We Need to Talk About Nemesis: ‘Resident Evil 3’ Remake Trailer Reaction

In the Tuesday Sony State of Play, the Resident Evil 3 remake trailer was revealed. We got a taste when Capcom posted a picture of the new character models of Jill and Carlos and, most importantly, Nemesis. Many people were questioning some of their design choices, and I was no exception. Resident Evil 3 on PS1 is iconic because the S.T.A.R.S. driven tyrant is practically the face of the franchise, and they totally changed his look. Some were okay with it and some weren’t happy, but did the trailer change minds?

That’s a complicated answer. Jill Valentine has been completely remodeled again from the Resident Evil remastered version, and I’m not mad at that. Jill has never really kept the same face for too long, and this version looks realistic and gorgeous, so she is a win for me. Carlos Oliviera looks awesome and brooding, so he is another win in terms of character redevelopment. We didn’t really get to see Nemesis in action, and I wonder if that was on purpose. We got a flash of his silhouette as he chased Jill and one open eye, but didn’t really see his face.

I wonder if Capcom is judging public opinion on the Nemesis redesign to see if they went in the right direction. In my opinion, the redesign of Nemesis is a mistake. While I do like the skin texture improvements and the look of stretched muscle and sinew, those damn teeth are a disaster. Nemesis’s mouth was his iconic look with his stretched lips exposing his teeth, but they made the reboot’s teeth look incredibly ridiculous. It changes his whole aesthetic and not for the better. Truthfully, makes him more comical than scary. I can only hope that the image of Nemesis isn’t the final design, because it would be a mistake on Capcom’s part to change something so iconic.

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The trailer itself is incredible, picking moments from the Resident Evil 2 remake and rewinding as Jill’s story unfolds in the same time period. Strangely, the graphics in the trailer don’t look as polished and realistic as in Resident Evil 2. I am hoping that pushing this out in a year and a half won’t effect the quality that Capcom is known for on the RE Engine.

Also included in the Resident Evil 3 remake is Resident Evil Resistance, the online multiplayer game that has been teased for months. It’s a relief to see that Resident Evil Resistance was the Resident Evil 3 remake all along.

This trailer got me excited to play the Resident Evil 3 remake when it hits PS4, Xbox One and Steam on April 3rd, 2020, but it also has me very nervous. Resident Evil 2 set an extremely high bar, so all eyes are on Capcom for RE3. We can only hope that Nemesis will win our hearts like he did 20 years ago.