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IMO if you can handle 0, you can handle anything. Only Code Veronica is maybe more annoying to play & RE6 with maybe a more insipid story.

I'm glad you liked both REmake 1 and REmake 2. They are genuinely a couple of the best horror games ever made. I actually still enjoy the PS1 versions a lot as well.

 

[kunonabi]

I thought I liked the story of Resident Evil. But what I realised was that I like the story of Resident Evil up to a point, and that point is 5 because it circles back to the beginning and closes the loop. The rest of 5 is throwaway to me. I have no interest in the shit that's gone on since then, and I have no interest in looking too deeply into the details. Umbrella, Wesker, and the main cast. That's all you need, and the remakes of 2/3 don't belong in the main timeline, they change too much.

If you speak to people from the wiki about RE, they will tell you that zombies aren't actually dead but rather people who were buried alive. Now think of all the times you've seen zombies come out of the ground and so on. It's shit like this that ruins it.

Homestly the story starts going to shit with Claire's existence and then completely implodes once they brought Wesker back from the dead. RE just works better as smaller vignettes that don't have to aggresively feed in to bigger and bigger stories and revelations.

 

[Soodanim]

Homestly the story starts going to shit with Claire's existence and then completely implodes once they brought Wesker back from the dead. RE just works better as smaller vignettes that don't have to aggresively feed in to bigger and bigger stories and revelations.

I'm fine with 2 and 3's stories - they're my favourite of the series. Especially the overlap. Fleshing out Raccoon City was nothing but good and it's why I loved the Outbreak games (although they've aged poorly thanks to the loading screens). I'm fine with bringing Wesker back personally, but I get why people would think it was a bit much. They didn't even change it in the remake to be a bit more ambiguous - Tyrant ran him through same as before. It's definitely a stretch.

Buried alive? LOL, what?

Yeah, there's lots of stretching to make things work if you dive deep enough.

I forgot to comment on 0 first time round, and I agree with your OP. It's flawed, but it's got some solid parts to it and it shouldn't be overlooked. I find it more enjoyable once you learn how to play round its flaws, same as Code Veronica. The weirdest part is that elevator that goes from the RE2 lab to the training mansion. Going back to before with the Wiki guys, they've done all of the analysis and working out, and come to the conclusion that the cable car that also gets you around is curved and takes you down what is a cliff in more of a spiral fashion. It's one of those things that just about works logically if you squint your eyes and flex the acceptance muscles in your brain.

 

[kunonabi]

That's what I'm talking about. RE3 and Outbreak are great because they dont feed into a whole of BS. They're nice and simple with good pacing and character moments and the characters still feel like human beings. They strike just the right balance of everything.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

I'm fine with 2 and 3's stories - they're my favourite of the series. Especially the overlap. Fleshing out Raccoon City was nothing but good and it's why I loved the Outbreak games (although they've aged poorly thanks to the loading screens). I'm fine with bringing Wesker back personally, but I get why people would think it was a bit much. They didn't even change it in the remake to be a bit more ambiguous - Tyrant ran him through same as before. It's definitely a stretch.

Yeah, there's lots of stretching to make things work if you dive deep enough.

I forgot to comment on 0 first time round, and I agree with your OP. It's flawed, but it's got some solid parts to it and it shouldn't be overlooked. I find it more enjoyable once you learn how to play round its flaws, same as Code Veronica. The weirdest part is that elevator that goes from the RE2 lab to the training mansion. Going back to before with the Wiki guys, they've done all of the analysis and working out, and come to the conclusion that the cable car that also gets you around is curved and takes you down what is a cliff in more of a spiral fashion. It's one of those things that just about works logically if you squint your eyes and flex the acceptance muscles in your brain.

Yeah, A LOT of inconsistencies seem to be addressed by things that *sort of* make sense, and I've gotta say, while they don't mask it up perfectly all the time, I do appreciate that it's more than "yeah, retcon. This thing didn't happen,"

 

[TheInfamousKira]

---Resident Evil 3: Nemesis---

STARS!



So here we go. The end of an era. The final game in the original PS1 trilogy, the end of the so called Raccoon City arc. The bleeps and bloops and artistic workarounds to technical limitations will soon be on their way out, and honestly, a part of misses that old school technical prowess and charm.

Resident Evil 3 opens, rather uniquely, before Resident Evil 2. STARS Alpha Team member and one of the survivors of Resident Evil's Mansion Incident a couple of months prior, Jill Valentine has remained in Raccoon City, desperate to find a foothold in the uphill climb towards finding a legal way to stop the machinations of the corrupt Umbrella, Inc. In the midst of this police work, she finds that the very city itself is overrun by the walking dead, and soon, the choice is upon her: stay and become one of the flesh eating corpses, or make one last escape from Umbrella's bioweapons.

This game basically follows RE2's gameplay and graphics wholesale, with just enough differences to either entice (the dodge system, the various environmental hazards) or infuriate (going back and forth from title to title about whether or not walking up a staircase is a free action or a canned animation has always chapped my hide) But what works continues working here. It very much feels like (intentionally or not) good story and gameplay integration to have the more action packed outing of what's essentially the same gameplay as 2 be from a veteran to these creatures. A rookie police officer or college student Jill is NOT. The dodge mechanic feels half-baked sometimes, but I find it's mostly because activating it is mapped to the same key as readying your weapon. Also, in tight corridors you can sometimes find yourself getting locked into a repeated dodging fit when you're just trying to unload on the foe. Overall however, it tried something new, and I give it props for that.

The partially destructible environment is another game changer, and I'm rather surprised that this game appears to have taken a head start on RE6's idea of having no tutorials for some of the coolest and most helpful features. I learned about the vast majority of these destructible things (which REALLY help with crowd control) from a thread years after the fact. I knew about the big red barrels (it's sort of a gaming staple) but things like wrecking the Grave Digger instantly with electricity or the lamps in the park? Mind blown.

Ammo crafting was also insanely cool for what it was. And we actually get the full fledged version, instead of the remakes' mildly simplified version. I love how you would eventually become able to craft more powerful ammunition, showing that the character herself was becoming more skilled with a task. In a lot of ways, I think Nemesis marked a lot of the testing ground for some of the more action oriented ideas that were perfected later on in the series.

As far as the actual areas in the game and how the campaign is linked to them, I absolutely adored the idea (and execution) of the basic Resident Evil "the environment is a big puzzle," extended to an entire portion of the city. It retains it's lineage while still expanding upon it enough to feel bigger and more bombastic. It felt like the last movie in an 80's horror trilogy. The peppering in of multiple choices helps the replay value, and the feeling of agency, as well. The pacing was pretty fantastic, and it never feels like you're staring at the same location for too long. I loved the Mansion, the police precinct, and even the training facility to a lesser extent, but for a narrative paced as briskly as this one, the constant changing of locale helps integrate the sense of movement, of a journey with a goal in mind.

Which moves us on to the namesake for the subtitle: Nemesis. A perfected, intelligent Tyrant that follows you throughout the game with the sole intent to murder every remaining STARS member. Having been a gamer for as long as I have, and with the ever increasing complexity of game design, I will admit, some of the magic is lost. Nemesis isn't actively pursuing you, he shows up at around a dozen pre-determined areas, is avoidable past maybe three screens of panic, and only NEEDS to be fought, what? Three times? But what he does for the atmosphere, for the narrative, remains impressive even today. The feeling of cat and mouse, of unspoken rivalry, of starting out outclassed and slowly becoming an even match. It's just so much character growth and storyline conveyed through a manner that doesn't involve scenes or dialogue AT ALL. This is what a videogame is capable of as far as conveying a narrative that is only possible in this medium. Also, the bonuses you get for actually FIGHTING Nemesis feel like a reward for tenacity. RE3 definitely feels like an arcade game where the majority of it's playtime is garnered through repeat playthroughs. Fantastic game.

 

[kunonabi]

RE3 is my personal favorite. Top-notch game play additions, tons of incentive to replay, excellent mercs mode, the best characterization of Jill in the series, great supporting cast and enemy variety, Capcom's best implementation of a chaser to this day, and just excellently paced to boot. I got a job specifically to buy RE3 and it was totally worth it.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

---Resident Evil 3: Remake---

Hey, fuckface



(For reference, the redone save room theme is probably my favorite thing about this game)

After the absolute megaton critical and fan success of the Resident Evil 2 Remake, we were all waiting for the other shoe to drop and Capcom to announce a RE3 Remake. It just seemed like common sense, almost a foregone conclusion. Perhaps due in part to the short turn around between the original 2 and 3, or the shared assets of the originals, down to retreading the RPD again. In a lot of ways the original 3 felt like an expansion pack to 2, or if you're being more positive, a companion piece.

Capcom went with the odd choice of promoting a multi-player side game first, and then dropping an aside that, yeah, it also includes an extra mode that's a fucking RESIDENT EVIL 3 REMAKE, BITCHES. Nevermind the fact that internet sleuths had deduced as much several days before the surprise.

Threemake is an odd creature. It's like a piece of abstract art. It appears to be and means different things to different people depending on the angle they approach it from. I've heard the sentence "It's a reimagining, not a remake," parroted plenty of times, and there's certainly some validity to this. All the elements you'd expect to be there, all of the *bare* essentials that make the Nemesis experience Nemesis are there, but it feels very new, and very truncated in places.

The biggest thing noted is the omission of several key areas from the original. The actual portion of the city you explore covers a lot less distance than the original. The Clock Tower's interior is gone. The park is gone. The Dead Factory is gone. Fans will argue that it's for pacing, or to ground things in realism, critics will say something along the lines of "NEST 2 is functionally the same thing. Why change it in the first place?"

I'll admit, I'm far closer to a drooling fanboy who will shovel any bullshit into my mouth offered to me if it's in a pretty enough bun. I DO miss what I feel would have been a cool opportunity to see these places from 99 really breathe and come into their own atmospherically. The Clock Tower was the first place my mind wandered to when I was thinking about how cool RE3 would be if it got the RPD treatment.

Speaking of, the detractors go on to say that with everything being "remixed," the part they decided to leave in entirely was the RPD retread. In a game with a campaign that takes six hours if you're walking everywhere and examining everything, this seems like a blatant asset flip. I enjoy what they actually DID in the level, and I appreciate the police precinct being there for lineage's sake, but instances like this make me think that maybe Capcom wasn't being coy promoting the multi-player game first. Maybe they were REALLY trying to drive up interest in it in the hopes that people would look at the two games as companion pieces because they knew what they had with RE3R was going to set off some people.

This review of mine has a "neutral but leaning toward it sucks," tone so far, so let me get into the things that I most assuredly did enjoy.

As noted above, the music. RE2R's music was sparse. Low in the mix. Thirty second audio vignettes that danced across the room you were in and faded. RE3R has a lot more musical presence, while incorporating a couple of my favorite tracks from the original game into new arrangements. The reworking of that absolutely cheesey ass 90's J-Ballad that was the original's credit music made me grin ear to ear.

Enemy types? No spiders. Fuck this game.

Nah, I feel like Capcom definitely took the complaints of RE2R about enemy variety, and instead of taking the straight line, they addressed it in a very circuitous route. No spiders or Grave Digger, but overall the enemy variety was a lot better than in 2R. Zombies, Parasite zombies, zombie dogs, Drain Deimos, Hunter Beta and Gamma, Licker, Pale Head Zombies, Nemesis. It's not necessarily up to the heights of RE4, but for the length of the campaign, it probably doesn't need to be. Some of these creatures are only fought in one place, so brisk a pace does this game travel at.

Gunplay and ammo crafting are basically the same as 2R, and both function and feel about as good as they did before. Disappointed that the zombie dismemberment was toned down, and also that the zombies have like what? Six or seven models, total? But gameplay wise, it's a very tight, reflexive system, and like RE2R, if you fuck up, it never really feels like the game's fault. The (now working flawlessly) dodge mechanic helps this a lot.

The Nemesis encounters feel a lot more scripted, but again, they sort of always were, anyway. The main problem I think, is that the game was tasked with balancing on a line between Mr. X from RE2R, an actual factor in the game world itself that operated independently of the player and had to be managed, and Ustanak from RE6, a big brick shithouse who was there for setpieces and boss fights. They clearly erred to one side, and for a lot of what made the Nemesis nostalgic (at least for Western gamers, I don't know about other markets) it was the wrong side. In a set piece or a boss fight, you have two options as a player: pass the trial and succeed, or die and restart. It's intrinsically linked to action games' DNA in a way that promotes tension, but not fear. There are two ways out, no agency. The opponent will always behave the way he's scripted in a scene, and the player can only behave one way to progress the game. With Mr. X and the original Nemesis before him, the margin for success or error was wider. More things could organically happen through gameplay on either side. This wild card mentality kept the player on their toes, their ears perked for every disturbed plank of wooden floor or shuffle of feet on concrete.

That's not to say that Nemesis' implementation into this game was a failure, just that I think the majority of players were expecting Thing A and got Thing B. Pacing is really good in this game, and you're on a constant adrenaline rush from city to sewer to RPD to NEST 2. It's a very quick game that's old school sensibility is more geared toward the arcade heads for it's high replayability and feeling of "topping my own personal best," than it is toward "give me the same experience from my childhood, but prettier, please," Both would work, but the fact that it was one or the other and not both is probably where the great chasm originated.

One last note. Voice performances and facial capture were both several levels above even 2R. Had a GREAT time watching these scenes.

Overall, I enjoyed this game. It was tense, it was fun. I felt like Sarah Connor, and normally it takes a few drinks for that to happen. RE3R is a good RE game. It just might not be the best RE*3* game.

 

[kunonabi]

I loathe REmake 3. It's a total abortion that fucks everything up that it possibly could.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

---Resident Evil---

I feel like REmake is *the* definitive version of Resident Evil. It's the on the ground firsthand war footage while the '96 version was the tired veteran's recounting of the tale 20 years after the finer detail escaped his mind.

Nope. If anything, that's the exact opposite. This veteran here wishes he could forget such "fine" details as the overwhelming amount of trash the REmake forces you to carry around, compared to the much more streamlined original. Veterans remember what triggered them very well, and let me tell you, I'll never forget how much of a chore RE on the GameCube felt after my many, many runs on one of my favorite PS1 games ever. It's a shame Capcom doesn't seem to be interested in keeping the originals available after all these remakes.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

I loathe REmake 3. It's a total abortion that fucks everything up that it possibly could.

Care to elaborate? I'm not disagreeing or agreeing, just always curious.

 

[kunonabi]

REmake obviously looks great and the bonus modes are amazing but I still prefer the core experience of the original version. The characters have more personality, higher difficulty, and less mostly useless padding. Like the RE2 versions neither really supplants the other and both can be enjoyed for different reasons really.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

R3make by far my favourite entry in the entire franchise

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Nope. If anything, that's the exact opposite. This veteran here wishes he could forget such "fine" details as the overwhelming amount of trash the REmake forces you to carry around, compared to the much more streamlined original. Veterans remember what triggered them very well, and let me tell you, I'll never forget how much of a chore RE on the GameCube felt after my many, many runs on one of my favorite PS1 games ever. It's a shame Capcom doesn't seem to be interested in keeping the originals available after all these remakes.

Trash? Are you referring to things like the Death Masks and stuff? My knowledge on the original is there, but nowhere near complete, as I haven't played it yet, haha.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Trash? Are you referring to things like the Death Masks and stuff? My knowledge on the original is there, but nowhere near complete, as I haven't played it yet, haha.

Precisely.
And the dog whistle.
And the arrowtip.
And the book in the super zombie's coffin.
And all the rest they put in there to make the game drag on and on and on.

REmake borrowed a thing or two (nay, let's make it ten or twenty) from the Code Veronica book. The redundancy is strong with that era of Resident Evil.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Precisely.
And the dog whistle.
And the arrowtip.
And the book in the super zombie's coffin.
And all the rest they put in there to make the game drag on and on and on.

REmake borrowed a thing or two (nay, let's make it ten or twenty) from the Code Veronica book. The redundancy is strong with that era of Resident Evil.

Interesting. I could have figured that the arrow/peridot was new given that it's a key item to use on the Tomb where the death masks come into play, but I had no idea that the dog whistle was an invention of the REmake. Did you like the implementation of Crimson Heads? I feel like given your complaints, you might think the kerosene and backtracking for corpse disposal was more convolution to the formula.

 

[Aldynes]

R3make was disappointing for several reasons, we just experienced RE2make a year prior, one flaw of that otherwise amazing game was the missing opportunity to add more to the characters we love so much be it either new cut scenes, interactions between them, documents, new areas or ennemies too, I for one found it sad knowing it has been so long since we had a chance to experience the glory days of Raccoon City and a remake WAS the perfect occasion to do this, when else could they otherwise?

So R3make came out and most of us were still upset from this and it would add fuel to the fire that this R3make goes way beyond not adding meaningful stuff, they removed / expedited most of what made the original RE3.

I hate the direction CAPCOM took, let me explain: in the original game, Nemesis was introduced by Brad first, you got foreshadowing and time to think about this new menace, then Brad get destroyed in the cutscene and they give you 2 options, flee or combat Nemesis and he "seemed" relentless by popping up frequently and could follow you even between rooms, he was no push-over too, you had to sacrifice ressources to face him, he was scary because of all of that, now in R3make he's just introduced a soon as the game starts, no build up nothing, he got 1 or 2 section where he chase you in the beginning of the game outside of set pieces and he will go down with just one hand grenade... that's it after this he's just a Boss from time to time in an arena.

They removed entire section of the game, the ragdoll physics was worse than RE2make, the guns have less "oumph" no Mercenaries too!
I'm still pissed off now, knowing they completely nailed the graphics and gameplay it's a shame they screwed up this badly when they had gold in their hands!

 

[kunonabi]

Interesting. I could have figured that the arrow/peridot was new given that it's a key item to use on the Tomb where the death masks come into play, but I had no idea that the dog whistle was an invention of the REmake. Did you like the implementation of Crimson Heads? I feel like given your complaints, you might think the kerosene and backtracking for corpse disposal was more convolution to the formula.

Not to speak for him or anything but it was a cool concept in theory but once you start getting into optimizing your way through the game it's a completely useless mechanic. There's is only one crimson head you need to deal with outside of the mandatory one and he's easily juked so it's just a waste of time to bother with any of them really.

 

[Isa]

I'm liking the write-ups OP, plus all the additions. It really is a storied franchise, that means so much in different ways to each person. I too grew up with the originals, but the games I first owned in the series were the RE1 Director's Cut and then RE2. And that was after finally getting a PS1 for Christmas, that I had been begging for for years. I want to say it was '97 cause my grandparents and aunt pitched in for me, and my aunt got me Tomb Raider.

RE2 is my absolute favorite, partially due to rose tinted glasses. But it all just works. I replayed it so much since I didn't have many games, and imagine my shock and awe when I finally got a memory card! There was a whole route system to replay the game for new story bits!?!?! God damn what a game, talk about great game design.

I love most of all the games, and have been replaying them myself as well lately. Been going back to play a ton of games I miss in my diet. Sick of what passes for most AAA these days. Some solid shmups and beat'em ups. Games with good fundamentals and perhaps an arcade-y touch. I've been playing out of order though, going through the few titles I never finished despite my interest. I don't mind tank controls and fixed cameras, I think RE Code Veronica does some neat things with the camera. I also love many series inspired by RE. I think the influence of design choices in Dino Crisis also affect RE in interesting ways. I know some ppl might loathe it, but I really enjoy good action, and personally the story kind of makes sense for the heroes now experienced and jaded to not be as scared. DC2 was such a fun game.

Recently I played through Code Veronica. Well, tried. I made the same mistake from my first playthrough on my Dreamcast. Kept weapons and ammo on certain characters, had no tell or que that I was going to have to play as another and then wham! The f'n end! Good luck beating the boss with no ammo and a handgun. I also get it does some things to add tension and try to elevate story telling, instead of just cinematics, such as having to save Claire quickly with a rapid shot against the boss, but if the player doesn't act in a split second its game over. Like the ancestor of the QTE. But my girlfriend hated the fact I couldn't see the ending. I have to start a new game cause I didn't have a good early save. She thinks its bad game design to let the player softlock themselves out of beating a game. I explained a LOT of oldschool games are like that lol. I'll replay it sure, but went to two other RE's first, since I've actually already beat CV.

RE:4 was the first that torqued my shorts. I couldn't gel with it. I love my GameCube, but damn the vibe was all wrong. Not at all what I wanted. I wanted that down to earth feel with people not trained for combat trying to survive against zombies and other monsters. Here I was trying to save the King's President's Daughter?! For fuckin' real? Jesus talk about whacky. Then all the human foes. I never made it far before I put it down. I owned it on the GC and PS2, plus the PS4 and Xbox. Tried it again years later. This last week I put it down again thanks to the far too snappy aiming, it makes me sick which is a total bummer. I have a far more open mind now and really wanted to enjoy it but the bland browns everywhere are giving me 360 era flashbacks, and my nausea was easing when I enabled motion blur but damn I had to put it on hold.

I started up RE Revelations, the only other RE I haven't beaten. I loved the second and owned the first but for some reason, despite loving Jill just never tried to finish it. Well its movement and aiming, and lack of a sprint tick me off. But its not bad. Too much of a goofy shooter, a total product of its time, but I do really enjoy all the pretty and sexy ladies and hunks everywhere. The Mercenaries mode is so addicting for me, I love being able to play as whoever I want lol.

I almost went I spent a boatload to try and get used copies of RE2 and 3 for my DC. But I don't want to spend that much right now. I have a PS3 and Vita, but my PS3's store wont let me buy anything which fucking sucks. I can use my Vita to do so, but some titles I already own, and trying to scroll through like 10k items just to find the title I want to DL for my PS3 is absurd. I don't want to play them on a handheld. But I'll find a way. I have every title available to play on modern systems ready to go on my Series X. Just damn fine games overall, they tell a story, I like the inventory management in the titles that have it. I even intend to go through 5 and 6 again. The only game I genuinely disliked was 7. I don't like FPS's anymore, and it was just too grody. Shit's nasty for the sake of nasty, which is fine, but I don't find it fun. I also don't like the stalker stuff, and after RE2make and 3, then 7 and 8 I need a break from that mechanic.

On a side note, I couldn't help but ponder the strong character design in the original games. Or games of the era for that matter. So for those like myself that aren't ashamed to admit they have a taste for teh pr0ns, my girl and I were noticing for some time now that many doujins, art, and animations continue to feature the mighty fine ladies of Resident Evil. It really is a testament to a quality character that they feature so heavily and recurring in minds the world over. Its profound. Sure there are plenty of modern waifus and husbandos but the majority seem to be from the early 2k's and prior. And with good reason I say. The character's not only have more unique personalities, they are developed better across games and we see them grow. Plus they are iconic, so easy to identify. Its crazy man, like how many people go out of their way to make shit for ladies of a different generation? Its far more rare. But for some reason fictional characters from 20+ years ago feature heavily over one's made recently. Its all Jill, Claire, Ada, Ashley, Rebecca, then Tifa, Aeris/th, Yuffie, Laura Croft and Ivy from Soul Caliber, and Samus. Like god damn! Sure there are a ton of others, League of Legends, Overwatch, MLP etc. But as the newer one's fade away the ol' gals stay steady and true. Its profound lol. My girl says its because they aren't just well designed aesthetically but also have more fleshed out personalities which people can build better bonds with and find favorites. I agree. And hey, couples that play together stay together hehe.

Sorry for the wall of text. I've just been thinking over the OP for a few days, and noticing others playing through the franchise lately as well. It really is an excellent series that has the gameplay chops to bring players back. After I make my way through the RE titles I plan on going through the Dead Rising games, only ever played the first. Looking forward to Fatal Frame later this year too. Also, has anyone here ever tries to implement the oldschool fundamentals into a tabletop rpg? I've been doing it lately for a few optional quests for my girl and she loved it. Opens up a level of intrigue and puzzle solving that can be really fun.

 

[Isa]

Another crime in 3make is the removal of Jill's og costume under a paywall, and even then its a cashgrab. Same thing for the og soundtracks. That stuff should all be unlockables in the game. I don't mind letting people less skilled buy their way in to the goodies per se. But then they had the gal to do us dirty with Jill's og outfit? Get outta here with that. Thankfully the pc versions totally remedy that with mods, but in that sense I worry about what Capcom is doing. Same thing for not expanding on the characters and story. Lord knows 3 needs it. Not including the different routes in 2make was also a bad decision in my opinion. I still love 2make though, and hope its gameplay is the precedent going forward. 3make also handled well, just not worth the price at all.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

I'm liking the write-ups OP, plus all the additions. It really is a storied franchise, that means so much in different ways to each person. I too grew up with the originals, but the games I first owned in the series were the RE1 Director's Cut and then RE2. And that was after finally getting a PS1 for Christmas, that I had been begging for for years. I want to say it was '97 cause my grandparents and aunt pitched in for me, and my aunt got me Tomb Raider.

RE2 is my absolute favorite, partially due to rose tinted glasses. But it all just works. I replayed it so much since I didn't have many games, and imagine my shock and awe when I finally got a memory card! There was a whole route system to replay the game for new story bits!?!?! God damn what a game, talk about great game design.

I love most of all the games, and have been replaying them myself as well lately. Been going back to play a ton of games I miss in my diet. Sick of what passes for most AAA these days. Some solid shmups and beat'em ups. Games with good fundamentals and perhaps an arcade-y touch. I've been playing out of order though, going through the few titles I never finished despite my interest. I don't mind tank controls and fixed cameras, I think RE Code Veronica does some neat things with the camera. I also love many series inspired by RE. I think the influence of design choices in Dino Crisis also affect RE in interesting ways. I know some ppl might loathe it, but I really enjoy good action, and personally the story kind of makes sense for the heroes now experienced and jaded to not be as scared. DC2 was such a fun game.

Recently I played through Code Veronica. Well, tried. I made the same mistake from my first playthrough on my Dreamcast. Kept weapons and ammo on certain characters, had no tell or que that I was going to have to play as another and then wham! The f'n end! Good luck beating the boss with no ammo and a handgun. I also get it does some things to add tension and try to elevate story telling, instead of just cinematics, such as having to save Claire quickly with a rapid shot against the boss, but if the player doesn't act in a split second its game over. Like the ancestor of the QTE. But my girlfriend hated the fact I couldn't see the ending. I have to start a new game cause I didn't have a good early save. She thinks its bad game design to let the player softlock themselves out of beating a game. I explained a LOT of oldschool games are like that lol. I'll replay it sure, but went to two other RE's first, since I've actually already beat CV.

RE:4 was the first that torqued my shorts. I couldn't gel with it. I love my GameCube, but damn the vibe was all wrong. Not at all what I wanted. I wanted that down to earth feel with people not trained for combat trying to survive against zombies and other monsters. Here I was trying to save the King's President's Daughter?! For fuckin' real? Jesus talk about whacky. Then all the human foes. I never made it far before I put it down. I owned it on the GC and PS2, plus the PS4 and Xbox. Tried it again years later. This last week I put it down again thanks to the far too snappy aiming, it makes me sick which is a total bummer. I have a far more open mind now and really wanted to enjoy it but the bland browns everywhere are giving me 360 era flashbacks, and my nausea was easing when I enabled motion blur but damn I had to put it on hold.

I started up RE Revelations, the only other RE I haven't beaten. I loved the second and owned the first but for some reason, despite loving Jill just never tried to finish it. Well its movement and aiming, and lack of a sprint tick me off. But its not bad. Too much of a goofy shooter, a total product of its time, but I do really enjoy all the pretty and sexy ladies and hunks everywhere. The Mercenaries mode is so addicting for me, I love being able to play as whoever I want lol.

I almost went I spent a boatload to try and get used copies of RE2 and 3 for my DC. But I don't want to spend that much right now. I have a PS3 and Vita, but my PS3's store wont let me buy anything which fucking sucks. I can use my Vita to do so, but some titles I already own, and trying to scroll through like 10k items just to find the title I want to DL for my PS3 is absurd. I don't want to play them on a handheld. But I'll find a way. I have every title available to play on modern systems ready to go on my Series X. Just damn fine games overall, they tell a story, I like the inventory management in the titles that have it. I even intend to go through 5 and 6 again. The only game I genuinely disliked was 7. I don't like FPS's anymore, and it was just too grody. Shit's nasty for the sake of nasty, which is fine, but I don't find it fun. I also don't like the stalker stuff, and after RE2make and 3, then 7 and 8 I need a break from that mechanic.

On a side note, I couldn't help but ponder the strong character design in the original games. Or games of the era for that matter. So for those like myself that aren't ashamed to admit they have a taste for teh pr0ns, my girl and I were noticing for some time now that many doujins, art, and animations continue to feature the mighty fine ladies of Resident Evil. It really is a testament to a quality character that they feature so heavily and recurring in minds the world over. Its profound. Sure there are plenty of modern waifus and husbandos but the majority seem to be from the early 2k's and prior. And with good reason I say. The character's not only have more unique personalities, they are developed better across games and we see them grow. Plus they are iconic, so easy to identify. Its crazy man, like how many people go out of their way to make shit for ladies of a different generation? Its far more rare. But for some reason fictional characters from 20+ years ago feature heavily over one's made recently. Its all Jill, Claire, Ada, Ashley, Rebecca, then Tifa, Aeris/th, Yuffie, Laura Croft and Ivy from Soul Caliber, and Samus. Like god damn! Sure there are a ton of others, League of Legends, Overwatch, MLP etc. But as the newer one's fade away the ol' gals stay steady and true. Its profound lol. My girl says its because they aren't just well designed aesthetically but also have more fleshed out personalities which people can build better bonds with and find favorites. I agree. And hey, couples that play together stay together hehe.

Sorry for the wall of text. I've just been thinking over the OP for a few days, and noticing others playing through the franchise lately as well. It really is an excellent series that has the gameplay chops to bring players back. After I make my way through the RE titles I plan on going through the Dead Rising games, only ever played the first. Looking forward to Fatal Frame later this year too. Also, has anyone here ever tries to implement the oldschool fundamentals into a tabletop rpg? I've been doing it lately for a few optional quests for my girl and she loved it. Opens up a level of intrigue and puzzle solving that can be really fun.

Long replies are welcome, makes me feel like I'm not the only crazy one here blogging! I have a hate-love (in that chronological order) with Code Veronica, as I'll be shortly going into detail over. But the rose-tinted glasses comment was very apt, I feel like nostalgia gets the better of most of us as far as what our favorite entries in a franchise are. Spoiler warning for my ranking, Resident Evil 4 is one of my favorite games ever, which makes your take on it funny. I agree with a lot of what you say, but I'll get to that shortly as well, haha. RE4 was my first RE game, so it (fairly or not) gets a lot of points for all the other good things other games did just because it introduced me to the franchise as a whole. I have what I think is a rather unconventional opinion (or at least not one that's talked about much) in terms of the way the series gradually fans out into straight action, but I'll ramble about that later.

There HAS been a resurgence of RE players lately, though, hasn't there? What motivated me to start through this was actually my girlfriend. Cultural osmosis has given her the general broadstrokes of the storyline, but the first RE titles she really got into were 7 and 8, two that I'd never played. So I thought, hey, might be fun to marathon them and end it with two games I'd never played before, and here we are.

 

[Aldynes]

I almost went I spent a boatload to try and get used copies of RE2 and 3 for my DC

RE2 is my absolute favorite

RE2 on Dreamcast is perfection, have you played the Nightmare mode on it?

 

[Isa]

Long replies are welcome, makes me feel like I'm not the only crazy one here blogging! I have a hate-love (in that chronological order) with Code Veronica, as I'll be shortly going into detail over. But the rose-tinted glasses comment was very apt, I feel like nostalgia gets the better of most of us as far as what our favorite entries in a franchise are. Spoiler warning for my ranking, Resident Evil 4 is one of my favorite games ever, which makes your take on it funny. I agree with a lot of what you say, but I'll get to that shortly as well, haha. RE4 was my first RE game, so it (fairly or not) gets a lot of points for all the other good things other games did just because it introduced me to the franchise as a whole. I have what I think is a rather unconventional opinion (or at least not one that's talked about much) in terms of the way the series gradually fans out into straight action, but I'll ramble about that later.

There HAS been a resurgence of RE players lately, though, hasn't there? What motivated me to start through this was actually my girlfriend. Cultural osmosis has given her the general broadstrokes of the storyline, but the first RE titles she really got into were 7 and 8, two that I'd never played. So I thought, hey, might be fun to marathon them and end it with two games I'd never played before, and here we are.

Yeah it really is cool seeing people returning to the franchise. And for better or worse, with most people having their preferred styles, it can offer a few different gameplay variations as well. Its also cool to see another person going through it with their girlfriend. Sadly mine struggles with 3d game cameras, but the older titles she can power through. She's been an oldschool gamer, so 2d is fine. Mainly does Jrpgs though.

I do respect RE4 a LOT, and I do intend to play it all the way through. Its crazy how Capcom has managed to continually take gaming in new directions, and that 3rd person shooter style is super influential. Definitely perfected later on imho, but very impressive for the time. And its filled with details many imitators lack, like being able to shoot incoming projectiles.

Looking forward to your future posts.

 

[Aldynes]

Spoiler warning for my ranking, Resident Evil 4 is one of my favorite games ever, which makes your take on it funny. I agree with a lot of what you say, but I'll get to that shortly as well, haha. RE4 was my first RE game, so it (fairly or not) gets a lot of points for all the other good things other games did just because it introduced me to the franchise as a whole.

Resident Evil 4 is on my top 5 games ever, I love that game, it's a masterpiece! While being a VERY bad RE game, hell I'd advocate 100% Resident Evil 5 is a better RE title in that regard, story wise and even gameplay.

But RE 4 is on a league of it's own, even his faults make it enjoyable, kind of like the bad voice acting and cheesy dialogues of RE1, it's a cult classic, for me personally the only game that came close to it is The Evil Within 1, the logical step forward from RE4, it added fear and developed it's core gameplay to include more tools and stealth mechanics to use traps and stealth kills to survive, completely balanced mix of action, survival, horror, fear, gore, intrigue, amazing design and weird stories.

 

[Isa]

RE2 on Dreamcast is perfection, have you played the Nightmare mode on it?

Sadly no, the only RE I have on the DC is Code Veronica. I'll never forget my Dad being blown away by the cg movies. I still can't stand Leonardo di Steve though. I still love the great/bad lines and acting the old games have. I almost bought RE2 there, the gfx look so good. My only hesitation is the price and spotty delivery. The other day my 1tb SSD for the Series X was delivered to my neighbor, but thankfully I was home and snagged it before they knew what happened. I could emulate or try to mod my DC but I just can't, its been so good to me. If the disc drive ever goes out I will I think.

For now I'm taking my Vita out and charging it to buy what PS1 classics I don't have, but I'm sure I have all the RE titles, just need to check my Dino Crisis games. Then I also want to finally play Parasite Eve 1(again) and then finally PE2, which I've never played. I'm a sucker for those(to me) beautiful prerendered backrounds of the era. The RE1 remake and 0 obviously perfected it, but I wish more titles would try implementing that artistic and game design approach.

Off topic, another Survival Horror kinda game Tormented Souls is supposed to come out on PC, PS5 and Series X on August 27th. I think it looks promising. Sure it might end up like Remothered, but might be alright. It has that kind of Gamecube Remake style camera with a bit of Code Veronica in there in that the camera will move about the 3d environments. But the backrounds are well detailed, though real 3d.

 

[kunonabi]

Another crime in 3make is the removal of Jill's og costume under a paywall, and even then its a cashgrab. Same thing for the og soundtracks. That stuff should all be unlockables in the game. I don't mind letting people less skilled buy their way in to the goodies per se. But then they had the gal to do us dirty with Jill's og outfit? Get outta here with that. Thankfully the pc versions totally remedy that with mods, but in that sense I worry about what Capcom is doing. Same thing for not expanding on the characters and story. Lord knows 3 needs it. Not including the different routes in 2make was also a bad decision in my opinion. I still love 2make though, and hope its gameplay is the precedent going forward. 3make also handled well, just not worth the price at all.

Technically, it isn't even her classic outfit as they changed the skirt to a weird pair of shorts. Fairly minor terms of everything the REmake botched or purposefully ruined but still.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Technically, it isn't even her classic outfit as they changed the skirt to a weird pair of shorts. Fairly minor terms of everything the REmake botched or purposefully ruined but still.

I still remember the Era meltdown over people complaining that they changed it to a skort. Lots of "U jUsT wAnNa FaP tO fAkE bOoBs AnD aSs," Resident Evil, by virtue of the genre it's riffing on and the demographic it primarily caters to, has always worn sex appeal on it's opposite sleeve to Horror tropes. That's one of the points I really disliked the seven hour Noah retrospective mentioned earlier in this thread for. I mean, I get it, different takes for different people, and I respect that not everything will land for everyone. But I also feel that, for instance, stripping away Ada or Jill's sex appeal does a disservice to the overall character. With Jill, it's never portrayed like she's a party hopping skank or anything, it just reflected (as good as a PS1 game could manage story and gameplay integration) that her escape from Raccoon City was sudden, impromptu, more necessity than choice. The remake made it out more like she was just waiting for a chance to leave, which gels better with her more practical attire. I'm not trying to put myself clearly on one side or the other, but I think it's a pretty interesting topic for RE and gaming in general, if a rational, thoughtful back and forth can be had, as opposed to the usual back and forth of woke vs. incel insults.

 

[kunonabi]

I still remember the Era meltdown over people complaining that they changed it to a skort. Lots of "U jUsT wAnNa FaP tO fAkE bOoBs AnD aSs," Resident Evil, by virtue of the genre it's riffing on and the demographic it primarily caters to, has always worn sex appeal on it's opposite sleeve to Horror tropes. That's one of the points I really disliked the seven hour Noah retrospective mentioned earlier in this thread for. I mean, I get it, different takes for different people, and I respect that not everything will land for everyone. But I also feel that, for instance, stripping away Ada or Jill's sex appeal does a disservice to the overall character. With Jill, it's never portrayed like she's a party hopping skank or anything, it just reflected (as good as a PS1 game could manage story and gameplay integration) that her escape from Raccoon City was sudden, impromptu, more necessity than choice. The remake made it out more like she was just waiting for a chance to leave, which gels better with her more practical attire. I'm not trying to put myself clearly on one side or the other, but I think it's a pretty interesting topic for RE and gaming in general, if a rational, thoughtful back and forth can be had, as opposed to the usual back and forth of woke vs. incel insults.

Yeah, it's not even that sexualized it was just meant to be casual wear. Its just modern day prudes have such a skewed sense of everything. I actually don't like it when RE gets sexualized either but that isnt really something that starts taking much root until RE5 with maybe an odd bonus costume here or there prior to that.

Changing the costume a bit isn't much of an issue anyway since some of those costumes don't quite work with the more realistic spin that the new REmakes have gone with. And some of them looked awful to begin like Claire's original duds.

However speaking to RE3 Jill specifically, the real issue is the more boring, generic, irritating one-note character that the clothes are representative of.

 

[Cryio]

I'll personally never play RE1 PS1.
Played, finished and loved RE1 Remake
Played, never finished, will attempt a 3rd time in the future I guess, Zero.
Played, finished and loved RE7

Currently playing RE4 on GameCube (Dolphin) and having fun.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

---Resident Evil: Code Veronica - X---

Once there was a friendly but naive King, who wed a very nasty Queen. The King was loved, but the Queen was feared.



Code Veronica - X, played this time around on my PS3, digital edition. My feelings on this game are complex. I absolutely hated it when I first played it, but over the years, I've come around to it A LOT.

After the Raccoon City Incident, Claire Redfield resumes her journey to find her missing brother, STARS Alpha Team member Chris Redfield. Her search takes her to the Umbrella Paris Laboratory, where she is overwhelmed by security and taken prisoner by one Rodrigo Juan Raval. Awakening in a dingy, dark jail cell in the Umbrella owned military installation on Rockfort Island, Claire is immediately set free by Rodrigo upon awakening. She makes her way to the surface and is confronted by the undead. As she works to find a way off the island, she'll uncover the scope of Umbrella's power, and a dark secret held by the keeper of the island, Alfred Ashford.

This game has one difficulty setting: fucking hard. There are so many unspoken hints that are practically required knowledge to even have a chance of seeing the ending/not bricking your save file. It's as unforgiving as some NES games, and I give it begrudging credit for that.

Survival Horror is the name of the game here. Ammunition is SCARCE, and this isn't the typical bullet point list of points that reviewers leave whenever they see that they're writing about Resident Evil; no. If you fire at every enemy you see, you WILL have to restart your file. The knife is your best weapon, bar none. It's capable of nicking an enemy hit box several times in one animation. If you use this knife, you'll have a stockpile of hundreds of bullets. I make it my rule to not fire a single bullet until the Bandersnatch starts appearing.

This game is notorious for having Pass/Fail points, too. Nothing is more exhilarating than playing half of the game and running out of bullets on the second Tyrant battle. For those unaware, picture dodging a tank in a living room shaped like a U. Countless restarts and rage quits here. But there's a trick, like everything in this game. The B.O.W. grenade rounds that you find exactly three of in the entire game are a Godsend on this boss. Should you remember to take them out of a security box that's linked to a metal detector in the beginning of the game.

If I had to describe CVX in one word, it would probably be "prankster," Everything is like a double edged sword. No progress is made without stepping into another riddle. No corner is rounded without some unexpected trick. Sometimes it's to great effect. Sometimes it's obnoxious. Did the Hunters *really* have to be poisonous this time? Even key items usually have more than one purpose or use. I'll always remember getting a square shaped valve handle and using it, then having to go to the metal shop and cut a octagonal end to stick on it for use elsewhere. This game takes every RE trope, and adds a spin on it somehow. Once you become wise to the trickery, it really becomes impressive. This feels like a veteran's Resident Evil, through and through. I know 0 was the final old school game, but in a lot of ways, I feel like CVX is the full expression of what the old RE formula was capable of. It's a very impressive game, but you need to play it on ITS terms.

Another thing I reveled in was it's take on the A-B campaign. Both are functionally there, but instead they're incorporated into one long playthrough, TLOU2 style, without the controversy or pacing issues. Things that you do, items that you get and files that you read become relevant in the second portion of the game. Areas that you knew well become altered due to your actions and new routes have to be made. Aside from my one complaint (the possibility of losing a lot of good weapons for Chris if you didn't know about the switch) I feel like this is probably the best integration of campaigns in the series.

Music, I don't have much to say. It's probably one of the more memorable/catchy soundtracks in the series, but I don't know if I'd call it my favorite. It's probably because of the greater emphasis on actual melodies to feed into it's rather melodramatic story. Most of the other games in the series focus more on ambient soundscapes.

The story, I've heard various things ranging from it's complete and utter cheese nonsense bullshit, to, most recently, it's "problematic and transphobic," but I won't lie. It's one of my favorite stories in RE. It starts with a capable character getting outclassed and captured. This automatically puts you in a state of literal and implied powerlessness. Then you find out you're on a zombie infested island, raising the stakes from past titles. In 1-3, you knew on a solid mass of land, if you just got far enough, you'd be safe. With an island, there's several more factors between you and safety, without counting the monsters.

Most of the melodrama and anime shit comes from Alfred, which I think grounds it more in tolerable plausibility than, say, Marcus in 0. He was batshit and looked like a villain in Bleach and NO ONE deigned to take him anything but seriously. Characters rag on Alfred all the fucking time, alternatively. The fact that his characterization was posh, rich fellow who eventually went insane and became a victim of multiple personality disorder just adds some avant garde horror to the mix. I definitely got shades of Hitchcock's Psycho and the mood of something with horror dressing, but not taking itself too, too seriously, a la The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Steve was terrible. His voice was terrible. His design was terrible. His Neo cosplay was terrible. The fact that he emptied nearly an entire clip at a sewer wall in the hardest RE game is terrible. The airplane crash trying to rape Claire in her sleep like it's a 2006 Motherless upload was terrible. His monster form was terrible. His fight was terrible. His confession of love was terrible. And his legacy was terrible.

Wesker was awesome. Any loose scenery he chewed straight the fuck up and he's a better villain than we deserve, rip in peace.

 

[kunonabi]

I despised Code Veronica when I first played it and despite a couple of second attempts I still can't stand any bit of it
At least the game let's you know it's retarded from the beginning with the messed up controls and Claire's John Woo BS.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

I despised Code Veronica when I first played it and despite a couple of second attempts I still can't stand any bit of it
At least the game let's you know it's retarded from the beginning with the messed up controls and Claire's John Woo BS.

I think there's a good game buried underneath the anime flair, the action growing pains, and the decision that Fuck You was the only difficulty mode the game needed

 

[kunonabi]

I think there's a good game buried underneath the anime flair, the action growing pains, and the decision that Fuck You was the only difficulty mode the game needed

A REmake that dials back the stupid and starring new Claire would be a giant improvement. And unlike the other games cutting content wouldn't be so bad since it's bloated to all hell to begin with. Only problem is I don't trust them not to screw up Chris.

 

[Aldynes]

A REmake that dials back the stupid and starring new Claire would be a giant improvement. And unlike the other games cutting content wouldn't be so bad since it's bloated to all hell to begin with. Only problem is I don't trust them not to screw up Chris.

CV is the most legitimate candidate for the REmake treatment for me, the plot and dialogues need a reworking, the game graphics were gimped with the use of 3D environment this is no longer an issue with today's tech so this will be a massive improvement, the animations also, gameplay will be awesome in 3rd person over the shoulder view I think since it's one of the classic RE that got the most ennemies thrown at you (CAPCOM will not return to fixed camera angles anyway) this is one of the most important RE in the series that connect early RE to 4 and specifically 5 in the narrative, CAPCOM will have to REmake it.

There's a lot of meat on this old bone to make a RE game that pleases most fan, lots of different area and ennemy variety, Prison camp,Military Training Facility ,the Palace , Airport, Private Residence, Antarctica, puzzles.

Imagine they expend the beginning of the game by adding the European Umbrella HQ seen in the intro and make it playable, later in the game why not add more of what is unique to this game : the insectoïd mutations of the T-Veronica virus. I could see some failed B.O.W experiments, mutations for zombies, dogs they can go wild, why not adding some of the B.O.W seen in the Umbrella darkside chronicles Leon/Krauser chapter Operation Javier ?

 

[TheInfamousKira]

CV is the most legitimate candidate for the REmake treatment for me, the plot and dialogues need a reworking, the game graphics were gimped with the use of 3D environment this is no longer an issue with today's tech so this will be a massive improvement, the animations also, gameplay will be awesome in 3rd person over the shoulder view I think since it's one of the classic RE that got the most ennemies thrown at you (CAPCOM will not return to fixed camera angles anyway) this is one of the most important RE in the series that connect early RE to 4 and specifically 5 in the narrative, CAPCOM will have to REmake it.

There's a lot of meat on this old bone to make a RE game that pleases most fan, lots of different area and ennemy variety, Prison camp,Military Training Facility ,the Palace , Airport, Private Residence, Antarctica, puzzles.

Imagine they expend the beginning of the game by adding the European Umbrella HQ seen in the intro and make it playable, later in the game why not add more of what is unique to this game : the insectoïd mutations of the T-Veronica virus. I could see some failed B.O.W experiments, mutations for zombies, dogs they can go wild, why not adding some of the B.O.W seen in the Umbrella darkside chronicles Leon/Krauser chapter Operation Javier ?

A CVX remake always made sense to me. If only because it came out in a weird gap where they ditched prerendered backgrounds because "we don't need them anymore," and therefore made a game with full polygonal backgrounds to show off what a powerhouse the next consoles were, without having the foresight to realize it was going to age VERY poorly, very quickly. Also, the focus on kind of Gothic European castles and estates would be fucking incredible on the RE Engine. Specifically thinking about Alfred and Alexia's house with the red cushion walls, winding staircases, hanging statues, dolls and bats.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

---Resident Evil 4---

Ahhh, I'll buy it at a high price!



Resident Evil 4. One of my favorite videogames. This will probably be a biased write up. I played the digital PS3 version this time.

After surviving the Raccoon City Incident, rookie police officer Leon Scott Kennedy received training and became a government agent for the United States of America. On the same day he was to formally undertake his duties as the personal bodyguard to President Graham's daughter Ashley, she is abducted. Intel says there are sightings of her in a small backwater European village. Leon goes in solo to investigate the validity of these claims, and comes face to face with a religious cult and a hitherto dormant bioweapon that could change the balance of power globally.

Resident Evil 4 was part of the now defunct exclusivity deal for Nintendo consoles that Capcom struck up in the mid-'00's. It went through several iterations, the hook man version, a very early version that would eventually become Devil May Cry, and at least one other take. It finally found it's core in a third person, over the shoulder action game. It was still essentially a tank control run game, but the switch in perspective allowed for a more modern style of combat. Free aim, a melee system (which was later heavily refined), a loot system, a merchant and currency, weapon modification. At first glance, it doesn't even appear to BE a Resident Evil game for all the more it has in common with it's ancestors. Indeed, there's a portion of the fanbase that thinks this was the start of the end.

I'd argue that there's very much Biohazard in the DNA, though. The feeling of palpable dread isn't as constant as it was within the walls of the Spencer Mansion, but it exists in segmented pieces. The village, the farm, the castle prison, the sewers, the Regenerator labs. There are times when this game expertly utilizes it's own lineage.

The campaign is split into three main sections. The village, the castle, and the island. Every section has it's own specific set of enemies, loot, and similarities in puzzles. The village is your open portion, lots of outdoor areas, lots of bridges, houses, hills. Spinels are abound for the looting. Your primary opponents are Los Ganados. Puzzles usually involve manipulating equipment to open paths. It's also the most tense, for me. You're just getting into the rhythm of what the game is asking of you. Your ammo stock is low, your familiarity with areas is non existent, and your weapons aren't suited to the volume of opponents bearing down on you.

The castle sees a boost in your capabilities, offset by much harder and more aggressive opponents in Los Illuminados. You typically find Velvet Blues here, and the puzzles mostly involve finding reliefs or relics in one place and moving them to another to open the way forward. It's the closest to the old method of traversing areas as this game will allow. The castle is also LONG. I think you spend the majority of the game here, but it's also probably my favorite area.

Finally comes the island, where you have full access to your entire arsenal, a damage reducing vest, and free license to Rambo your way through everything in your way. You primarily battle militarized Ganados here. Stun rods, machine guns, turrets, RPG's, the like. Emeralds are the primary loot here. Like all five of them. The puzzles mostly consist of...hitting switches and not dying. To be frank, I find the island kind of weak, but to each their own.

I love the gameplay in this game. The fact that you can't move while shooting is looked at as a flaw and a sign that the game has aged poorly, but the enemy AI and the level geometry is perfectly designed around this. There's an almost tangible tension behind running to a spot, lining up a shot, running over and meleeing an entire crowd. Running away to a dead end so your back isn't vulnerable and chucking a hand grenade at a choke point.

The different weapons all have various functions and uses in a crowd setting and the merchant and abundance of coin really gives you room to play around with inventory and decide what suits your specific play style. While I'm already here, I'll mention how much I love each and every reload animation.

The enemies themselves are a fresh take after several games' worth of zombies. The Ganados use flanking tactics, swarm you, use weaponry. It's a different set of management skills than you've ever had to deal with before. The sub-bosses and actual bosses are a step up from what was previously displayed in the series, too (barring a few exceptions) Dr. Salvador, the Garradors, J.J., Regenerators and Iron Maidens. Such cool stuff. El Gigante was one of the console defining moments for me back in the day.

The storyline is B-Film cheese, and while others deride it for that, I find that tongue in cheek self awareness to be one of It's biggest charms. It's campy, but that lends itself well to the harsh juxtaposition to the serious, tense moments. It also gives it a surrealist kind of David Lynch feel in some places, specifically Salazar's castle. The other thing it vaguely reminds me of is the nautical Lovecraftian Dagon movie. Lots of good, obscure horror flavorings here.

I've rambled enough about this game, though I could continue for hours. The extra game modes are great. I still give the RE4 version of Mercenaries a couple of rounds now and again. The secondary campaign Separate Ways was pretty substantially lackluster as far as plot revelations go, but any time with Wesker is a good time, and the shipyard was a cool level. Also enjoyed the two new boss fights. Assignment Ada is pretty much rendered redundant afterwards, but it's still a fun romp. The replay value is really off the charts with this game and all its unlockables.

One final passing mention to the fact that this was the first RE to really utilize set pieces, such as the cabin siege, giant robot Salazar, the hanging crate with U3, etc. These were nice little over the top punctuations when things were getting too normal. Overall I'd say RE4 has the best pacing in the entire franchise. I never feel bored at any point in the campaign, no matter how many times I play it.

Next time, onto some side content.

 

[kunonabi]

RE4 is where I really jumped off the mainline series. I enjoyed it well enough through the village, aside from the godawful codec conversations and kung-fu asshole Leon anyway, but everything from the castle on annoys the hell out me. Just isn't what I want out of RE and the combat is too easily cheesable most of the time for me to enjoy it on a purely mechanical level that much. I get why people like it but it isnt for me.

 

[molasar]

CV is the most legitimate candidate for the REmake treatment for me, the plot and dialogues need a reworking, the game graphics were gimped with the use of 3D environment this is no longer an issue with today's tech so this will be a massive improvement, the animations also, gameplay will be awesome in 3rd person over the shoulder view I think since it's one of the classic RE that got the most ennemies thrown at you (CAPCOM will not return to fixed camera angles anyway) this is one of the most important RE in the series that connect early RE to 4 and specifically 5 in the narrative, CAPCOM will have to REmake it.

There's a lot of meat on this old bone to make a RE game that pleases most fan, lots of different area and ennemy variety, Prison camp,Military Training Facility ,the Palace , Airport, Private Residence, Antarctica, puzzles.

Imagine they expend the beginning of the game by adding the European Umbrella HQ seen in the intro and make it playable, later in the game why not add more of what is unique to this game : the insectoïd mutations of the T-Veronica virus. I could see some failed B.O.W experiments, mutations for zombies, dogs they can go wild, why not adding some of the B.O.W seen in the Umbrella darkside chronicles Leon/Krauser chapter Operation Javier ?

Real RE games ended with RE3'99. Everything else just uses an RE coupon.

 

[Aldynes]

I don't know If I'm in the minority but I find RE 4 to be best experienced with the original Gamecube version OR better the Wii port (with Gamecube controller only!) to have the PS2 bonus content, yes that means on a good old CRT TV.

I find every other ports since to be worse for me, HD did the game worse in my opinion, lots of fog and blurry textures used to hide the forest in the background and all that HD resolution bump made the flaws looks 10 times more obvious, poor textures, atmosphere get weaken, it's just bad for me.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

RE4 is where I really jumped off the mainline series. I enjoyed it well enough through the village, aside from the godawful codec conversations and kung-fu asshole Leon anyway, but everything from the castle on annoys the hell out me. Just isn't what I want out of RE and the combat is too easily cheesable most of the time for me to enjoy it on a purely mechanical level that much. I get why people like it but it isnt for me.

Yeah, I know the polarization is downplayed but it's a critical darling, but I can totally understand how some people were turned off from it. I like big cheesy action experiences loaded with machismo, and I'm sure most people do, too, but not everyone wanted it from Resident Evil. 4 steps into action game territory, but it still keeps enough of it's identity as a RE game. After 4, it kind of veers off, but I'll give my take on that in more detail as this little project goes on.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

I don't know If I'm in the minority but I find RE 4 to be best experienced with the original Gamecube version OR better the Wii port (with Gamecube controller only!) to have the PS2 bonus content, yes that means on a good old CRT TV.

I find every other ports since to be worse for me, HD did the game worse in my opinion, lots of fog and blurry textures used to hide the forest in the background and all that HD resolution bump made the flaws looks 10 times more obvious, poor textures, atmosphere get weaken, it's just bad for me.

I don't know if modern ports fix this, but in particular the PS2 version sounded like every sound effect was filtered through a tin can. And the PS3 version, of the all the scenes in Separate Ways are super low quality, like they didn't use the actual game engine for them but just video files of the original scenes. Super jarring. GCN was a perfect version, aside from the content added to later versions missing.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

---Resident Evil: Degeneration---

If you don't try to save one life, you'll never save any.



If you're not interested in the movies or my opinion of them, you may want to skip the next few entries. Resident Evil: Degeneration was the first in three (four?) Canon CG movies.

Claire Redfield has put down her gun since the events of Code Veronica, and joined an organization focused on helping the victims of bioterrorism, TerraSave. During an unremarkable trip to the Harvardville Airport on business, she finds herself in the center of ground zero for another zombie outbreak, courtesy a crashed airplane filled with the infected. Meanwhile, the SRT is deployed to quarantine the area and sweep the airport for survivors. Two members, Gregg and Angela Miller, are joined by government agent Leon Scott Kennedy, for his knowledge in these situations. What appears at first to be a simple operation is soon complicated by Angela's own brother, Curtis Miller, and his ties to fabled Raccoon City Incident that connects so much in this world.

Being the first CG film that was released for this property, it's a work in progress. I know the common sentiment is these are ugly, outdated films with no real relevance to the series, and just anime nonsense, unrealistic by even the precedent set by the games. I can't necessarily disagree with any of that, but I like to give shit a fair shake, even if that shake just gets said shit all over my hand. As pieces of fan service that take place in universe, they're fine. Just an excuse to spend more time in the universe and with characters we've come to like. Nothing (literally) game changing ever occurs in these films, but it's kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation with fans, I think. One camp will be upset that it's a pointless side story that goes nowhere and essentially wastes time, while another would complain were it to be relevant that you should never have supplemental material reveal pertinent plot points. The Final Fantasy XV situation, if you will. Ironically, the metaphor works in multiple ways, as I enjoy these CG films about the same as I enjoyed Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. A fun little romp that doesn't recontextualize the narrative it's based on, following, or preceding, but an opportunity to explore the world a bit more.

Narratively, I don't have many gripes about it. It's nothing special, perse, and some of the finer details get lost in proper noun soup. The big kickoff to the zombie outbreak is surrounding a character named General Grande who is never seen, is introduced in the intro info dump, and is only addressed again in the ending. This turns the mess of "Aha, it was I!" reveals with Ron Davis and Frederick Downing into something the casual viewer will need a simplified flowchart for. Anytime a movie needs to be seen twice to understand and ALSO contains parkour trapeze gunplay, chances are it isn't because the script is written too intelligently.

That said, though, I enjoyed the minimal time Claire and Leon were together. The short flashback to RE2 was cool (despite Claire using a shotgun, wtf continuity) and I appreciated the different auras the characters were given. Leon chose the way of the warrior, Claire chose the way of the healer. This is probably the most important plot point that actually carries over into future games, other than the blink and you miss it Tricell name drop in the epilogue. This movie introduces TerraSave, and Claire's new pacifist nature. Also got a lol out of Claire wielding an umbrella.

The action scenes were decent. I really enjoyed the scene with Claire catching a gun, and basically the entire parkour escape scene to the end of the movie, but I'm a Leon Stan, so.

Big complaints for the actual production would probably be a short list. Let me think. Gregg was a useless character. Curtis' motivation for his deeds worked alright, but it seems like Capcom forgot people can have motivations other than "my entire family got killed," moving forward with these movies. Laura Bailey voicing Leon's partner was weird, when she goes on to voice Leon's partner again in RE6, despite being a different character. Bailey's voice can be diverse, too, but she basically plays the characters as if they're the same. I don't like it. Along the same line, it's kind of strange having Curtis, the main antagonist, be voiced by Chris Redfield's actor for the next three appearances. Also, Leon's design is a little...moody for me. He looks more like a Hot Topic aficionado cosplaying as Leon for his super cool Halloween party where he'll have a whole keg of beer and it'll be totally wizard. Also, Leon's personality has been neutered, somewhat. RE4 made the choice. He's now a quippy asshole, and any deviation of that is not my Leon. Also, I hate that this is the last canon appearance of Alyson Court as Claire. I grew up with this voice. She IS Claire. RIP in peace my childhood, in the Big Comfy Couch in the sky, I guess.

The music is largely forgettable. The only song I can actively recall is the ending theme, Guilty. Even then, it's no masterpiece of musical genius, but I enjoy J-Rock, I enjoy buttrock, I enjoy alternative, so this works. The tempo and guitar evoke the B-Campaign ending theme of RE2 for me, which works because of the Claire/Leon presence.

Not much else to go over. Curtis has a cool design in his G form. Leon and Angela shipping made me feel like I was watching a hidden recording of Leon cheating on Ada and it didn't work for me. Ron Davis is uncanny Mariana Trench.

To those who cared enough to read this one, since it's not an actual game, go you! I've got another meandering treat next time with Infinite Darkness!

 

[TheInfamousKira]

---Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness---

And Leon? That outfit doesn't suit you.



The first canon Netflix Original (ugh) Resident Evil outing! ...or the fourth CG film, as I'm more inclined to believe, with someone at Capcom realizing that streaming was the new DVD sales because the Google machine told them so.

Two years after the events of Resident Evil 4 and like...one year after Degeneration, a bioterror attack on the White House leads to President Graham assigning agent Leon Scott Kennedy another babysitting detail that ties into a botched military operation that took place previously in the war torn Penamstan region. TerraSave activist and former badass Claire Redfield is working to erect (ha) infrastructure for the destitute refugees of the country when she meets a mute boy with drawings of the events he saw. Drawings of zombies. What follows is sixty minutes of exposition, twenty minutes of action, and 80 minutes of Capcom soft rebooting Degeneration so they could have Claire and Leon almost team up again with better grafix and the new voice cast.

If I sound lukewarm to this, I kind of am. It had a lot of potential, and if it manages to get a second season, there's a lot of room for improvement. I really appreciate the episodic arc, with a cold open, rising exposition and an ohshit! short action sequence leading to a cliffhanger. It's an interesting format for RE, if only because it hasn't been utilized yet.

I skipped over some characters, but to be perfectly frank, I can't recall any of their names, and I want this to be an honest review, not a Wiki dump. I don't want to refer to specific characters as "the Asian one," or "homeboy with PTSD," but you know. I liked the presence of President Graham. Dry character, but it was cool seeing him. I also liked the photo frame of Ashley, given it was one of the only continuity nods present.

I enjoyed homeboy with PTSD's (sorry) premise, but it was readily apparent he was a villain in the first episode, and his speech about the heart of fear could have been compelling but ended up kind of cringe. I do like that it wasn't nonstop explosions and headshots from start to end, but sometimes it felt like it was spinning its wheels to fill time, which shouldn't really be an issue in a four episode miniseries. Things like the Asian one (I think her name was Shen May?)'s entire backstory being divulged only for her brother to get hit in the face with a flaming house and her to get her head bop it! Twist it! In the next episode just seemed like...what's the point?

But in the same breath, it gives some nice character moments like Claire being Nancy Drew (Claire with glasses wasn't something I knew I needed in my life, but here we are) and Leon showing some humanity over his trauma relating to Raccoon City. But on another flip, Claire was pretty much useless and basically just served for more filler to Leon's portion. There's a lot you could do with Claire that doesn't end with her getting her ass kicked by a manilla envelope wielding old man. Also, Capcom briefly brushing against issues like conflict with China and PTSD kind of scares me when I realize they're the same company that created Gloria from DMC4. It's like letting your child play with a chainsaw.

Last notes, I guess the final battle was cool, if a little underwhelming. Leon was acting like himself, which beats his attitude in Degeneration. And the new VA's from RE2R are really starting to grow into these characters, I think. That'll make it cool when they get suddenly and unceremoniously replaced in three years. WOOHOO.

Next up, Revelations.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

---Resident Evil: Revelations---

My and my sweet ass are on the way.



Back to games now. This was initially Capcom's third venture into handheld Resident Evil titles, I believe, but I played the physical PS3 version.

Jill Valentine has joined the BSAA, the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance, a group tasked with ridding the world of bioweapons. Under the leadership of Director Clive R O'Brian, and assisted by her partner Parker Luciani, she is sent to a luxury liner afloat in the Mediterranean sea, the Queen Zenobia, to search for her missing partner, Chris Redfield. Along the way, a conspiracy comes to light involving the organizations at play, the T-Abyss Virus, and the lost city of Terragrigia.

The big promise here was returning the series to it's twisted, sun starved roots of Survival Horror, momentarily setting aside the massive trunk the franchise had grown, and sawing down some of the twisting branches of action intense arena focused combat the name Resident Evil had become synonymous with in the early '00's. I think what they really accomplished was the same action gameplay in a tighter, darker space. A Resident Evil 4 with REmake wallpaper, something that they accomplished to better effect both before, with Lost in Nightmares, and after with Resident Evil 6.

Don't get me wrong. I am a fan of the action era of Resident Evil. This was not a deal breaker for me. My problem is mainly with the advertising claiming it would be one thing, and essentially being another thing. The main setting is largely pretty wonderful. The dank, twisting corridors and humid, damp steel hulls. The foggy portholes and the claustrophobic, flooded lower levels. The upper cabins, dusty snapshots of decaying high class, with a Mansion spin (even confirmed in the narrative to be based off of designs by George Trevor, a nice touch of continuity) Indeed, most of this game, despite being a port of an aging handheld device, is (literally, in some cases) dripping with the atmosphere of classic horror.

In particular, the final campaign area, the sunken Queen Dido, is my favorite place visually. A claustrophobic, wrecked relic of time, flooded and rusted and grown over with sea life but for one small section, which was a refugee for the survivors of Veltro. The "graveyard," laid out on the long dining room table with epitaphs detailing who the bodies were in life just paints this terrible picture of a group of radicalized men, already twisted by their own dogma, dealing with a virus that was slowly killing them all in the small pocket of air they had left at the bottom of the sea. This short level invoked more fear inside of me based on environmental storytelling alone than the rest of the game prior had managed.

With that said, there's a couple of chapters that just didn't hit the mark. The Valkoinen Mokki Airport and the Terrigregia ones. If these places had been traversed once, it would have been a nice change of pace from ship crawling. But having them appear with no map variation two or three times just made it feel like padding. Particularly egregious were the Terragrigia chapters, which were visually the low point. Office cubicles and staircases. Copy and pasted for like 15 floors. I get that every Resident Evil game after 4 needs a spiritual successor to the cabin siege with Luis Sera, but this was by far the weakest of the bunch.

I did enjoy the gameplay, but there was a level of jank and clumsiness that I feel was an unavoidable occurrence given that this was a 3DS game ported to a console. Sometimes the movement and shooting didn't feel as precise as I'd want. I know I could probably fix all of this by fucking with the settings a bunch, but I'm also a believer in the fact that the default settings of a game should be optimized to a place *most* gamers are comfortable seeing it through to the credits with. That aside, combat was basically the same as it's action era predecessors, which was fine with me. The big differences were a clumsy dodge mechanic, and a heavily diminished melee system, much to my disappointment.

Ammo WAS more scarce, after a fashion. The ammo you'd pick up in boxes or on tables was more scarce. This is where REvelations kind of shits the bed for me. The game breaking Genesis Scanner. First of all, in world building terms, it's along the same lines as the Regia Solis Sattelite, it feels anachronistic in terms of the tech displayed beforehand in the series. I know, this is a game that has zombies and lions and bears, oh my. But technologically speaking, the most complex thing utilized in the canon were Wesker's sentry robots. To imagine an entire group of treaty bound special ops officers being handed these Men in Black-cum-Metroid devices just stretched it for me a touch. But gameplay wise, essentially every room is loaded with twice as many supplies as it appears to have at first, and there's no penalty or restriction to using the scanner. No item box to stuff it into so you run the risk of not having it when you need it, no space taken up in the inventory. You can always use it, which makes me wonder why the ammo wasn't just on the table in the first place. It seems redundant. The other usage, scanning opponents to fill a percentage with a healing item reward for every time you tick 100%, that seemed more acceptable to me.

The puzzles were basically finding an item and taking it to a door to unlock it, nothing complex or revolutionary. I did enjoy the simple little screwdriver/fuse puzzles.

The enemy variety was...I don't like the Oozes. I find them very visually samey and boring. The boss fights were all pretty cool, at least design wise. Special mention goes to Rachael Ooze, the Malacoda and the Ultimate Abyss. That final boss in particular was one of the harder RE bosses of the new action era. This was equal parts pattern recognition and a test of how good you were at finding sensible custom parts (which was another cool example in absence of a shop/merchant)

The story was compelling in some places, but nonsensical in all others. The only new characters that resonated with me after the fact were Quint, Keith, and Jessica, and it was for each and every one of them because of how absurd their design and/or characterization was. Comic book characters in the worst way. Special mention goes to the one legged diving suit and the balding computer nerd who LULZ about stalking his coworkers. The double/triple crossing aspect toward the end was done very sloppily as well. Combined with O'Brian being the spiritual successor to Columbo, I feel like this game was gunning more for a pulpy crime thriller than anything, and just because you can buy all the hats at the store, it doesn't mean you should wear them all, Capcom. I'll defend the three ships twist, though. I liked that shit.

ON WE GO.

 

[kunonabi]

Didn't care for Revelations much as I hated the Jill redesign, excessive amount of checkpoints, and how busted the weapon customization was. Never really had to worry much about ammo since the basic handgun could be turned a damn cannon with little effort.

 

[Aldynes]

Played it a bit on the 3DS back then, didn't get too far mainly due to being on a portable console, it was hard for me to play a horror title on a tiny screen, that broke the immersion for me, years later I played the port on PS4 and loved it, I like the Oozes with their robotic animations and weird mutations, the setting on a boat is perfect for me it's really claustrophobic and grounded in reality, story wise it's pretty meh, I have a problem with the looks of the characters in that game they all look WAY to much anime and really over the top, I liked Rachel Ooze though very cool ennemy design and creepy, didn't expected that, the gameplay was the biggest surprise for me, being able to shoot limbs to stun the ennemies and then CQC feels really good, the side content on RE rev1 is absolute fun, the raid mode is a brilliant idea I've gone all the way to Abyss, it's a fantastic game that sadly get held back by this constraint of being scaled down to fit on a 3DS, REV 2 is also scaled down to be a episodic format with budget constraint too, I'd really want to see a proper triple A REV 3 with a killer raid mode.

 

[Isa]

Nicely put. I just finished RE Revelations two days ago. I haven't been playing them canonically, bouncing around from titles I hadn't finished, or played in a LONG time. I tried the Raid mode, which is a bit rough in the first RER. After every mission having to wait through slow pop-up texts for medals achieved is annoying. I like the occasional mission objectives that occur from time to time as simple as they are. But Raid mode still is really fun for me. But my favorite Revelations is part 2. I played the second first years ago on PS4 episodically as it released. Replaying it now has been quite fun, with a much improved engine and texture work. The story also, while trying on different horror trope inspirations is told better. I'd say everything is a nice improvement over the first Revelations.

Its neat noticing how ideas and mechanics were, well in my opinion anyway, improved. The Scanner changed to a unique ability of a second character. Partners were more fleshed out into a cooperative mechanic, and for story reasons play different than the main character. Searching for ammo and other items, including BP is a neat idea. And passing items back and forth reminds me of RE0. I can't help it, RER2 is just more refined across the board and I like the story better. Its just more fun to play and the raid mode keeps me hooked.

Going back to these old games though is great. I love seeing my girl's reactions to all the hunky guys and beautiful women. Its a shame that's been killed off for the most part. I wasn't too keen on the story in RER. I like some of the themes but I don't like some of the huge world shaking potential. Guess I just prefer smaller scale isolated events. I think part of the problem though is a limited budget. Seems like there is more the devs wanted to do but were bound by the episodic nature, low budget and handheld resources. There is low enemy variety and a lot of backtracking. Story beats are sadly too predictable. I think you're right on the Crime Thriller and comic book comparisons.

 

[Isa]

I was thinking actually that if the Capcom leak was true and the negotiated Resident Evil title for the Switch does come to fruition, it'd be a Revelations 3. Like 8 was good, despite me not being a fan of the perspective and thus my girl couldn't play it, but I'd love to have another 3rd person game in the franchise sooner rather than later. With another proper Raid Mode that'd keep me glued.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Played it a bit on the 3DS back then, didn't get too far mainly due to being on a portable console, it was hard for me to play a horror title on a tiny screen, that broke the immersion for me, years later I played the port on PS4 and loved it, I like the Oozes with their robotic animations and weird mutations, the setting on a boat is perfect for me it's really claustrophobic and grounded in reality, story wise it's pretty meh, I have a problem with the looks of the characters in that game they all look WAY to much anime and really over the top, I liked Rachel Ooze though very cool ennemy design and creepy, didn't expected that, the gameplay was the biggest surprise for me, being able to shoot limbs to stun the ennemies and then CQC feels really good, the side content on RE rev1 is absolute fun, the raid mode is a brilliant idea I've gone all the way to Abyss, it's a fantastic game that sadly get held back by this constraint of being scaled down to fit on a 3DS, REV 2 is also scaled down to be a episodic format with budget constraint too, I'd really want to see a proper triple A REV 3 with a killer raid mode.

Yeah, the little of Raid Mode I've played, I can see why it's appreciated. I haven't mentioned side content much in these little retrospectives because I've been pretty locked into the story modes, in an effort to get to the stuff I haven't played more quickly, but I've always enjoyed Capcom's side content.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

I was thinking actually that if the Capcom leak was true and the negotiated Resident Evil title for the Switch does come to fruition, it'd be a Revelations 3. Like 8 was good, despite me not being a fan of the perspective and thus my girl couldn't play it, but I'd love to have another 3rd person game in the franchise sooner rather than later. With another proper Raid Mode that'd keep me glued.

My ideas are pretty much in line with your thoughts the last two posts. I really like the Revelations side series despite the things it needs work on. There's a lot of potential to be had both story wise and gameplay wise. I really like how the series so far has taken little blurbs in the main game and expanded them into entire stories. Alex Wesker was mentioned in maybe three or four files in RE5, and they made an entire narrative out of it, while giving Uroboros another appearance. Rev1 was basically "how the BSAA became a UN organization and how Chris and Jill ended up at the Spencer Estate,"

There's a lot of cool vignettes they could utilize like that, I think, to make a Revelations 3. Maybe turn the T-ALOS stuff into it's own full game? Maybe a game detailing Ada's dealings with Simmons? A game featuring Billy or Carlos? Maybe a conclusion to that Raymond/Jessica cliffhanger? Maybe Mia and The Connections? All stuff that doesn't feel "main plot," worthy, but could make a decent side narrative.