I really enjoyed this game when it first came out. I beat it once and then continued on to complete every difficulty setting and achievement to earn the platinum on PS4. I invested roughly 40 hours of gameplay total, so I was pretty surprised to see all of the complaints. I recently played it again on PS5 and enjoyed it again. So, in hopes of understanding why everyone was claiming that the original was better, I decided to break out the original psone version. Here's my verdict:
Both versions took me 6 - 8 hours to complete the first run-through. So, even though content was removed, plenty was added, as well.
The controls (and I don't mind tank controls) in the original are terrible. The controls in the remake are among the best modern resident evil controls to date.
The voice acting in the original is horrendous. The voice acting in the remake is modern and competent.
The city section in the original is not nearly as large as people seem to remember, and... it's boring and drawn out. 😴
The graphics in the original definitely pushed the limit in 1999. The graphics in the PS5 remake push the limits of today.
Grave digger was removed and people complained. When I replayed recently, grave digger was the dumbest, most boring boss I could remember in an RE game.
People complained about how Jill didn't go to the RPD building in the remake. Well, Carlos' trip to the RPD in the remake was far larger in scope than the original.
People just want to complain sometimes. Moreover, RE3make came out in the shadow of RE2make, much like the originals, and people weren't impressed because 2 was just better. Guess what? That was true in the 90s too. I was there.
If I had reviewed this game directly after I had first played it, I would have given it a 4, but after replaying it, and the original, it gets a 5. They cut the garbage from the game and added in stellar new content. Stop complaining about remakes. A remake is not a remaster.