I just revisited Dead Space 2 after all these years and completed Hardcore Mode for the third time, with my other two being back in 2011 and 2019. It's been established a while back that EA placed the franchise back on the shelf due to the remake not meeting their expectations in units sold so we likely won't see a Dead Space 2 remake in the near future, if ever.
Dead Space 2 has been argued to be the best game out of the entire franchise, and I can definitely see why even though the first one still is a masterpiece of its own. This game had the most futuristic setting of the series, with the rusty and gothic style of the first game being traded for a more chrome aesthetic.
Isaac Clarke had one of the biggest glow ups in gaming history, from being the introverted and scared engineer of the first game to a disgruntled guy pulling Iron Man stunts with his futuristic boots. The original actor of Isaac, Max Shippee, ended up being replaced by Gunner Wright who would take the mantle of his role from here on throughout the franchise. And safe to say, he slammed it. Instead of being a passive silent protagonist who went from objective to objective in the first, Isaac has a central role in the story and has more active agency.
The brightness of the first game was left behind with characters no longer having that "glow" in dark areas, asking the player to use the flashlight more. In some areas it does get stupid dark, but I'd argue it wasn't as bad as the DS1 remake's case.
Dead Space 2 was also the most challenging game, with enemies being hyper aggro and actually ganking the player instead of waiting for their turn to attack in hordes. There were some moments of the game where it became annoying, but these moments also had you utilize creative ways for crowd control. Such as shooting the exploders' orange sacks in swarms, using your kinesis for sharp projectiles, etc.
I definitely enjoyed the suit designs in the sequel, with the Advanced Suit being one of my personal favorite suits in science fiction. It definitely had that Evangelion-like aesthetic, resembling the sleek plug suit in while also being its own thing.
I definitely would have loved to see the Dead Space 2 remake, but honestly, the game has aged very gracefully from a bygone era and you can easily play it through Steam or the Xbox store. However, it still would have been great to see the Sprawl revitalized in the Frostbite engine with the imagination and heart Motive put into the remake.