Post by eternalentity on Feb 17, 2019 10:32:03 GMT 10
Absolutely hated it from previews, oddly began to like the atmosphere once I got my hands on it passing through dimly-lit hallways, still disliked it in many ways after an hour or two. In small ways I've been enjoying my time with it but in others there's just things I can't stand from a storytelling and design point.
I'm not a fan of Mr X appearing in scenario A, especially Claire's, due to how quickly he's dropped. Between his appearance behind the chopper to finding your way to Sherry again, there's not a great amount of time that passes until he's tossed aside for Birkin. So little in fact that his appearance in it was meaningless. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they chose to do it for that fear some developers speak of relating to a certain number of people not bothering to finish games fully, so, just plonked him right in there for everyone to get a taste.
Yet, oddly enough, I didn't want more of him. I'm not a fan of how they handle him as an enemy either, following you through rooms at the most awkward of times when you're simply trying to progress one simple task. Instead of feeling like an intimidating walking weapon sent to end you, he becomes this temporary nuisance that you have to play a childish game of cat and mouse with just so you can get back to doing what you were doing before he interrupted you, all while he stupidly starts wandering around like an old man forgetting what he's walked into a room for. His whole character isn't done any favours when he can be lured around a desk endlessly, or stops in his tracks just because you've entered a save room. He's like the simplest of AI let so far too off the leash that there's nothing to him, which works on paper for a mindless killing machine but for gameplay it is simply a dull waste of time. Capcom, in my opinion, should have taken a page from Alien Isolation Xeno and tied him down to something more scripted. If not that, just go all the way with him and let him enter save rooms, flip tables out of the way when you're taking the piss with his AI, just something. The zombies, dogs and lickers require far more thought to deal with by themselves than Mr X does through the whole game.
The inventory system, just like in 7, doesn't feel like any step up to what it was in 1998. I can't pick up a simple small pocket sized item because I have zero space left but I have to go back 30 seconds to open one of many littered around magical portal boxes? Kudos to them for allowing you to combine two puzzle items together by picking them up on the spot (such as the battery and C4 or book and statue hand) but it would have been nice to have a simple drop items at feet option just to do away with the short and uneventful trip to these silly boxes. Again, go the whole way and get rid of the boxes or just make the item boxes disconnected so it feels challenging to fight your way to a specific box again instead of a time wasting return trip to a magic box. I realise this is all the essence of a 'traditional' RE game but sadly there's not really much you can do to reinvent the wheel with these mechanics which make the whole experience feel empty when you start questioning it too much.
Leon/Claire's completely disappearance through the game up until the final cutscene. Was it really that difficult to simply bring back walkie talkies and have them communicate with each other at various points?
Despite all the annoying "Jesus Christs" that Leon keeps shouting out (I swear, at times it was like he was reacting far too late anyway) I liked him and Ada. Apart from the horribly rushed and sudden kiss scene on the way to the lab, I could sort of buy the relationship between the two if it was developed over more time but sadly it felt far too condensed. Claire wasn't my cup of tea this time round, making jokes and annoying me within seconds speaking and staring at Leon through the gate at the RPD as though she was a love sick puppy or something. It just felt weird, at least to me.
Try as the writers might, the characters of the story just didn't seem to be reacting like they were in the middle of an army of corpses coming back to life as the world around them had truly gone to shit. There's no shocked reaction to walking corpses eating people or anything, no sense of being in 1998 where this sort of thing isn't commonplace, nothing feeling at stake, nothing. To me, they just react like people who have seen a dozen zombie movies, and already know how well they'd react in the situation that zombies aren't even phasing them. The only person who seemed to be thinking seriously was Marvin, telling you never to hesitate whether it's a stranger or someone you know trying to bite your face off. I'd have liked more of Marvin's way of thinking, and less Sherry and Claire type dialog talking about her and Leon going out with each other not long after she's just been bawling her eyes out over her mom's dead body.
Speaking of Sherry, also didn't like her section with Irons at all either. Reminded me too much of Ashley's horrible part in RE4 and as for Irons himself, I preferred his original character. Sure, originally he felt like a cartoon villain who'd gone nutso under the Raccoon incident which made his interest in taxidermy all the more unsettling but here he's like a generic villain hunting you down with cliched 'gonna getya bitch' lines. Like from a tv show where all his taxidermy work seems more of a last minute background decoration because they remembered he's into that. Not even the body he's working on on the table made me look twice. Just like Kendo, he comes and goes with little lasting effect, tweaked and twisted from who they were originally and placed back in with the same names just so the nostalgic folk are surprised by how different they are. Even without the classic RE2 fondly lodged in my memories, I doubt I would view most of the characters in this any differently than I do now.
The soundtrack was utterly forgettable, with the exception of Hunk's and Mr X's tense track. Other than those two, I'd only return the soundtrack to remake mode out of curiosity for the new tracks. After being let down each time, I'd just put back on the classic one and feel like they still fit quite well.
I did love walking slowly through dimly-lit corridors with my flashlight, remembering rooms from the original while still feeling tense as zombies were homing in on me eating up my ammunition. Hell, I'm one of the few who doesn't mind the bullet sponge zombies. I was finally feeling as powerless as any classic RE character who'd go out in a hail of bullets. Zombies just definitely feel good again, and this is from someone who can't stand zombie movies and games these days. I'd only say they're let down by how light they look when dropping to the floor.
I also loved the short mechanic of boarding up windows. It added strategy to which side of the RPD you choose is wiser to block up. I dunno, I just loved that little management mechanic that makes more sense than playing inventory tetris.
Overall, I honestly think I'd have preferred something more akin to the remake of RE1 for GameCube. Yes, I am one of those people. I don't think I'd have minded the same outdated inventory system then because I know it'd be a straight up remake of one of my favourite games of all time and I know what I'd be getting into gameplay wise. For this 'reimagining', when making my way through dark hallways, making the choice of taking out zombies permanently or stunning them for a quick run-by while maintaining my ammunition, I think the game works great, even with an over the shoulder camera angle. It's just the combination of outdated inventory management and modern writing rearing its head here that sucks my enjoyment right out, sadly. I just think they reimagined the wrong parts.
I'm not a fan of Mr X appearing in scenario A, especially Claire's, due to how quickly he's dropped. Between his appearance behind the chopper to finding your way to Sherry again, there's not a great amount of time that passes until he's tossed aside for Birkin. So little in fact that his appearance in it was meaningless. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they chose to do it for that fear some developers speak of relating to a certain number of people not bothering to finish games fully, so, just plonked him right in there for everyone to get a taste.
Yet, oddly enough, I didn't want more of him. I'm not a fan of how they handle him as an enemy either, following you through rooms at the most awkward of times when you're simply trying to progress one simple task. Instead of feeling like an intimidating walking weapon sent to end you, he becomes this temporary nuisance that you have to play a childish game of cat and mouse with just so you can get back to doing what you were doing before he interrupted you, all while he stupidly starts wandering around like an old man forgetting what he's walked into a room for. His whole character isn't done any favours when he can be lured around a desk endlessly, or stops in his tracks just because you've entered a save room. He's like the simplest of AI let so far too off the leash that there's nothing to him, which works on paper for a mindless killing machine but for gameplay it is simply a dull waste of time. Capcom, in my opinion, should have taken a page from Alien Isolation Xeno and tied him down to something more scripted. If not that, just go all the way with him and let him enter save rooms, flip tables out of the way when you're taking the piss with his AI, just something. The zombies, dogs and lickers require far more thought to deal with by themselves than Mr X does through the whole game.
The inventory system, just like in 7, doesn't feel like any step up to what it was in 1998. I can't pick up a simple small pocket sized item because I have zero space left but I have to go back 30 seconds to open one of many littered around magical portal boxes? Kudos to them for allowing you to combine two puzzle items together by picking them up on the spot (such as the battery and C4 or book and statue hand) but it would have been nice to have a simple drop items at feet option just to do away with the short and uneventful trip to these silly boxes. Again, go the whole way and get rid of the boxes or just make the item boxes disconnected so it feels challenging to fight your way to a specific box again instead of a time wasting return trip to a magic box. I realise this is all the essence of a 'traditional' RE game but sadly there's not really much you can do to reinvent the wheel with these mechanics which make the whole experience feel empty when you start questioning it too much.
Leon/Claire's completely disappearance through the game up until the final cutscene. Was it really that difficult to simply bring back walkie talkies and have them communicate with each other at various points?
Despite all the annoying "Jesus Christs" that Leon keeps shouting out (I swear, at times it was like he was reacting far too late anyway) I liked him and Ada. Apart from the horribly rushed and sudden kiss scene on the way to the lab, I could sort of buy the relationship between the two if it was developed over more time but sadly it felt far too condensed. Claire wasn't my cup of tea this time round, making jokes and annoying me within seconds speaking and staring at Leon through the gate at the RPD as though she was a love sick puppy or something. It just felt weird, at least to me.
Try as the writers might, the characters of the story just didn't seem to be reacting like they were in the middle of an army of corpses coming back to life as the world around them had truly gone to shit. There's no shocked reaction to walking corpses eating people or anything, no sense of being in 1998 where this sort of thing isn't commonplace, nothing feeling at stake, nothing. To me, they just react like people who have seen a dozen zombie movies, and already know how well they'd react in the situation that zombies aren't even phasing them. The only person who seemed to be thinking seriously was Marvin, telling you never to hesitate whether it's a stranger or someone you know trying to bite your face off. I'd have liked more of Marvin's way of thinking, and less Sherry and Claire type dialog talking about her and Leon going out with each other not long after she's just been bawling her eyes out over her mom's dead body.
Speaking of Sherry, also didn't like her section with Irons at all either. Reminded me too much of Ashley's horrible part in RE4 and as for Irons himself, I preferred his original character. Sure, originally he felt like a cartoon villain who'd gone nutso under the Raccoon incident which made his interest in taxidermy all the more unsettling but here he's like a generic villain hunting you down with cliched 'gonna getya bitch' lines. Like from a tv show where all his taxidermy work seems more of a last minute background decoration because they remembered he's into that. Not even the body he's working on on the table made me look twice. Just like Kendo, he comes and goes with little lasting effect, tweaked and twisted from who they were originally and placed back in with the same names just so the nostalgic folk are surprised by how different they are. Even without the classic RE2 fondly lodged in my memories, I doubt I would view most of the characters in this any differently than I do now.
The soundtrack was utterly forgettable, with the exception of Hunk's and Mr X's tense track. Other than those two, I'd only return the soundtrack to remake mode out of curiosity for the new tracks. After being let down each time, I'd just put back on the classic one and feel like they still fit quite well.
I did love walking slowly through dimly-lit corridors with my flashlight, remembering rooms from the original while still feeling tense as zombies were homing in on me eating up my ammunition. Hell, I'm one of the few who doesn't mind the bullet sponge zombies. I was finally feeling as powerless as any classic RE character who'd go out in a hail of bullets. Zombies just definitely feel good again, and this is from someone who can't stand zombie movies and games these days. I'd only say they're let down by how light they look when dropping to the floor.
I also loved the short mechanic of boarding up windows. It added strategy to which side of the RPD you choose is wiser to block up. I dunno, I just loved that little management mechanic that makes more sense than playing inventory tetris.
Overall, I honestly think I'd have preferred something more akin to the remake of RE1 for GameCube. Yes, I am one of those people. I don't think I'd have minded the same outdated inventory system then because I know it'd be a straight up remake of one of my favourite games of all time and I know what I'd be getting into gameplay wise. For this 'reimagining', when making my way through dark hallways, making the choice of taking out zombies permanently or stunning them for a quick run-by while maintaining my ammunition, I think the game works great, even with an over the shoulder camera angle. It's just the combination of outdated inventory management and modern writing rearing its head here that sucks my enjoyment right out, sadly. I just think they reimagined the wrong parts.