Hideki Kamiya talks Resident Evil 2 on its 20th anniversary

Original Director, Hideki Kamiya, took to Twitter to talk Resident Evil 2 on the game’s 20th anniversary.

“RE2 was the first game I got to direct, so it holds a special place in my memories. I was only 25 at the time and had very little experience, so I was so preoccupied with being a director I didn’t really get to enjoy the job,” Kamiya wrote.

“I remember the day I was chosen to be the director of RE2 very well,” Kamiya continued. Not too long after development on RE1 finished, [series creator, Shinji] Mikami called me into a meeting room and asked me if I was interested in being the director for RE2.”

As die-hard fans would know, Capcom scrapped the first version of RE2, now known as Resident Evil 1.5, when it was around 70% complete. Kamiya reflected on the amount of trust that Mikami placed in him despite the setback.

“I did end up failing at first and we had to redo everything from scratch, but I can never thank Mikami enough for choosing me and giving me another chance even after I failed,” he continued.

Fans should head to Kamiya’s Twitter to read the full account, including his admission that the stress was so great that he took to drinking each night and used lunch breaks to sleep in a conference room.

Still, Kamiya wouldn’t have had it any other way.

“All of these memories are irreplaceable treasures to me. There is no greater honor for me than seeing how much all of you still love RE2 to this day,” he concluded. “I’ll keep working hard so I can bring you many more games of the same caliber!”

Fans were recently dismayed when Capcom remained silent on the 20th anniversary of Resident Evil 2. While we’ve been told a remake is in the works, we’ve not heard anything more about it since 2015. All is not lost, however — while 21 January marked the 20th anniversary of the game in North America, the title’s Japanese release wasn’t until 29 January. Fingers crossed!