Much like the classic survival horror game it’s based off of, the upcoming Resident Evil 2 remake will feature two separate story campaigns, allowing players to control both rookie cop Leon Scott Kennedy and student-turned-survivor Claire Redfield. However, for the remake, Capcom will be implementing a few tweaks to the different campaigns to make them feel more streamlined and to ensure there’s enough narrative incentive to play through both of them.
In an interview with Rely on Horror (courtesy of IGN), the Resident Evil 2 remake’s producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi touched on the “four scenarios” system that was used in the original Resident Evil 2 (Leon A/Claire B and Claire A/Leon B) and how that system is being streamlined for the remake:
“One of the great things about the original was this sort of two character system where you could get a different perspective on events. Either as Leon the rookie cop, or Claire as a student—the ‘zapping’ system as it was known where there was A parts and B parts to each character. We still want to replicate that feeling of seeing two sides to the same story through both character’s perspective in their own way. So for that reason we have a Leon campaign and a Claire campaign, they’re separate and you can choose which one you want to play first.”
According to Hirabayashi, the scenarios system will actually be done away with entirely, with the scenarios themselves being combined into two distinct campaigns that flow more naturally:
“We did simplify [the campaign] a bit and make it more elegant by eliminating the A/B distinction and sort of meshing together what happens to the character’s A and B scenarios into one story. I think players today, they want these sort of deep/intense experiences with the story, and by stretching it across four scenarios the story gets spread a little thin and create a sense of repetition by going through the game multiple times to see everything. So for that reason we went with two campaigns that still show all the events of each character’s story rather than have it all split up.”
If you’re planning on playing the Resident Evil 2 remake on PC, you can consult the game’s system requirements right now. Sadly, if you’re hoping to play the remake on your Nintendo Switch, you’re in for a bit of a wait.