Line #17 YMMV/ResidentEvil2


1	For YMMV items relating to [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake the remake]], see [[YMMV/ResidentEvil2Remake here]].
2	* AntiClimaxBoss: The fight with William Birkin's fifth form feels more like glorified cutscene rather than the FinalBoss of the game. He can only attack you if you stand around right in front of him. Meanwhile, you've got a rocket launcher, and failing that, a good supply of magnum rounds or acid shells; more than enough to take Birkin down before he can pull himself all the way over to you.
3	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
4	** Annette states that William should have lost his memories by the time of the game, having been in his current state for several days by then, but just how correct is she? Sherry states she heard him call her name shortly before Leon's first fight with him, (it happens off camera, but in every other iteration of ''2'' he does it on camera for the player to hear), so him still remembering who Sherry is doesn't gel with Annette's claim. In addition, the way he fights is not that of a brainless being; he flanks, he ambushes people, so there is clearly ''some'' level of intelligence still there, unlike a zombie for instance else he wouldn't remember how to do so (leaping over obstacles instead of having to go around them and the ability to procure and use weapons, for instance), even if he can no longer tell friend from foe like what happens to his wife at the end of Claire A. Even in his final blob form, he also clearly realizes what the countdown on the train means, as his last shot before being vaporized by the self-destruct is his [[OhCrap giant center eye going wide]]. In short, is Will actually still in at least partial control of his actions and is just doing it ForTheEvulz?
5	** During Ada's "death" in the A scenario, Leon challenges her to shoot him. Ada promptly lowers her gun and looks down on herself. Was it because she truly couldn't do it, or because her magazine was empty as the game described it? Before she lowers her gun, you can see her pointing her gun again to Leon and hear an audible "click!" Was that just a case of NoisyGuns, Ada lowering her gun's hammer, or did she ''really pull the trigger'' before realizing she had no bullets?
6	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
7	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0ELg0XCtPQ "The Second Malformation of G."]]
8	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-GVumdOtFI "Escape from Umbrella's Lab."]]
9	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YcFzdkXzVg&list=PLmAjrkj1KHpL3nA9S31EJwp8nc0m_p9x6&index=5 The Game B credits theme.]] Double the awesome for being one of those super-rare J-Rock anthems that actually uses both lead ''and'' rhythm guitar!
10	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Somewhat literally with the giant alligator in the sewers. It comes completely out of nowhere,[[note]]It has maybe two seconds of foreshadowing in Leon's scenario, but it's a genuine AssPull in Claire's.[[/note]] it doesn't gel with or have any relation to any of the other bosses in the game (whereas the rest are hideously-deformed mutants and/or ultra-powerful bioweapons, the giant alligator is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin), the fight against it is [[ZeroEffortBoss laughably easy]] and entirely inconsequential, and its relevance to the plot begins as soon as it appears and ends the second it's dead. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools It's also one of the most iconic moments in the game.]]
11	* CommonKnowledge: While the Nintendo 64 port of the game is still impressive considering how many single disc games have had content sacrificed in ports to the system, it didn't involve converting 1.4 GB of data into 64 MB as commonly suggested. Both of the [=PS1=] version's discs are a little above 370 MB in size (a ''lot'' of assets are also shared between either disc), and according to developer interviews, the [=PS1=] version could've easily fit onto one disc had they had time to properly compress the audio.
12	* CompleteMonster: [[DirtyCop Raccoon City Police Chief Brian Irons]] was accused [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil raping a university student]] several times, before getting away with it and becoming Chief of the Raccoon City Police Department. Taking bribes from the [[Characters/ResidentEvilUmbrellaCorporation Umbrella Corporation]] and allowing them to conduct experiments on the city's citizens, he would use said bribes to fund his own personal "[[TortureCellar Taxidermy Sex Dungeon of Evil]]", filled with bones, surgical tools, acids, and stuffed bodies. When Umbrella's T-Virus breaks free and spreads throughout Raccoon City, Irons decides to [[ApocalypseAnarchy use this opportunity to cause chaos and kill people]], which includes zombies, innocent bystanders, [[CopKiller fellow cops]], and the mayor's daughter. Horribly depraved, Irons proves you don't need superpowers or grandiose schemes to be horrifically evil.
13	* CreepyAwesome: Birkin. This especially applies to his third or fourth forms, where they practically start to veer more into awesomeness.
14	* DemonicSpiders:
15	** ''Lickers''. You can sometimes just sneak by them, but in tight corridors (which is where you'll see them best out of ten), they'll become alert and chase you down the moment you get close to them. Their close range swiping attack doesn't deal remarkable damage and you can easily get them in melee range since they're blind and won't enter their alert mode until you either run, shoot a loud weapon, or get right up next to them. Just don't alert them from far away because their long ranged attack, a leaping swipe, deals more damage than most bosses can do in one hit. It's worse if there is more than one of them.
16	** The Advanced Lickers as they dish out more damage and can take twice as much punishment. In the labs, they can attack offscreen, potentially causing a OneHitKill.
17	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
18	** [[EverybodysDeadDave HUNK]]. He is literally badass incarnate. He's also the [[Franchise/StarWars Boba Fett]] of the ''Resident Evil'' universe as we know almost nothing about him, but has just a powerful presence and a professional attitude that demands respect. Every other appearance by GasMaskMooks later in the series is assumed to be him until proven otherwise.
19	** Ada Wong counts as one to her fans [[FemmeFatale for obvious reasons]].
20	** Just like [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis Nemesis]] that would follow him, Birkin also has an ever growing fanbase simply because what an awesome boss (or rather, [[RecurringBoss bosses]]) he turned out to be.
21	* EvenBetterSequel: ''Resident Evil 2'' improved on the original in just about every front, and is widely regarded as the best of the old-style ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' games. Gameplay has been tightened up, the cheap difficulty of some sections has been mitigated without making the overall game any less challenging, and it has a much more entertaining and solid story than the previous game. Additionally, William Birkin's G creature remains one of the series' most memorable, iconic and instantly recognizable monsters.
22	* FanNickname:
23	** For the longest time, fans referred to Birkin's virus as the "God Virus", as this sort of BlasphemousBoast meshed well with Birkin's personality and it formed solid ThemeNaming with the G-viral antigens being named the "Devil Vaccine." Even Yasuhisa Kawamura, scenario writer of ''VideoGame/{{Resident Evil 3\|Nemesis}}'', used that terminology. However, in an interview, ''[=RE3=]'' director Kazuhiro Aoyama declared that the G-Virus's proper official name is and always has been "Golgotha Virus."
24	** Some fans refer to the [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/residentevil/images/5/5b/FemaleZombieRE2.jpg red-clothed female zombie]] as "Misty" due to her outfit resembling [[https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/f/fb/Misty_SM.png Misty]] from ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''.
25	* FranchiseOriginalSin: While ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'' and ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil6 6]]'' are often criticized for making the series too focused on the action and not enough on the horror, this game is very action heavy compared to the original ''Resident Evil''. Whereas the first game had limited ammo, and the player had to strategize in terms of dealing with enemies, ''Resident Evil 2'' is very plentiful with the ammo, even with the more powerful guns like the magnum. As long you don't decide that any walls are particularly offensive looking, you can kill every enemy in the game and still have ammo ''left over'' for most of the guns. [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake The remake]], however, reverses this, focusing more on the horror than the action, with limited ammo and much tougher enemies than the original.
26	* GoodBadBugs: Using the Cord in one of the two shutter panels (one in the southwest corridor next to the filing room, another in the northeastern hall leading to the basement) in the A scenario makes it so that, in the B one, there are no zombies in the corridor (and surroundings) you ''didn't'' use it on after the cutscene where it blows out; even the zombies that were already there disappear completely. This makes visiting the basement and the goodie-filled eastern office a completely hassle-free experience for the B scenario character, as long as you used the cord in the southwest corridor. If you don't use the cord, zombies will break through the windows of ''both'' spots.
27	* HilariousInHindsight:
28	** HUNK's scenario is known as the "4th Survivor," the other three being Claire, Leon, and Sherry. Even forgetting for a moment that Ada also survived, ''VideoGame/{{Resident Evil 3\|Nemesis}}'' and the ''Outbreak'' games added more and more survivors.
29	** Chief Brian Irons was intended to be a ''hero'' in the original drafts of the game, which is very jarring when you look it up.
30	** TheReveal that Ada is a spy trying to steal corporate secrets makes the [[AscendedExtra single reference to her]] in the first game amusing when you remember that, by sheer coincidence, the secondary password was "[[TheMole MOLE]]."
31	** Claire and Sherry's voice actresses, Creator/AlysonCourt and Creator/LisaYamanaka, respectively, would later work together on [[WesternAnimation/TimothyGoesToSchool a cartoon that's the polar opposite of this game]].
32	** Lack of BadassLongcoat aside, HUNK and his fellow USS operatives bear a striking resemblance to [[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas Veteran NCR Rangers]].
33	** The [=N64=] port of the game had an unlockable Randomizer feature that randomized item layouts. Many, many years later such a feature became a popular GameMod and SpeedRun category for many games, ''Resident Evil 2'' included, with even more sophisticated features to keep players on their toes, such as randomizing item and enemy placements.
34	* IronWoobie: Claire. One of the few protagonists in the series to not have had some form of police or military training, she went to Raccoon City to search for her missing brother and found herself wandering into hell on Earth. Then it turns out [[ShaggyDogStory Chris left some time prior]], leaving behind only a memo detailing why he was leaving and a rather paltry message of "please forgive me, Claire," at which point she's left to not only fend for herself, but for Sherry. It would take [[VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica almost three months and ending up in another grueling viral outbreak]] for Claire to be reunited with her sibling.
35	* LowTierLetdown: Claire and Ada in Extreme Battle mode. The former's loadout consists solely of the powerful but slow-firing grenade launcher, making her easy pickings for fast enemies like dogs and crows unless you hunt down the submachine gun hiding in a very out-of-the-way spot in the sewers, while the former is basically the designated "hard mode" since she has '''no''' heavy weapons aside from the optional 2-shot Rocket Launcher you can find in the sewer, and is better off just hauling ass from the stronger enemies that start showing up in the 2nd and especially 3rd challenge levels.
36	* MemeticBadass: '''''[[OneManArmy HUNK]]'''''.
37	* MemeticMutation:
38	** In the police station, a player can search Wesker's desk 50 times to find a picture of Rebecca Chambers in a basketball uniform. [[MsFanservice Considering the way she looks there]], some Rebecca fans ''really'' like that outfit. [[AscendedMeme It would later become one of her bonus costumes]] in the HD re-release of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil0''.
39	** The R.P.D. has no bathroom. Apparently, in Raccoon City, NobodyPoops. Amusingly, Capcom actually made a point of showing Leon explore a bathroom area in early demos for the remake.
40	* {{Narm}}: It's a ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' game. [[Narm/ResidentEvil Specific instances are listed here]].
41	* NauseaFuel: Both Leon and Claire have to traverse the Raccoon City sewers in their escape from the city, but Leon has to do so in-canon while coping with [[spoiler:a big ol' gunshot wound from Annette]]. It's a wonder he wasn't infected with anything at all.
42	* OlderThanTheyThink: Whilst the series' FranchiseOriginalSin of a GenreShift from SurvivalHorror to Action Horror is generally attributed to ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4''[[note]]Though people didn't have much of a problem with the shift up until ''5'' and later ''6'' went too far into the action direction[[/note]], it actually started here in [=RE2=]. Ammunition is vastly more plentiful, to the point one can literally kill every enemy in the game outside of the zombies during the initial flight through Raccoon City's streets to the Police Station and still have bullets left over, and a decently powerful secondary weapon is available literally within the first minute of actual gameplay, if you're willing to risk fighting/evading the zombies that eat Kendo at the gun store.
43	* OnceOriginalNowCommon: It's easy to bash the CG animation for the creepiness that's in effect, but at the time of release, this was some of the most fluid and detailed animation you would ever find in a video game. The CG cutscenes have a higher framerate than contemporary games of the time that boast more detail.
44	* OneSceneWonder: The Giant Alligator. It shows up for barely a minute of playtime and can be defeated by a single handgun bullet if you were paying attention to your environment, but its boss fight is one of the most iconic moments in the game. When Capcom clarified that it would be returning for the remake, fans cheered.
45	* PolishedPort:
46	** The Platform/{{Nintendo 64}} version managed to fit two [=CD-ROMs=] worth of data into a single 64-megabyte ROM cartridge (making it the largest [=N64=] release ever). Granted, most of the game's essential assets were already in both discs, said discs had less than 700 MB of data on them, and the additional CD-ROM was only necessary for the alternate dialogue and FMV sequences in each character's scenario (one of which was removed in the [=N64=] port in order to cut corners). Still an impressive feat and even without the Extreme Battle mode from the ''Dual Shock Edition'', it does include its own exclusive set of new features, including a set of new in-game documents (the EX Files). The N64 version also allows use of the Expansion Pak to bump up the screen resolution.
47	** The Platform/SegaDreamcast version was sold for cheap at its launch, packs in all the extras from the PC version, removed the cropping of the [=FMVs=], supports the VGA box, and has the helpful addition of the VMU screen to monitor your ammo and health. However, it's missing a few musical tracks.
48	** While the Platform/NintendoGameCube port doesn't offer too much new, the [=FMVs=] are now completely uncompressed and run at an impressive 30 frames per second, it is now possible to skip both those and the in-game cutscenes and is one of the two CD-based ports of the game that puts both Leon and Claire's games on one disc while cutting absolutely nothing.
49	* PortingDisaster: The game received a port for the failed Tiger Platform/GameCom handheld system. While it clearly had some effort put into it, and plays better than similar ports to the system due to the slower pacing, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5JmSJcFD7E it's still a major downgrade]].
50	* RealismInducedHorror: Chief Irons is quite possibly the darkest RE villain. He’s not an immoral scientist like many of Umbrella’s staff, a grandiose supervillain like Wesker, or a deformed monster; he’s just a man. While far from the worst threat this series has to offer, the fact that he’s so grounded puts him in a completely different category from his competition. Serial killings, sexual assault, police corruption (or just corruption in general), and child abuse/murder are ''sickeningly'' '''common''' and sometimes even ''overlooked'' a lot in the real world.
51	* RetroactiveRecognition: Not necessarily for Capcom, but the Nintendo 64 port is this for Angel Studios, better known nowadays as [[Creator/TakeTwoInteractive Rockstar San Diego]].
52	* TheScrappy: Sherry. Playing as a 12 year old girl was not what players imagined. Add in that Leon gets a HyperCompetentSidekick in Ada and that Sherry will actually curl up into a fetal position if Claire gets too far ahead, messing up a speed run, and you have players howling in frustration.
53	* ScrappyWeapon: The Spark Shot makes a horrible first impression, being horribly ineffective against common zombies, taking up two inventory slots and only containing twenty shots of ammo with no ability to reload. It turns out to be incredibly effective on William Birkin, but so is Claire's Grenade Launcher which only takes one slot and has multiple ammo options to cover a wider variety of situations.
54	* SequelDifficultyDrop: ''[=RE2=]'' turned out far easier than the first game, as the game packs in more ammo and weapons for the player to pick up, even in the overseas editions (which Capcom made slightly [[DifficultyByRegion harder than the Japanese version]]). Capcom also made the game's EliteMooks (Lickers) significantly easier to deal with and less plentiful in numbers than the Hunters from ''Resident Evil''. The PC and Dreamcast ports of ''[=RE2=]'' added a Nightmare mode that increased the health points of the enemies.
55	* ThatOneBoss: William's "dog form" is faster and bigger than you, jumps a lot, doesn't stand still and let you shoot him, and will ''destroy you'' if you have a less than "fine" condition. Made worse by the fact that there's a ''[[TimedMission time limit]]'' due to the self-destruct system being activated.
56	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: With an outbreak of the T-Virus infecting just about the entire population of Raccoon City, the game initially looks like it'll be about exploring a city overrun with zombies. Instead, the action swiftly moves to the police station, which looks more like a creepy art museum, and feels like a rehash of the Spencer Mansion from the previous game. It wouldn't be until ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'' before players got the opportunity to run around the city's zombie-filled streets in greater depth.
57	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: [[TechnologyMarchesOn While very noticeably outdated]], some of the effects that were new to the series for this game were impressive for the time and still great considering the hardware. Of particular note are some of Birkin's transformations, such as the Scenario A encounter with him atop the descending elevator or the finale with his changing into a more bestial form - these are all done using the ''in-game'' engine to great effect.
58	* TheWoobie:
59	** Sherry, hands down. Caught in the crossfire in Raccoon City, with zombies galore, and is being chased by her insane parents, moreso her father - he implants an embryo within her that will turn her into a monster.. Not to mention she has to live the rest of her life without her parents, William (who died when he was shot and subsequently injected himself with the G-Virus) and Annette (who was murdered by her husband in a horrible fashion). This all happens when she's ''twelve'', then she gets taken by the U.S. government due to hosting a mutated/vaccinated G-Virus within her that gives her a HealingFactor. It's good to see that she grew into a capable agent in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6'', but still, she acknowledged what happened to her father in that game.
60	** Mayor Warren's daughter. While we never see her alive in the game, or even learn her first name, we do know that her father abandoned her in a zombie infested city to save himself. As if that wasn't bad enough, she then ended up in the protective custody of [[AxCrazy Brian Irons]]. From there, she was hunted down in the police station like an animal, likely raped, murdered, and then possibly stuffed by Irons to preserve her beauty.
61	** You have to feel for the officers whose notes you find scattered around the police station, as you are reading what may be their last words during the early stages of the outbreak.

Context YMMV / ResidentEvil2