Some cool 1.5 exclusive screenshots ;)

[RaccoonSurvivor]

Indeed, While I appreciate that sense of art, but really ...

Back on Topic :

We all noticed that Team Igas replaced Jill and Chris voices with final RE2 voices, but we do know that even in final 1.5 they had different voices and to be honest I found Jills voice more fitting for Elza and I got very used to it, since it was left like that for that build, That voice ... errr it's Claire's Ugh ... for the second it makes me feel like "ehhh Elza doesn't need Claire's voice to be like her nor superior to her or anything, Elza is Elza" But really it's not a big thing, I appreciate the work they are putting into this and I'm hoping for them the best, despite all negative I might have said before but that all was because I'm very serious when it comes to such things.

the 40% build is really very early, gameplay wise and rooms wise, there are many like MANY MANY missing rooms and the team is really working hard to make it as final as possible, but gah .. many rooms are missing in the lab too and soo many other rooms before it.

I would really love to see the 80% appear soon, even a video or anything new would please me but I don't think it would happen anytime soon while I really want it to happen.

I think it's because Claire's actress Alyson has always voiced her (she was the only character to do so apart from Ada to date) so that's why it sounds weird - she is too unique.
Even if they altered the pitch of Jill's or Rebecca's sounds I'd be happy with that.
I'm sure they will have changed this in the final build as they have voices for cutscenes so..
And if not we surely can edit them ourselves later.

[Eteponge]

Do we know who even did the original voice for RE 1.5 Leon, Elza, and Sherry? (And presumably 1.5 Chief Irons, Annette, Ada, Marvin, John, Etc.) I wonder if they are credited or mentioned anywhere.

[yurieu]

... errr it's Claire's Ugh ...

yes, i do agree. Elza + Claire voice= BSOD in my mind.

[Aleff]

"skip 9669"

[RetroRain]

I can see why Capcom thought that the quality of the game was too low, after looking at the backgrounds, but why were the backgrounds the way they were? There is nothing necessarily wrong with the backgrounds themselves, but most of the backgrounds in the RPD for instance, are very grainy. If they got rid of all of the grain, the backgrounds would be fine. Like for instance, C2keo's recreation of the backgrounds lacks all the grain. I always thought that the backgrounds looked grainy because of the way the screenshots came out in the magazines, and that if you'd actually play the game, they wouldn't be grainy at all. Playing the game, the backgrounds look exactly like they do in the magazine screenshots, which is very disappointing.

So, to put it simply, the modern backgrounds are very good, but the grain and bluriness really ruins the quality of them. I'm sure they could've fixed them, but I guess at the 80% mark in development, they felt that it wasn't even worth fixing because of the sum of all the flaws that were wrong with the game. At that point it was just easier to start over from scratch.

I guess I'm just annoyed that the backgrounds came out that grainy. But maybe that is what Mikami meant when he said he let younger staff develop the game, and they had many problems.

[shanemurphy]

There is more wrong with the backgrounds in 1.5 then grain or noise, it's they were just so god dam boring compared to retail. Give me a mansion inspired Police station over a generic one any day of the week.

[BiohazardFE]

Paul Haddad and Alyson Court (RE2 Leon and Claire) also did Leon and Elza I believe. In a couple of interviews, they mention they did an "earlier" version then were called back. I can seek these out for whoever is interested.

Edit: From Resident Evil Fan interview with Paul:

"REFan: Before the final version of Resident Evil 2 was released, there was an earlier version which was different. This version also had Leon and the voice acting seemed to be complete. Was this also done by you and then you were called back, or did you only do the version of Leon we got in the final game?

Paul: I did do an earlier version of the game. I was then asked back, I believe a few months later to record additional dialogue. I have truly forgotten what changes we made. Fans of the game know so much more than us actors. How you find all these details is amazing to me. I wish I had a manager with those skills."

From TGL, I'm sure there's a video where she actually says it but this is all I can find for now.

"Alyson: Um, well, I auditioned. It was pretty straight forward actually. I knew the voice director, Susan Hart, & she brought me in to audition. In the recording room she introduced me to her “assistant” who, as it turned out, was actually one of the producers from Japan. I thought no more about it until I got booked for the job. We ended up doing three days of original recording, then another three days 6 months later."

[Lead belly]

I can see why Capcom thought that the quality of the game was too low, after looking at the backgrounds, but why were the backgrounds the way they were? There is nothing necessarily wrong with the backgrounds themselves, but most of the backgrounds in the RPD for instance, are very grainy. If they got rid of all of the grain, the backgrounds would be fine. Like for instance, C2keo's recreation of the backgrounds lacks all the grain. I always thought that the backgrounds looked grainy because of the way the screenshots came out in the magazines, and that if you'd actually play the game, they wouldn't be grainy at all. Playing the game, the backgrounds look exactly like they do in the magazine screenshots, which is very disappointing.

So, to put it simply, the modern backgrounds are very good, but the grain and bluriness really ruins the quality of them. I'm sure they could've fixed them, but I guess at the 80% mark in development, they felt that it wasn't even worth fixing because of the sum of all the flaws that were wrong with the game. At that point it was just easier to start over from scratch.

I guess I'm just annoyed that the backgrounds came out that grainy. But maybe that is what Mikami meant when he said he let younger staff develop the game, and they had many problems.

It seems like a pretty subjective topic. Personally I like the grainy backgrounds. I think it gives the game a retro zombie flick feel to it. Plus coupled with the eerie moans and gurgles from the 1.5 zombies, the juxtapose of such a sleek looking RPD station, and the evil forces tainting it, this game really floats my boat.

Oh, and the the blue-ish lighting in some rooms complement the bright blood of a decapitated zombie really well. It's the little things.

[Deus Flux]

Retail has a higher render quality/resolution whatever yes, but I feel what good is that when the design choices are crap to look at? The original RE2 has a slightly lower render quality but the environments have a unified strong,cold & unforgiving personality to them. Now I would have agreed with Capcom axing the game if the situation were vice-versa because the retail release is just to look at. Just about the only things that remain nice looking in retail are the labs and a bit of the basement sections.

I can't say i've noticed any grain, though. Game looks sharp/fine on PSP.

Edit: found this video on Youtube:

According to the video, Capcom was actually involved in a lawsuit with Pepsi, but I can't find anything on it. Then again I don't care to dig that much on the subject.

[shanemurphy]

That Claire intro to the zombie is a perfect example of why retail was bigger and better, in 1.5 you had a simple cutscene, in retail you have a great FMV showing more of Raccoon City. Infact was 1.5 even going to show any of Raccoon City?

[Deus Flux]

I personally prefer gameplay over fmv. The shorter or more non-existant fmv the better in my opinion, unless the entire game is an interactive fmv, which is alright. Otherwise I tend to get quite annoyed by them. I mean [generally speaking as a whole, especially for games this generation] why are game developers even game developers in the first place if what they want to really do is make movies?

I only ever watch fmv's once (rare occasions more) for any game I play and skip them all each subsequent playthroughs. Bigger doesn't always mean better. An RPD mansion is silly and impractical. I can't really speak about Raccoon city myself (I don't really care about it or to see it unless it happens to have creatures to fight along the way. If it's just some silly fmv I can do without it.

[shanemurphy]

It does not matter if you skip them or not, they were a important part of telling the story. Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course but I find it hard to believe you would call the retail RPD silly and impractical when those are a huge part of what made RE so interesting. For example look at Raccoon City in RE3, look at the puzzles in the city itself, the series would be boring and bland without those weird designs. Resident Evil has always benefited from unusual designs and puzzles and the ex Museum in RE2 added a much needed charm to that boring station in RE 1.5.

[Carnivol]

I stopped watching that comparison video when it said the RE2 RPD lobby was "Totally unrealistic looking, and boring."

[chrisliam2]

I like the 1.5 backgrounds more , to each there own.

[Tido]

I stopped watching that comparison video when it said the RE2 RPD lobby was "Totally unrealistic looking, and boring."

this happened to me as well. I can understand that people love re 1.5 but that he said the Entrance is boring? Come on.