Retro|Spective 021R: Resident Evil

[QualityChimp]

Right, quick catch-up.

Resident Evil 7 was great. I got a copy thrown in when I won my PSVR kit, but avoided playing it for ages.
Finally started it and streamed it on Twitch for [MENTION=3822]fuse[/MENTION] to laugh at me soil my pants in realtime.

There's a bit in the boathouse/garage where the father is chasing you, but he got stuck behind the car and was walking on the spot.
It was a lovely break from the relentless terror of being pursued and I had a mooch around.
Sadly, there was no quad-barrelled rocket launcher stashed anywhere.

Not played any more because it's really intense and you have to be in the mood for it!

Resident Evil 2 Remake is one I played earlier in the year and I LOVED it!
One of the things I liked about it was that it was done and dusted in a week.
I normally end up on RDR2 or Fallout or EDF and end up committing months to them, but still feel I've only scratched the surface.
With RE2, I took my time and really soaked it all in, apart from when I was getting chased by Mr. X, obviously!

Now, you could spend longer on it, taking the second runthrough at a slow pace too, or replaying over and over to get good scores and unlocking unlimited ammo weapons, but I paid 99p in a PSN sale and got all the weapons that way!
I like that it's not the only way to get them (I really felt I'd earned it on RE1 doing a really fast run), but that options there.
Obviously, it ruins the immersive element, but I loved levelling the playing field, blowing up every zed-head or stopping X in his tracks. Felt like 2 different games for my money.

Resident Evil 3 Remake is one I started a couple of weeks back, mainly inspired by this thread (thanks, Neon!).
I did the first section, but honestly it was just before bed and it's so bloody tense, I needed a cooldown before I went to sleep and haven't had chance to get back into it yet (been caning Stranger Things S4), but I definitely want to.
I've heard it's a shorter experience, but that's fine.
Sadly, the weapon pack hasn't hit a sale yet though!

These Remakes have been brilliant though - one foot in the past with some elements, but brilliantly updated to be more fun and the low-battery Segway control system is no longer another enemy to contend with!

[Atticus]

I think Resident Evil 7 is absolutely brilliant. But it's kinda too grim for me.

Loved everything about Resident Evil 2 Remake. It's how you'd dream of a remake, then having it come true in every way. What a great way to revisit a classic. I'd never played 3 before but 3make was brill too. Loved the change of pace and the setting. bring on 4.

[Neon Ignition]

Okay, so here's the summary:

Next week will see RS201 and RS202 reach the 40th games in their coverage. It's at this point that I'll be ending both threads. Should notable games come up or to mind I might occasionally do additional posts in either but the main notable titles will have been covered and more importantly I think it's time for a change. With that in mind today will be a double whammy for Resident Evil bringing RS021R to and end also.




Game 26 - Resident Evil: Resistance
The latest in Capcom's many attempts to make multiplayer Resi a thing despite the constant failures, Resistance was the series equivalent of Dead till Dawn with four players facing one other who controlled the traps and threats. It takes place sometime around the events of the original game and was developed over a three year period before being bundled with the remake of Resi 3. It survived a mere six months before Capcom mothballed the games support and moved the staff on the latest upcoming attempt, Reverse.








Game 27 - Resident Evil: VIIIage
The eighth entry continued the first person style the series had shifted into, directly tying into the ending of the prior mainline game with Ethan trying to save his baby girl. The game amps up the focus on action this time and steers away from the Texas Chainsaw stylings toward something closer to Resi 4.







For the new titles, does RE8 leave the franchise standing on a high?

[QualityChimp]

Resistance came with the Re2 & 3 pack I bought, but I have no interest in it, honestly.
Not my bag, but I can imagine some would like it.

Village, not played because I have RE3 and 7 to finish first.

I does look good from the recent Capcom announcement thing:


EDIT: Sorry, I meant to say thanks for all your hard work in this thread.
I can't believe how many games there are, but I've enjoyed some of the memories of playing this brilliant but bonkers series.

[Neon Ignition]

Cheers


I never touched Resistance, MP Resi never appeals and it was dead on arrival. Amazes me Capcom keeps sinking money into those ventures.

If I recall rightly, Resi 8 started life as a spin-off before the proper RE8 project was delayed into becoming RE9 and this one taking its place. It definitely has several improvements to the original but it's a little bit of this and that. The increase in action is a mixed bag too, it improves the pace of the game and makes it less oppressive than RE7 but it feels a bit more off as action threatens to make it more of an FPS which is a genre standard the game is terrible at by comparison.

That so much attention surrounding Resi 8 goes on the tall lady who frankly is only popular because so much camera work focuses on her chest says enough. Like RE7, I broadly enjoyed RE8 but left it feeling no draw to ever revisit it again. The only exception to that is the announced plan to turn it into a third person title like the remakes. It may not work as the game wasn't designed for it but if they can make it play more like those entries I'll likely like it more even if the game lacks wow key moments and has too much backtracking still.


Looking forward, it's hard to complain too much. I expect Resident Evil IX will come along in 2024 or so and be another first person effort I care less for than the other entries. But Resident Evil 4 REmake looks glorious and if Capcom continues with their remakes we're likely going to see Zero, Veronica, 5 or 6 remade for which any of those is a great candidate so I'm catered for regardless.

[Asura]

Game 25 - Resident Evil 3 REmake

Weird, this one totally passed me by. I had to really think back to remember it existed. I would've thought it coming out would've seen a wave of people drawing their characters in the iconic Jill Valentine outfit, but if that happened, that passed me by too.

[Atticus]

I had a great time with Resident Evil Village. The world was fun, the action was great and it lasted just about the right amount of time ... never outstaying its welcome. The exploration factor was fun too, finding hidden stuff slightly off piste (one with a doozey of a puzzle) ... then upgrading your arsenal with the spoils. The cast of villains were diverse and memorable and the replay factor is very much in full effect. I know it's not as focussed and hardcore as VII but I connected with it much more, from beginning to the end and then back through all over again.

[Dogg Thang]

Just coming back to this, the RE remake and RE0 were on sale on Steam so I have been playing the remake on my Steam Deck. It still looks insanely good after all these years. And yet... I'm finding it a little bit of a chore, much more so than the original version of the game. They added some stuff here which mostly just increases the amount of trips you have to make back and forth to only two available item boxes in the main mansion parts of the game. And then a little later there are some newer parts and some extra fights that just seem to dilute the experience a bit.

So much back and forth and then adding the crimson head zombies to that and it starts to get a little frustrating.

Like I say, it looks astounding. The atmosphere is superb. But it's not quite as good as I remember and I feel like the original game is probably a bit better.

[wakka]

Interesting. Maybe when I eventually replay RE1 (I tend to get a hankering for tank-control Resi every so often) I will do the OG rather than REmake.

[Dogg Thang]

So I finished the RE remake. It looks incredible throughout. It really is amazing in terms of visuals even after all these years. And generally plays very well. So my only down sides really come down to the amount of backtracking, usually as a result of having to manage the inventory slots. Some elements almost become redundant because of it. For example, you can burn bodies to stop them coming back again and yet are you really going to spend a couple of inventory slots so you can do that? I doubt it. And most of the stuff added here creates more need for running back and forth between item boxes (of which there aren’t all that many).

Still, it’s a good game and incredible looking.

I have moved on to the more recent RE2 remake. There is something in the movement and camera angle that makes it feel so much like Silent Hill Shattered Memories. But it’s very much RE. The controls work really well and they really dialled the atmosphere up. It’s very impressive. The zombies seem to take a crazy amount of bullets to go down so I have a feeling I’m going to regret starting on normal. I’m eating up my bullets. It’s good.

[wakka]

You'll be OK on normal, it's not too tough. You need a bit of ammo anxiety in a Resi I reckon.

Interesting impressions on REmake. To be honest I haven't played it since it was contemporary back on the Cube, but absolutely loved it then. I do remember a lot of backtracking but never quite understood the complaints about the Crimson Heads, since I felt that they kept the tension high when re-exploring areas.

It's possible that I'd feel different these days, however. There's something quite nice in a Resi about having 'earned' a previously dangerous area being safe when you need to go back and re-explore it.

Def one that I need to replay and re-evaluate soon.

[Dogg Thang]

You'll be OK on normal, it's not too tough. You need a bit of ammo anxiety in a Resi I reckon.

I now have no ammo and all the zombies came in through the windows. And if you use a knife, you can't get it back until they're dead. So it looks like there is no other way to fight them? I may have to start again on easy.

[wakka]

Hmm, I dunno, I've not played it for a few years. Can you not reload a slightly earlier save? (Assuming you have the same paranoid habit as me of operating about 10 save files for any given game that you're playing with manual saving)

I'm assuming you can't leg it past them at all. The ol' Resi standby.

[Dogg Thang]

I can run some places but tend to get caught up around doorways because they aren’t the hard barrier they were in the original. Four zombies at a doorway and I’m dead.

[wakka]

Bummer man. Sorry I gave you a bad steer did you get any further?

I googled it, there are loads of people who've made threads with titles like 'No ammo left, do I need to restart?' so you are far from alone in this predicament.