Fancy Clown
Member
I've been on a bit of a Resident Evil binge, recently. Earlier this week I posted a love thread for Resident Evil 3, and I've just been in that survival horror mood recently. This game certainly scratches that itch (Itchy. Tasty.)
The first Resident Evil game I ever owned was 4. It scared me, thrilled me, and made me want more Resident Evil. My only exposure to the classics were brief stints at friends houses when I was in elementary school, too scared to play the 2 and 3 myself I was simply content to watch snippets of them. I rectified this grievous mistake this past year by downloading 2&3 off of the PSN and playing them on my Vita (I urge anyone who hasn't played them to do it, especially on the vita). I opted out of downloading the Dual Shock edition of Resident Evil because I had heard that the music butchers the experience. So, I'm went into REmake blind of any knowledge of the original Resident Evil beyond the fact that it's set in a mansion, and dogs jump through the window to scare the shit out of you. Although I did come into REmake knowing some of its tricks unfortunately: I had heard about burning bodies, crimson heads, and I know that at some point I will run into some really scary chick named Lisa Trevor.
I've wanted to play REmake pretty much since it came out--or at least since RE4 came out and really got me interested in the series--but due to my lack of a nintendo system I had no way to play it. Now, 12 years later I come to the realization that I can run Dolphin on my laptop. 12 years later I can finally experience true survival horror.
First off, it's a good thing that this wasn't my first Resident Evil game because it is hard. It absolutely feels like a game designed for survival horror vets. I'm playing as Jill on the mountain climbing difficulty, and I'm only at the point where I need to get the serum for Richard, and I've already died quite a bit. The corridor's are super tight, which making maneuvering around zombies a big challenge (doubly so considering your character moves reallyyyy slowly, especially when compared with RE2&3. This is my only real complaint so far). Jill dies in about 2 hits, zombies take a bunch of hits, the burning mechanic means you have to use up 2 additional item slots making item management even tougher than the other games, and a whole host of other difficult things.
I don't want to bring in an unwarranted Dark Souls discussion just because of the difficulty, but I do think that the success of that series could hopefully revitalize an interest for this style of Resident Evil. The difficulty really means you have to consider the layout of the mansion (I love how complex it is. It's a real treat getting to explore it so far) as you have to decide whether its worth risking running by zombies, or killing them (potentially creating crimson heads). I am constantly stressed, worrying about if I have enough ammo, if I should bother killing a zombie or not, if I should waste more of the limited kerosene (this more than anything stresses me out. I thought those jugs were going to be unlimited until one time it said: "LOL nope! It's empty!"). But if I'm stressed, that means the game is working. It may not be as 'fun' as RE2&3, but that's kind of the point.
This game is really a showpiece for Mikami and his teams mastery over horror. There are some many clever design choices at play here. Here's a list of some of the things I've encountered so far that have impressed/scared the shit out of me:
-First of all, I would be remiss not to mention how gorgeous this game is. Because it is fucking gorgeous. The mansion is dripping with atmosphere, and the lighting is incredible. Also, so far the scariest location is the hidden room in the cemetery. Like what the fuck. I don't want to put all the deaths masks on because absolutely nothing good can come from following instructions out of something called "The Book of Curse" that you found in a hidden furnace room that has a coffin suspended from the fucking ceiling. I get chill there every time.
-The level design itself is brilliant. The hallway with the mirrors is a fantastic visual trick that both aids player navigation (you can see what's around each corner) and is freaky as shit (because you can see what's around each corner). Not to mention this hallway gets doubly freaky after this happens:
I shat myself a little at this moment, and then I shat myself again going when I had to go through this hallway again to get back out after hiding in the trap room. I haven't gone back since, and I don't plan to.
-The tapping on the windows. Dear god, the only thing more terrifying than zombies suddenly breaking through the windows of a previously safe area, is walking through another safe area after this has happened once and hearing that fucking tapping knowing that zombies could come through at any second.
-Zombies opening doors and the music that plays when they do. I was not expecting this because they can't do this in the other RE's. Fuck I hope crimson heads cant do this, because after running away from that first one I haven't seen it since...
Basically, this game is scary in a way that the other Resident Evil's aren't. Like I said, it really feels like MIkami and co. were in top form for this game. Even the map is really well designed (it shows locked and unlocked doors, where you are, unexplored areas, areas that need more exploring, and areas that are fully explored).
I will be updating this thread with more impressions in the coming days/weeks (depending on when I have time to play and how good my progress is). Apparently I will be fighting a giant snake soon! Wheee!
Also, did I mention how beautiful this game is? (I did) But still, look again. It's beautiful:
TLDR: This game is amazing, everyone should play it and talk about it so Capcom knows whats up.
P.S. If anyone from Capcom is reading this, please do everyone a favor and rerelease this game for current systems. People will love it, and people will buy it. Hell, I'll probably buy it twice (Vita port please). Also, while you're at it call up Kamiya and make REmake 2...and 3. Thanks.
