If you're playing through Resident Evil 2 and you've found yourself wondering if you really did pick the best difficulty setting to maximise your overall experience, don't worry, we've got you covered! Whether you’re a brand new player or one of the most seasoned, hard-core gamers out there, Resident Evil 2 has a difficulty setting that will be absolutely perfect for you.

Not quite sure which one you should choose for your very first playthrough? Not to worry, let’s explore Resident Evil 2’s three distinctive difficulty settings so you’re beyond certain that you're choosing the best difficulty for you before you plunge right in.

Difficulty: Assisted

To say that it's a tough first day on the job for Leon Kennedy would be a massive understatement if anything!

If you’re new to playing shooters or just games in general, but you still want to be able to experience the immersive and altogether horrifying world of Resident Evil 2, don’t worry… Capcom’s got you covered!

The beauty of Resident Evil 2’s Assisted Mode is that, while it allows players of all skill levels to conquer this iconic survival horror title, it’ll still provide you with enough of a challenge that you’re sure to feel immersed in Leon and Claire’s harrowing experience. 

After all, a core aspect of this game’s difficulty is your ability to brave the horrifying atmosphere itself.

• On the Assisted Difficulty setting, you’ll sustain far less damage when you take a hit from enemies.
• The Aim Assist option will be turned on for you by default.
• The Auto-Save option will be available to you.
• You’ll passively regain health up to ‘caution’.

Choose Assisted If...

• If you're new to the survival horror genre or video games in general but you’re interested in experiencing the story of Resident Evil 2, this difficulty option will be perfect for you.
• If you are a seasoned video game player… but you still have a really hard time playing at your very best when it comes to horror titles, consider choosing assisted over standard.
• If you’re not too interested in inventory or ammo management as a concept but you still want to have fun shooting some zombies, in all honesty, you’ll probably prefer this setting.
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Difficulty: Standard

Unfortunately, there's no difficulty setting that'll save us from witnessing just how horrifying Lickers are!

Yep, it’s just as the title suggests; the standard difficulty setting will give you the exact experience that you’ve probably come to expect from modern Resident Evil titles. Will it still be incredibly difficult at the best of times? Well, yes, but it certainly won’t be as unforgiving as hardcore would be.

In my opinion, the standard difficulty setting absolutely is representative of what the video game developers intended for the great majority of players. 

Now, old school fans of the series might miss the ability to play through the game with the ink ribbon system. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, that’s the original save system that required players to use a finite item to manually save at the typewriters scattered throughout the game’s world. Other than this relatively small aspect, the standard difficulty definitely is a please-all.

• You’ll be able to choose whether or not to use the Auto-Aim option on standard mode.
• Similar to the aforementioned assisted difficulty setting, the standard difficulty setting will allow you to Auto-Save, but the ink-ribbon system will not be available to you. 
• While you’ll sustain more damage than you would by playing on the assisted difficulty setting for instance, enemies won’t be able to take you from ‘full-health’ to ‘danger’ in a single hit like they can on hardcore.

Choose Standard If...

If you want to play through Resident Evil 2’s remake exactly as the developers intended the game to be played, then standard is right for you.

• Even when it comes to the most skilled gamers out there, if you detest the idea of having to use the ink-ribbon system and would prefer to be able to save your game automatically, you’ll absolutely want to pick standard over hardcore.
• If you love the idea of playing an already very challenging game like this title, but you don’t have the highest threshold when it comes to horror games or you simply don’t like the more survival-heavy aspects of the game such as ammunition scarcity or inventory management in general, standard is definitely the right choice for you.

​Difficulty: Hardcore

Claire really can't afford to take even a single hit on the 'hardcore' difficulty setting!

Now, Hardcore’s certainly not for the faint of heart. As the name promises, Capcom’s hardest difficulty setting will push even the most confident players out there to their utmost limit. 

Although Resident Evil 2 will allow you to change your difficulty if you’re having way too much trouble to progress, in order to maintain your all-important sense of immersion, you really do want to pick correctly right from the get go. 

If you haven’t already played through Resident Evil 2, I’d highly suggest you start on Standard… unless you feel like you really won’t enjoy your experience without ink ribbons. In that case, pushing yourself through hardcore may be worth it to you.

Auto-Aim will not be an option for you on Hardcore.

• Auto-Aim will not be an option for you on if you’re playing on the hardcore setting.
• Similarly, Auto-Save will not be an option for you either… you’ll have to use the very same ink ribbon system that players had to acclimate to in the original 90’s title. Put simply, this means that you’ll only be able to save your game by using the finite ‘ink ribbon’ item at the typewriters specifically. 
• Many enemies will be able to take you from ‘full-health’ to ‘danger’ in just a single hit.
• On hardcore, ammunition is considerably more scarce, meaning that you’ll have to keep a very close eye on your inventory management to get through the game’s harder sections.

Choose Hardcore If...

• If you’re a big fan of the classic Resident Evil titles which encouraged you to survive not only through your ability to shoot, but through both inventory management and the smart use of ink ribbons, hardcore will be much more of a satisfactory experience for you.
• If you’re very, very confident in your ability to preserve in modern survival horror shooters, consider starting your session on hardcore… after all, you can change your setting to standard if worse comes to worst.
• If you’ve already played the Resident Evil 2 remake on standard and you’re looking for more of a challenge, you should absolutely try your hand at hardcore. 
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• [Top 10] Resident Evil 2 Best Weapons (From Early To Late Game)
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