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Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Warning. This is a spoiler free zone.
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- Leon dies in the non-canon ending and survives in the canon one, there.
- Elpis is a new strain of virus which basically kills all other viral infections, it's a Remedy potion in JRPG terms.
- Leon's handler is in-fact Sherry, not Hunnigan.
- No other classic character (Chris, Jill, Claire) appear.
- The post credits scene leaves the franchise open for more entries in the future.
Now onto some more detailed breakdown.
Ok.
Finished the game and I have some thoughts, overall, fan-fucking tastic. Hit me in the nostalgia bone all the right ways, with some minor reservations which I will mention as this post goes on.
Opening chapters:
- The game oozes atmosphere from the get-go, the opening walk in the rainy street feels like a scene ripped right out of Se7en and the Wrenwood hotel is almost like the first hour of RE7. Grace's character is pretty good, some qualms aside. The modern tech, mo-cap and facial capture goes a long way portraying the fear in the character's eyes and face. Importing over the fantastic Pragmata hair tech also goes a long way establishing atmosphere.
- Victor comes off as an incredibly creepy guy, his towering statue and just how easily he subdues Grace evokes a very Silence of the Lambs. Capcom chose some really good cinematic representations to highlight in the game.
- For my play through, it just felt right playing Grace's segments in first person. I tried a bit of third person but it just didn't feel right.
- Alyssa's death is pretty brutal and quick. Grace's VA is hit or miss but her screams and terror in that scene is palpable.
Enter Leon Motherfuckin' Kennedy
- The first character swap happened a lot quicker than I expected. Mr. Scott makes his entrance in the brand spanking new Porsche and the feel of the game is immediately different. He starts off with a massive inventory, multiple guns and his controls feel really crisp, great to shoot etc.
Care Center
- The first of the two massive areas in the game, this place is bigger than the RPD or the Spencer Mansion, an entire game can take place just here. Really loved the classic RE style metroidvania structure here.
- Having the "girl" aka fake Lisa Trevor chasing Grace is very tense, followed immediately by Leon strolling in and blowing her head off in a few seconds. The lighting plays a great part here.
- The little clone girl subplot was telegraphed and anyone could rub two brain cells together and tell that Grace will somehow be involved directly in that plot. Though the way it's revealed later on in the orphanage is pretty good.
Interlude between Care Center and Raccoon City
- Now, this is the part that got me. I did not expect Capcom to have the balls to turn the little girl into a monster on-screen and have Leon 'kill' her, though this gets rectonned in the ending, as it's happening it's still pretty harrowing and a far cry from the usual RE camp of action.
- Grace being disillusioned at not being able to save Emily and just walking away right into Gideon and Zeno and going with them willingly is also something I did not see coming, I thought she would be going to Raccoon City with Leon.
- Zeno, we can very heavily imply from later events, is likely another one of the "Wesker" children, the line Albert and Alex come from.
- Fun fact: Zeno's voice and motion actor is the same guy who did Albert Wesker in RE4 Remake, so Capcom isn't exactly being shy about it. Considering there are heavy rumors of a Code Veronica remake being next, they have a perfect Albert Wesker model to use for that game along with all the Matrix bullshit he pulls off.
Raccoon City East
- The starting parts of the RC area didn't exactly hit my nostalgia bones as there is little familiar, that happens later. But it was still a blast revisiting RC after 28 years in the in-game lore, Leon passing by the same gas station from Re2's intro and his jeep still being there gave me a kick.
- Something about seeing BSAA corpses in Raccoon City rubbed me the wrong way, like you motherfuckers don't belong here.
The Bike chase
- Now this was insane. A set piece straight out of Resident Evil Vendetta, the CG movie, including dogs. Previous RE games have also had car chase segments but nothing this crazy. The set pieces, action etc was incredible.
- The only thing that brought me out was seeing a 9ft tall Gideon riding a small bike, he looked so out of place.
- That final jump with the entire RC crater in the background is some *chef's kiss* cinematography.
Raccoon Police Department
- 10/10 for nostalgia. The moment I realized the game is making us take the path from RE2 Remake's intro, I got goosebumps.
- I spent over an hour just walking the halls of the RPD soaking in the atmosphere. Some of my favorite callbacks include the hall itself, Leon honoring Marvin, the guy who has his lower jaw detected by the Licker still being there, Jill's beret and Chris's Made in Heaven jacket still in the RPD, they added a couple of more Barry nods that weren't there in Re2make itself. You can find Rebecca's picture by doing a small fetch quest which leads you to get a key to open the JoJo locker (another classic Capcom nod), inside the locker are some items and also some classic Capcom game posters and disc cases along with a Japanese Sega Saturn and its controller. Of course it won't be RE without that classic STARS group photo before everything went down, and Leon acknowledging it as well "a lot of good lives lost needlessly".
- The random Mr X. out of nowhere was a real fist pump moment for me, I did *NOT* see that coming. The final fight with him was a great show that this isn't the same rookie cop Leon who could barely survive in RE2. It felt easy, Leon's expanded arsenal and tactics made taking X down easy but it also felt cathartic. We don't need no stinking Rocket Launcher assist to do that this time.
- Running into Kendo's shop and Leon giving a silent apology was also very effective, you generally don't see this kind of good virtual acting in RE games.
- Also, apparently if you hang around the Operations Room area, there is a Tofu easter egg, he peeks around the corner at you, you can't do anything but it's a fun nod.
Orphanage
- Another location revisited from RE2 Remake but it's way more effective here. You barely spend 10 minutes in RE2make here and see nothing of the horrors that are shown here. The creepy kids are very unsettling and the scene where you have to hide under the beds is intense.
Ark and Endgame
- Honestly, I don't know how I feel about there being YET ANOTHER massive underground facilities. Honestly, it feels like RC is a honey comb and its undergrounds are just an endless barrage of facilities. Though at least this one felt a lot bigger than Nest or Nest 2 from RE2/RE3 remakes.
- The imagery in some of the places is straight up Westworld.
- Lots of surprise name drops here and it definitely feels like Capcom trying their best to bring about all the various antagonistic organizations under a single banner for the same goal. Tricell, HCF, The Connections etc are all mentioned to some capacity. Though it feels like The Connections is being positioned as the next Umbrella, they had enough pull to order the strike on Raccoon City even without the president's approval and even enough resources to take over the Ark *after* RC was destroyed and keep it operational.
- This is where you find out that Grace is basically Rey Palpatine, somewhat related to Spencer but he gives her off to Alyssa to raise.
- The game also has two endings, a first for the RE engine games, which have not had multiple endings. The 'bad' ending where you choose to destroy Elpis has Leon dying pretty goddamn brutally by Zeno's hands. It was honestly pretty unsettling seeing Leon get offed like that.
- The good/canon ending tho, has Leon being cured of his virus thanks to Elis and Zeno losing his Wesker powers in turn. I did not like the surprise revelation that Gideon was a "Nemesis" type, it felt like something shoehorned to bring yet one more thing from the Remake continuity, the boss looks and fights almost exactly like the final boss in RE3make.
- No Chris appearance but he does get name-dropped, so he's still out there and apparently between RE Village and this, he's been promoted to Captain. For anyone who doesn't remember, Village ends in kind of a BSAA Civil War and Chris and his Wolf squad basically becoming a splinter faction. I guess in the years between these games, that matter got resolved off-screen.
- It was fun seeing the lickers in high fidelity again but I was hoping Capcom to bring back the Hunters. Just a persoanl gripe.
- Capcom also did not make the final Spencer study room, before the ending, into a "lore cave" like most recent RE games. Spencer's study did at least seem to have one hint / homage towards Mother Miranda from RE: Village with a portrat of a vaguely European looking inspiration with a big M on it, make of it what you will, but that is how I choose to interpret it.
- So, basically, the game in canon ends with Leon getting rid of his virus and in-fact becoming a bit more youthful, he says "I haven't felt this good in ages", i-e he's not going anywhere and we'll be seeing more of him in future RE games as well.
- And all this time, Leon's handler is one Sherry Birkin, another RE mainstay and she's also infected like Leon. But her role is so incidental to the game, she might not as well have been there and it wouldn't have changed anything about the game.
Post game
- After beating the game, you unlock a 60 page long Grace's Report which lays out the timeline from the 60's to present day, it's a recap of what we know but also does some retcons and adds information in there that we didn't.
- Brandon Bailey was rumored to be the leader of The Connections, here it implies that he was just a small cog and that organization is much bigger than anyone realizes.
- James Markus, one of the three Umbrella founders, and the focus of RE Zero, is apparently a sleeper agent and feeding info to The Connections in the 80's, before he gets assassinated.
- It's very interesting that the next two games that are rumored, Code Veronica and Zero remakes, both are about the other two Umbrella founders (Ashford, Marcus) after Spencer. So it's a safe bet to assume those games will be expanded and factor some of the things that are revealed here.
- One thing that I am *not* a fan of is how Grace's report tries to humanize Spencer with shit like "Maybe his goal was just peace", bitch fucking no. He oversaw orgaphanage children being experimented on until the mid 90's and only stopped when his Elpis virus was complete, he is a monster through and through. Do not humanize that.
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.
.
.
.
.
.
- Leon dies in the non-canon ending and survives in the canon one, there.
- Elpis is a new strain of virus which basically kills all other viral infections, it's a Remedy potion in JRPG terms.
- Leon's handler is in-fact Sherry, not Hunnigan.
- No other classic character (Chris, Jill, Claire) appear.
- The post credits scene leaves the franchise open for more entries in the future.
Now onto some more detailed breakdown.
Ok.
Finished the game and I have some thoughts, overall, fan-fucking tastic. Hit me in the nostalgia bone all the right ways, with some minor reservations which I will mention as this post goes on.
Opening chapters:
- The game oozes atmosphere from the get-go, the opening walk in the rainy street feels like a scene ripped right out of Se7en and the Wrenwood hotel is almost like the first hour of RE7. Grace's character is pretty good, some qualms aside. The modern tech, mo-cap and facial capture goes a long way portraying the fear in the character's eyes and face. Importing over the fantastic Pragmata hair tech also goes a long way establishing atmosphere.
- Victor comes off as an incredibly creepy guy, his towering statue and just how easily he subdues Grace evokes a very Silence of the Lambs. Capcom chose some really good cinematic representations to highlight in the game.
- For my play through, it just felt right playing Grace's segments in first person. I tried a bit of third person but it just didn't feel right.
- Alyssa's death is pretty brutal and quick. Grace's VA is hit or miss but her screams and terror in that scene is palpable.
Enter Leon Motherfuckin' Kennedy
- The first character swap happened a lot quicker than I expected. Mr. Scott makes his entrance in the brand spanking new Porsche and the feel of the game is immediately different. He starts off with a massive inventory, multiple guns and his controls feel really crisp, great to shoot etc.
Care Center
- The first of the two massive areas in the game, this place is bigger than the RPD or the Spencer Mansion, an entire game can take place just here. Really loved the classic RE style metroidvania structure here.
- Having the "girl" aka fake Lisa Trevor chasing Grace is very tense, followed immediately by Leon strolling in and blowing her head off in a few seconds. The lighting plays a great part here.
- The little clone girl subplot was telegraphed and anyone could rub two brain cells together and tell that Grace will somehow be involved directly in that plot. Though the way it's revealed later on in the orphanage is pretty good.
Interlude between Care Center and Raccoon City
- Now, this is the part that got me. I did not expect Capcom to have the balls to turn the little girl into a monster on-screen and have Leon 'kill' her, though this gets rectonned in the ending, as it's happening it's still pretty harrowing and a far cry from the usual RE camp of action.
- Grace being disillusioned at not being able to save Emily and just walking away right into Gideon and Zeno and going with them willingly is also something I did not see coming, I thought she would be going to Raccoon City with Leon.
- Zeno, we can very heavily imply from later events, is likely another one of the "Wesker" children, the line Albert and Alex come from.
- Fun fact: Zeno's voice and motion actor is the same guy who did Albert Wesker in RE4 Remake, so Capcom isn't exactly being shy about it. Considering there are heavy rumors of a Code Veronica remake being next, they have a perfect Albert Wesker model to use for that game along with all the Matrix bullshit he pulls off.
Raccoon City East
- The starting parts of the RC area didn't exactly hit my nostalgia bones as there is little familiar, that happens later. But it was still a blast revisiting RC after 28 years in the in-game lore, Leon passing by the same gas station from Re2's intro and his jeep still being there gave me a kick.
- Something about seeing BSAA corpses in Raccoon City rubbed me the wrong way, like you motherfuckers don't belong here.
The Bike chase
- Now this was insane. A set piece straight out of Resident Evil Vendetta, the CG movie, including dogs. Previous RE games have also had car chase segments but nothing this crazy. The set pieces, action etc was incredible.
- The only thing that brought me out was seeing a 9ft tall Gideon riding a small bike, he looked so out of place.
- That final jump with the entire RC crater in the background is some *chef's kiss* cinematography.
Raccoon Police Department
- 10/10 for nostalgia. The moment I realized the game is making us take the path from RE2 Remake's intro, I got goosebumps.
- I spent over an hour just walking the halls of the RPD soaking in the atmosphere. Some of my favorite callbacks include the hall itself, Leon honoring Marvin, the guy who has his lower jaw detected by the Licker still being there, Jill's beret and Chris's Made in Heaven jacket still in the RPD, they added a couple of more Barry nods that weren't there in Re2make itself. You can find Rebecca's picture by doing a small fetch quest which leads you to get a key to open the JoJo locker (another classic Capcom nod), inside the locker are some items and also some classic Capcom game posters and disc cases along with a Japanese Sega Saturn and its controller. Of course it won't be RE without that classic STARS group photo before everything went down, and Leon acknowledging it as well "a lot of good lives lost needlessly".
- The random Mr X. out of nowhere was a real fist pump moment for me, I did *NOT* see that coming. The final fight with him was a great show that this isn't the same rookie cop Leon who could barely survive in RE2. It felt easy, Leon's expanded arsenal and tactics made taking X down easy but it also felt cathartic. We don't need no stinking Rocket Launcher assist to do that this time.
- Running into Kendo's shop and Leon giving a silent apology was also very effective, you generally don't see this kind of good virtual acting in RE games.
- Also, apparently if you hang around the Operations Room area, there is a Tofu easter egg, he peeks around the corner at you, you can't do anything but it's a fun nod.
Orphanage
- Another location revisited from RE2 Remake but it's way more effective here. You barely spend 10 minutes in RE2make here and see nothing of the horrors that are shown here. The creepy kids are very unsettling and the scene where you have to hide under the beds is intense.
Ark and Endgame
- Honestly, I don't know how I feel about there being YET ANOTHER massive underground facilities. Honestly, it feels like RC is a honey comb and its undergrounds are just an endless barrage of facilities. Though at least this one felt a lot bigger than Nest or Nest 2 from RE2/RE3 remakes.
- The imagery in some of the places is straight up Westworld.
- Lots of surprise name drops here and it definitely feels like Capcom trying their best to bring about all the various antagonistic organizations under a single banner for the same goal. Tricell, HCF, The Connections etc are all mentioned to some capacity. Though it feels like The Connections is being positioned as the next Umbrella, they had enough pull to order the strike on Raccoon City even without the president's approval and even enough resources to take over the Ark *after* RC was destroyed and keep it operational.
- This is where you find out that Grace is basically Rey Palpatine, somewhat related to Spencer but he gives her off to Alyssa to raise.
- The game also has two endings, a first for the RE engine games, which have not had multiple endings. The 'bad' ending where you choose to destroy Elpis has Leon dying pretty goddamn brutally by Zeno's hands. It was honestly pretty unsettling seeing Leon get offed like that.
- The good/canon ending tho, has Leon being cured of his virus thanks to Elis and Zeno losing his Wesker powers in turn. I did not like the surprise revelation that Gideon was a "Nemesis" type, it felt like something shoehorned to bring yet one more thing from the Remake continuity, the boss looks and fights almost exactly like the final boss in RE3make.
- No Chris appearance but he does get name-dropped, so he's still out there and apparently between RE Village and this, he's been promoted to Captain. For anyone who doesn't remember, Village ends in kind of a BSAA Civil War and Chris and his Wolf squad basically becoming a splinter faction. I guess in the years between these games, that matter got resolved off-screen.
- It was fun seeing the lickers in high fidelity again but I was hoping Capcom to bring back the Hunters. Just a persoanl gripe.
- Capcom also did not make the final Spencer study room, before the ending, into a "lore cave" like most recent RE games. Spencer's study did at least seem to have one hint / homage towards Mother Miranda from RE: Village with a portrat of a vaguely European looking inspiration with a big M on it, make of it what you will, but that is how I choose to interpret it.
- So, basically, the game in canon ends with Leon getting rid of his virus and in-fact becoming a bit more youthful, he says "I haven't felt this good in ages", i-e he's not going anywhere and we'll be seeing more of him in future RE games as well.
- And all this time, Leon's handler is one Sherry Birkin, another RE mainstay and she's also infected like Leon. But her role is so incidental to the game, she might not as well have been there and it wouldn't have changed anything about the game.
Post game
- After beating the game, you unlock a 60 page long Grace's Report which lays out the timeline from the 60's to present day, it's a recap of what we know but also does some retcons and adds information in there that we didn't.
- Brandon Bailey was rumored to be the leader of The Connections, here it implies that he was just a small cog and that organization is much bigger than anyone realizes.
- James Markus, one of the three Umbrella founders, and the focus of RE Zero, is apparently a sleeper agent and feeding info to The Connections in the 80's, before he gets assassinated.
- It's very interesting that the next two games that are rumored, Code Veronica and Zero remakes, both are about the other two Umbrella founders (Ashford, Marcus) after Spencer. So it's a safe bet to assume those games will be expanded and factor some of the things that are revealed here.
- One thing that I am *not* a fan of is how Grace's report tries to humanize Spencer with shit like "Maybe his goal was just peace", bitch fucking no. He oversaw orgaphanage children being experimented on until the mid 90's and only stopped when his Elpis virus was complete, he is a monster through and through. Do not humanize that.
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