‘I knew it. Is that a camera?’
I can’t imagine the range of emotions creators must feel when a project they’ve poured themselves into for years finally comes out for the world to experience. That goes for games, movies, books, anything. You always hope for the best: an end result you can stand behind and be proud of even if it’s never a commercial hit. If your creative pursuit does end up forming a passionate following, that’s a bonus.
It’s a rare treat to peer behind the scenes and see how creators feel after a big launch. One notable example from last year was seeing God of War director Cory Barlog’s reaction to the game’s glowing review scores. It was so heartfelt and personal. This week, I’ve got a more recent video to point to: a post-release dinner discussion with the developers behind this year’s Resident Evil 2 remake.
The team started on a similar topic: review scores. It was “nervewracking” to hear how critics received the game and at least one member, senior project manager Hiroyuki Chi, “literally shed tears” when the above-90 Metacritic score went up. “It really does make you cry, those comments.”
There wasn’t always going to be a demo for Resident Evil 2, and once they decided to go for it, release manager Takuma Uehigashi said he could “feel everyone’s hate” when putting the schedule together. “Then, when I explained [producer Jun Takeuchi‘s] 30-minute rule, everyone was like ‘Huh!?'” The concept behind the 1-Shot demo was divisive, but timing its release close to launch worked out.
On the topic of underappreciated details, the team honed in on Ada’s sunglasses, which, let me tell you, I appreciated the heck out of them. They ruled! The developers also brought up early designs for the inventory UI, the scale of the game leading up to the Police Station, and their love of toilets.
Aside from the fun anecdotes, this is worth watching just to see snippets of test footage.
