The Connector
The Connector
Capcom

In the past four to five years or so, I almost lost interest in video games. My cynicism for the artform had reached an all-time high — to the point that I was prepared to accept that I may never play video games again. The excitement I had throughout my childhood had evaporated, and the industry’s tendencies to churn out sequel after uninspired sequel for franchises only furthered my disenchantment. 

However, the release of one game in particular is enough for me to want to get behind the controller one more time. The “Resident Evil 2” remake is the first game I was actually excited to play since before “Halo 5: Guardians” crushed my dreams back in 2015. Now that RE2 has seen commercial success and rave reviews, fans are wondering if the superstar remastering treatment that has been given to the first and second games will find its way to the third installment of the original trilogy. 

“Resident Evil” is a series that I have fond memories of, and I only got into it around 2012 because of my good friend Brian’s encouragement and enthusiasm. The first time I heard of the series was when I had a conversation with my Dad after he saw the first film adaptation in the early 2000s. Then, he went out and rented a copy of the remastered version of the first game for my Nintendo GameCube.   

It was too difficult for either of us to figure out at the time. I was too young, and my dad was a novice with video games. I remember watching him get up to the first enemy in one of the most iconic scenes in the history of survival horror only to die over and over again.

We never made it past that part of the game, but that scene and the story really stuck with me — especially at that age. I even went into school the next day and drew a picture on some construction paper of one of the zombie dogs and the title crudely scribbled out in crayon. I brought the drawing home later and my dad nervously reminded me that I probably shouldn’t do that again or tell me mother about it. 

After that, my love of the story fell into the background of my memory as I went through the rest of elementary school. Then, sometime in the summer of 2012 my friend Brian was writing a paper about the games for a college course. He used a video essay on YouTube as a resource that went into great detail about what made the remastered version of the first game so incredible and so scary. 

When someone is truly passionate about something, it becomes infectious. Brian’s love for the series was so palpable that I couldn’t help but get excited about it too. He had played the games when he was a child as well and had a difficult time navigating it until a friend from the neighborhood came over one day and ran through the first game for the PlayStation like it was child’s play.

His glowing endorsement, coupled with the thorough examination of the video essay brought back the memories I had from when I was a kid and my dad and I couldn’t get beyond that first zombie. 

For the rest of that summer in 2012, I spent my time playing through each game in the series and consulting Brian every time I got stumped. He acted as my survival horror shaman and helped me figure out what to do like his neighborhood friend had done for him. 

No one was more excited for the “Resident Evil 2” remake than Brian. He talked about how much he wanted it to be made long before it was ever confirmed by Capcom. His excitement was once again so palpable that I had briefly stepped out of my cynical stupor and got the same heart-pumping desire to play that I had as a kid. 

Now that Capcom has fulfilled the wishes of their fans and acted as a great example on how to remaster a game properly, the next step is to make sure they are made well aware of the desire for the remake of “Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.” This was my personal favorite installment of the series because I love zombie apocalypse stories that center around the initial point of an outbreak in a metropolitan area. 

The thought of getting to run through Raccoon City in a race against the clock-evading zombies, fighting the infamous Nemesis project with upgraded graphics and an expansion of the puzzles reminds me of the type of enthusiasm that I had for video games. As well as why I loved playing them so much in the first place. 

I desperately hope that other people feel the same way and vocalize their desires to Capcom as much as they can in the near future.