CtheIronblooded
I never gave this game a fair chance before honestly and only played Leon's campaign, wasn't a fan and called it a day. The game is often considered not only one of the worst RE games, but also one of the worst AAA games of all time and honestly while I agree it's bad, it's far from the worst game I've ever played, it is more of a mix of good and bad to me and despite not being a huge fan I am glad I gave it a chance. I have a lot to say about this experience so brace yourself.
Apparently at the time this game had the biggest budget of any previous Capcom game and honestly it shows. The presentation is pretty incredible. Everything from the sound design to the action set pieces, environments, cinematics, graphics and character models were all top notch and some of the best PS3/Xbox 360 had to offer and even holds up very well to date.
The story is pretty good, I like how it shows you the perspective of multiple characters and slowly interweaves all these tales together and oh boy a lot happens in the story, a new virus, the most powerful yet is unleashed, the president of the US is killed, 2 new criminal organizations are revealed, multiple city wide infections occur etc. This is basically a Michael Bay movie in game format and If nothing else something is always happening in game, but that's not necessarily always a good thing and the non-stop action can feel fatigue inducing with no breaks in between.
The characters all have decent depth and good arcs, both old and new and are easily my favorite part of the game. Chris is now a PTSD ridden rage induced war vet who is constantly at the throat of his partner Piers Nivans who acts a lot like Chris did when he was younger and less punished, I enjoyed watching their relationship develop. Leon and Helena had an equally compelling relationship as they try to clear their names of being fugitives as they were blamed for the president's death. Though my fave story was by far Jake Muller, Albert Wesker's son he never knew he had and federal agent Sherry Birkin, these two have a lot in common both being kids of past RE villains and I like how that commonality helps develop their relationship. I also have to commend the voice performances of the main cast which is very professionally done and features a pretty star studded cast of everyone from Eden Riegel to Matt Mercer, Troy Baker and Laura Bailey.
The enemy design is great and how the basic enemies evolve as you shoot them really shows just how terrifying the C-Virus is. The bosses are extremely mixed, most are just forgettable, a couple are outright awful and a couple are amazing and some of the best in the series (Specifically the fight with the invisible snake in Chris's campaign and the final fight in Jake's campaign)
So as I said the game is a mix of good and bad to me and so far I've mostly just been praising it, well here comes the bad. The gameplay is where the game falls apart unfortunately and gameplay is pretty important for a uh game.
First let me start off with saying on one hand I like how each individual campaign plays differently (right down to the UI/Inventory looking different for everyone), Leon's delivers a semi-survival horror classic RE 4/5 experience, Chris' plays like a Gears/CoD military shooter, Jake's has the most emphasis on hand-to-hand action combat even being able to do combos and Ada's is stealth based. That said while I like this idea on paper, it's also extremely jarring because there's no cohesion and moving from campaign to campaign doesn't flow well at all, it's almost like you're playing 4 different games at once.
Also while I like how the characters stories tie together from a narrative point of view, but the actual gameplay is super tedious having to replay certain segments with almost no variation other than being a different character. Though the thing I hate the most about the gameplay is how 90% of the game is just an endless horde mode and it's so boring and tedious. The reason why the shootout segments in RE 4 & RE 5 work as good as they do is because they're well placed and there's good variety in between them, but in 6 every other scene is a big shootout sequence where you have to defend a location against an army of enemies and that wears out its welcome very quickly. Oh and don't get me started on the vehicle parts, controlling the vehicles always just felt awful, at least those parts still looked cool though. Last but not least I don't think I've played another game in my life that has as many QTEs as this game does and it's absolutely obnoxious.
However there is also some great things about the gameplay, like how this was the first RE game to remove tank controls and implement the ability to walk and shoot at the same time, I like that and it fits the more action based gameplay of this title. There's also some cool John Woo like slides, flips and rolls you can do while shooting. There's more emphasis on melee combat, you have a combat action bar which is actually my fave feature in the game because melee combat is so powerful and fun to do. Oh and most importantly the co-op is back and the single player partner AI is much smarter than than RE 5.
Overall the game has a ridiculous, but solid story with great characters, killer enemy design and incredible production values, but the clear lack of direction in gameplay style, tedious overuse of QTEs and waves of enemies, plus lackluster boss battles and a slightly bloated campaign have earned this game its poor, but fair reputation and due to that I just can't in good faith recommend it to anyone other than the most hardcore RE fans.
Apparently at the time this game had the biggest budget of any previous Capcom game and honestly it shows. The presentation is pretty incredible. Everything from the sound design to the action set pieces, environments, cinematics, graphics and character models were all top notch and some of the best PS3/Xbox 360 had to offer and even holds up very well to date.
The story is pretty good, I like how it shows you the perspective of multiple characters and slowly interweaves all these tales together and oh boy a lot happens in the story, a new virus, the most powerful yet is unleashed, the president of the US is killed, 2 new criminal organizations are revealed, multiple city wide infections occur etc. This is basically a Michael Bay movie in game format and If nothing else something is always happening in game, but that's not necessarily always a good thing and the non-stop action can feel fatigue inducing with no breaks in between.
The characters all have decent depth and good arcs, both old and new and are easily my favorite part of the game. Chris is now a PTSD ridden rage induced war vet who is constantly at the throat of his partner Piers Nivans who acts a lot like Chris did when he was younger and less punished, I enjoyed watching their relationship develop. Leon and Helena had an equally compelling relationship as they try to clear their names of being fugitives as they were blamed for the president's death. Though my fave story was by far Jake Muller, Albert Wesker's son he never knew he had and federal agent Sherry Birkin, these two have a lot in common both being kids of past RE villains and I like how that commonality helps develop their relationship. I also have to commend the voice performances of the main cast which is very professionally done and features a pretty star studded cast of everyone from Eden Riegel to Matt Mercer, Troy Baker and Laura Bailey.
The enemy design is great and how the basic enemies evolve as you shoot them really shows just how terrifying the C-Virus is. The bosses are extremely mixed, most are just forgettable, a couple are outright awful and a couple are amazing and some of the best in the series (Specifically the fight with the invisible snake in Chris's campaign and the final fight in Jake's campaign)
So as I said the game is a mix of good and bad to me and so far I've mostly just been praising it, well here comes the bad. The gameplay is where the game falls apart unfortunately and gameplay is pretty important for a uh game.
First let me start off with saying on one hand I like how each individual campaign plays differently (right down to the UI/Inventory looking different for everyone), Leon's delivers a semi-survival horror classic RE 4/5 experience, Chris' plays like a Gears/CoD military shooter, Jake's has the most emphasis on hand-to-hand action combat even being able to do combos and Ada's is stealth based. That said while I like this idea on paper, it's also extremely jarring because there's no cohesion and moving from campaign to campaign doesn't flow well at all, it's almost like you're playing 4 different games at once.
Also while I like how the characters stories tie together from a narrative point of view, but the actual gameplay is super tedious having to replay certain segments with almost no variation other than being a different character. Though the thing I hate the most about the gameplay is how 90% of the game is just an endless horde mode and it's so boring and tedious. The reason why the shootout segments in RE 4 & RE 5 work as good as they do is because they're well placed and there's good variety in between them, but in 6 every other scene is a big shootout sequence where you have to defend a location against an army of enemies and that wears out its welcome very quickly. Oh and don't get me started on the vehicle parts, controlling the vehicles always just felt awful, at least those parts still looked cool though. Last but not least I don't think I've played another game in my life that has as many QTEs as this game does and it's absolutely obnoxious.
However there is also some great things about the gameplay, like how this was the first RE game to remove tank controls and implement the ability to walk and shoot at the same time, I like that and it fits the more action based gameplay of this title. There's also some cool John Woo like slides, flips and rolls you can do while shooting. There's more emphasis on melee combat, you have a combat action bar which is actually my fave feature in the game because melee combat is so powerful and fun to do. Oh and most importantly the co-op is back and the single player partner AI is much smarter than than RE 5.
Overall the game has a ridiculous, but solid story with great characters, killer enemy design and incredible production values, but the clear lack of direction in gameplay style, tedious overuse of QTEs and waves of enemies, plus lackluster boss battles and a slightly bloated campaign have earned this game its poor, but fair reputation and due to that I just can't in good faith recommend it to anyone other than the most hardcore RE fans.
2020
I never played the original so there will be no comparisons from me in this review what I will tell you is that even having never played the original Demon's Souls still stands firmly on its own and managed to wow me quite a bit at times.
Let me start with the graphics because this game truly blew me away on that front, this is without a doubt the best looking and best sounding game I've ever played. The textures, the facial animations, the particle effects when casting magic, the sound design for every single sword swing, it's all just amazing and perfect in every way and brings the kingdom of Boletaria to life in ways never seen before. Truly a next gen experience in its purest form.
The story is set in the kingdom of Boletaria, a kingdom consumed by a dark being called The Old One, following its release through the use of forbidden Soul Arts. Players take on the role of a hero brought to Boletaria to kill its fallen king Allant and pacify The Old One. That's the gist of it anyways, but much like Dark Souls it goes much deeper than that and there's quite a bit of philosophy in the story as well if you choose to dive into that.
The characters are all colorful and memorable, much like all future Souls games there's a small cast of NPC characters that you can rescue in different parts of the world and they will help you in your mission by teaching you various spells. The NPCs have vibrant personalities and great (sometimes tragic backstories)
Gameplay wise it's very obvious the game was before Dark Souls because it's even more clunky and rough around the edges, as I said before I never played the original, but I read the developers wanted to make the game as authentic as possible, the attack and roll animations are super slow, there's an inventory weight mechanic, climbing ladders is also slow as hell etc this remake despite being a game from 2020, plays identically to the 2009 version, for better or worse. So if you're a Souls veteran the game will definitely feel outdated by the more polished sequels, it's still a lot of fun to play though and there's plenty of character build variety for good replay value.
The level design has so much variety and simply looks incredible, from the grimdark Boletarian palace, the LOTR like crypts in the Shrine of Storms to the Lovecraftian Tower of Latria, so much creativity oozes from every world. This game has no bonfires though and the only checkpoints are boss archstones so running those level gauntlets to get from boss to boss can be insanely brutal, but even though I died many times I never got tired of running through the same areas so much simply due to how breathtaking the environments are.
The boss and enemy design is disgusting and grotesque in the best way possible, but the actual boss fights are very hit or miss to me, some are really cool and challenging, but most are not that hard at least if you're a veteran of the franchise (I'm sure they were mindblowing back in the day though), they might still give you a lot of challenge if it is your first Souls game, but props to this game for having one of the coolest final bosses of the series though. Oh and the bosses have some great lore tied to them as always too.
Demon's Souls is a blast from the past and showcases just how much the Souls series has evolved over the years, even at its roughest form there's plenty of shades of From's future work all over it and due to its interesting world, colorful NPCs, tight combat, vicious bosses and masterfully designed levels, whether you're a newcomer or a veteran Demon's Souls is a journey worth taking and I highly recommend taking it.
Let me start with the graphics because this game truly blew me away on that front, this is without a doubt the best looking and best sounding game I've ever played. The textures, the facial animations, the particle effects when casting magic, the sound design for every single sword swing, it's all just amazing and perfect in every way and brings the kingdom of Boletaria to life in ways never seen before. Truly a next gen experience in its purest form.
The story is set in the kingdom of Boletaria, a kingdom consumed by a dark being called The Old One, following its release through the use of forbidden Soul Arts. Players take on the role of a hero brought to Boletaria to kill its fallen king Allant and pacify The Old One. That's the gist of it anyways, but much like Dark Souls it goes much deeper than that and there's quite a bit of philosophy in the story as well if you choose to dive into that.
The characters are all colorful and memorable, much like all future Souls games there's a small cast of NPC characters that you can rescue in different parts of the world and they will help you in your mission by teaching you various spells. The NPCs have vibrant personalities and great (sometimes tragic backstories)
Gameplay wise it's very obvious the game was before Dark Souls because it's even more clunky and rough around the edges, as I said before I never played the original, but I read the developers wanted to make the game as authentic as possible, the attack and roll animations are super slow, there's an inventory weight mechanic, climbing ladders is also slow as hell etc this remake despite being a game from 2020, plays identically to the 2009 version, for better or worse. So if you're a Souls veteran the game will definitely feel outdated by the more polished sequels, it's still a lot of fun to play though and there's plenty of character build variety for good replay value.
The level design has so much variety and simply looks incredible, from the grimdark Boletarian palace, the LOTR like crypts in the Shrine of Storms to the Lovecraftian Tower of Latria, so much creativity oozes from every world. This game has no bonfires though and the only checkpoints are boss archstones so running those level gauntlets to get from boss to boss can be insanely brutal, but even though I died many times I never got tired of running through the same areas so much simply due to how breathtaking the environments are.
The boss and enemy design is disgusting and grotesque in the best way possible, but the actual boss fights are very hit or miss to me, some are really cool and challenging, but most are not that hard at least if you're a veteran of the franchise (I'm sure they were mindblowing back in the day though), they might still give you a lot of challenge if it is your first Souls game, but props to this game for having one of the coolest final bosses of the series though. Oh and the bosses have some great lore tied to them as always too.
Demon's Souls is a blast from the past and showcases just how much the Souls series has evolved over the years, even at its roughest form there's plenty of shades of From's future work all over it and due to its interesting world, colorful NPCs, tight combat, vicious bosses and masterfully designed levels, whether you're a newcomer or a veteran Demon's Souls is a journey worth taking and I highly recommend taking it.
I enjoyed it even more than the first Revelations.
There isn't a whole lot of story, it's mainly just Claire and Moira trying to escape the island they've been imprisoned on and Barry trying to find them (Though there are some interesting twists at the end), playing as both Claire and Barry was great and Moira and Natalia were good characters too, seeing how everyone developed over the course of the journey was fun, the game had a lot of that classic RE camp with cheesy one liners which is always nice. Also the main antagonist, the Overseer of the island is right up there with my fave RE villains.
The gameplay mechanics were pretty much like Rev one, but more polished so they were good, the game also implemented more stealth elements ala The Last of Us and I felt that was a nice addition which added more variety to the gameplay.
The game was a pretty even mix of survival horror and action. The early chapters felt much more survival horror where you have to actually conserve ammo, but the later chapters went full on action, I like both styles of the series so I enjoyed both.
One aspect of Rev 1 I preferred was the more metroidvania level design because the Rev 2 design was much more straightforward, with not as much backtracking and I also felt the island wasn't as memorable as the boat in Rev 1, but Rev 2 makes up for it with some of the absolute best, most creative and grotesque enemy design compared to the lackluster and bland enemy design of Rev 1.
Raid Mode is also included like in Rev 1 and it is just as fun as ever, even more so since you can play as almost all the most iconic RE characters in it this time including Jill, Chris, Claire, Barry and even Albert Wesker himself.
Great game all around
There isn't a whole lot of story, it's mainly just Claire and Moira trying to escape the island they've been imprisoned on and Barry trying to find them (Though there are some interesting twists at the end), playing as both Claire and Barry was great and Moira and Natalia were good characters too, seeing how everyone developed over the course of the journey was fun, the game had a lot of that classic RE camp with cheesy one liners which is always nice. Also the main antagonist, the Overseer of the island is right up there with my fave RE villains.
The gameplay mechanics were pretty much like Rev one, but more polished so they were good, the game also implemented more stealth elements ala The Last of Us and I felt that was a nice addition which added more variety to the gameplay.
The game was a pretty even mix of survival horror and action. The early chapters felt much more survival horror where you have to actually conserve ammo, but the later chapters went full on action, I like both styles of the series so I enjoyed both.
One aspect of Rev 1 I preferred was the more metroidvania level design because the Rev 2 design was much more straightforward, with not as much backtracking and I also felt the island wasn't as memorable as the boat in Rev 1, but Rev 2 makes up for it with some of the absolute best, most creative and grotesque enemy design compared to the lackluster and bland enemy design of Rev 1.
Raid Mode is also included like in Rev 1 and it is just as fun as ever, even more so since you can play as almost all the most iconic RE characters in it this time including Jill, Chris, Claire, Barry and even Albert Wesker himself.
Great game all around
Before a couple days ago I hadn't played this game in well over 10 years and forgot how much I loved it honestly. It's not quite the masterpiece RE 4 is, but it is pretty damn close.
I'll start by getting this out of the way, the game's AI is infamously bad for a reason, but it's still fully manageable and a very fun experience regardless, it just gets even better playing co-op with a friend.
The story is arguably my fave in the whole series, Chris and Sheva working for the BSAA tracking a terrorist in Africa and quickly they come across a much grander conspiracy that brings Chris' thought to be dead arch nemesis Albert Wesker to the forefront (And we all know Wesker is the best and most iconic RE super villain) with this game being Wesker's big staring role and D.C. Douglas voicing him, you know it's going to be great.
The shooting mechanics are basically the same as RE 4, though now there's a Gears-like wall cover option and the series transition from horror to action has been completed. Speaking of the action, the scenes in this game are just as Matrix like as RE 4 and they're just as great too, especially anything that involves Wesker.
The characters are great as always. Chris doesn't have that same kind of action hero star personality Leon has, but is more like a hardened war vet who has PTSD (Especially after believing he lost his old partner and best friend at the start of the game) and because of this he doesn't want to get too close to anyone, but he slowly opens up to Sheva throughout the game. Sheva herself doesn't get as much depth, but she wants to stop the terrorists to protect her homeland and it's relatable enough. Jill doesn't have a huge part in the game, but she's Jill so for what little she's in it, you know she's going to be badass, even when she's being mind-controlled and as I've said before Wesker is one of the best villains in all of video games and he only got better when he turned into an evil version of Neo from the Matrix because he's stylish, intimidating, campy, charismatic, over-the-top and his one liners and dialogue in this game are as iconic as Leon's in RE 4.
Level design in this game isn't quite as memorable as RE 4 and very same-y to me, however the Indiana Jones like temple ruins area is great and the game still has most of the iconic RE staples like the mines, the lab, the swamp, the village etc. It's also much more straightforward and linear compared to RE 4 since it's split into a chapter select DMC style story progression and there's no real backtracking. You can still find treasures to sell and purchase weapon upgrades on an inventory load-out screen before each mission at least, but no charismatic merchant makes me sad. Also the inventory being a 3X3 square compared to the RE4 Tetris management briefcase just sucks.
Boss fights are more plentiful, but also less memorable than RE 4 as well, but every fight with Wesker in the second half is great and the game makes up for some lackluster early bosses by having one of the greatest final bosses ever, fighting Wesker in a volcano over the most John Williams-like orchestral music while he monologues about evolution and Chris punches a boulder will forever be iconic and unbeatable.
RE 5 has an insane amount of replay value as well, much like RE 4 there's plenty of side content like Mercenaries mode, some DLC chapters, collectables like BSAA emblems and if you're a completionist like myself just going through the game many times to get the money to upgrade and unlock all weapons is fun enough in itself, being able to play with a friend makes it even better.
All in all RE 5 is simply an iconic game that brings a massive chapter of the RE story to a close. The AI is super inconsistent, the level design and most boss fights while solid just aren't quite as good as RE 4 and the inventory management is completely inferior, but a strong story and even stronger cast of characters with one of the best villains of all time getting his starring lead role makes Chris Redfield and Albert Wesker's final showdown one to remember and a mandatory part in any RE fan's collection.
I'll start by getting this out of the way, the game's AI is infamously bad for a reason, but it's still fully manageable and a very fun experience regardless, it just gets even better playing co-op with a friend.
The story is arguably my fave in the whole series, Chris and Sheva working for the BSAA tracking a terrorist in Africa and quickly they come across a much grander conspiracy that brings Chris' thought to be dead arch nemesis Albert Wesker to the forefront (And we all know Wesker is the best and most iconic RE super villain) with this game being Wesker's big staring role and D.C. Douglas voicing him, you know it's going to be great.
The shooting mechanics are basically the same as RE 4, though now there's a Gears-like wall cover option and the series transition from horror to action has been completed. Speaking of the action, the scenes in this game are just as Matrix like as RE 4 and they're just as great too, especially anything that involves Wesker.
The characters are great as always. Chris doesn't have that same kind of action hero star personality Leon has, but is more like a hardened war vet who has PTSD (Especially after believing he lost his old partner and best friend at the start of the game) and because of this he doesn't want to get too close to anyone, but he slowly opens up to Sheva throughout the game. Sheva herself doesn't get as much depth, but she wants to stop the terrorists to protect her homeland and it's relatable enough. Jill doesn't have a huge part in the game, but she's Jill so for what little she's in it, you know she's going to be badass, even when she's being mind-controlled and as I've said before Wesker is one of the best villains in all of video games and he only got better when he turned into an evil version of Neo from the Matrix because he's stylish, intimidating, campy, charismatic, over-the-top and his one liners and dialogue in this game are as iconic as Leon's in RE 4.
Level design in this game isn't quite as memorable as RE 4 and very same-y to me, however the Indiana Jones like temple ruins area is great and the game still has most of the iconic RE staples like the mines, the lab, the swamp, the village etc. It's also much more straightforward and linear compared to RE 4 since it's split into a chapter select DMC style story progression and there's no real backtracking. You can still find treasures to sell and purchase weapon upgrades on an inventory load-out screen before each mission at least, but no charismatic merchant makes me sad. Also the inventory being a 3X3 square compared to the RE4 Tetris management briefcase just sucks.
Boss fights are more plentiful, but also less memorable than RE 4 as well, but every fight with Wesker in the second half is great and the game makes up for some lackluster early bosses by having one of the greatest final bosses ever, fighting Wesker in a volcano over the most John Williams-like orchestral music while he monologues about evolution and Chris punches a boulder will forever be iconic and unbeatable.
RE 5 has an insane amount of replay value as well, much like RE 4 there's plenty of side content like Mercenaries mode, some DLC chapters, collectables like BSAA emblems and if you're a completionist like myself just going through the game many times to get the money to upgrade and unlock all weapons is fun enough in itself, being able to play with a friend makes it even better.
All in all RE 5 is simply an iconic game that brings a massive chapter of the RE story to a close. The AI is super inconsistent, the level design and most boss fights while solid just aren't quite as good as RE 4 and the inventory management is completely inferior, but a strong story and even stronger cast of characters with one of the best villains of all time getting his starring lead role makes Chris Redfield and Albert Wesker's final showdown one to remember and a mandatory part in any RE fan's collection.
Never played this game until just the other day, but I thought it was solid, here are some of my thoughts on it.
The graphics, voice acting, cut-scenes and overall production value of the game surprised the hell out of me for it originally being a 3DS game. There was probably close to 2 hours worth of cut-scenes, all the dialogue was voice acted (and pretty well might I add) and the character models and world textures looked pretty damn good for the time this game came out.
The story shows the rise of the BSAA and reminds me of a James Bond film, with all the backstabbing and espionage, pretty decent and some interesting plot twists, but the villains and new characters (Aside from Parker, he was cool) introduced were very lackluster and unmemorable, the Chris and Jill sections are definitely the highlights of the game.
Level design was honestly really good! The layout of the Queen Zenobia gave me major Resident Evil 1 Spencer Mansion vibes and it also has a very metroidvania style too with some good usage of backtracking and hidden secrets.
The combat and shooting mechanics are very smooth and fluid and a lot of fun and I really liked the gun customizations which gave incentive to explore the map more (Though once you get the rifle and some mods you essentially break the game and it becomes too easy) one game mechanic I hated though was the scanner because it just felt so unnecessary. You have to use it in practically every single room to find hidden items and scan enemies to get green herbs, but it just becomes a chore and felt like such a handheld touch screen gimmick.
This game was also the first to introduce Raid Mode which is a fun co-op mercenaries like mini-game where you replay different stages of the game as various characters and clear objectives while fighting waves of enemies, you can also upgrade your weapons and unlock special new ones only available in this game type. I played it for 4 hours straight, it's a lot of fun.
Enemy designs were very bland and boring because almost everything looks the same, but the bosses looked cool and the actual fights were really fun too, especially the final boss, that was top notch and one of my faves in the whole series so far.
All in all I enjoyed RE Revelations and it impressed me in some ways due to originally being a handheld game and still having some pretty big production values that make it look closer to a 360 game. It has great shooting mechanics, killer level design, a solid story and fun bosses, but it's brought down a bit by a typical annoying touchscreen gimmick, boring enemy design and unmemorable characters (Aside from Jill, Chris and Parker) still I'm happy I played the game and would recommend it to hardcore RE fans or anyone who wants a solid action game.
The graphics, voice acting, cut-scenes and overall production value of the game surprised the hell out of me for it originally being a 3DS game. There was probably close to 2 hours worth of cut-scenes, all the dialogue was voice acted (and pretty well might I add) and the character models and world textures looked pretty damn good for the time this game came out.
The story shows the rise of the BSAA and reminds me of a James Bond film, with all the backstabbing and espionage, pretty decent and some interesting plot twists, but the villains and new characters (Aside from Parker, he was cool) introduced were very lackluster and unmemorable, the Chris and Jill sections are definitely the highlights of the game.
Level design was honestly really good! The layout of the Queen Zenobia gave me major Resident Evil 1 Spencer Mansion vibes and it also has a very metroidvania style too with some good usage of backtracking and hidden secrets.
The combat and shooting mechanics are very smooth and fluid and a lot of fun and I really liked the gun customizations which gave incentive to explore the map more (Though once you get the rifle and some mods you essentially break the game and it becomes too easy) one game mechanic I hated though was the scanner because it just felt so unnecessary. You have to use it in practically every single room to find hidden items and scan enemies to get green herbs, but it just becomes a chore and felt like such a handheld touch screen gimmick.
This game was also the first to introduce Raid Mode which is a fun co-op mercenaries like mini-game where you replay different stages of the game as various characters and clear objectives while fighting waves of enemies, you can also upgrade your weapons and unlock special new ones only available in this game type. I played it for 4 hours straight, it's a lot of fun.
Enemy designs were very bland and boring because almost everything looks the same, but the bosses looked cool and the actual fights were really fun too, especially the final boss, that was top notch and one of my faves in the whole series so far.
All in all I enjoyed RE Revelations and it impressed me in some ways due to originally being a handheld game and still having some pretty big production values that make it look closer to a 360 game. It has great shooting mechanics, killer level design, a solid story and fun bosses, but it's brought down a bit by a typical annoying touchscreen gimmick, boring enemy design and unmemorable characters (Aside from Jill, Chris and Parker) still I'm happy I played the game and would recommend it to hardcore RE fans or anyone who wants a solid action game.
2011
This is my favorite Resident Evil game and one of my all time favorite games in general.
The first time I ever played this game was when I was around 13 and I've played it many times in my lifetime since, the last time I played it was almost exactly 4 years ago to this date before today anyways (That was completely coincidental lmao), but every time I come back to the game it just feels as great as the first time.
The story is so over-the-top and ridiculous that it is actually amazing. Leon is a secret agent hired by the president to rescue his daughter from a crazy religious cult? How the hell can you go wrong with that premise? The dialogue just oozes 90s/2000s camp in the best way possible and Leon's witty and sarcastic one-liners are still some of the most memorable quotes in all of video games.
Sure this might be when RE went from a horror series to almost pure action, but when your action scenes are some of the absolute best in video games and even better than most Hollywood blockbusters who can complain? The knife fight with Krauser, the whole helicopter sequence with Mike, Leon running up a wall to avoid being sliced to pieces by lasers, the game is just full of amazing non-stop action moments like this.
Every boss fight is just as action packed as the cut-scenes themselves and the enemy design is just incredible and while this was the departure from the horror roots of RE there's still some truly tense and terrifying moments being chased by certain enemies and bosses in claustrophobic environments.
The level design has so much variety from the village to the swamp, castle, mines and even lab and they're always fun to explore just to find all the secrets and treasures to sell to the merchant for weapon upgrades. Oh and RE 4 introduced the greatest inventory system of all time, every single game with an inventory system should have the kind this game has.
Naturally an action game would be nothing if the gameplay isn't as good as the actual action itself and even 16 years later the gameplay of RE 4 is still super fun and addictive. A little known fact is this game was one of the first to implement an over-the-shoulder camera so it's actually pretty revolutionary and many games even nowadays owe RE 4 for their entire existence.
The controls might not be as tight as later entries that completely removed tank controls, but they are certainly easier to handle than the first 3 entries of the series. Also these controls work better for the more action oriented gameplay as well.
All of this combined makes RE 4 a game with truly remarkable replay value, but that is accentuated even further by the addictive arcade-like Mercenaries horde mode mini-game, the Assignment Ada mini-game and the small Separate Ways campaign. All of these special modes let you unlock powerful new weapons for the main story as well giving even more incentive to play them aside from them just being super fun and enjoyable.
Resident Evil 4 is the purest definition of the word "peak" to me. From the ridiculous story and campy character dialogue to the incredible insane action packed cut-scenes and boss fights, the well designed varied levels, the super fun shooting mechanics, treasure collecting and weapon upgrading gameplay and the sheer amount of content available, Resident Evil 4 is a true timeless classic that can be played repeatedly, year-after-year without it ever growing stale.
The first time I ever played this game was when I was around 13 and I've played it many times in my lifetime since, the last time I played it was almost exactly 4 years ago to this date before today anyways (That was completely coincidental lmao), but every time I come back to the game it just feels as great as the first time.
The story is so over-the-top and ridiculous that it is actually amazing. Leon is a secret agent hired by the president to rescue his daughter from a crazy religious cult? How the hell can you go wrong with that premise? The dialogue just oozes 90s/2000s camp in the best way possible and Leon's witty and sarcastic one-liners are still some of the most memorable quotes in all of video games.
Sure this might be when RE went from a horror series to almost pure action, but when your action scenes are some of the absolute best in video games and even better than most Hollywood blockbusters who can complain? The knife fight with Krauser, the whole helicopter sequence with Mike, Leon running up a wall to avoid being sliced to pieces by lasers, the game is just full of amazing non-stop action moments like this.
Every boss fight is just as action packed as the cut-scenes themselves and the enemy design is just incredible and while this was the departure from the horror roots of RE there's still some truly tense and terrifying moments being chased by certain enemies and bosses in claustrophobic environments.
The level design has so much variety from the village to the swamp, castle, mines and even lab and they're always fun to explore just to find all the secrets and treasures to sell to the merchant for weapon upgrades. Oh and RE 4 introduced the greatest inventory system of all time, every single game with an inventory system should have the kind this game has.
Naturally an action game would be nothing if the gameplay isn't as good as the actual action itself and even 16 years later the gameplay of RE 4 is still super fun and addictive. A little known fact is this game was one of the first to implement an over-the-shoulder camera so it's actually pretty revolutionary and many games even nowadays owe RE 4 for their entire existence.
The controls might not be as tight as later entries that completely removed tank controls, but they are certainly easier to handle than the first 3 entries of the series. Also these controls work better for the more action oriented gameplay as well.
All of this combined makes RE 4 a game with truly remarkable replay value, but that is accentuated even further by the addictive arcade-like Mercenaries horde mode mini-game, the Assignment Ada mini-game and the small Separate Ways campaign. All of these special modes let you unlock powerful new weapons for the main story as well giving even more incentive to play them aside from them just being super fun and enjoyable.
Resident Evil 4 is the purest definition of the word "peak" to me. From the ridiculous story and campy character dialogue to the incredible insane action packed cut-scenes and boss fights, the well designed varied levels, the super fun shooting mechanics, treasure collecting and weapon upgrading gameplay and the sheer amount of content available, Resident Evil 4 is a true timeless classic that can be played repeatedly, year-after-year without it ever growing stale.
If you're an RE fan it'd be pretty hard to not love this game, it has everything you look for in that classic RE formula. Ridiculously cheesy and over-the-top dialogue and action scenes, great level design that is fun to traverse, clever puzzles, tense atmosphere and solid shooting mechanics.
Plus this game turned Wesker into a Matrix villain and that alone gives it bonus points.
Plus this game turned Wesker into a Matrix villain and that alone gives it bonus points.
2020
While it is certainly inferior to the original and not quite the masterpiece it could've been, I still had a lot of fun with the overall experience and don't think it deserves nearly as much hate as it gets.
Let's start with the gameplay. It felt almost identical to the Resident Evil 2 Remake and that's fine by me, the controls are very refined, both the movement and shooting feels great and the biggest new mechanic, the "perfect dodge" allowing Jill to role out of the way and unleash a slowed down counter attack shot or Carlos to do a nice punch was a cool addition and certainly plays off the over-the-top action style this game goes for.
Level design though much more linear and without many real puzzles compared to Resident Evil 2 Remake is still very well done and fun to go through and though there's hardly any backtracking, there's still a few secrets to be discovered. Some full segments were cut from the game like the Clock Tower and Raccoon City Park and that's a shame, but what we did get was still great.
The core story is pretty much the same as the original with a few minor details changed or remixed. It's still all about Jill trying to evacuate Raccoon City, save people and escape Nemesis and you still learn more about Umbrella's corruption and bioweapon experimentations. Sure Nikolai is no longer the captain of the UBCS and Carlos visits the RPD instead of Jill to mention a couple changes, but though the journey might be changed a bit, the destination and goal is still the same.
The characters are fleshed out much more this time around especially giving Carlos more of a personality and making Tyrell have a much bigger part in the story as well, Jill is the same sarcastic, badass we've always known and love and the game expands upon Carlos and Jill's partnership and how it naturally evolves in a believable way. The dialogue is certainly the same b-movie camp you'd expect from RE and there's some great one-liners, but that's exactly what we want from the series isn't it?
Like I mentioned before this remake is much more action than survival horror, I rarely felt like I needed to conserve resources and always had plenty of ammo. Some might not like that, but I love action based RE when it's done right and this game does it right. Yeah it's ridiculous and over-the-top and unrealistic, but it's so much fun to watch and play. Jill picks up a rail gun that has recoil strong enough to destroy the pavement around her when fired, that would shatter every bone in her body in reality, but if Chris can punch a boulder, Jill can get away with this.
Also speaking of action, every boss fight with Nemesis is just that, super action packed. They're all unique encounters that you have different little gimmicks behind them which you fight in various ways and the high octane cut-scenes after the fights will always have you saying "That looked awesome!" I know that's what I was saying.
All in all while the game is far from the masterpiece of the original, there's quite a bit of reused assets from RE2 Remake and it has a lot of wasted potential like cut content of certain in-game levels and Mercenaries Mode, it does do some cool new things going to greater lengths to flesh out characters and making the gameplay more enjoyable and if you can separate it from the original game it can still be a very fun experience to fans of the action horror genre. Plus it also has some decent replay value due to some bonus unlockable weapons and difficulty modes.
Let's start with the gameplay. It felt almost identical to the Resident Evil 2 Remake and that's fine by me, the controls are very refined, both the movement and shooting feels great and the biggest new mechanic, the "perfect dodge" allowing Jill to role out of the way and unleash a slowed down counter attack shot or Carlos to do a nice punch was a cool addition and certainly plays off the over-the-top action style this game goes for.
Level design though much more linear and without many real puzzles compared to Resident Evil 2 Remake is still very well done and fun to go through and though there's hardly any backtracking, there's still a few secrets to be discovered. Some full segments were cut from the game like the Clock Tower and Raccoon City Park and that's a shame, but what we did get was still great.
The core story is pretty much the same as the original with a few minor details changed or remixed. It's still all about Jill trying to evacuate Raccoon City, save people and escape Nemesis and you still learn more about Umbrella's corruption and bioweapon experimentations. Sure Nikolai is no longer the captain of the UBCS and Carlos visits the RPD instead of Jill to mention a couple changes, but though the journey might be changed a bit, the destination and goal is still the same.
The characters are fleshed out much more this time around especially giving Carlos more of a personality and making Tyrell have a much bigger part in the story as well, Jill is the same sarcastic, badass we've always known and love and the game expands upon Carlos and Jill's partnership and how it naturally evolves in a believable way. The dialogue is certainly the same b-movie camp you'd expect from RE and there's some great one-liners, but that's exactly what we want from the series isn't it?
Like I mentioned before this remake is much more action than survival horror, I rarely felt like I needed to conserve resources and always had plenty of ammo. Some might not like that, but I love action based RE when it's done right and this game does it right. Yeah it's ridiculous and over-the-top and unrealistic, but it's so much fun to watch and play. Jill picks up a rail gun that has recoil strong enough to destroy the pavement around her when fired, that would shatter every bone in her body in reality, but if Chris can punch a boulder, Jill can get away with this.
Also speaking of action, every boss fight with Nemesis is just that, super action packed. They're all unique encounters that you have different little gimmicks behind them which you fight in various ways and the high octane cut-scenes after the fights will always have you saying "That looked awesome!" I know that's what I was saying.
All in all while the game is far from the masterpiece of the original, there's quite a bit of reused assets from RE2 Remake and it has a lot of wasted potential like cut content of certain in-game levels and Mercenaries Mode, it does do some cool new things going to greater lengths to flesh out characters and making the gameplay more enjoyable and if you can separate it from the original game it can still be a very fun experience to fans of the action horror genre. Plus it also has some decent replay value due to some bonus unlockable weapons and difficulty modes.
2019
Capcom were one of the first companies to truly set the standard for remakes with the REmake, but this game raises that bar even higher once again.
Perfect remake keeping everything great about the original while improving the core gameplay and controls in every way possible.
The characters and dialogue are just as charismatic and memorable as you'd expect from Resident Evil, Leon and Claire's big debuts are just as iconic as Chris and Jill's
The story is interesting and expands even further into our knowledge of Umbrella and the T/G virus. Also despite Annette being kinda crazy she is also an antagonist that is easy to sympathize with.
The puzzles are just as creative and fun to solve as always and the level design is absolutely fantastic especially the Raccoon City Police Station
The atmosphere is super intense, being chased around the entire police station by Mr X in non-scripted sequences is one of the most anxiety inducing things I've experienced in any game (especially when you have to solve puzzles while dealing with him) and is absolutely terrifying in the best way possible.
If you enjoy horror games in even the slightest capacity, you owe it to yourself to play this one because it's godly and easily among the best modern horror games I've played
Perfect remake keeping everything great about the original while improving the core gameplay and controls in every way possible.
The characters and dialogue are just as charismatic and memorable as you'd expect from Resident Evil, Leon and Claire's big debuts are just as iconic as Chris and Jill's
The story is interesting and expands even further into our knowledge of Umbrella and the T/G virus. Also despite Annette being kinda crazy she is also an antagonist that is easy to sympathize with.
The puzzles are just as creative and fun to solve as always and the level design is absolutely fantastic especially the Raccoon City Police Station
The atmosphere is super intense, being chased around the entire police station by Mr X in non-scripted sequences is one of the most anxiety inducing things I've experienced in any game (especially when you have to solve puzzles while dealing with him) and is absolutely terrifying in the best way possible.
If you enjoy horror games in even the slightest capacity, you owe it to yourself to play this one because it's godly and easily among the best modern horror games I've played
Haven't played it yet, classic
2016
I have put 50 hours into this game over the course of a few years on PS4 simply because it's the only Arkanoid/Break Out alternative on the system and yeah that's a shame because the maps are horrible and the actual physics feel awful. Really wish there was a decent Arkanoid style game on PS4.
Replayed this in honor of Miura and aside from the manga itself I honestly think this is my fave piece of Berserk media.
While the 1997 anime is incredible, it still only adapts the Golden Age Arc and is incomplete. The Golden Age Arc trilogy of movies are very enjoyable, especially if you're already a fan, but they leave out a lot of finer details and are even more incomplete than the 1997 anime, the 2016/2017 anime has horrible CGI/animation and cuts out some events from the manga so it's easily the worst among Berserk media. I've never played either of the other 2 Berserk games so I have no opinion on them.
However this game right here is the most complete retelling of the story released to date. Starting at the iconic Golden Age Arc and ending at the end of the Hawk of the Millennium Empire Arc after the fight with Ganishka and right before Guts and friends get on the boat for Elfhelm. It does a really good job of fleshing out the characters personalities, motives and development, showing their little day to day interactions with each other and all the other finer details that the newer anime and movies missed out on and it definitely highlights the philosophy of Berserk very well.
The gameplay is that same mindless, stylish addictive hack and slash Musou formula you'd expect with tons of cool combos to unleash and each of the characters have distinctive playstyles, there's much less reused assets than your typical Musou when it comes to the attack animations since there's a smaller cast, all the levels are fun to traverse and the boss fights with the Apostles are actually pretty challenging and fun compared to most Musou styled boss fights. The game also has this Endless Eclipse Mode which is like a horde mode where you fight an endless stream of demons and have to advance through layer after layer of the Eclipse to unlock some bonus content like costumes, characters etc.
My only minor complaints are 1) there's no English dub and Berserk has an amazing English dub so that's disappointing and 2) while there is much more blood than your typical Musou game it still censors some of the more explicit content of the manga.
Still all in all If you enjoy musou games and like Berserk you'll definitely have some fun with this one, hell even if you know nothing about Berserk I'd say this will still do a good job getting you into the series. Oh and Slaying thousands of enemies with Guts (Especially once you unlock the Berserker Armor) or Zodd in his Apostle form just never gets old.
While the 1997 anime is incredible, it still only adapts the Golden Age Arc and is incomplete. The Golden Age Arc trilogy of movies are very enjoyable, especially if you're already a fan, but they leave out a lot of finer details and are even more incomplete than the 1997 anime, the 2016/2017 anime has horrible CGI/animation and cuts out some events from the manga so it's easily the worst among Berserk media. I've never played either of the other 2 Berserk games so I have no opinion on them.
However this game right here is the most complete retelling of the story released to date. Starting at the iconic Golden Age Arc and ending at the end of the Hawk of the Millennium Empire Arc after the fight with Ganishka and right before Guts and friends get on the boat for Elfhelm. It does a really good job of fleshing out the characters personalities, motives and development, showing their little day to day interactions with each other and all the other finer details that the newer anime and movies missed out on and it definitely highlights the philosophy of Berserk very well.
The gameplay is that same mindless, stylish addictive hack and slash Musou formula you'd expect with tons of cool combos to unleash and each of the characters have distinctive playstyles, there's much less reused assets than your typical Musou when it comes to the attack animations since there's a smaller cast, all the levels are fun to traverse and the boss fights with the Apostles are actually pretty challenging and fun compared to most Musou styled boss fights. The game also has this Endless Eclipse Mode which is like a horde mode where you fight an endless stream of demons and have to advance through layer after layer of the Eclipse to unlock some bonus content like costumes, characters etc.
My only minor complaints are 1) there's no English dub and Berserk has an amazing English dub so that's disappointing and 2) while there is much more blood than your typical Musou game it still censors some of the more explicit content of the manga.
Still all in all If you enjoy musou games and like Berserk you'll definitely have some fun with this one, hell even if you know nothing about Berserk I'd say this will still do a good job getting you into the series. Oh and Slaying thousands of enemies with Guts (Especially once you unlock the Berserker Armor) or Zodd in his Apostle form just never gets old.
2014
There's a reason why this game is often labeled as a masterpiece of Survival Horror.
This is a TRUE survival horror experience. You have to be smart with your ammo because it is very limited so it gives a very intense and terrifying atmosphere. The level design is incredible and super enjoyable to traverse, the puzzles are creative and fun and this is of course the start of the iconic Resident Evil saga, the story is really interesting, the dialogue is pure camp in the best way possible and getting to see the origins of characters like Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine and Albert Wesker is just awesome.
This is a TRUE survival horror experience. You have to be smart with your ammo because it is very limited so it gives a very intense and terrifying atmosphere. The level design is incredible and super enjoyable to traverse, the puzzles are creative and fun and this is of course the start of the iconic Resident Evil saga, the story is really interesting, the dialogue is pure camp in the best way possible and getting to see the origins of characters like Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine and Albert Wesker is just awesome.
2016
For as much shit as I give RE 7 I at least had fun playing that game, RE 0 was just a chore to get through.
Positives:
+Atmosphere is just as intense as any of the first 3 classic RE games
+The story was interesting and builds upon the pre-established RE lore of the classic games in a cool way and overall has that B-film camp that I want from RE.
+The main antagonist is absolutely ridiculous in the best possible way and he looks like a Final Fantasy character (Some people would call this a negative, but I loved it)
+Rebecca and Billy are very likable protagonists
+The level design was good and I enjoyed exploring it, especially the Umbrella Training Facility which felt very reminiscent to the Spencer Mansion of the original Resident Evil. Also the puzzles were good too.
Negatives:
-One of the worst game design choices in all of history is this game having no item boxes. That one simple design choice almost makes the whole damn game unplayable. Having to completely empty your inventory in a room and then backtrack to that room later to pick all those items up again is absolutely NOT FUN and just obnoxious padding and a waste of time.
-Partner A.I. can be pretty inconsistent at times not attacking when they should or getting in the way when you're trying to move objects
-Constantly switching between the 2 different characters gets super tedious
-Most enemy design is very bland aside from a couple like the leech humanoid or the Proto-Tyrant
Overall the game has a lot of good things about it that I like and has a lot of unique ideas for its time, but it fails to execute them in an enjoyable way and it results in an experience that just isn't fun. If someone told me they quit playing partially through the game or that they just skipped it altogether I really couldn't blame them.
Positives:
+Atmosphere is just as intense as any of the first 3 classic RE games
+The story was interesting and builds upon the pre-established RE lore of the classic games in a cool way and overall has that B-film camp that I want from RE.
+The main antagonist is absolutely ridiculous in the best possible way and he looks like a Final Fantasy character (Some people would call this a negative, but I loved it)
+Rebecca and Billy are very likable protagonists
+The level design was good and I enjoyed exploring it, especially the Umbrella Training Facility which felt very reminiscent to the Spencer Mansion of the original Resident Evil. Also the puzzles were good too.
Negatives:
-One of the worst game design choices in all of history is this game having no item boxes. That one simple design choice almost makes the whole damn game unplayable. Having to completely empty your inventory in a room and then backtrack to that room later to pick all those items up again is absolutely NOT FUN and just obnoxious padding and a waste of time.
-Partner A.I. can be pretty inconsistent at times not attacking when they should or getting in the way when you're trying to move objects
-Constantly switching between the 2 different characters gets super tedious
-Most enemy design is very bland aside from a couple like the leech humanoid or the Proto-Tyrant
Overall the game has a lot of good things about it that I like and has a lot of unique ideas for its time, but it fails to execute them in an enjoyable way and it results in an experience that just isn't fun. If someone told me they quit playing partially through the game or that they just skipped it altogether I really couldn't blame them.
NieR Gestalt has been one of my top 10 favorite games for years now and I was worried Replicant wouldn't be able to reach the same level due to having a different protagonist and slightly altered script, but after putting 70 hours into the game and reaching the final ending I have no problem with saying that this truly is the definitive NieR experience.
This is everything I love about the original, but with beautiful visual enhancements, a 100% fully voiced script (Even the most minor NPCs are voiced) combat that is closer to Automata which is much more polished, fluid and tight and some added story content including the true canon ending which had previously only been available in a novel that never came to the west.
Let me tell you first hand that I'll always love Father Nier, but I am now a Brother Nier convert and believe him to be the superior protagonist because a lot of things in the story just fit better with Brother Nier.
Like the time-skip for example works much better with Brother Nier. Father NieR hardly changes in appearance or personality because he's already a fully developed adult. Whereas Brother Nier has tons of development and goes from an optimistic, slightly naïve and inexperienced teenager to a battle-hardened and more emotionally cold 21 year-old who has experienced the world's pain and suffering and wants revenge and doesn't care if he has to go on a murderous rampage to get it.
It's like he goes from Link from the Legend of Zelda series to Guts from Berserk (Hell he even has a sword that looks like the Dragonslayer) over the course of 5 years.
Now that I've gotten all that said the rest of this review is mostly going to be for those who don't know anything about NieR. I'm sure most people looking on this page have played the original, but for those who haven't hopefully this helps sell the game for you.
Let me start off by saying NieR has one of the most beautiful OSTs I've ever heard in a video game. Keiichi Okabe is a genius composer and the music is just so incredible and very unique and the fact that the languages of the vocals in the music are sung in accelerated versions of their current forms, as though 1,000 years have truly passed as each one evolved independently really gives NieR an atmosphere unlike any other game. For example, "The Wretched Automaton" is mostly English based, for example, but you can't understand it despite many morphemes being very familiar. It's alien yet familiar and that's the intention, which is absolutely brilliant.
The singer, Emi Evans, created these languages herself. One sounds French, another Gaelic, etc. She did an absolutely marvelous job too. That is a dedication that is unprecedented in most things nowadays, I can't imagine how long it took to create languages specifically for the music in game like that. I could honestly go on about the music for multiple paragraphs by itself, but as amazing as it is there's so much more to love about NieR, so let's talk about some of that now
The story and characters have to be some of the most well written and realistic in the whole media of video games. At the risk of sounding pretentious, the game is very "deep" the world, lore and side quests just captures the human condition so perfectly, truly a story about humanity itself and while there is a lot of nihilistic crushing despair and tragedy, it also never loses that glimmer of hope and love and tells us despite our lives being pointless in the grand scheme of the universe we should always strive to live it to the fullest and cherish every moment we spend with our family and loved ones because how long you live isn't important, but how you spend your life and the impact you have on others is. All the plot twists show just how truly unpredictable life can be and how even when you think you know the full story and things seem very black and white, it's not always that simple. The fact that more and more of the story is revealed on subsequent playthroughs after the first is amazing too, more games should do that, it really gives an incentive to do NG+. I especially love seeing certain plot points viewed from the villain's point of view and without going into spoilers one of the endings is still among one of the most mind-blowing meta things I've experienced in a video game.
NieR is one of the most immersive games I've ever played, all the characters and the story just feel so real. The dialogue and banter between Nier, Weiss, Kainé and Emil is a big part of what makes it so immersive, all the voice acting performances are just phenomenal and the script feels so natural, like a good group of friends just talking to each other and making comments about the world around them.
This is to say nothing of how incredibly unique the gameplay is too. Melding all kinds of genres and styles together into one, NieR is primarily an action RPG/hack n slash, but also has many other elements like bullet hell, side-scrolling platformer, dungeon crawler and even some text-based adventure and visual novel moments makes NieR unlike any other game you'll ever play and a truly unique experience.
What more can I say that hasn't already been said? If you want a truly incredible story with unforgettable characters, a beautiful OST and super fun and unique gameplay I can't recommend NieR enough, truly a one-of-a-kind experience. Peak fiction so they say.
This is everything I love about the original, but with beautiful visual enhancements, a 100% fully voiced script (Even the most minor NPCs are voiced) combat that is closer to Automata which is much more polished, fluid and tight and some added story content including the true canon ending which had previously only been available in a novel that never came to the west.
Let me tell you first hand that I'll always love Father Nier, but I am now a Brother Nier convert and believe him to be the superior protagonist because a lot of things in the story just fit better with Brother Nier.
Like the time-skip for example works much better with Brother Nier. Father NieR hardly changes in appearance or personality because he's already a fully developed adult. Whereas Brother Nier has tons of development and goes from an optimistic, slightly naïve and inexperienced teenager to a battle-hardened and more emotionally cold 21 year-old who has experienced the world's pain and suffering and wants revenge and doesn't care if he has to go on a murderous rampage to get it.
It's like he goes from Link from the Legend of Zelda series to Guts from Berserk (Hell he even has a sword that looks like the Dragonslayer) over the course of 5 years.
Now that I've gotten all that said the rest of this review is mostly going to be for those who don't know anything about NieR. I'm sure most people looking on this page have played the original, but for those who haven't hopefully this helps sell the game for you.
Let me start off by saying NieR has one of the most beautiful OSTs I've ever heard in a video game. Keiichi Okabe is a genius composer and the music is just so incredible and very unique and the fact that the languages of the vocals in the music are sung in accelerated versions of their current forms, as though 1,000 years have truly passed as each one evolved independently really gives NieR an atmosphere unlike any other game. For example, "The Wretched Automaton" is mostly English based, for example, but you can't understand it despite many morphemes being very familiar. It's alien yet familiar and that's the intention, which is absolutely brilliant.
The singer, Emi Evans, created these languages herself. One sounds French, another Gaelic, etc. She did an absolutely marvelous job too. That is a dedication that is unprecedented in most things nowadays, I can't imagine how long it took to create languages specifically for the music in game like that. I could honestly go on about the music for multiple paragraphs by itself, but as amazing as it is there's so much more to love about NieR, so let's talk about some of that now
The story and characters have to be some of the most well written and realistic in the whole media of video games. At the risk of sounding pretentious, the game is very "deep" the world, lore and side quests just captures the human condition so perfectly, truly a story about humanity itself and while there is a lot of nihilistic crushing despair and tragedy, it also never loses that glimmer of hope and love and tells us despite our lives being pointless in the grand scheme of the universe we should always strive to live it to the fullest and cherish every moment we spend with our family and loved ones because how long you live isn't important, but how you spend your life and the impact you have on others is. All the plot twists show just how truly unpredictable life can be and how even when you think you know the full story and things seem very black and white, it's not always that simple. The fact that more and more of the story is revealed on subsequent playthroughs after the first is amazing too, more games should do that, it really gives an incentive to do NG+. I especially love seeing certain plot points viewed from the villain's point of view and without going into spoilers one of the endings is still among one of the most mind-blowing meta things I've experienced in a video game.
NieR is one of the most immersive games I've ever played, all the characters and the story just feel so real. The dialogue and banter between Nier, Weiss, Kainé and Emil is a big part of what makes it so immersive, all the voice acting performances are just phenomenal and the script feels so natural, like a good group of friends just talking to each other and making comments about the world around them.
This is to say nothing of how incredibly unique the gameplay is too. Melding all kinds of genres and styles together into one, NieR is primarily an action RPG/hack n slash, but also has many other elements like bullet hell, side-scrolling platformer, dungeon crawler and even some text-based adventure and visual novel moments makes NieR unlike any other game you'll ever play and a truly unique experience.
What more can I say that hasn't already been said? If you want a truly incredible story with unforgettable characters, a beautiful OST and super fun and unique gameplay I can't recommend NieR enough, truly a one-of-a-kind experience. Peak fiction so they say.