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KnockBack, Episode 74: Resident Evil 2

In 1998, Capcom followed its beloved survival horror game Resident Evil with a sequel. But Resident Evil 2 wasn't just any sequel. It experienced a tortured development, coming to store shelves a full year later than intended, which -- at the time -- was an absolutely catastrophic delay. So expectations were incredibly high. But, with now-famous game dev gods Shinji Mikami (Producer) and Hideki Kamiya (Director) helming the project, it turned out that the wait was more than worth it. Resident Evil 2 is one of Capcom's best-selling games ever, and its modern remake is considered one of 2019's finest titles. We think it's more than worthy of a lengthy episode of KnockBack? Wouldn't you agree?

KnockBack, Episode 74: Resident Evil 2

Comments

Hey great episode guys as always but I just had to jump in here 3 years later to say that I completely disagree with Collins thoughts on The Last of Us music not being iconic.

Christopher Puckett

Thank you!

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, if only he had the time! I'm getting him on TLoU next.

Colin Moriarty

Also, Mr. X is the final boss and you kill him yourself when you play as Leon playthrough A

Jorge Aponte

Amazing episode

Jorge Aponte

Dagan would enjoy God of War and Horizon: Zero Dawn. Maybe The Messenger for his retro-loving self.

Brandon Soto

Haha, how torturous.

Marcus Brown

It's true. I was blindsided.

Colin Moriarty

Hahaha.

Colin Moriarty

Hahaha. It's so good.

Colin Moriarty

I love Celeste's soundtrack. Excellent. Axiom Verge's, too, but mostly because Tom Happ somehow made the entire game AND the soundtrack. Talk about a polymath.

Colin Moriarty

Nothing is more embarrassing than a game asking you if you want to lower the difficulty. LOL.

Colin Moriarty

I was granted a choice, considering our timing: Either sit down and beat the Leon quest which I had already started, or start again with Claire to get as much context from her adventure as I could. I went with the latter choice. Your feedback is valid, and I appreciate it!

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, the controls are horrible. It's unplayable. We've come so far.

Colin Moriarty

Oh man, you played the worst ones. I never messed much with 6, but I wrote the IGN Guide for 5, and I loathed it.

Colin Moriarty

I love me some jump scares. They totally work!

Colin Moriarty

I sat down and tried to play REmake on PS4 in, what, 2015? It felt weird. The GCN remake is caught in a weird place. That game needs a once-over.

Colin Moriarty

You're very welcome (for the podcast, not the game!).

Colin Moriarty

Fascinating insight. Thank you for sharing!

Colin Moriarty

That's high praise!

Colin Moriarty

Enjoy!

Colin Moriarty

The Remake really is something special.

Colin Moriarty

Awesome! Thank you so much for your support.

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, I really like the ink ribbon situation a lot.

Colin Moriarty

I hope you enjoy!

Colin Moriarty

I never played the N64 version. All of those ports came so late.

Colin Moriarty

Yeah great episode, but that bothered the hell out of me lol.

Michael Miller

“I was so hard on that game and then they showed it and I was like, ‘wowzers’” -When Colin turns his head around about the FF VII remake. Lol

Will Hahn

Colin: “What do you remember most about this game? Dagan: “Which game? Resident Evil 2?” Colin: 😐

Brandon Soto

Dagan, mr X once falcon punched me as I walked through the door and my Claire freaking flew to the ground. It scared the shit out of me.

Kenneth Oms

Thank you for your support! We know people rely on us to provide the goods, and we never want to let you down. <3

Colin Moriarty

I hope you enjoy!

Colin Moriarty

Great episode, gentlemen! I also listen to podcasts or half-watch the office or something off my phone with the game volume very low if it’s not dialogue or integral story or phenomenal music, for the same reasons you described. Couple modern phenomenal iconic soundtracks you guys didn’t think of: Axiom Verge, Celeste, Skyrim, Undertale. Also: Titanfall 1 and 2 have the best fps shooting feel in gaming, not Call of Duty. But those guys came from the team who worked on Modern Warfare 2, the best call of duty, so you’re half right ;)

Caleb Greer

Huehuehue Colin thinks Mr. X is dead. Also the way the adaptive difficulty works on standard is that it will dynamically change things like taking damage from a zombie bite or not, how much ammo gunpowder will create, etc. If you die a bunch of times in the same area the game will then ask if you want to lower the difficulty. On hardcore the difficulty is always at 10 on the scale.

Alex Cabrera

Colin PLEASE finish games before discussing them at this level of detail. I beg you. It was a lovely discussion between you two detailing the strengths of this title and showing appreciation for the design choices and how they're essential for the genre of survival horror but it really takes me out of my enjoyment of listening to the podcast when you say things like: - At 35:00 you say "Some of it makes no sense like why don't the zombies go into the lobby" but this is not true at all. RE2 improved on this by making actually allowing them to go into the lobby. This was one of the most-talked-about changes by fans of the series because the lobby was always a safe zone in the original. - At 1:11:38 you say, referring to Mr. X, "I don't like the way he's killed because you don't kill him." Awfully presumptive for you to assume that as fact without finishing the game (specifically ONE of the two campaigns). You really do need to complete both to see everything. Again, great podcast but please please please finish this game it's only like 12-20 hours collectively for both campaigns. It's a fun ride.

Andres

Completely agree about going back to RE4. Loved it back in the day, but when I played it on PS3, I just couldn’t get into it. Those controls were brutal. Also, shoutout to the soundtrack in Doom 2016 Great episode!

Richard Duflo

This game was brilliant. The only Resident Evil games I've played before this were 5 and 6 with the original when I was young at a cousin's house. So you could say I didn't understand the hype of the franchise until this remake came about. So all of it was new to me having never played the original. This game scared the shit out of me when normally I don't fear zombies. Mr. X is by far the scariest antagonist I've ever faced in my life. Great video you guys.

Marcus Brown

Ah resident evil 2. I remember being in elementary school and a buddy of mine who Was a bit older then me bring his game over. The part where the crows bust through the window made me pee myself outta fear lol.

Adamthm

I love RE2. RE1 remake, though. That game terrified me with dread as an 18 year old in early 2019. That says a lot, especially after playing RE7 just a couple months prior.

GameSimp

Thank you both for this thorough discussion on RE2, and thank you Capcom R&amp;D Division 1 for such incredible works.

Great episode! Having lived in japan here’s a couple observations about Engrish: First, English is aesthetically considered cool in Japan, so English words are put on everything regardless of context just because it’s fashionable. Often it doesn’t matter what’s being said, just that it’s being shown, much the same way people get Kanji tattoos without really understanding what they mean, or how weird it would be for a Japanese person to get a random word tattooed on their arm. Second, English education in japan remains remarkably poor despite the investments the government has made. Some of this is related to their history of isolation and market dominance (meaning most people imagine they’d never need to leave), and a lot of it because of issues with their education overall that emphasizes passing tests over practical usage. And if education and proliferation of English is poor, a lot of people will wonder why they don’t just hire native speakers to verify all English phrases for accuracy. The thing is, most examples of Engrish are targeted towards the Japanese market because of the first point who won’t know any better or care because of the second point. And the thing is, often companies DO hire foreign workers to go over marketing and language, but then don’t refer to them because of gold old fashioned Japanese pride, which has long stood in the way of progress and development there. I worked for a young, trendy game studio when I lived there, basically as a Western marketing/Translation consultant and they almost never listened to anything I had to say, preferring to make decisions based on seniority and common practice, even if it didn’t make any sense. That all being said, every country produces language gaffs in its media, including yours, that most people don’t notice or care about, so it’s hardly a Japanese issue exclusively haha.

Travis Johnson

Came here to say this too lol.

Jakeytar

This episode was better than sex.

Forrest Hunter

This is the episode I've been waiting for. Looking forward to listening to it.

Jordan Marsden

I used to watch my cousin play this when we were kids and was way to terrified to play myself. Never got around to playing the original on my own later on, but I absolutely loved the remake from earlier this year. Can't wait to listen to the episode!

Matthew Clem

I soiled myself when I saw this episode was up. Glad I upgraded my Patreon tier to get it early!!!

John Fazio

I won’t say what it is Colin, but one of your issues with the Remake is addressed if you finish Leon’s story.

The original RE2 is still scary and stressful today. Mostly because of limited saves.

Been looking forward to this one! Excited to listen

Tanner Brant

Can’t wait to listen! By far one of the best titles released this year. I loved the original ( the first RE I played back on N64 ) and the remake exceeded my expectations. It’s a special game that received special treatment. I couldn’t be happier with the result.

Blair Sutton

It's amazing that you aren't willing to miss a week. This is a level of dedication and respect to your fanbase, that I don't think alot of other patreons provide. Knockback is my favorite podcast, so much in fact it's the sole purpose I made an account. I couldn't pass up getting a new episode one week early!

Jimmy Bones

Duuuuuude... I've been waiting so long for this. Not due to the delay, just in general.

Forrest Hunter


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