crosshair. While the aiming system itself works exceptionally well in making sure the updated controls don't have everyone running and gunning, the crosshair itself may be the biggest thing to take away from the immersion of the game. Say what you will of RE4, but the laser sight was probably the most ingenious way of that game to introduce the third person camera while maintaining some of the immersion that old RE games were strong in creating.
RE4 even had a burst fire version of Leon's HK VP70 with the Matilda which sported a laser sight itself. It would have been good if they'd just made the laser sight bob and weave for the first few seconds that the crosshair would have been wide until finally settling down when it would tighten up.
- I can't heal Marvin with my magical herb medicine. Would be nice if I could at least ease his pain since he's sitting there clenching at his wound.
- The demo being a one-off left a bitter taste in my mouth and made the timer an even bigger source of unnecessary stress. I reckon this made a good number of trainers for this demo alone as well as their usual popularity. Still not sure why they're called trainers though. Cheats usually teach bad habits.

Overall, this was an amazing demo slightly marred with the thing being a one-off. It has done nothing but convince me to save up my available money to get this game and more so to favour the deluxe edition even. Capcom deserves the praise and money from me as I feel like they are taking this in a good direction with respect to the old game. My qualms with the demo are mainly presentation of the UI which can be subject to change once the full game comes out.

From the direction that the game series was headed after 4, it was surprising with how Capcom's experiment with RE7 turned out and even more so with this remake of the classic Resident Evil 2. Having been a person who played the original many years ago, I was quite hyped for an opportunity to get a hands on taste of the new but familiar take. Needless to say, I think it has the possibility to be a resounding success. I'll list some pros and cons I found with my few hours of testing with the game alongside a trainer to keep that one-off time away. Pros + The graphics are a definite step up over the original. Pretty much a give-me, but they went beyond the minimum amount expected from a 2019 game. Gore is gruesome and slick with the environment feeling pretty alive and dead at the same time. + The zombie designs are pretty remarkable and terrorizing. Chunks and body parts will fall off when slashed and shot which effects how they will approach and attack you. Shot a zombie in the midsection with a shotgun and witnessed it crawl towards me while its motionless torso was slowly left behind. Curious to see how this can apply to all the other enemies. + The lickers are already having me dread their encounters. The window scene still has the same tension-inducing effect even if it's in a different spot. + The UI and controls. They feel very smooth and easy to navigate. This game was definitely optimized with PC also in mind, and it's comforting to see that even the performance of the game was stable the entire time through. This is a good sign for the release of the final product. + The aiming. I love the mechanic in how standing still eventually makes your shots more accurate. This would make the tank playstyle more rewarding as it is risky in not staying as mobile. It makes the addition of the better controls feel like it takes away too much of the threat had like in the original game. + The characters have some great voice acting. While I do have nostalgia for the old lines, this was a needed step up which goes well with the modern take of the game. I'm feeling worse for Marvin now that he feels like a better fleshed out (out) character. Cons (Mostly 'muh emershun') - Button prompts are probably one of the sneakiest ways in how immersion can be broken. The old Resident Evil games had you required to investigate and see what could and couldn't be interacted with. While pre-rendered backgrounds had clashed a bit with the 3D rendered objects here and there, it felt natural. This demo readily shows you all the button prompts that are pretty much giant signs of "OVER HERE! INTERACT WITH ME!" which I feel takes away from the sense of exploring around the really well crafted rooms and props. Disabling the HUD helps solve this, but it takes away the crosshairs which leads me to... - The crosshair. While the aiming system itself works exceptionally well in making sure the updated controls don't have everyone running and gunning, the crosshair itself may be the biggest thing to take away from the immersion of the game. Say what you will of RE4, but the laser sight was probably the most ingenious way of that game to introduce the third person camera while maintaining some of the immersion that old RE games were strong in creating. RE4 even had a burst fire version of Leon's HK VP70 with the Matilda which sported a laser sight itself. It would have been good if they'd just made the laser sight bob and weave for the first few seconds that the crosshair would have been wide until finally settling down when it would tighten up. - I can't heal Marvin with my magical herb medicine. Would be nice if I could at least ease his pain since he's sitting there clenching at his wound. - The demo being a one-off left a bitter taste in my mouth and made the timer an even bigger source of unnecessary stress. I reckon this made a good number of trainers for this demo alone as well as their usual popularity. Still not sure why they're called trainers though. Cheats usually teach bad habits. Overall, this was an amazing demo slightly marred with the thing being a one-off. It has done nothing but convince me to save up my available money to get this game and more so to favour the deluxe edition even. Capcom deserves the praise and money from me as I feel like they are taking this in a good direction with respect to the old game. My qualms with the demo are mainly presentation of the UI which can be subject to change once the full game comes out.