The classic Resident Evil games focused on learning where key items are in a location and managing resources to survive. Typically items like ammo and healing herbs can be found in just about the same location each playthrough. This causes many players to figure out a key path to take each playthrough that ensures optimal resource collection. However, some players may want a challenging amount of replayability in their survival horror games.
Resident Evil 2 Remake has a mod that randomizes the locations of certain items, creating completely unique experiences for each playthrough. The randomizer mod for RE2 Remake was created by Benn Powell, developer of a similar randomizer mod for Resident Evil HD Remake and the zombie survival simulator game DeadOS. Powell's randomizer mod is the perfect reason to return to the survival horror classic if they've played Resident Evil 2 Remake to death.
It seems as though the current version of the randomizer is version 0.6.3, which allows players to randomize items and weapons for any of the main scenarios in Resident Evil 2 Remake. The randomizer only shuffles certain items, with key items being omitted from the randomizer. Key items are essentially anything that needs to be found at a specific point in the game to ensure players can progress.
Key items don't include certain puzzle solutions that can be placed elsewhere to allow the player to progress still. In short, the randomizer is designed so that players won't have to worry about being soft-locked due to lacking a key progression item. However, players should still expect to do certain parts of RE2 Remake out of the game's intended order, so it's not the best choice for first-time players.
One fascinating aspect of this randomizer is the option to shuffle the weapons that players receive as well. Typically, Leon and Claire, the two main playable characters in RE2 Remake, each have their own unique set of weapons that they'll find during their scenarios. The weapon shuffle option will shuffle the weapons in-game from their default locations and shuffle in weapons from the other character.
The difficulty with the randomizer will really depend on how a playthrough's items are shuffled. Players may find themselves with far less ammo and viable weapons than what they're meant to have, forcing them to think of new strategies for difficult areas. They could also have a severe lack of healing items, though the abundance of herbs in RE2 Remake by default usually leads to them being a fairly common pick-up.
It's important to note that Powell's RE2 Randomizer doesn't completely randomize the items players find. It shuffles them around, which means the same amount of green herbs can still be found in-game. The big difference is that those green herbs won't be found in the same location as the vanilla game, which still leads to tons of tense survival scenarios.
The difference between shuffling and randomizing items isn't a notable factor in-game. Each run with the randomizer ends up feeling like a unique experience with its own challenges and memorable moments. Powell's randomizer is fairly simple compared to others that exist for Resident Evil games, though this helps keep a sense of strategy to the game. Other randomizers shuffle enemy locations, which doors lead where and even key times, making the game feel far more chaotic.
RE2 Remake's randomizer stays (mostly) away from chaos, giving players a fighting chance against the undead horde that's taken over Racoon City. They won't need to worry about Lickers suddenly appearing as frequently as normal zombies or the door into the RCPD building taking them straight to the final Mr.X boss fight. Powell's randomizer is available for free to download, as is a similarly robust Resident Evil HD Remake randomizer.
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