What do you think are the defining elements of "Resident Evil 2"? In the series it is sort of unique, and the series radically reinvented itself repeatedly over the course of subsequent games with "Code Veronica" and then "Resident Evil 4." What's special about "Resident Evil 2" that needs to be captured in this remake?
Tsuyoshi Kanda: I think the game has a really great essence. It's a survival horror experience, but it's also got this kind of storyline and drama going on, and it's got entertainment aspects that aren't just about constant horror. It's got a combination of factor, and the blend of those aspects really make it what it is. We've tried to respect and recapture the feel of that with the reimagined game.
Is this a lot of the same team that worked on "Resident Evil 7?"
YH: The team is really mixed in terms of their experience with previous games in the series. We do have some "Resident Evil 7" veterans, including Kanda, who was producer on the title, and myself, I've been working on the series since the Gamecube remaster. The directors, one of them was a "Resident Evil 2" staffer, one of them has been on the series since the original "Resident Evil," a lot of members have been involved in various "Resident Evils."
"Resident Evil" as a series has seen a number of these revisitings, going back to "Resident Evil: Director's Cut" and "Resident Evil" for Gamecube. What do you think it is about "Resident Evil" that lends itself to this kind of revisitation as a series? Because it's done it repeatedly and it's done it pretty successfully.
TK: I think, personally, that it lends itself to being revisited because the players also like to revisit it, and they have with each game. Some people have said "RE2" was their first game in the series, and they played it and it was scary as hell, and when they finished it, a few months later they'd say they wanted to go back and relive those thrills and that experience. It's a series that lends itself to even the same game having a certain amount of replayability, it isn't a one and done thing. I think with that in mind amongst the playerbase, a version of the game that lets you revisit it and find new things, or have additional experiences with new parts, that's a proposition that's a really good match with the players.
More at https://variety.com/2018/gaming/features/resident-evil-2-interview-1202848886/ very good Variety interview
Tsuyoshi Kanda: I think the game has a really great essence. It's a survival horror experience, but it's also got this kind of storyline and drama going on, and it's got entertainment aspects that aren't just about constant horror. It's got a combination of factor, and the blend of those aspects really make it what it is. We've tried to respect and recapture the feel of that with the reimagined game.
Is this a lot of the same team that worked on "Resident Evil 7?"
YH: The team is really mixed in terms of their experience with previous games in the series. We do have some "Resident Evil 7" veterans, including Kanda, who was producer on the title, and myself, I've been working on the series since the Gamecube remaster. The directors, one of them was a "Resident Evil 2" staffer, one of them has been on the series since the original "Resident Evil," a lot of members have been involved in various "Resident Evils."
"Resident Evil" as a series has seen a number of these revisitings, going back to "Resident Evil: Director's Cut" and "Resident Evil" for Gamecube. What do you think it is about "Resident Evil" that lends itself to this kind of revisitation as a series? Because it's done it repeatedly and it's done it pretty successfully.
TK: I think, personally, that it lends itself to being revisited because the players also like to revisit it, and they have with each game. Some people have said "RE2" was their first game in the series, and they played it and it was scary as hell, and when they finished it, a few months later they'd say they wanted to go back and relive those thrills and that experience. It's a series that lends itself to even the same game having a certain amount of replayability, it isn't a one and done thing. I think with that in mind amongst the playerbase, a version of the game that lets you revisit it and find new things, or have additional experiences with new parts, that's a proposition that's a really good match with the players.
More at https://variety.com/2018/gaming/features/resident-evil-2-interview-1202848886/ very good Variety interview
