Why reimagining ?

[DevilBlackDoom]

Hey everyone,

So just for spoiler reference, just made it to NEST on Leon A, so please tag spoiler for anything past that. But I just wonder why people keep treating the game as a reimagining when Capcom always stated it's a remake, hence making it canon. It feels like people calling it a reimagining find it good, very good, but feel like it doesn't deserve to be canon for some reason. I see the term a lot since the release of the game, is there another reason beyond what I think ?

[Moogal™]

I see this game as a remake but some people like to think its a reimagining instead. Dont know the exact differences needed to make it one or the other.

[Chusma con Armas]

I prefer to call it "Half remake" the other half is missing.

[Reanu Keeves]

Originally posted by Moogal:

I see this game as a remake but some people like to think its a reimagining instead. Dont know the exact differences needed to make it one or the other.

Remaster = Little to no change in lore. Graphic and Sound upgrade
Remake = Some changes in lore. Graphic, Sound, Gameplay mechanics, System upgrades
Reimagining = Almost everything in lore changes. Almost every aspect of the game changes, can (or not) retain its original premise

[DevilBlackDoom]

Originally posted by 「Especialista de Traps」:

Originally posted by Moogal:

I see this game as a remake but some people like to think its a reimagining instead. Dont know the exact differences needed to make it one or the other.

Remaster = Little to no change in lore. Graphic and Sound upgrade
Remake = Some changes in lore. Graphic, Sound, Gameplay mechanics, System upgrades
Reimagining = Almost everything in lore changes. Almost every aspect of the game changes, can (or not) retain its original premise

Yeah I know the difference between a remaster, a remake and a reimagining. But I mean, from what I read on RE wikis to catch up on the lore when I played RE4 for the first time, RE2 doesn't change things in the lore that are incompatible with the original or the sequels. They may have retconned some things, changed dialogues, and added backstories to some seconndary characters (or reduced their backstories), but these changes don't affect the ability of the game to remain canon and to remain mostly unchanged lore-wise. I mean even the gameplay is pretty close. Headshots don't seem to do much extra damage with the pistol. The mobility and the cameras are the biggest game changes though I agree !

Unless you're referring to what Adrian seems to refer to, the lack of a proper B scenario ? But isn't the change mostly from a gameplay perspective, with less original new puzzles than B scenarios initially had for example ?

[BassChamber]

CAPCOM Developers call it a reimagining. And of course that is what RE2R is.

Compare it with RE1R. That was a remake, this is not.

[DevilBlackDoom]

Yeah but reimagining assumes it's not canon, I doubt they'd go through the trouble of probably also remaking 3 without having them canon for new players. Do you have any source for the devs calling it a reimagining (and in an interview, just thrown around, but stating the game IS a reimagining and not a remake) ?

[BassChamber]

Originally posted by DevilBlackDoom:

Yeah but reimagining assumes it's not canon, I doubt they'd go through the trouble of probably also remaking 3 without having them canon for new players. Do you have any source for the devs calling it a reimagining (and in an interview, just thrown around, but stating the game IS a reimagining and not a remake) ?

Yep, but not in english. I guess googling it you can find it easily.

[Lanzagranadas]

Originally posted by DevilBlackDoom:

But I just wonder why people keep treating the game as a reimagining when Capcom always stated it's a remake, hence making it canon.

It's precisely Capcom who started calling it Reimagining:

https://www.relyonhorror.com/in-depth/interviews/e3-2018-interview-resident-evil-2-producers-yoshiaki-hirabayashi-and-tsuyoshi-kanda-explain-how-they-do-it/

Yoshiaki Hirabayashi: We’ve re-imagined the game but we aren’t rebooting it in the modern era, it’s still set in the same 1998ish period that the original came out in...

-

Tsuyoshi Kanda: I really think that your readers and all the fans that’ve waited so long for Resident Evil 2 to be remade will love this reimagined version.

-

Yoshiaki Hirabayashi: [/b]...I know how much everyone loves it because I love it as well, and I’m also confident this is what you’ve been waiting for and you’re going to enjoy this new reimagined version.[/b]

What makes you think "reimagining" means "not canon"? Remake/Reimagining has nothing to do with the game being canon or not, both things can be canon if Capcom eventually decides they are. A Reboot would be a different situation because reboot implies just hitting the reset button on the whole plot and rewrite the story of the game in a way it no longer fits in the previously established universe/chronology.

[DevilBlackDoom]

Reimagining implies, like especialistas de traps said, that the lore is changed. RE2 and RE2 remake can't both be canon, or in 2 different universes, despite differences being rarely major between the two of them, they can't both be canon in the same universe ;) Now mind you I'm not asking you which is canon, and I'm not making a canon tantrum, if Capcom don't ever say it I'll pick which I consider canon and go on my life like that. I was just pointing out the difference and the implications on the canon ;)

Well a reimagining is very much often a form of reboot.

By the way I'm not all that sure the interview means the game IS a reimagining ;) Reimagining a game to create a remake or making a reimagining is two different things. Sure that's just semantics and I'm not trying to start any sort of flame debate but still wanted to point it out too ^^

I guess all this also embodies our personal definition of each words. You can't just very strictly draw lines between a remake and a reimagining (a remaster you can, since it's only supposed to enhance the quality of the source material without any other change whatsoever). I just guess my idea of a reimagining vs remake is that a remake, while having some liberties, is mostly considered the new canon, replacing the original material in any serie or universe, whereas I feel like reimagining is pretty much that, just imagining what if the game was released today, but still it's not the real deal, almost a spin-off. No need to debate on that longer though as I say again, these are MY definitions of those words, and no definition I can find online or anywhere lets me draw a very clear line, and much of what others feel I think is just as valid ;)

[Lanzagranadas]

Originally posted by DevilBlackDoom:

Reimagining implies, like especialistas de traps said, that the lore is changed. RE2 and RE2 remake can't both be canon, or in 2 different universes, despite differences being rarely major between the two of them, they can't both be canon in the same universe ;) Now mind you I'm not asking you which is canon, and I'm not making a canon tantrum, if Capcom don't ever say it I'll pick which I consider canon and go on my life like that. I was just pointing out the difference and the implications on the canon ;)

Well a reimagining is very much often a form of reboot.

A Reimagining doesn't have to change the lore, just modify some parts of the story but the key elements of the plot can be still pretty much the same, therefore you're still telling mostly the same story, but with some changes, which is what happens in this game. The key parts of the plot, and those that have an impact on future RE episodes still remain. A reboot goes beyond reimagining, it's a new starting point and it usually means overwriting the previously established chronology/setting of a series from its very roots, breaking continuity (or, in other words, ♥♥♥♥ everything and start anew) like a brand new story with just some basic elements and nods from the past.

Even RE1 and its Remake can't be both canon in the same universe, because for example you can't have Richard dying by Yawn's poison and have him eaten by Neptune in the Aqua Ring. But one way or the other, he dies anyway, that's what really counts and that wasn't changed anyway.

At the end, it's semantics. Some people would say that reimagining and reboot are the same, just like some usually imply that remaster and remake are the same. For me, they're all different concepts, now where's exactly the line between one and the other? that's subjective, but I really don't see reimagining and reboot as the same.

It shouldn't be difficult for a reimagining to fit into a franchise's canon, but it is hard (or sometimes impossible) for a reboot, because story reboots as far as I know imply new continuity, so they can only have their own canon, their own "universe". That's what DC, for example, has done multiple times with Batman, Superman, and other characters, each time they reboot, they create a new "Earth", and each different Earth with their own continuity shape the multiverse.

[Valefor]

Capcom devs called it a re-imagining.

/Thread.

[Khono]

Semantics

[Sri]

Remake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Reimagine)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remake#Reimagine_or_renovate

If Wikipedia sees no difference, why should we?

[Bullett00th]

dear lord, call it a rearrangement if you feel like it. Call it Suzy the New Old Zombie Game. What difference does it make?

[Xengre]

A reimagining and remake are actually the same thing largely and can usually be used interchangeably. If one wanted to use it in a more technical manner than it is actually a remake and not a reimagining. The reason is because a reimagining requires very significant alterations to the game including story/world/concept and mechanics/gameplay. The game however, is more of a remake because, short of some minor perspective changes and minor overhauls/adjustments the game is incredibly close to the original for most things, far more so than it is radically different. Capcom is arguably using the term incorrectly. Companies make mistakes like that all the time. I wouldn't worry about it.