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As an aside, there may be more dialogue in the remake, but anyone else feel like it is inferior to the original? In quality and delivery?
Hammond in the remaster is much less a veteran captain and more like a intern who just started, but the delivery of lines across the remake feel off. Some seem as if they are just being spoken. In particular Daniels. Hammond's ending felt well done but I didn't buy into his affection for Chen since he has no reaction immediately following his death, just when he reappears, so it felt like an add on after the fact. Mercer is probably the standout, but I've got problems with his stasis module....
In this case, the interpretation of events which is driven by direct confirmation of other events within the game fuels other interpretation, hence why that interpretation exists in the first place. The "massive balls" interpretation does not exist because Isaac does not have massive balls.
The original Dead Space was focused on the story of the Ishimura, the Marker, and what all of this new world meant as opposed to Isaac. Isaac was a character in the game to a lesser degree than that of the Marker and its effects on everything around it. I would argue that the Marker is the main "character" of Dead Space 1. Dead Space 2 pivoted away from this and made the story focused on Isaac and in turn what the Marker does, instead of on the lore and story we were already given by the first game. Had the second game been an effective re-tread of Dead Space 1 in that it is all about lore and exposition of the setting, Dead Space 2 would likely exist as a pale imitation of the first game, instead of a springboard to explore more about everything within itself.
This is also why I believe that the first Dead Space is a foundational game for the wider setting. There's a stronger focus on how things (the CEC, military, government, etcetera) work within the story instead of on Isaac, who he is, and what his story is. The development of Isaac happens a secondary element to the other elements within the game, and what I would call an intentional choice as Dead Space 1's focus is instead on what the audience can learn and interpret about the Ishimura, Marker, Unitology, and other associated elements.
This isn't based on nothing, this is based on what characters within both the first and second game tell you. Isaac knew. He denied that it was true. This revelation, per what Kendra tells the player, meant he was insane before the game started. This is what interpretation and speculation are based on, and there's a radical difference between "Well, he could have massive balls" and "Oh, Kendra said he was crazy at the end of the game, and on reflection of what happened during the entire game, that definitely makes sense as to why things played out the way they did."
And my point was that was the duty of the second game to do (and the first game had NG+ story logs that elucidated on Isaac's past, after the fact). The first game is setting the stage and is about the horrors of the Marker and the downfall of the Ishimura (Isaac as a character is secondary to this). This teaches the player how dangerous a Marker is and how quickly Humanity would die out if the Marker ever made its way back. The second game is about Isaac and his own internal, mental battle with the Marker and his guilt. This provides more context as to who Isaac is, as well as what the Marker does to people. The third game is... A game that exists, and I hope they remake that one in a very different direction.
Ultimately, it's a difference in direction, but I understand why they didn't make Isaac voiced in the first game. Not only was it undoubtedly less expensive, but it also served a narrative purpose. Giving him a voice in the Remake is a decision that I find hard to justify, for the reasons that I already explained.
His reaction in the intro is standard with facing monsters and losing a colleague. It is understandable. He has no reaction to Chen's death after this scene. Before fixing the tram he states it as a matter of fact he's dead and moves on. It is not until the nest that he mentions how long they've been together, but even then he just spaces the pod as a matter of fact.
So when Chen shows up to finish off Hammond I can see him hesitating, but I do not see him opening fire in my minds eye. A hesitation long enough to still get him killed, but not enough for him to fully drop his weapon like he does.
You can see the trauma, that is fine. I don't. It feels like a reach to me to add more drama.
"Even if you are insane. What, you don't believe me? Take a look at yourself. Better yet, take a look at that video from Nicole. And this time, watch it right to the end..."
And then,
"See! You're insane. Just like Kyne, just like the Captain. Nicole has been dead this whole time. Whatever you were seeing... Was caused by that. You were its pawn."
Dead Space 2 then built upon what Kendra said at the end of the game, with "Nicole" clearly stating that Isaac already knew what happened to the real Nicole.
"And when you received my final transmission, you couldn't bear to watch the end, could you? You knew what had happened, yet you went looking for me anyway. You knew deep down all you would find was death."
As well as,
"Why did you come looking for me if you knew I was dead, Isaac? Did you think I would forgive you?"
This means that Isaac knew she was dead, because he was smart enough to realize that the message was a suicide note, even if he didn't watch it to the end. He pretended she wasn't. That sounds pretty insane to me. This was then amplified by the Marker to make him more crazy, but the seeds of him being unstable were there from the get-go. If you know someone is dead, why would you go looking for that person?
Your point about Markers being only bio-recombinators in the first game is also completely untrue. This is contradicted by the NG+ Log titled "The Red Marker" which details that the Marker makes virus microbes to spread the infection as well as it creating a field that slowly drives everyone around it insane (as well as scientists building transmitters to spread the insanity field). While it was never explicitly named as Marker Dementia, both Kendra and Hammond begin hallucinating and Hammond complains of headaches. The Marker itself had an active signal that drove people within range insane (as evidenced by the second quote with Kendra), in addition to its role as spreading the Necromorph virus. You also need to cite your interviews where he says that Dead Space 1 lore was poorly thought out. I know from cherry-picked quotes that they refined the lore between DS1 and DS2, but I have yet to see anything where he says that the first game had poorly thought-out lore, a statement you have repeated several times without citation.
Except the above quotes from Kendra don't support your 2000's hypothesis. Kendra clearly makes the point that Isaac is insane, and he knew that Nicole was dead despite not watching the video fully. Isaac chose to come to the Ishimura to look for her regardless, indicating he truly is insane from the word-go. He knows his girlfriend is dead. He volunteers for a mission to go to the Ishimura. He says nothing the entire game to hint that he knows. He has no reaction to anything in the game, no matter how horrific. None of this indicates to someone that he is well-off mentally. In the original game (the remake has similar occurrences as well) Isaac begins hearing whispers within the first chapter of the game. This is all based solely on what the first games says.
Or, an alternative to your proposed scenarios, is that I continue to enjoy my yearly dives into the 3 games and ignore the Remake. I also don't really care if someone says that the remake supersedes the original game, my through-line is Dead Space 1 2008, Dead Space 2, Dead Space 3+Awakened. You can enjoy your remake. I can continue to enjoy my 2008 game.
Maybe he's been hitting the PENG too hard.
See that is a very interesting thought I hadn't considered. There are a handful of instances where it seems this occurs in other people, and I want to say once in DS2 you get jump scared by a necromorph hidden by Nicole's image.
I haven't replayed DS 2 yet.