Finished the game yesterday and have to say this is perhaps my favorite game in the franchise and IMO Capcom's best game ever.
I liked RE7 and it was awesome both technically and as a game but this just completely obliterates it, it's on a whole another level. The general consensus is that Japanese devs were left behind during the ps360 era but it seems they're back. Like wtf? This is the first time I had serious nextgen vibes on my ps5. I know it's crossgen (I had a similar feeling with Destiny back in the day) and I guess the graphical differences are minimal but it has such insane production values that it truly feels like a nextgen game. Every corner is so painstakingly detailed that it rivals Naughty Dog's and Rockstar's best efforts. Thanks to the above and the animations, it's one of the most immersive games I've ever played. You have such a sense of location it's crazy. I guess this is the result when you have the budget, the talent, and not developing an open world game. It was so refreshing playing a 100% handcrafted linear game after neverending open worlds. It brought back my gaming memories when open world was just a dream and games were similarly handcrafted. Every damn location in the game oozes atmosphere and the variety is insane. Props to the actors and sound design as well! Yeah, you can tell I'm really amazed.
Gameplay is also awesome. I won't spoil anything but the variety in it during the 12 hours is unbelievable. And there is surprisingly little backtracking and there are a lot of optional places. We need more games like this. Open worlds have their place of course and I love those too but there is nothing like a handcrafted linear experience.
And I also loved the gunplay. You could really feel the difference between the start and the end of the game gunplay-wise, thanks to the upgrades. And the game just doesn't stop surprising you. Everytime you think they can't beat what you saw they laugh at you and throws at you some even crazier thing. And it never ever becomes boring as the variety is awesome as I said, both gameplay and location-wise.
So yeah, I can't recommend it enough. One of the best games I ever played. Bring on the nextgen only sequel!