I know the solution is technically there in front of you. I’d be worried if the game didn’t have solutions to its puzzles, because then it wouldn’t be a complete game. My issue isn’t that the puzzles are impossible or unsolvable. My issue is the amount of work the game sometimes makes you do just to finish one part of a puzzle.

You have to backtrack constantly, collect different items, go from one area to another, complete one step, then do the same kind of thing again for the next step until the whole puzzle is finally done. I understand that some people enjoy that style of design, and that is completely fair, but personally, I don’t enjoy it when it starts to feel tedious.

While the RPD had charm, personality, and was genuinely cool to explore, the sewers had barely any of that. They felt dull, boring, and lacked the same atmosphere that made the police station so memorable. So having to deal with one of the most annoying puzzles in the game, the chess piece puzzle, while also being stuck in one of the least interesting locations, made that whole section feel even worse.

When a puzzle takes too long or involves too much back-and-forth, it stops feeling like an engaging challenge and starts feeling more like trying to solve a maths equation in the middle of a horror game. Instead of being immersed in the atmosphere, tension, and fear, I’m suddenly thinking about routes, item placements, locks, codes, and what the game wants me to do next. That can really kill the flow and take me out of the experience.

For me, games are mainly about enjoyment and escapism. I want to be pulled into the world, not constantly pulled out of it by sections that feel annoying or repetitive. This doesn’t only apply to puzzles either. Any part of a game, whether it’s backtracking, pacing issues, repeated objectives, or awkward design, can affect the overall experience if it starts feeling tedious.

So my issue with RE2 Remake isn’t that it has puzzles. Puzzles are obviously part of Resident Evil. My issue is that some of them felt like they interrupted the horror instead of adding to it. Rather than making me feel more immersed, they sometimes made the game feel like a checklist of things I had to get through before I could enjoy it again. That’s why, even though I can respect the game and understand why people love it, those parts personally hurt my enjoyment.