Hello fellow Gamers, gather round to hear my rambling thoughts about a cheesy videogame from 25 years ago!
When I was about 12 years old, circa 2010, a friend of mine dug out an old n64, and a few games, and one of those games was Resident Evil 2.
For those who haven't played this charmingly bad game from 1998, in the midst of this gory, violent, and gritty (by 1998 standards) game, you come across a little girl named Sherry, and you have to escort her around.
Sherry is simultaneously the most interesting character in the entire game, and also the most annoying. And among the reasons she is annoying, are the segments where you have to play as her.
Now, when I was a kid, when a game asked me to pick a gender, I would always pick boy, because I felt like I had to. But when I played these Sherry segments, this was the first time I had played as a girl in a video game, that I could conceivably relate to in some way.
I wasn't having fun, really... These segments are god awful to play. But they did awaken something in me. I was like, ".......You mean I get to be the little girl???"
I wanted to be her so bad! This didn't crack my egg, and I quickly buried all of these feelings once I finished the game. But it's definitely a thing I look back on and think "oh the signs were always there.
Anyway, this post is mostly just an excuse to get people to talk to me about my Trans Sherry headcanons.
Also, ask me my opinions on the RE2 remake. I just finished it!
The remake was overall an incredible game, but what really bothered me was the gutting of A/B scenarios from the original, which was one of the most unique and defining features of RE2. How the A/B scenarios had different, interleaving story content and plot beats for each character was incredibly cool but the remake essentially just goes for a Resident Evil 1 approach where each campaign is its own "what if" universe.
I was really jazzed up to start Claire's 2nd Run after finishing Leon's story but then my enthusiasm kind of deflated when I realised I was repeating the same boss encounters in the exact same locations, how Sherry was trapped in the same room Ada had been trapped in Leon's scenario behind the exact same puzzle, how Mr. X and Annette had conflicting deaths in Leon and Claire's stories... Basically no attempt made at all to make it feel like the two stories could plausibly take place simultaneously
I also didn't like how little Claire and Leon got to interact in the remake. They meet once at the beginning, briefly at the RPD and then at the ending, but in the original they meet a couple of times in the RPD to discuss their escape plan and Sherry and regularly keep in contact with each other via radio. In Claire A Leon even helps take care of Sherry once they reach the labs. It really made it feel like the two were working together. I also liked how Ada and Sherry briefly crossed paths in the original in their playable sections, making it feel like all the different plot threads were connected
These are all definitely solid critiques of the remake. I get why they gutted the A/B scenarios. Games are way harder to make now.
But the ways they smashed the two versions of the story together in the remake, and then failed to link those stories together... Meh. I had a ton of fun, but narratively, it left a little to be desired.