One of the most exciting things about this remake for me is how it seems to be carrying the spirit of not just RE 1.5, but RE 3.5 as well. If you're not familliar with RE 1.5, it was the original scenario for Resident Evil 2 which took place in a much more conventional looking police station than the schizophrenic art gallery we know today. The basic plotline was similar enough, but there are many subtle differences, such as Claire being called Elza Walker with a completely different appearance. The team ended up scrapping the original scenario after getting an actual screenwriter on board who wasn't impressed with Kamiya's original script, resulting in them rebooting the project, eager to get it right this time.

Here's a video showcasing this scrapped build if you're interested:

The most obvious nod to RE 1.5 is the Elza Walker skin that's being included in the special edition, which would be exciting enough by itself, but after watching various gameplay recordings I've noticed a few other potential homages as well.

Atmospherically, the remake seems a lot closer to RE 1.5 with it's dark, moonlit hallways. There's a scene early on where you see a police officer get torn in half under a shutter door, which immediately reminded me of the scene at 0:37 in the video above. I'd like to think this is their way of paying homage to the scrapped project, there has after all been a lot of demand from fans for them to release it in some form. If you notice any other similarities, feel free to chime in.

Now, moving onto 3.5... I won't bother trying to explain because I'm honestly not as familliar with this one, but basically it's the early build of Resident Evil 4, when it had a more supernatural flavor with Leon suffering from hallucinations. The way Leon walks around with his torch immediately reminded me of this demo, and even the way he holds his gun is identical to the point where I don't think this is merely coincidental. It's possible that Capcom had been wanting to do something like this for a while, but simply didn't have the technology until now.

Really interesting post S.D. Perry would be proud.

Browsing Twitter, it seems that other similarities between the remake and 1.5 have been found, some surprisingly deep cuts from concept art in fact. I had already noticed the knife one myself but forgot to mention it, with the way the it is mounted on Leon's back. If they had mounted it on his hip that would have been a more obvious reference, as the knife was originally going to be featured more prominently, with the ability to quick-select it at will. Sadly, they scrapped this concept for the final release but it seems to have returned in some form for the remake, with it no longer taking up an inventory slot.

We also have the new outfits for Ada and Claire (though I suspect Claire might be a stretch), we'll have to see Ada in proper lighting before we can judge but that definitely looks like a trench coat of some kind, and of course, the stairs in the R.P.D.

Mr X's new headwear also appears to have been lifted from 1.5's concept art.

@danishingact: Thanks man! I'm not familliar with S.D. Perry but hopefully I can take that with sincerity, haha.

This is fascinating and I love every bit of this. Also thanks you made me realize there's a deluxe edition out there!! (To save you a search, it's $10 extra both physical and digital and includes: costumes, weapons, and the original RE2 OST to swap in-game).

@devoidmana: Perry wrote a bunch of resident evil books that I'm borderline embarrassed to admit enjoying. The Mr. X hat was a great catch too!