Haven't gotten around to either of them yet, but I'd be curious to hear the following from people who have played both of them:

Which style of these two games do you think the series should be focusing on going forward?

I figure 8 is probably long since decided already, but at this point I guess I'm wondering about what comes after 8.

@relkin: I feel like stylistically, on paper, they are similar. They try to be a bit more serious horror up front and they're both heavier on the environmental puzzles up front as well. The puzzle stuff is a bit lighter in the back half and both games get more action heavy.

RE7 leverages the 1st person perspective and tries to be more small scale and is more...takes-place-in-the-same-universe-but-kinda-side-story, tho not totally. I feel like this is the right path to go down with RE cuz the Umbrella stuff is just played out imo. The RE world is fine. Just tell different stories in it.

I prefer Resident Evil 2 for a couple of reasons, but it's closer than I think many would assume.

Resident Evil 2 simply feels like the work of a team flexing its muscles with technology that has, over time, become familiar. It has greater enemy variety, greater scope, more complex setpieces. It sort of had to be that way for Resident Evil 2 to work at all.

It must be mentioned, though, that Resident Evil 7 is a tremendous achievement in recalculating the mission statement of a franchise that had otherwise grown way too large and way too stupid for its own good. Its intimacy is something Resident Evil has basically never leveraged, and the first-person perspective breathes bold new life into something that could have been rote and familiar.

Regarding the future, I think they should just do both, I guess. What makes sense for the game the team is making? Maybe after RE3, the team stops repurposing old games. Or, maybe they chase down the elusive Code Veronica. Who knows.

I'd like to see another first-person Resident Evil. It's a fresh approach, one that's ripe with opportunity.

Personally, I loved both but RE7 was so damn perfect. It was the first game in years that I stuck with and got the platinum. And then purchased it again on Xbox and played the shit out of it.

I really enjoyed the smaller scale story. As someone who has loved many RE games (Yes, RE5 is a masterpiece if you play co-op), I can safely say the RE7 successfully evolved the franchise in a clever, interesting direction. And of course RE2 remake was damned good and I am very excited for the RE3 remake this spring. But I am more excited by far for a sequel to what RE7 was cooking.

I picked both. I think 7 really won me over with RE being scary again. Maybe it's years of 3rd person games, but I was most scared playing 7. Gameplay goes to 2 tho. Despite 7 needing to be this big innovation in a lot ways for the series given it was RE's maiden FPS voyage, 2's gameplay and pacing was just so fun to play.

It also seems to me on the outside like they have the studio/money overhead to do both, and so why not both, eh?

@pintopolit: Brilliant. I for one will gladly take both styles of game. My wallet stands at the ready.

They’re both quality games and a much needed redirection for the series after RE6 put it in the toilet. In my mind, Resident Evil 7 was a generally fantastic proof-of-concept that Resident Evil 2 remake expanded upon into my favorite game of last year. Admittedly, they both fall off a little bit once you get past their opening area, but the last couple of hours of RE7 are just kind of boring. That, plus the part where you can’t skip cutscenes meant that I never went as hard for speedrunning or the platinum trophy as I did with REmake 2.

@liquiddragon: I definitely agree that Umbrella should be firmly in their rear-view mirror at this point. Interesting to hear that they're similar, but maybe that shouldn't be surprising; change in perspective doesn't necessarily mean radically different design choices. Thanks for filling me in.

RE7 was an all-timer experience for me playing it in VR, and as a fan of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the influence of it in the game made it even better. Like it's been said, it stops being scary after the first area or two, but it never stopped being fun and interesting.

RE2Make, while more traditional, was equally surprising. Again, they did an awesome job at making it really fun to play, and it feels like a new game that just happens to retell the story of RE2.

I would love for the franchise to split down two paths and give us more of each experience. I'm excited for RE3Make, but I hope the style that RE7 set wasn't a one-off.

I enjoyed RE2 but RE7 to me is an amazing VR game. I've played through RE7 twice and all the DLC but have never played it in non VR. RE7 is probably my favorite RE game ever.

I liked RE7 more, by quite a bit. I didn't find RE2 Remake to be scary or intense, and some of the dialogue and character actions were corny. There's also an issue with the color grading in RE2 Remake, which I think is the issue (or, elevated black levels). It makes many environments much too bright, and the only solution is to turn your TV brightness down, and yet that's not even a perfect fix as it dynamically changes in the game. I thought RE7 was scary and I thought it had good enough writing. I hope if they continue to remake the older games that those are in third-person, but I very much approved of the first-person approach and hope that whenever RE8 comes out, it goes in the first-person direction like seven.

I guess RE2 because RE7 is a much scarier game, which i'm not so into, and while totally playable it's a first person game that is designed for controller not mouse and keyboard.
Though... to be honest... i'm more into RE6.

On 360, I played RE5 with a friend for gamerscore. He basically had infinite rocket launcher and just carried me through it. It was fun. Played RE4 when it came to 360 and thought it was decent. Played RE6 through with my wife, which was quite fun. I played RE1 when it came to PS4. So, I somehow crammed a lot of RE into a fairly short time compared to other people, but I never got fully invested.

Then, RE7 came out and the reviews were fantastic. So, I picked it up and I thought it was great, but I got a bit bored trying to play it a second time. I agree the puzzle you mentioned is an all-time great. However, RE2R just hooked me so hard I got the platinum. I still pick it up and run through it, because it's so fantastic. Also, I do like Claire way more than Leon.

Both are great though.

Since I'm too lazy to make a thread about it, I was curious about what others think about Resident Evil 3's demo and how it compares to the remake of two. It took me 43 minutes to complete the demo (got only 7 of the collectibles and no deaths), and so far I like what I've played more than two. To me, it's tenser, where I worried about what may be behind me, around a corner, or be there when I reach a door. Also, Nemesis didn't hit me, but he seems a lot faster and more challenging to get around than Tyrant so it's one of those encounters that my heart might race if I needed to deal with him for an extended amount of time. There is music that plays throughout that keeps it tense too.

I think HDR is done a little better in this one? The black levels are also slightly more uniform so there are less jarring jumps of brightness from one place to another (although, I still think it looks too bright, just less distractingly so this time). The frame rate was good enough but might be slightly slower in spots? It also seemed like the cutscenes were in 30fps. Considering the location and its size, the slower frame rate for A.I., when seen in a distance, looks worse than what you see in RE2. Or, it is more noticeable so it can't get away from the issue as easily. I am curious as to whether the game will have Dolby Atmos; haven't looked too much into that. There is no binaural audio choice in the demo like there is in two. Technical stuff aside, I also really liked the atmosphere. Two didn't do Raccoon city streets justice in my opinion, but it looks great in three. There's one toy shop that features an action figure/superhero version of Mega Man that I thought was funny too.

I like the Resident Evil 2 Remake a lot but it’s not quite on the same level as the original remake, it Is lacking in content from its original PSOne counterpart . Like the story with Chief Irons feels a bit barebones, enemy variety is low, the A & B scenarios are lackluster etc. Overall I’d say I like Resident Evil 7 more for its originality and staying generally true to the classic Resi formula, while that game also has some hiccups at the end I think I’d overall rate it higher.

Difficult choice. Resident Evil 2 is a better overall game, but Resident Evil 7 sticks in my mind more - the imagery and overall scariness is better in that game.

RE2 is a more polished game for sure, but RE7 in VR is probably one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had.

I love both games but I'd give RE7 the edge. I agree with the general sentiment that the game is actually scary but I'd add it's also unexpectedly funny. It might be the only time in this franchise where the dialogue and the performance of said dialogue are good on purpose. I also agree that it runs out of steam a bit by the end but not enough to ruin the overall experience I had with the game. I'm far more into the idea of this franchise going with more bespoke premises like this moving forward than letting itself be bogged down by nonsense lore that leads to a train wreck like RE6. I also just like that even though the series is originally called 'Biohazard' that the setting feels representative of both that title and the title 'Resident Evil'. Like a really gnarly accident happened here and it made the residents of this locale...most unpleasant.

It's truly impressive how well RE2 updates the game and story beats but I think I'd knock it for not having been made whole cloth. It had the benefit of it's premise being laid out from the start even though the way it's remade is incredibly elegant. And while I appreciate it for playing the horror very straight compared to RE7 it is utterly humorless. I played through it a few times but stopped when I realize that I don't much like speedrunning through games for the sake of unlocks. So to the credit of RE2Redo I've only played through RE7 one time but I'd still side with that game for it's styyyyle.

2 is probably a better game, but I give all the props to 7 for being such an out-of-nowhere hit. That game was at DOOM 2016 levels of quality vs expectations, warts and all.