Deathix
2020
You ever liked a game that you were also really disappointed by?
That basically sums up my experience when playing RE3 Remake. I remember seeing this game first get announced and I was unbelievably hyped, but then the reviews came in and everyone said the game was a huge letdown so my expectations going into it could not be lower.
I enjoyed it decently enough but the game did nothing that I hoped it would do. I was hoping it would make the cast more interesting, maybe give Brad and Jill more time spent together so Brad's death hits harder, Nope. Maybe make Nicholai more interesting but no, he still just exists and is overshadowed by Nemesis. The only character that's improved here is Carlos and to be fair, his interactions with Jill are the highlight of the game for me and I actually really grew attached to them by the end of the game unlike in the original. His sections are also pretty fun since he can actually defend himself unlike Sherry or Ada and seeing how Marvin got bit and exploring the RPD before the events of RE2 take place was also really cool to see. But that brings me to another issue I have with the game, they remove areas that were unique to RE3 like the Clock Tower, Park and Dead Factory in favour of adding a Sewer and an RPD section, both of which were already in RE2. This ends up making the game feel less like an RE3 Remake and more like RE2 Remake Lite, with a slightly more aggressive Mr X.
The game just lacks identity and a big reason for that is that the element that should've got the most attention barely gets any. Nemesis sucks here. In the PS1 Original, you really feel like they did as much with him as was possible with the hardware, here he basically only shows up in cutscenes and any surprise factor he had in the OG is completely absent here. He should've been Mr.X on steroids but instead he's just a poor mans version. His bossfights are some of the most fun ones in the series though but still, relegating a character that should've been re-introduced as an icon of survival horror to basically having the same role as Birkin in the 2 Remake is a crying shame.
To sum up, RE1R is the type of remake that replaces the original, RE2R is the type of remake that sits alongside the original and RE3R is the type of remake that makes you appreciate the original way more. I liked it decently enough for the 5 hours that I spent on it and I'm giving it a 7 because I went into it with basically no expectations but realistically, this is probably a 5 or 6 at best.
That basically sums up my experience when playing RE3 Remake. I remember seeing this game first get announced and I was unbelievably hyped, but then the reviews came in and everyone said the game was a huge letdown so my expectations going into it could not be lower.
I enjoyed it decently enough but the game did nothing that I hoped it would do. I was hoping it would make the cast more interesting, maybe give Brad and Jill more time spent together so Brad's death hits harder, Nope. Maybe make Nicholai more interesting but no, he still just exists and is overshadowed by Nemesis. The only character that's improved here is Carlos and to be fair, his interactions with Jill are the highlight of the game for me and I actually really grew attached to them by the end of the game unlike in the original. His sections are also pretty fun since he can actually defend himself unlike Sherry or Ada and seeing how Marvin got bit and exploring the RPD before the events of RE2 take place was also really cool to see. But that brings me to another issue I have with the game, they remove areas that were unique to RE3 like the Clock Tower, Park and Dead Factory in favour of adding a Sewer and an RPD section, both of which were already in RE2. This ends up making the game feel less like an RE3 Remake and more like RE2 Remake Lite, with a slightly more aggressive Mr X.
The game just lacks identity and a big reason for that is that the element that should've got the most attention barely gets any. Nemesis sucks here. In the PS1 Original, you really feel like they did as much with him as was possible with the hardware, here he basically only shows up in cutscenes and any surprise factor he had in the OG is completely absent here. He should've been Mr.X on steroids but instead he's just a poor mans version. His bossfights are some of the most fun ones in the series though but still, relegating a character that should've been re-introduced as an icon of survival horror to basically having the same role as Birkin in the 2 Remake is a crying shame.
To sum up, RE1R is the type of remake that replaces the original, RE2R is the type of remake that sits alongside the original and RE3R is the type of remake that makes you appreciate the original way more. I liked it decently enough for the 5 hours that I spent on it and I'm giving it a 7 because I went into it with basically no expectations but realistically, this is probably a 5 or 6 at best.
1999
Dino Crisis is a decent survival horror game for the PS1 that does change a lot of things from the RE games, some for better and some for worse but it ultimately doesn't do enough to escape the label of it basically being Resident Evil but with dinosaurs.
A few things jumped out at me when starting the game, firstly, the game uses 3D environments rather than pre-rendered backgrounds so visually, I think it aged quite well, same with the voice-acting which is pretty solid for a PS1 era game. It's easier to take characters seriously because of it and on the topic of characters, I think they're pretty good here, the core trio are all distinct with Regina being level-headed and non-chalant, Rick being easy-going and Gail being stern. It's pretty basic but gets the job done in making them feel unique and I'd say they're all likeable, even Gail who starts off seeming like a typical mission-obsessed asshole ended up growing on me. Characters aside though, I wouldn't consider the story here to be very good, the setup is pretty cool but after that a lot of it feels like filler and the fact that you don't keep the files you read in your inventory makes it hard to piece information together so I'd be lying if I said I really cared about Kirk and whatever that whole Third Energy thing he was developing was.
As for the actual survival horror aspects, I think Dino Crisis does a decent job overall with a few short-comings. Dinosaurs here are way more terrifying than zombies in RE since not only are they just way bigger and faster but the coolest part of this game for me is that dinosaurs can break through doors and chase you into other rooms which surprised the hell out of me the first few times this happened. You can sometimes keep dinosaurs out of rooms by utilizing the laser shutters and they're another cool feature adding a bit of choice between deciding to bolt towards the nearest door and risk being chased down or opting to stay and operate the laser shutters to keep dinos out. So that's all good but the problem is that the game is weirdly light on the Dinosaurs. Enemy variety is severely lacking here and with how often you'll be backtracking in this game, dodging the same couple dinosaurs over and over at points, it makes these encounters feel really sterile after a while. When you're not fighting Dinosaurs, you're solving puzzles and I actually really like them here, outside of the DDK passwords, the puzzles are varied, for the most part they require actual thought and they're pretty enjoyable though I would've liked less puzzles and more dinosaurs in my dino crisis but I'll take what I can get.
As for the inventory management, the actual survival aspect of these games, it just sucks here. Regina can carry 10 items with her at all times so you'd think you'll have a decent amount of room to hold items while also leaving spare room. Nope, that's where the mixing system comes in. Throughout the game you get various healing related items, hemostats, med paks, multipliers etc. It's not well explained what combinations create what and the abundance of items you get end up clogging your inventory big time. Aside from healing items, ammo is the only other item that takes up slots in Regina's inventory. Key items and Weapons are just held on Regina at all times and this means that the decision-making of games like RE1 which made those games so engaging is absent here since it's all been simplified. The way you store items is also frustrating with it requiring emergency boxes that need plugs to be opened. This would be fine if not for the fact that unlike item boxes in RE, these boxes are not magically interconnected so if you leave an item behind in one of these and forget about it, it's gone for good unless you can be bothered backtracking a ton which I just wasn't.
The reason why I couldn't be bothered was because of this game's structure. I just didn't find the research facility of Ibis Island to be nearly as fun to go through as something like the Mansion in RE1 because it's much more linear and areas feel very segmented so I never felt like I got the satisfaction of feeling that I got to grips with the areas layout.
The only other part that I want to mention is the replayability which is one of the strongest points of the game. There's 4 endings all of which are different enough to warrant seeing and at different points in the game, you get choices between going with Gail or Rick. The choices you make changes what you'll be doing with Rick's areas being puzzle-focused and Gail's being action-focused. They're different enough to justify a second playthrough and are way better than the choices in RE3.
Overall though, if you're itching for more survival horror action on the PS1 like I was, you can't go wrong with this game. For me it's just a notch below the original RE but it was still a good time.
A few things jumped out at me when starting the game, firstly, the game uses 3D environments rather than pre-rendered backgrounds so visually, I think it aged quite well, same with the voice-acting which is pretty solid for a PS1 era game. It's easier to take characters seriously because of it and on the topic of characters, I think they're pretty good here, the core trio are all distinct with Regina being level-headed and non-chalant, Rick being easy-going and Gail being stern. It's pretty basic but gets the job done in making them feel unique and I'd say they're all likeable, even Gail who starts off seeming like a typical mission-obsessed asshole ended up growing on me. Characters aside though, I wouldn't consider the story here to be very good, the setup is pretty cool but after that a lot of it feels like filler and the fact that you don't keep the files you read in your inventory makes it hard to piece information together so I'd be lying if I said I really cared about Kirk and whatever that whole Third Energy thing he was developing was.
As for the actual survival horror aspects, I think Dino Crisis does a decent job overall with a few short-comings. Dinosaurs here are way more terrifying than zombies in RE since not only are they just way bigger and faster but the coolest part of this game for me is that dinosaurs can break through doors and chase you into other rooms which surprised the hell out of me the first few times this happened. You can sometimes keep dinosaurs out of rooms by utilizing the laser shutters and they're another cool feature adding a bit of choice between deciding to bolt towards the nearest door and risk being chased down or opting to stay and operate the laser shutters to keep dinos out. So that's all good but the problem is that the game is weirdly light on the Dinosaurs. Enemy variety is severely lacking here and with how often you'll be backtracking in this game, dodging the same couple dinosaurs over and over at points, it makes these encounters feel really sterile after a while. When you're not fighting Dinosaurs, you're solving puzzles and I actually really like them here, outside of the DDK passwords, the puzzles are varied, for the most part they require actual thought and they're pretty enjoyable though I would've liked less puzzles and more dinosaurs in my dino crisis but I'll take what I can get.
As for the inventory management, the actual survival aspect of these games, it just sucks here. Regina can carry 10 items with her at all times so you'd think you'll have a decent amount of room to hold items while also leaving spare room. Nope, that's where the mixing system comes in. Throughout the game you get various healing related items, hemostats, med paks, multipliers etc. It's not well explained what combinations create what and the abundance of items you get end up clogging your inventory big time. Aside from healing items, ammo is the only other item that takes up slots in Regina's inventory. Key items and Weapons are just held on Regina at all times and this means that the decision-making of games like RE1 which made those games so engaging is absent here since it's all been simplified. The way you store items is also frustrating with it requiring emergency boxes that need plugs to be opened. This would be fine if not for the fact that unlike item boxes in RE, these boxes are not magically interconnected so if you leave an item behind in one of these and forget about it, it's gone for good unless you can be bothered backtracking a ton which I just wasn't.
The reason why I couldn't be bothered was because of this game's structure. I just didn't find the research facility of Ibis Island to be nearly as fun to go through as something like the Mansion in RE1 because it's much more linear and areas feel very segmented so I never felt like I got the satisfaction of feeling that I got to grips with the areas layout.
The only other part that I want to mention is the replayability which is one of the strongest points of the game. There's 4 endings all of which are different enough to warrant seeing and at different points in the game, you get choices between going with Gail or Rick. The choices you make changes what you'll be doing with Rick's areas being puzzle-focused and Gail's being action-focused. They're different enough to justify a second playthrough and are way better than the choices in RE3.
Overall though, if you're itching for more survival horror action on the PS1 like I was, you can't go wrong with this game. For me it's just a notch below the original RE but it was still a good time.
2005
I love this game, RE4 is the game that got me started on the series and playing it again now with the PS1 entries under my belt makes me like it even more than I did the first time around.
Big part of what makes RE4 so effective is that the game does away with the intentional limitations of the older entries and molds them into being the best parts of the game. For example, the combat, which you usually wanted to avoid in the past games is instead encouraged here with item drops and is the highlight of the game. It's just so damn fun, the random ammo drops mean you'll constantly have to switch up what weapon you're using so it's constantly engaging and transitioning to melee options like the knife is seamless here. Also, suplexing enemies so hard their head explodes will never get old. The game is extremely linear but this works to the game's benefit rather than detriment because the pacing here is perfect. The game is constantly changing up the terrain and enemy types so there's rarely if ever a dull moment in the 16 hours that this game goes on for, not even in the military base. There's also the attache case, inventory was always clunky in the past games but here it's one of the best parts of the game. There's just something so enjoyable about personalising your inventory so items are placed specifically where you want them to be and fiddling around with it so items are stacked neatly scratches an itch I never knew I had.
Obviously the game is heavier on the action than any of the prior games but every mainline resi game upped the action from the previous one so I view RE4s direction to just be a natural progression of that, rather than some betrayal of the series' roots. Horror atleast still plays a role here like in the sections with Verdugo, Regenerators and the UM3 bossfight and for me they're some of the most memorable parts of the game so I appreciate the effort to balance the horror with the action even if the end result feels pretty skewered towards the latter. What I don't really appreciate is the story, I like the village section's tone but once you enter the castle it turns into hammy nonsense and while it is pretty funny and entertaining, it feels like it's from a completely different series and doesn't do much for me, but it's not like I play these games for the story anyway.
Also, I don't know how to segway into this but mercenaries mode is fucking awesome. All the characters feel distinct from eachother and it's insanely fun to experiment with what character does best at a specific stage. Wesker and Hunk are probably my favourites since sending enemies flying across the screen is about as fun as it sounds and getting multiple kills is the easiest with Hunk since all he has is the TMP. I usually don't spend much time with side modes like this in games but I love RE4s gameplay so much that I had to make an exception here.
Prior to replaying the game, I was feeling pretty burnt out on the series and I was thinking about playing something else, but the moment I booted RE4 up, I could not put the controller down. Time just flies by when I play this game, it's honestly magical, it's my favourite RE game and one of my favourite games ever, easily.
Big part of what makes RE4 so effective is that the game does away with the intentional limitations of the older entries and molds them into being the best parts of the game. For example, the combat, which you usually wanted to avoid in the past games is instead encouraged here with item drops and is the highlight of the game. It's just so damn fun, the random ammo drops mean you'll constantly have to switch up what weapon you're using so it's constantly engaging and transitioning to melee options like the knife is seamless here. Also, suplexing enemies so hard their head explodes will never get old. The game is extremely linear but this works to the game's benefit rather than detriment because the pacing here is perfect. The game is constantly changing up the terrain and enemy types so there's rarely if ever a dull moment in the 16 hours that this game goes on for, not even in the military base. There's also the attache case, inventory was always clunky in the past games but here it's one of the best parts of the game. There's just something so enjoyable about personalising your inventory so items are placed specifically where you want them to be and fiddling around with it so items are stacked neatly scratches an itch I never knew I had.
Obviously the game is heavier on the action than any of the prior games but every mainline resi game upped the action from the previous one so I view RE4s direction to just be a natural progression of that, rather than some betrayal of the series' roots. Horror atleast still plays a role here like in the sections with Verdugo, Regenerators and the UM3 bossfight and for me they're some of the most memorable parts of the game so I appreciate the effort to balance the horror with the action even if the end result feels pretty skewered towards the latter. What I don't really appreciate is the story, I like the village section's tone but once you enter the castle it turns into hammy nonsense and while it is pretty funny and entertaining, it feels like it's from a completely different series and doesn't do much for me, but it's not like I play these games for the story anyway.
Also, I don't know how to segway into this but mercenaries mode is fucking awesome. All the characters feel distinct from eachother and it's insanely fun to experiment with what character does best at a specific stage. Wesker and Hunk are probably my favourites since sending enemies flying across the screen is about as fun as it sounds and getting multiple kills is the easiest with Hunk since all he has is the TMP. I usually don't spend much time with side modes like this in games but I love RE4s gameplay so much that I had to make an exception here.
Prior to replaying the game, I was feeling pretty burnt out on the series and I was thinking about playing something else, but the moment I booted RE4 up, I could not put the controller down. Time just flies by when I play this game, it's honestly magical, it's my favourite RE game and one of my favourite games ever, easily.
Tenchu can be a difficult game to get into since like many games of the PS1 era, it makes basically no attempt at explaining its core mechanics to the player in the game itself. However, if you're willing to stick with it and watch a guide or two, what you'll end up with is a deeply rewarding experience that I'd consider to be one of the best games that the PS1 has to offer.
Now I'm no expert on stealth games, my experience with the genre starts and ends with MGS, but what I can say is that I had a ton of fun throughout basically the entire game. Playing Tenchu can be a slow burn with how much waiting is involved but that's what makes the game so enjoyable, having to wait from a safe distance, analyze an enemies movement pattern and find your perfect moment to strike and then get rewarded with a sick looking takedown animation never got old. This is also helped by the excellent level design, there's only 10 of them but the game does an excellent job in forcing you to mix up how you approach a stage from traversing primarily on rooftops in mission 1 to being forced to do all of mission 3 on foot to then having to deal with the uneven terrain of mission 8. Missions are usually short and concise and it's not always clear on where you're meant to go but with how well designed the stages are, I didn't mind it, instead I was happy to spend more time than necessary if it meant I could secure a couple Grand Master ranks and unlock more items. Speaking of items, there's a ton of them here from shurikens, caltrops, poisoned rices, land mines etc and they do an excellent job at giving the player a number of options to diversify the way you tackle a mission.
As I already mentioned, there's a lot of downtime when playing Tenchu as you try to get a view of the enemies while putting up with the game's terribly aged rendering system, luckily though, this game has one of the best OSTs to any game I've played so there's always a tune you can latch onto while waiting around. Seriously, it's insane how good the music is here.
Now I've been singing the games praises and rightfully so, but even I can't deny that this games got some flaws. Aside from the fact that the game doesn't explain its mechanics and the draw distance often leads to instances where you try to slowly nudge yourself towards an out of sight enemy but once you see them they also see you, there's also the fact that combat here is really janky. This is fine for normal encounters since combat is something you're meant to avoid so it wouldn't make sense for it to feel good, but the game has a lot of bossfights where you're forced to deal with the janky combat and they're just not that fun. I just cheesed them with items usually since I didn't want to risk having to redo an entire mission from dying at the boss. Also, replay value could've been better. Replaying missions to get Grand Master ranks was fun but more could've been done with the fact that the game has two playable characters. Rikimaru and Ayame basically both control the same and go through the exact same missions with the only difference being their dialogue in cutscenes which doesn't really warrant playing as both of them.
So yes, its not perfect but what game is. What matters is that It succeeds in all the areas that it needs to and even though I tried bringing up some things wrong with it, I'd be lying if I said any of it really impacted my playthrough. It is a fantastic game and the definition of a hidden gem
Now I'm no expert on stealth games, my experience with the genre starts and ends with MGS, but what I can say is that I had a ton of fun throughout basically the entire game. Playing Tenchu can be a slow burn with how much waiting is involved but that's what makes the game so enjoyable, having to wait from a safe distance, analyze an enemies movement pattern and find your perfect moment to strike and then get rewarded with a sick looking takedown animation never got old. This is also helped by the excellent level design, there's only 10 of them but the game does an excellent job in forcing you to mix up how you approach a stage from traversing primarily on rooftops in mission 1 to being forced to do all of mission 3 on foot to then having to deal with the uneven terrain of mission 8. Missions are usually short and concise and it's not always clear on where you're meant to go but with how well designed the stages are, I didn't mind it, instead I was happy to spend more time than necessary if it meant I could secure a couple Grand Master ranks and unlock more items. Speaking of items, there's a ton of them here from shurikens, caltrops, poisoned rices, land mines etc and they do an excellent job at giving the player a number of options to diversify the way you tackle a mission.
As I already mentioned, there's a lot of downtime when playing Tenchu as you try to get a view of the enemies while putting up with the game's terribly aged rendering system, luckily though, this game has one of the best OSTs to any game I've played so there's always a tune you can latch onto while waiting around. Seriously, it's insane how good the music is here.
Now I've been singing the games praises and rightfully so, but even I can't deny that this games got some flaws. Aside from the fact that the game doesn't explain its mechanics and the draw distance often leads to instances where you try to slowly nudge yourself towards an out of sight enemy but once you see them they also see you, there's also the fact that combat here is really janky. This is fine for normal encounters since combat is something you're meant to avoid so it wouldn't make sense for it to feel good, but the game has a lot of bossfights where you're forced to deal with the janky combat and they're just not that fun. I just cheesed them with items usually since I didn't want to risk having to redo an entire mission from dying at the boss. Also, replay value could've been better. Replaying missions to get Grand Master ranks was fun but more could've been done with the fact that the game has two playable characters. Rikimaru and Ayame basically both control the same and go through the exact same missions with the only difference being their dialogue in cutscenes which doesn't really warrant playing as both of them.
So yes, its not perfect but what game is. What matters is that It succeeds in all the areas that it needs to and even though I tried bringing up some things wrong with it, I'd be lying if I said any of it really impacted my playthrough. It is a fantastic game and the definition of a hidden gem
2000
Overall, I found Dino Crisis to be a decent PS1 survival horror game but one of my main gripes was that it didn't justifiy its title or concept with how few dinosaurs there actually are and the journey often felt a little stale because of it. Luckily, the same can't be said about Dino Crisis 2 since you fight more dinosaurs in the first 5 mins here than you would in all of DC1 and it makes the game so much more memorable.
Gone is the mixed bag of survival horror elements and in their place is action-packed arcadey fun and I much prefer this approach. The gameplay loop here is incredibly addicting. The vast majority of the game boils down to mowing down hoards of dinosaurs room to room which may sound repetitive but the game manages to keep things fresh with constantly giving you new weapons to play around with and the game has a healthy amount of set pieces to keep things fresh though they're hit and miss, I particularly liked the rail-shooting segments but the underwater segment can go fuck itself. It's a very easy game and it's nearly impossible to not be fully stocked up on healing items with how dirt cheap they are, but that's fine, since the fun part isn't beating it but rather, enjoyment from going for high scores, getting your combo meter up and getting those No Damage bonuses which shower you with points if you're able to get them.
A lot of issues I had with DC1 are rectified here. There's greater weapon and enemy variety (some are annoying though like the Inostrancevia), the arduous mixing system is gone and areas are much more open so there is no point where dinosaurs body block you from moving forward like they did in DC1. You also keep the files and memos you read with you so it's easier to get a grasp on the story and thanks to it, I can say, with confidence, that this story is some stupid ass shit. I didn't really care for it all that much and I found Dylan to just be whatever compared to Gail and Rick, but when you get all the revelations in the last 5 mins of the game, I can't lie, it makes it all worth it through how batshit insane it is.
Unlike DC1, the game uses pre-rendered backgrounds and I'd say visually it's a slight visual stepdown because of it, and the fixed camera often obscures the enemies from your view which spawn anytime the angle changes. With that said, this is basically the perfect sequel. It overhauls the series and puts it into a genre which is more harmonic with its concept and gives it a much needed sense of identity while mending most of the shortcomings of the first game. S'good
Gone is the mixed bag of survival horror elements and in their place is action-packed arcadey fun and I much prefer this approach. The gameplay loop here is incredibly addicting. The vast majority of the game boils down to mowing down hoards of dinosaurs room to room which may sound repetitive but the game manages to keep things fresh with constantly giving you new weapons to play around with and the game has a healthy amount of set pieces to keep things fresh though they're hit and miss, I particularly liked the rail-shooting segments but the underwater segment can go fuck itself. It's a very easy game and it's nearly impossible to not be fully stocked up on healing items with how dirt cheap they are, but that's fine, since the fun part isn't beating it but rather, enjoyment from going for high scores, getting your combo meter up and getting those No Damage bonuses which shower you with points if you're able to get them.
A lot of issues I had with DC1 are rectified here. There's greater weapon and enemy variety (some are annoying though like the Inostrancevia), the arduous mixing system is gone and areas are much more open so there is no point where dinosaurs body block you from moving forward like they did in DC1. You also keep the files and memos you read with you so it's easier to get a grasp on the story and thanks to it, I can say, with confidence, that this story is some stupid ass shit. I didn't really care for it all that much and I found Dylan to just be whatever compared to Gail and Rick, but when you get all the revelations in the last 5 mins of the game, I can't lie, it makes it all worth it through how batshit insane it is.
Unlike DC1, the game uses pre-rendered backgrounds and I'd say visually it's a slight visual stepdown because of it, and the fixed camera often obscures the enemies from your view which spawn anytime the angle changes. With that said, this is basically the perfect sequel. It overhauls the series and puts it into a genre which is more harmonic with its concept and gives it a much needed sense of identity while mending most of the shortcomings of the first game. S'good
I've beaten almost 200 games so far and none of them made me feel the way Blood Omen 2 did. It's not fundamentally broken or unplayable, but it's like if you distilled the idea of having a boring game to its purest essence, then this game would be the putrid concoction that would come out of it. Anytime I picked it up, I dreaded the fact that I wasn't close to being done with it. I hate this game.
It didn't start off that way to be fair, I had fun for the first two chapters because the game does add some positive changes to combat. The sound design saw a big step up and Kain's claws felt way more impacful and satisfying than the flaccid wraith blade that Raziel used, the lock-on and dodge also feel much more responsive in this game. The biggest thing I liked though, was the lore meter which increased as Kain drew blood from enemies and with enough blood siphoned, Kain's health would increase. This seemed like such an amazing addition since it meant that enemy encounters actually served a purpose now so for once in this series, I felt motivated to fight enemies. I liked the game for the first hour, but then chapter 3 happened, took me an hour and a half to finish and it just felt like more of the same. Then chapter 4 was more of the same, then chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 etc.
Every chapter in this game feels the exact same, it's the videogame equivalent of being in groundhog's day. As you progress through the game you get these Dark Gifts from bosses and I thought they'd be used to spice up level design and offer some interesting puzzles but no, the way these are utilized is so surface-level. You see a big gap? Use the Jump spell. You see an NPC in an area you can't get to? Use the charm spell. You see a green seal? Use Telekinesis on it. It's so bland but you do these in every level multiple times and it's Boring.
When you're not doing the same thing with dark gifts for the 20th time in a stage, you're fighting enemies and almost every enemy encounter is the exact same shit. SR2 had braindead combat where you mashed the square button and could sometimes kill enemies in one swing, it sucked, but was atleast quickly over and done with. In contrast to this, Blood Omen 2 prioritizes defense since enemies seem to be infatuated with blocking Kain's attack in this game so you're best off blocking their attacks and trying to punish afterwards. If you can hold block as the enemy hits Kain 5 times, then dodge out of the way in case they do an uninterruptible/unblockable attack then congratulations, you beat Blood Omen 2 since that's what every single enemy encounter boils down to, even the final 2 phases of the final boss are beaten in the same vein of blocking 5 attacks. dodging their next attack and then attacking back. By the endgame, the game decides to break its own rules by having enemies that can't be punished even when they should be so you're best off hitting them with Immolate, one of the dark gifts that one shots enemies once the bar is full which can only be done by blocking attacks. So most of the time, you're just stood there waiting for the enemies to attack and it's Boring, yet the game has the uncanny ability to turn to being aneurym-inducingly annoying the instant you fight two or more enemies since they'll circle around you to hit you where you can't block and disengaging from combat to get a better position feels so stiff here. Keep in mind you're best off fighting and killing as many enemies as you can to get your lore meter up, and that includes watching the same blood-sucking animation over and over and over and over and over again and I think I spent almost 2 hours of my full playthrough doing nothing other than watching this animation play.
When you're not fighting enemies or using dark gifts, you're flipping switches. SR1 had a hard-on for block-pushing whereas BO2 seems to have a fetish for having you flip switches. Blood Omen 2s idea of good level design is by having a locked door that you need to turn the only switch in the room to open and you do this ad nauseum throughout the game, to call this game's level design amateurish is selling it short. The game does try to have puzzles, and some are okay, but they're extremely few and far apart. The game even has a few block pushing puzzles and they're somehow worse here than in SR1 since you're only able to push them forward and backwards from where Kain is standing. But that's the jist of BO2s gameplay, it's basically like 17 hours of unnecessarily long combat encounters and laughably banal puzzles. It's insane how this game manages to be the longest LoK game by some margin yet is the most empty and desolate in its gameplay.
But okay the gameplay is a travesty but gameplay always felt like an afterthought when compared to the polish and care that goes into the plot of these games so how good is BO2's story? Well, BO2 decides to take the series in a bold new direction by being the only LoK game to have an underwhelming plot. It's set in an alternate timeline and I never got over the dissonance that's felt between this game and the other entries so it was hard to get invested. I also don't really care for how they're treating Kain's character here, I hate the idea of him getting usurped after BO1s ending because to me it just lessens the impact of the first games ending, other than that Kain just doesn't do much here. He spends the whole game doing what the resistance tells him to do like he's an obedient errand boy, even getting betrayed in the process. Characters like Janus and Vorridor make a return here but it's never explained how they're alive so their appearances are more confusing than anything and in terms of graphics, dialogue and cutscene direction this game is uncharacteristically weak when compared to the rest of the games. A lot of the designs look so strange with Kain looking like a rodent and Vorridor looking like a reptile and in cutscenes the models are so wooden, which is made blatantly apparent when contrasted with how expressive SR2s characters were. The shakespearean dialogue of past games is heavily decreased here. Dialogue as a whole is just lesser here, there are no vista markers that have Kain comment on his situation and it's a damn shame because their addition could've really helped these areas not feel as vacant as they end up being.
I wasn't even going to originally play BO2 because I was aware of how this game is viewed by the fanbase but curiosity got the better of me and I ended up suffering through it despite wanting to put it down multiple times. If I could turn back time like I'm Mobius then I would because this game did nothing for me, you're better off just watching a plot recap and skipping straight to Defiance. This is probably the worst thing I've ever played
It didn't start off that way to be fair, I had fun for the first two chapters because the game does add some positive changes to combat. The sound design saw a big step up and Kain's claws felt way more impacful and satisfying than the flaccid wraith blade that Raziel used, the lock-on and dodge also feel much more responsive in this game. The biggest thing I liked though, was the lore meter which increased as Kain drew blood from enemies and with enough blood siphoned, Kain's health would increase. This seemed like such an amazing addition since it meant that enemy encounters actually served a purpose now so for once in this series, I felt motivated to fight enemies. I liked the game for the first hour, but then chapter 3 happened, took me an hour and a half to finish and it just felt like more of the same. Then chapter 4 was more of the same, then chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 etc.
Every chapter in this game feels the exact same, it's the videogame equivalent of being in groundhog's day. As you progress through the game you get these Dark Gifts from bosses and I thought they'd be used to spice up level design and offer some interesting puzzles but no, the way these are utilized is so surface-level. You see a big gap? Use the Jump spell. You see an NPC in an area you can't get to? Use the charm spell. You see a green seal? Use Telekinesis on it. It's so bland but you do these in every level multiple times and it's Boring.
When you're not doing the same thing with dark gifts for the 20th time in a stage, you're fighting enemies and almost every enemy encounter is the exact same shit. SR2 had braindead combat where you mashed the square button and could sometimes kill enemies in one swing, it sucked, but was atleast quickly over and done with. In contrast to this, Blood Omen 2 prioritizes defense since enemies seem to be infatuated with blocking Kain's attack in this game so you're best off blocking their attacks and trying to punish afterwards. If you can hold block as the enemy hits Kain 5 times, then dodge out of the way in case they do an uninterruptible/unblockable attack then congratulations, you beat Blood Omen 2 since that's what every single enemy encounter boils down to, even the final 2 phases of the final boss are beaten in the same vein of blocking 5 attacks. dodging their next attack and then attacking back. By the endgame, the game decides to break its own rules by having enemies that can't be punished even when they should be so you're best off hitting them with Immolate, one of the dark gifts that one shots enemies once the bar is full which can only be done by blocking attacks. So most of the time, you're just stood there waiting for the enemies to attack and it's Boring, yet the game has the uncanny ability to turn to being aneurym-inducingly annoying the instant you fight two or more enemies since they'll circle around you to hit you where you can't block and disengaging from combat to get a better position feels so stiff here. Keep in mind you're best off fighting and killing as many enemies as you can to get your lore meter up, and that includes watching the same blood-sucking animation over and over and over and over and over again and I think I spent almost 2 hours of my full playthrough doing nothing other than watching this animation play.
When you're not fighting enemies or using dark gifts, you're flipping switches. SR1 had a hard-on for block-pushing whereas BO2 seems to have a fetish for having you flip switches. Blood Omen 2s idea of good level design is by having a locked door that you need to turn the only switch in the room to open and you do this ad nauseum throughout the game, to call this game's level design amateurish is selling it short. The game does try to have puzzles, and some are okay, but they're extremely few and far apart. The game even has a few block pushing puzzles and they're somehow worse here than in SR1 since you're only able to push them forward and backwards from where Kain is standing. But that's the jist of BO2s gameplay, it's basically like 17 hours of unnecessarily long combat encounters and laughably banal puzzles. It's insane how this game manages to be the longest LoK game by some margin yet is the most empty and desolate in its gameplay.
But okay the gameplay is a travesty but gameplay always felt like an afterthought when compared to the polish and care that goes into the plot of these games so how good is BO2's story? Well, BO2 decides to take the series in a bold new direction by being the only LoK game to have an underwhelming plot. It's set in an alternate timeline and I never got over the dissonance that's felt between this game and the other entries so it was hard to get invested. I also don't really care for how they're treating Kain's character here, I hate the idea of him getting usurped after BO1s ending because to me it just lessens the impact of the first games ending, other than that Kain just doesn't do much here. He spends the whole game doing what the resistance tells him to do like he's an obedient errand boy, even getting betrayed in the process. Characters like Janus and Vorridor make a return here but it's never explained how they're alive so their appearances are more confusing than anything and in terms of graphics, dialogue and cutscene direction this game is uncharacteristically weak when compared to the rest of the games. A lot of the designs look so strange with Kain looking like a rodent and Vorridor looking like a reptile and in cutscenes the models are so wooden, which is made blatantly apparent when contrasted with how expressive SR2s characters were. The shakespearean dialogue of past games is heavily decreased here. Dialogue as a whole is just lesser here, there are no vista markers that have Kain comment on his situation and it's a damn shame because their addition could've really helped these areas not feel as vacant as they end up being.
I wasn't even going to originally play BO2 because I was aware of how this game is viewed by the fanbase but curiosity got the better of me and I ended up suffering through it despite wanting to put it down multiple times. If I could turn back time like I'm Mobius then I would because this game did nothing for me, you're better off just watching a plot recap and skipping straight to Defiance. This is probably the worst thing I've ever played
1998
RPGs and Horror Games are my favourite genres and Vagrant Story might just be my favourite game that I played last year. Parasite Eve is a blend of all 3 and to no surprise, I enjoyed every second of it.
Everything about this game slaps. The story is really enjoyable in the same way a B-horror movie is and once I learned to just not take the biological jargon about the mitochondria and sperm too seriously, I had a blast with it. I quite like the characters too, Aya is a badass and a lot of the dialogue feels really natural and compelling, especially the exchanges early on between Baker, Daniel and Aya. The game also bolsters a really cool aesthetic and a lot of CGI cutscenes, with my favourites being the scenes of the animals mutating since they feel like they're ripped straight out of a John Carpenter film.
I also really like the gameplay. The combat is a bit similar to Vagrant Story only with way less menu management and an emphasis on dodging attacks and minimizing an enemies' damage after learning their attack radius was pretty satisfying (even if some attacks feel impossible to dodge). You can also take apart weapons in order to give other weapons a variety of perks so old weapons mostly have a use and experimenting with different setups and abilities was quite enjoyable. The game also has RE style exploration and I enjoy it here more than I usually would since instead of exploring one huge area for the majority of the game, Parasite Eve instead has you exploring a variety of much smaller areas and I personally much prefer this approach.
I don't really have any big flaws with the game. I guess the ending is a little lacklustre, the instant kill parts can be annoying, the game isn't very scary at all and the sewer area is pretty frustrating not just in the way the area is designed, but also due to the bat enemies that constantly blind you. For me though, the problems mean very little in the grand scheme of things.
The game is a very short (for an RPG) and tight package that felt like it was tailor-made for my tastes and it instantly clicked with me in a way that very few games do. It might be a little early to say this, but I think this is one of my favourite games of all time
Everything about this game slaps. The story is really enjoyable in the same way a B-horror movie is and once I learned to just not take the biological jargon about the mitochondria and sperm too seriously, I had a blast with it. I quite like the characters too, Aya is a badass and a lot of the dialogue feels really natural and compelling, especially the exchanges early on between Baker, Daniel and Aya. The game also bolsters a really cool aesthetic and a lot of CGI cutscenes, with my favourites being the scenes of the animals mutating since they feel like they're ripped straight out of a John Carpenter film.
I also really like the gameplay. The combat is a bit similar to Vagrant Story only with way less menu management and an emphasis on dodging attacks and minimizing an enemies' damage after learning their attack radius was pretty satisfying (even if some attacks feel impossible to dodge). You can also take apart weapons in order to give other weapons a variety of perks so old weapons mostly have a use and experimenting with different setups and abilities was quite enjoyable. The game also has RE style exploration and I enjoy it here more than I usually would since instead of exploring one huge area for the majority of the game, Parasite Eve instead has you exploring a variety of much smaller areas and I personally much prefer this approach.
I don't really have any big flaws with the game. I guess the ending is a little lacklustre, the instant kill parts can be annoying, the game isn't very scary at all and the sewer area is pretty frustrating not just in the way the area is designed, but also due to the bat enemies that constantly blind you. For me though, the problems mean very little in the grand scheme of things.
The game is a very short (for an RPG) and tight package that felt like it was tailor-made for my tastes and it instantly clicked with me in a way that very few games do. It might be a little early to say this, but I think this is one of my favourite games of all time
Legacy of Kain is a series I was aware of for over a decade after seeing it in a random Top 10 Bossfights video and it's been etched into my mind ever since I first heard about its concept of basically being a conflict between two characters that spans multiple games told with Shakesperean dialogue. Despite this though, I haven't got around to playing the series properly until now for a variety of reasons, one of which was that, from the outside, Blood Omen seemed so dated. But, after beating it I can safely say that this game was actually a pleasant surprise.
That's not to say this game isn't without faults, because it's actually got a ton of them. For starters, I technically "played" the PS1 version, but I don't feel confident in saying that since what I really did was wait and stare at the screen since this version has loading screens up the ass for just about everything. I got used to it eventually, but it took a lot of adjusting and deterred me from going to the menu and experimenting with different armors, spells, items and weapons since I just wanted to get a move on when I was nearing the end of the game.
The game's combat is another low point, the top down view just leads to a lot of janky hitboxes where I swear I'm hitting the enemy but my sword just goes through them without doing anything. In the early game, combat is just this awkward game of distance management where you're trying to hit the enemy with the tip of your sword so you hit them while being out of their range and it's just clunky. Not too far into the game you get enemies who hit you with homing projectiles that knock you back and fighting them is an absolute endurance test of getting pelted by their attacks while trying to nudge yourself a little closer to them and the amount of times I heard "The Heart of Darkness" when fighting them was driving me insane. If the entire game consisted of this, I'd probably give this 1 star, but you get the Repel spell early on which makes you invulnerable and when combined with the Chaos armor that reflects damage you'd take onto the enemies, it breaks the game in half. It's cheap, and trivializes any challenge that the game would otherwise have, but if it's a substitute for being frustrated with the game's whack combat then I'll take it. There is some fun to do be had though even with combat that feels as stilted as it does here, mainly in the form of spells. They range from something as lame as turning on the lights in a room to shooting lightning to draining the blood and soul of enemies and I did enjoy playing around with almost all of them. I wish I could say the same about the weapons and armors you get but the reality is that the majority of these suck. The Havoc and Malice axes as well as the Soul Reaver prevent you from using spells at all so they're automatically useless and the Bone and Flesh armor might aswell do nothing with how insignificant their perks are.
When it comes to Dungeons, they're pretty bland, occasionally they'll have you utilizing some cool gimmicks that mostly involve mind control, but the majority of the time is spent going through a linear set of rooms, avoiding spikes and killing enemies for a few rooms with very little that's done to make the areas stand out from eachother.
And yet despite all that, I forget all of this games shortcomings anytime I stepped on a vista marker and heard Kain commenting on the world and his own circumstances. Simon Templeman does an immaculate job here and I can't stress enough how much it adds to the game. Particularly to the items, functionally they all kill enemies without much to differentiate them but the descriptions that Kain gives them makes them seem so much more interesting. As for the story, it's pretty good but not what I expected. I thought the game would focus on Kain's corruption as he'd slowly succumbed to his vampiric powers but he seems pretty accustomed to them right from the get go. He's meant to be an Anti-hero but his cynicism and disdain for any creature he encounters makes him feel downright villainous though he's still extremely entertaining and the highlight of the game.
I loved the setting of the slowly dying Nosgoth too with it being a cool blend of fantasy and medieval europe. The world-building is pretty strong and I really enjoyed learning about how volatile the land is due to needing to be maintained by the 9 pillars or about the turbulent history between the Sarafan and the Vampires. The story gets quite convoluted near the end but is still overall really solid and it's all stitched together with an incredible soundtrack that fits the grandiose nature of the game to a T.
So that's Blood Omen, a game I was dreading to check out but ended up being pretty decent all things considered. It's got plenty of poor designs decisions that sully the experience but for the most part they're just minor annoyance and the overall package is held up by fantastic narration, world-building and music.
That's not to say this game isn't without faults, because it's actually got a ton of them. For starters, I technically "played" the PS1 version, but I don't feel confident in saying that since what I really did was wait and stare at the screen since this version has loading screens up the ass for just about everything. I got used to it eventually, but it took a lot of adjusting and deterred me from going to the menu and experimenting with different armors, spells, items and weapons since I just wanted to get a move on when I was nearing the end of the game.
The game's combat is another low point, the top down view just leads to a lot of janky hitboxes where I swear I'm hitting the enemy but my sword just goes through them without doing anything. In the early game, combat is just this awkward game of distance management where you're trying to hit the enemy with the tip of your sword so you hit them while being out of their range and it's just clunky. Not too far into the game you get enemies who hit you with homing projectiles that knock you back and fighting them is an absolute endurance test of getting pelted by their attacks while trying to nudge yourself a little closer to them and the amount of times I heard "The Heart of Darkness" when fighting them was driving me insane. If the entire game consisted of this, I'd probably give this 1 star, but you get the Repel spell early on which makes you invulnerable and when combined with the Chaos armor that reflects damage you'd take onto the enemies, it breaks the game in half. It's cheap, and trivializes any challenge that the game would otherwise have, but if it's a substitute for being frustrated with the game's whack combat then I'll take it. There is some fun to do be had though even with combat that feels as stilted as it does here, mainly in the form of spells. They range from something as lame as turning on the lights in a room to shooting lightning to draining the blood and soul of enemies and I did enjoy playing around with almost all of them. I wish I could say the same about the weapons and armors you get but the reality is that the majority of these suck. The Havoc and Malice axes as well as the Soul Reaver prevent you from using spells at all so they're automatically useless and the Bone and Flesh armor might aswell do nothing with how insignificant their perks are.
When it comes to Dungeons, they're pretty bland, occasionally they'll have you utilizing some cool gimmicks that mostly involve mind control, but the majority of the time is spent going through a linear set of rooms, avoiding spikes and killing enemies for a few rooms with very little that's done to make the areas stand out from eachother.
And yet despite all that, I forget all of this games shortcomings anytime I stepped on a vista marker and heard Kain commenting on the world and his own circumstances. Simon Templeman does an immaculate job here and I can't stress enough how much it adds to the game. Particularly to the items, functionally they all kill enemies without much to differentiate them but the descriptions that Kain gives them makes them seem so much more interesting. As for the story, it's pretty good but not what I expected. I thought the game would focus on Kain's corruption as he'd slowly succumbed to his vampiric powers but he seems pretty accustomed to them right from the get go. He's meant to be an Anti-hero but his cynicism and disdain for any creature he encounters makes him feel downright villainous though he's still extremely entertaining and the highlight of the game.
I loved the setting of the slowly dying Nosgoth too with it being a cool blend of fantasy and medieval europe. The world-building is pretty strong and I really enjoyed learning about how volatile the land is due to needing to be maintained by the 9 pillars or about the turbulent history between the Sarafan and the Vampires. The story gets quite convoluted near the end but is still overall really solid and it's all stitched together with an incredible soundtrack that fits the grandiose nature of the game to a T.
So that's Blood Omen, a game I was dreading to check out but ended up being pretty decent all things considered. It's got plenty of poor designs decisions that sully the experience but for the most part they're just minor annoyance and the overall package is held up by fantastic narration, world-building and music.
1996
When I first started getting into the Resident Evil games, the original RE1 is an entry I initially skipped after hearing how apparently dated it is and how the remake makes it obsolete. But, after playing RE5's Lost in Nightmares chapter, I was itching for more classic RE action, so I finally checked it out and I had a great time with it.
RE1 is a game I just couldn't stop playing (and that goes for RE2 and 3 aswell) due to the amount of decision-making that is constantly present. From deciding which weapon to carry, to what enemies are worth killing to how many healing items you should have with you, you constantly have to think about your actions and it makes for a game that's really engaging. Ink Ribbons are an especially awesome mechanic and as time goes on, and we take saving for granted more and more, I think it only makes the fact that RE essentially weaponizes saves into being another source of tension for the player more effective with time.
I like the premise too, it's very classic horror and the focus on comradery across both campaigns is neat, but any immersion one could have in the plot is nuked by the completely directionless voice-acting. It's awful, but it's hilarious too and charming in how much of a sign of the times it is.
The game is far from perfect. I'm disappointed by the way it's structured because exploring the mansion and slowly getting to grips with its layout was really enjoyable, but after you get the 4 crests the game opts for more isolated areas like the Guardhouse or the Lab which aren't nearly as fun to explore. Another issue for me would be the Hunters, if there's two of them they often can combo you to death which is infuriating when it happens and after their introduction, they make the subsequent zombie encounters feel pretty redundant. My last issue would be the bossfights, they're just really boring, design wise (big snake, big plant and big spider whoa) and gameplay wise. They have like 1 attack each and are only there to drain you of resources which regular enemies already do so the boss encounters just feel really unnecessary.
So yeah the game has flaws, and I wouldn't consider it to be very scary either, but I still enjoyed it a lot and I appreciate it for being one of the pioneers of the survival horror genre.
RE1 is a game I just couldn't stop playing (and that goes for RE2 and 3 aswell) due to the amount of decision-making that is constantly present. From deciding which weapon to carry, to what enemies are worth killing to how many healing items you should have with you, you constantly have to think about your actions and it makes for a game that's really engaging. Ink Ribbons are an especially awesome mechanic and as time goes on, and we take saving for granted more and more, I think it only makes the fact that RE essentially weaponizes saves into being another source of tension for the player more effective with time.
I like the premise too, it's very classic horror and the focus on comradery across both campaigns is neat, but any immersion one could have in the plot is nuked by the completely directionless voice-acting. It's awful, but it's hilarious too and charming in how much of a sign of the times it is.
The game is far from perfect. I'm disappointed by the way it's structured because exploring the mansion and slowly getting to grips with its layout was really enjoyable, but after you get the 4 crests the game opts for more isolated areas like the Guardhouse or the Lab which aren't nearly as fun to explore. Another issue for me would be the Hunters, if there's two of them they often can combo you to death which is infuriating when it happens and after their introduction, they make the subsequent zombie encounters feel pretty redundant. My last issue would be the bossfights, they're just really boring, design wise (big snake, big plant and big spider whoa) and gameplay wise. They have like 1 attack each and are only there to drain you of resources which regular enemies already do so the boss encounters just feel really unnecessary.
So yeah the game has flaws, and I wouldn't consider it to be very scary either, but I still enjoyed it a lot and I appreciate it for being one of the pioneers of the survival horror genre.
2005
Haunting Ground is a tough one to review, it's a spiritual successor to Clock Tower 3 which is closer in tone to the first game in the series while also being a very fundamentally sound game in its own right. But even though I liked a lot of the game, it didn't really resonate with me at all.
The setup creates a lot of mystery and intrigue that kept me going through the early parts of the game but my interest really waned in the latter half since a lot of the revelations at that point lean too much on supernatural elements that betray the foreboding and gothic atmosphere that the game has. I also find the game to dip in quality when it came to the chasers, Debilitas and Daniella are both pretty freaky but in completely different ways and are really memorable compared to Riccardo who is just a hooded guy with a gun. I'd say the story as a whole is fine, it's got that PS2 survival horror vibe that I love, some memorable characters and a cool reveal near the end but nothing that really stood out to me.
The gameplay is the main highlight here with the main aspect of it being Hewie, your dog companion who can help with puzzles, fending off chasers and is just all around adorable. When you first get him though I was super worried, he was barely responding to my actions and making him follow you for just a few rooms was an extreme chore, but shortly after you pet him, feed him jerky and occasionally scold him, he becomes really obedient and his behavior becomes a non-issue. The puzzles which utilize Hewie are probably my favourite parts of the game, they range from basic stuff like having him crawl through holes to pick up items to having to pick up the scent of a plant that you need to other neat ways. Other puzzles are decent but some can be brute-forced and a lot of them boil down to writing down blatant words onto a plate and then inserting then into golems but it's still enjoyable.
The other key aspect of the game would be running away from chasers, it works pretty similarly to how it did in CT3 but slightly more refined I'd say. There is no bar that shows you how panicked Fiona and instead her panic state is indicated via visual effects with the screen becoming more blurry and desaturated as Fiona's panic state rises. I really like this since it does wonders in being stress-inducing and is also amplified by how difficult she is to control when in a state of panic. Another thing I like is how each chaser has a completely different theme, it helps them feel more distinct. But with that said, I don't find this game to be very scary, any encounter with a chaser can be solved by flicking up on the d-pad to have Hewie bite them and then running away into a hide spot. The game tries to make it a bit more interesting by having items that you can throw or plant on the ground that can stun the chasers but they're really janky and getting them is really awkward since you have to do this luck-based minigame that's just lame so I didn't bother. After a while these encounters start feeling really sterile, especially when you're trying to explore the castle but have to spend minutes getting away from the chasers first, it just ends up halting progression without accomplishing much else.
But even after saying all this I don't really have any strong emotions towards this game. The negatives are really minor (except the final boss, Fuck Him) and didn't impact my overall enjoyment too much and I like a good chunk of what's here, but I don't really love anything. It's a vague statement that I usually hate saying but Haunting Ground just didn't click with me.
The setup creates a lot of mystery and intrigue that kept me going through the early parts of the game but my interest really waned in the latter half since a lot of the revelations at that point lean too much on supernatural elements that betray the foreboding and gothic atmosphere that the game has. I also find the game to dip in quality when it came to the chasers, Debilitas and Daniella are both pretty freaky but in completely different ways and are really memorable compared to Riccardo who is just a hooded guy with a gun. I'd say the story as a whole is fine, it's got that PS2 survival horror vibe that I love, some memorable characters and a cool reveal near the end but nothing that really stood out to me.
The gameplay is the main highlight here with the main aspect of it being Hewie, your dog companion who can help with puzzles, fending off chasers and is just all around adorable. When you first get him though I was super worried, he was barely responding to my actions and making him follow you for just a few rooms was an extreme chore, but shortly after you pet him, feed him jerky and occasionally scold him, he becomes really obedient and his behavior becomes a non-issue. The puzzles which utilize Hewie are probably my favourite parts of the game, they range from basic stuff like having him crawl through holes to pick up items to having to pick up the scent of a plant that you need to other neat ways. Other puzzles are decent but some can be brute-forced and a lot of them boil down to writing down blatant words onto a plate and then inserting then into golems but it's still enjoyable.
The other key aspect of the game would be running away from chasers, it works pretty similarly to how it did in CT3 but slightly more refined I'd say. There is no bar that shows you how panicked Fiona and instead her panic state is indicated via visual effects with the screen becoming more blurry and desaturated as Fiona's panic state rises. I really like this since it does wonders in being stress-inducing and is also amplified by how difficult she is to control when in a state of panic. Another thing I like is how each chaser has a completely different theme, it helps them feel more distinct. But with that said, I don't find this game to be very scary, any encounter with a chaser can be solved by flicking up on the d-pad to have Hewie bite them and then running away into a hide spot. The game tries to make it a bit more interesting by having items that you can throw or plant on the ground that can stun the chasers but they're really janky and getting them is really awkward since you have to do this luck-based minigame that's just lame so I didn't bother. After a while these encounters start feeling really sterile, especially when you're trying to explore the castle but have to spend minutes getting away from the chasers first, it just ends up halting progression without accomplishing much else.
But even after saying all this I don't really have any strong emotions towards this game. The negatives are really minor (except the final boss, Fuck Him) and didn't impact my overall enjoyment too much and I like a good chunk of what's here, but I don't really love anything. It's a vague statement that I usually hate saying but Haunting Ground just didn't click with me.
Persona 1 has a deceptively great story. What begins as a seemingly simple plot about a man trying to destroy humanity, suddenly turns into a powerful tale about identity, finding your purpose in life and facing your reality no matter how bleak the circumstances may be. The themes really resonated with me and the cast is solid too, they're all likeable if a little basic with the standouts for me definitely being Maki and Nanjo.
The game also boasts a fantastic OST. I played with a patch that restores the PS1 OST since while I find the PSP OST to be better on its own, I don't think it fits the game as well as its PS1 counterpart. But yeah, the PS1 OST is great, its got this foreboding and ominous vibe to it which when coupled with the game's surreal imagery, results in an incredible atmosphere.
The music and story almost make this game worth playing, but man, playing this game is too much of a fucking chore for me to recommend it. The biggest reason for this would be the dungeon design. They start off as boring linear hallways but as the game progresses they turn into mazes that are filled to the fucking brim with dead ends. Combine this with an insanely high encounter rate, and you get areas that absolutely broke me and I'm someone who generally has a lot of patience when it comes to RPGs.
A lot of this game's mechanics just don't work for me. For starters, I don't really like negotiations. If you want the enemies to give you their spell card without following a guide then you have to select every dialogue option until one of them makes them Eager and there's no way to figure out what'll make them Sad, Angry, Happy etc by yourself. I do really like how it gives another option to encounters though, instead of just giving you the choice to flee or fight, negotiations let you avoid fighting while also getting exp or items which is pretty neat but I think this system could've been handled better overall.
I also hate the grid system. Different attacks have different places they can attack on the grid so you have to choose where to position each party member. Sure, it adds some depth to the gameplay, but I never felt like this system made combat more interesting than in other RPGs since all it did is severely limit what I could do rather than expand my options.
The game also manages to fuck up grinding (which you'll be doing a lot of) since how much exp a party member gets will depend on how much damage they dealt or healed in battle. This means that characters who don't have strong offensive spells for a given area will fall behind in exp. It does get more manageable and even exploitable as you get more personas but I would've preferred a more traditional way to levelling up characters.
For me, a great narrative can't carry a game when the majority of the time is spent suffering through poorly designed mechanics and for that reason, I can't say I enjoyed Persona 1 very much.
The game also boasts a fantastic OST. I played with a patch that restores the PS1 OST since while I find the PSP OST to be better on its own, I don't think it fits the game as well as its PS1 counterpart. But yeah, the PS1 OST is great, its got this foreboding and ominous vibe to it which when coupled with the game's surreal imagery, results in an incredible atmosphere.
The music and story almost make this game worth playing, but man, playing this game is too much of a fucking chore for me to recommend it. The biggest reason for this would be the dungeon design. They start off as boring linear hallways but as the game progresses they turn into mazes that are filled to the fucking brim with dead ends. Combine this with an insanely high encounter rate, and you get areas that absolutely broke me and I'm someone who generally has a lot of patience when it comes to RPGs.
A lot of this game's mechanics just don't work for me. For starters, I don't really like negotiations. If you want the enemies to give you their spell card without following a guide then you have to select every dialogue option until one of them makes them Eager and there's no way to figure out what'll make them Sad, Angry, Happy etc by yourself. I do really like how it gives another option to encounters though, instead of just giving you the choice to flee or fight, negotiations let you avoid fighting while also getting exp or items which is pretty neat but I think this system could've been handled better overall.
I also hate the grid system. Different attacks have different places they can attack on the grid so you have to choose where to position each party member. Sure, it adds some depth to the gameplay, but I never felt like this system made combat more interesting than in other RPGs since all it did is severely limit what I could do rather than expand my options.
The game also manages to fuck up grinding (which you'll be doing a lot of) since how much exp a party member gets will depend on how much damage they dealt or healed in battle. This means that characters who don't have strong offensive spells for a given area will fall behind in exp. It does get more manageable and even exploitable as you get more personas but I would've preferred a more traditional way to levelling up characters.
For me, a great narrative can't carry a game when the majority of the time is spent suffering through poorly designed mechanics and for that reason, I can't say I enjoyed Persona 1 very much.
2008
The main thing that stood out to me when playing NGB was just how well designed the game is from its difficulty curve to the way you explore Tairon. NG2, is essentially the antithesis of that, though it's still a really fun time.
Where it's especially fun, is unsurprisingly in the combat. Its so fucking good here, it feels twice as fast as it was in the first game, the UTs got a major visual boost and they're so over the top awesome that they never get old and best of all, the weapons here are even better than in NG1. Most of the coolest weapons from the first game return here like the Lunar Staff and Vigoorian Flails (I wish Kitetsu made a return though) but the new weapons are even better. I love the cc you get with Kusari-Gama and the damage of the Eclipse Scythe especially.
I'm glad they nailed the combat because it's all you do in this game since the RE style exploration is gone in favour of linear levels. It's pretty disappointing since it was one of my favourite parts of the first game but at the very least it allows the game to have a wide variety of locations.
Outside of combat, the game makes notable quality of life changes over the first game. For example, essence will come to you even from long distances now, so killing enemies from far away doesn't feel like a waste. You can swim indefinitely without needing an item for it. Controlling Ryu just feels way better here, especially wall running and you can now hold up to 30 arrows instead of 15 and holy fuck, you're going to need them.
My least favourite boss in the first game was the helicopter because using the bow just feels awkward with a controller and this game has about 4 bosses that can only be damaged in that way. In general the bosses here just suck, the Greater Fiends and the Genshin fights are good but everything else is beyond forgettable from the worm in chapter 9 to the turtles that spend more time turning around than fighting you. It's made worse by the fact that you end up fighting most bosses in this game twice without much changing and it just reeks of laziness.
Another aspect that feels pretty lazy is the amount of enemies the game throws at you. NG1 had you fight 3-4 enemies at most and you really had to calculate your approach on how to fight them. Here, the enemies are easier, so to compensate the game throws a shitload of them at you. It's a pretty cheap way of making the game harder, and it does make the game pretty exhausting. I was burned out at the end of each chapter, but honestly, I couldn't get enough of playing this game. Seeing 10+ enemies on the screen at once all get torn to shreds with the new dismemberment mechanic feels so good and the combat never got old because I was too busy utilizing all the different weapons to see what I like best.
As for story, there's not much to say since it follows the exact same beats as the first game just with different characters. The cutscenes are way more hype here though.
For all its flaws, I can weirdly admire NG2. The game has this confidence to it were it doesn't care about telling a story, having memorable level design or even running well since it slows down all the time with how much enemies are onscreen at once (especially when you use the phoenix ninpo). All the game is concerned with, is having fun and exciting combat and it achieves that in spades but I can't overlook the fact that I feel the game is a downgrade from NG1 in every aspect other than the combat.
Where it's especially fun, is unsurprisingly in the combat. Its so fucking good here, it feels twice as fast as it was in the first game, the UTs got a major visual boost and they're so over the top awesome that they never get old and best of all, the weapons here are even better than in NG1. Most of the coolest weapons from the first game return here like the Lunar Staff and Vigoorian Flails (I wish Kitetsu made a return though) but the new weapons are even better. I love the cc you get with Kusari-Gama and the damage of the Eclipse Scythe especially.
I'm glad they nailed the combat because it's all you do in this game since the RE style exploration is gone in favour of linear levels. It's pretty disappointing since it was one of my favourite parts of the first game but at the very least it allows the game to have a wide variety of locations.
Outside of combat, the game makes notable quality of life changes over the first game. For example, essence will come to you even from long distances now, so killing enemies from far away doesn't feel like a waste. You can swim indefinitely without needing an item for it. Controlling Ryu just feels way better here, especially wall running and you can now hold up to 30 arrows instead of 15 and holy fuck, you're going to need them.
My least favourite boss in the first game was the helicopter because using the bow just feels awkward with a controller and this game has about 4 bosses that can only be damaged in that way. In general the bosses here just suck, the Greater Fiends and the Genshin fights are good but everything else is beyond forgettable from the worm in chapter 9 to the turtles that spend more time turning around than fighting you. It's made worse by the fact that you end up fighting most bosses in this game twice without much changing and it just reeks of laziness.
Another aspect that feels pretty lazy is the amount of enemies the game throws at you. NG1 had you fight 3-4 enemies at most and you really had to calculate your approach on how to fight them. Here, the enemies are easier, so to compensate the game throws a shitload of them at you. It's a pretty cheap way of making the game harder, and it does make the game pretty exhausting. I was burned out at the end of each chapter, but honestly, I couldn't get enough of playing this game. Seeing 10+ enemies on the screen at once all get torn to shreds with the new dismemberment mechanic feels so good and the combat never got old because I was too busy utilizing all the different weapons to see what I like best.
As for story, there's not much to say since it follows the exact same beats as the first game just with different characters. The cutscenes are way more hype here though.
For all its flaws, I can weirdly admire NG2. The game has this confidence to it were it doesn't care about telling a story, having memorable level design or even running well since it slows down all the time with how much enemies are onscreen at once (especially when you use the phoenix ninpo). All the game is concerned with, is having fun and exciting combat and it achieves that in spades but I can't overlook the fact that I feel the game is a downgrade from NG1 in every aspect other than the combat.
2002
When I first played RE1 Remake it didn't do much for me. Maybe it was because it wasn't what I expected after RE4, maybe it's the fact that I was unknowingly playing it on easy mode which made the game not as tense as it should've been, but as a whole my first playthrough didn't leave much of an impression on me. But now that I played it with the OG RE1 still fresh in my mind, I think I love this game now.
For the most part, everything I liked about the OG, I like here even more. For starters, the game is more tense than ever thanks to the addition of the Crimson Heads. So, whereas in the original, when you cleared an area of zombies, you were completely safe to go through it, in this game, downed zombies stay there and if they weren't burned or headshotted, then they eventually come back as a Crimson Head. This addition alone makes this the scariest RE game I've played so far since the amount of tension it puts on the player as they walk past downed zombies, never knowing when they'll spring back up is really unnerving. It also adds another welcome layer of decision-making in having to decide which zombies are most worth burning with the finite amount of kerosene at your disposal.
The game changes a lot of things but for the most part, they're all good additions. The puzzles are slightly more interesting here, examining items plays a much bigger role here which is cool since it was underutilized in the OG and zombies can now burst through certain doors which really caught me off guard the first time it happened. Another new addition would be the defensive items like daggers or flash grenades that can help to avoid damage and offer another way of dealing with enemies if you want to conserve ammo. One nitpick I have with them though is that by the endgame, enemies like Crimson Heads and Hunters mostly just swipe at you, instead of grabbing you, so the items just become somewhat useless by the end. Getting them is also way too easy since areas that aren't fully explored are now marked as red on the map and by the endgame, I had about 9 of them saved up in total. My favourite change though, would be to the game's structure. In the OG, after you got the 4 Crests the game basically became a linear set of levels and the areas felt much more isolated. REmake rectifies that since after you clear the guardhouse, the second mansion visit is slightly more non-linear which makes going through it way more fun for me.
Visually the game looks stunning and holds up today, not just graphically, but the cinematography has also seen a big boost. For example, I love the use of canted angles when descending down a flight of stairs, or how in one hallway, you can see the shadows of zombies banging on the windows before they break in. It's minor stuff, but as a film nerd, I can't help but appreciate things like that. The voice-acting is also much better (not that it could've been worse), it's a little wooden and lacks the campy charm of the original but it doesn't murder the atmosphere like in the OG.
My only real problems with the game would be that the bosses still suck and feel unnecessary and I wish Chris' campaign didn't still feel like a worse version of Jill's. He has the lighter on by default now atleast but he still only has 6 item slots and has to use small keys to open drawers so playing as him can often feel tedious with the amount of backtracking that's required. With RE2, 3 and CV all giving characters 8 or more slots I think it would've been better if they did the same for Chris here. Neither of these issues are a huge deal though, the bosses are over in a few seconds and I can always just play as Jill instead of Chris.
But yeah, this is basically everything I could ever want out of a remake and out of a survival horror game and I'm glad it clicked with me on a second playthrough.
For the most part, everything I liked about the OG, I like here even more. For starters, the game is more tense than ever thanks to the addition of the Crimson Heads. So, whereas in the original, when you cleared an area of zombies, you were completely safe to go through it, in this game, downed zombies stay there and if they weren't burned or headshotted, then they eventually come back as a Crimson Head. This addition alone makes this the scariest RE game I've played so far since the amount of tension it puts on the player as they walk past downed zombies, never knowing when they'll spring back up is really unnerving. It also adds another welcome layer of decision-making in having to decide which zombies are most worth burning with the finite amount of kerosene at your disposal.
The game changes a lot of things but for the most part, they're all good additions. The puzzles are slightly more interesting here, examining items plays a much bigger role here which is cool since it was underutilized in the OG and zombies can now burst through certain doors which really caught me off guard the first time it happened. Another new addition would be the defensive items like daggers or flash grenades that can help to avoid damage and offer another way of dealing with enemies if you want to conserve ammo. One nitpick I have with them though is that by the endgame, enemies like Crimson Heads and Hunters mostly just swipe at you, instead of grabbing you, so the items just become somewhat useless by the end. Getting them is also way too easy since areas that aren't fully explored are now marked as red on the map and by the endgame, I had about 9 of them saved up in total. My favourite change though, would be to the game's structure. In the OG, after you got the 4 Crests the game basically became a linear set of levels and the areas felt much more isolated. REmake rectifies that since after you clear the guardhouse, the second mansion visit is slightly more non-linear which makes going through it way more fun for me.
Visually the game looks stunning and holds up today, not just graphically, but the cinematography has also seen a big boost. For example, I love the use of canted angles when descending down a flight of stairs, or how in one hallway, you can see the shadows of zombies banging on the windows before they break in. It's minor stuff, but as a film nerd, I can't help but appreciate things like that. The voice-acting is also much better (not that it could've been worse), it's a little wooden and lacks the campy charm of the original but it doesn't murder the atmosphere like in the OG.
My only real problems with the game would be that the bosses still suck and feel unnecessary and I wish Chris' campaign didn't still feel like a worse version of Jill's. He has the lighter on by default now atleast but he still only has 6 item slots and has to use small keys to open drawers so playing as him can often feel tedious with the amount of backtracking that's required. With RE2, 3 and CV all giving characters 8 or more slots I think it would've been better if they did the same for Chris here. Neither of these issues are a huge deal though, the bosses are over in a few seconds and I can always just play as Jill instead of Chris.
But yeah, this is basically everything I could ever want out of a remake and out of a survival horror game and I'm glad it clicked with me on a second playthrough.
When deciding to marathon the Legacy of Kain series, it was Soul Reaver that I was looking forward to the most. At points I even thought about starting with it and skipping Blood Omen entirely because I was just that eager to finally play it. It's generally regarded as the best in the series but I knew every LoK game has underwhelming gameplay so I didn't go into it with high expectations, only moderate ones, and this game still managed to be a let down in almost every aspect.
Generally though, what Blood Omen did well, is still done well in Soul Reaver. The story is again, the best part of the game and it starts off with what might be my favourite CGI Opening to any game I've played. I need to gush about it, it's so good, It establishes Raziel as essentially being Kain's favourite son and then has him killed by Kain in the same scene which does a perfect job in emphasizing just how fargone Kain has become. The image of Raziel having his wings ripped off by Kain has been branded into my brain ever since I first saw it and it was my main motivator for starting the series. The rest of the story is good too, narration is still strong here and listening to Raziel's musings on how twisted and decayed the world he once knew has become were the best parts of the game for me. Problem is, there's just not as much narration this time around, compared to Blood Omen, Raziel barely talks here and yeah, it makes sense for a guy whose basically been tortured and scorched for 500 years to not be very talkative but it's still disappointing. Still, the conversations that Raziel shares with Kain and his lieutenants are great and it's what kept me going right until the very end even when I just wished the game was over. Too bad that when the game is finally over, it doesn't end with a bang, not even a spark, just an absolute dud of an abrupt To Be Continued screen.
Okay so why don't I like this game, well let's start with the minor stuff. The combat at the start is awful, enemies have 0 windup to their attacks and Raziel's attacks will whiff randomly leading you to just getting interrupted in the middle of your string, killing enemies is also a hassle since it requires using the environment to your advantage by grabbing the enemies when they're stunned and throwing them into something lethal like sunlight, fire, spikes etc. Cool idea for sure, but in execution it just feels inconvenient. But this is only a minor issue since you can run past about 99% of the enemies in this game and once I realized this I did just that for the whole game and I think there's only one instance where you're forced to fight enemies that aren't bosses.
This leads me to another problem, Soul Reaver tries to be a Metroidvania style game that puts you in the middle of a huge area and allows you to learn the ins and outs of the environment on your own. A good metroidvania should facilitate exploration with rewards to make going through it feel worth it and Soul Reaver doesn't do this. If you go out of your way to find hidden areas and rewards, you'll usually get 2 things. Either Glyphs that function as AoE attacks that drain a bit of your health or 1/5th of a health upgrade. Getting Glyphs feels Worthless since they only help with combat which you can almost entirely ignore here, that and they cost Health to use which means you lose your ability to use the wraith blade when activating them which is the way you kill enemies without relying on the environment. As for the health upgrades, it's a personal gripe of mine but I hate when games have you collect X amount of an item in order to get any benefit from it. It's just so lame when I find an item and think "Oh if I get 4 more of this I'll actually get something out of it". So with exploration that just doesn't feel worth it, I ended up just trying to get through the game's story without doing much else and that leads me to my biggest problem with this game, it's too damn big. It's so easy to get lost in this game with how huge it is and without having hidden items that make it worth it, it just leads to so much frustration. The amount of time I wasted aimlessly wandering around Nosgoth with no idea if I'm going in the right direction pissed me off to the point where I had to bust out a guide since I just wanted to get this game over with. I mentioned before how you can run past most enemies with no issue but the one enemy you'll be fighting throughout your entire playthrough will be the camera, oh my Lord it's so bad with how it's glued to Raziel's back and it often obscures the paths above you that you're meant to go to. What doesn't help is that the game has No map feature and the fast travel mechanic is so awkward to use. Each area is marked by this symbol that you use to identify which teleporter leads where and memorizing these is just needless busywork. I'm so baffled at how Blood Omen did all these things better, that game actually had a map feature with a fast-travel mechanic that was easy to comprehend and gave you more reason to explore since exploration there led to you getting items and permanent health upgrades that upgraded your health Immediately.
When you're not fruitlessly parading through Nosgoth's remains you're usually solving puzzles here. Some are pretty cool, I like the one where you ring bells in succession in order to break glass that lets you progress further or the one where you push pipes in order to allow for air to flow that you can use to hover up to your destination. Puzzles that rely on the gimmick of swapping between the real and spectral realm are also pretty enjoyable. But majority of the puzzles are just relegated to consisting of mindless block pushing, these aren't bad per se but surely they could've thought of something more interesting, this is just lazy. The bosses are also puzzles and they're hit and miss. Melchiah is pretty simple and fun, Zephon is even simpler but very fun and he's got a sick design that looks like something that H.R Giger would design, Rahab's bossfight requires platforming which is clunky as hell in this game but it's still decent and Dumah is just a worse version of the Melchiah boss with how tedious it can be to have him follow you. The real appeal of these bosses isn't in their levels or bossfights though, it's in finding out about their relationship with Raziel, how they feel about Kain's actions and how they metamorphosed and adapted to the changing climate all of which is done well but again, I wish we got more dialogue to flesh these things out.
Maybe I'm being a bit hyperbolic regarding some of its shortcomings, and there is some other stuff I like here such as the fact it loads in real time and therefore doesn't require loading screens which feels like an absolute Blessing after Blood Omen's stop and start gameplay and the music is once again really good. But still, the majority of the time I spent playing this game was me bored out of my mind waiting for it to be over. Soul Reaver is a real Paradox. I don't get how a game that's so light-years ahead of its time in terms of characters, narration and story-telling can be so dated and archaic in terms of almost everything else.
Generally though, what Blood Omen did well, is still done well in Soul Reaver. The story is again, the best part of the game and it starts off with what might be my favourite CGI Opening to any game I've played. I need to gush about it, it's so good, It establishes Raziel as essentially being Kain's favourite son and then has him killed by Kain in the same scene which does a perfect job in emphasizing just how fargone Kain has become. The image of Raziel having his wings ripped off by Kain has been branded into my brain ever since I first saw it and it was my main motivator for starting the series. The rest of the story is good too, narration is still strong here and listening to Raziel's musings on how twisted and decayed the world he once knew has become were the best parts of the game for me. Problem is, there's just not as much narration this time around, compared to Blood Omen, Raziel barely talks here and yeah, it makes sense for a guy whose basically been tortured and scorched for 500 years to not be very talkative but it's still disappointing. Still, the conversations that Raziel shares with Kain and his lieutenants are great and it's what kept me going right until the very end even when I just wished the game was over. Too bad that when the game is finally over, it doesn't end with a bang, not even a spark, just an absolute dud of an abrupt To Be Continued screen.
Okay so why don't I like this game, well let's start with the minor stuff. The combat at the start is awful, enemies have 0 windup to their attacks and Raziel's attacks will whiff randomly leading you to just getting interrupted in the middle of your string, killing enemies is also a hassle since it requires using the environment to your advantage by grabbing the enemies when they're stunned and throwing them into something lethal like sunlight, fire, spikes etc. Cool idea for sure, but in execution it just feels inconvenient. But this is only a minor issue since you can run past about 99% of the enemies in this game and once I realized this I did just that for the whole game and I think there's only one instance where you're forced to fight enemies that aren't bosses.
This leads me to another problem, Soul Reaver tries to be a Metroidvania style game that puts you in the middle of a huge area and allows you to learn the ins and outs of the environment on your own. A good metroidvania should facilitate exploration with rewards to make going through it feel worth it and Soul Reaver doesn't do this. If you go out of your way to find hidden areas and rewards, you'll usually get 2 things. Either Glyphs that function as AoE attacks that drain a bit of your health or 1/5th of a health upgrade. Getting Glyphs feels Worthless since they only help with combat which you can almost entirely ignore here, that and they cost Health to use which means you lose your ability to use the wraith blade when activating them which is the way you kill enemies without relying on the environment. As for the health upgrades, it's a personal gripe of mine but I hate when games have you collect X amount of an item in order to get any benefit from it. It's just so lame when I find an item and think "Oh if I get 4 more of this I'll actually get something out of it". So with exploration that just doesn't feel worth it, I ended up just trying to get through the game's story without doing much else and that leads me to my biggest problem with this game, it's too damn big. It's so easy to get lost in this game with how huge it is and without having hidden items that make it worth it, it just leads to so much frustration. The amount of time I wasted aimlessly wandering around Nosgoth with no idea if I'm going in the right direction pissed me off to the point where I had to bust out a guide since I just wanted to get this game over with. I mentioned before how you can run past most enemies with no issue but the one enemy you'll be fighting throughout your entire playthrough will be the camera, oh my Lord it's so bad with how it's glued to Raziel's back and it often obscures the paths above you that you're meant to go to. What doesn't help is that the game has No map feature and the fast travel mechanic is so awkward to use. Each area is marked by this symbol that you use to identify which teleporter leads where and memorizing these is just needless busywork. I'm so baffled at how Blood Omen did all these things better, that game actually had a map feature with a fast-travel mechanic that was easy to comprehend and gave you more reason to explore since exploration there led to you getting items and permanent health upgrades that upgraded your health Immediately.
When you're not fruitlessly parading through Nosgoth's remains you're usually solving puzzles here. Some are pretty cool, I like the one where you ring bells in succession in order to break glass that lets you progress further or the one where you push pipes in order to allow for air to flow that you can use to hover up to your destination. Puzzles that rely on the gimmick of swapping between the real and spectral realm are also pretty enjoyable. But majority of the puzzles are just relegated to consisting of mindless block pushing, these aren't bad per se but surely they could've thought of something more interesting, this is just lazy. The bosses are also puzzles and they're hit and miss. Melchiah is pretty simple and fun, Zephon is even simpler but very fun and he's got a sick design that looks like something that H.R Giger would design, Rahab's bossfight requires platforming which is clunky as hell in this game but it's still decent and Dumah is just a worse version of the Melchiah boss with how tedious it can be to have him follow you. The real appeal of these bosses isn't in their levels or bossfights though, it's in finding out about their relationship with Raziel, how they feel about Kain's actions and how they metamorphosed and adapted to the changing climate all of which is done well but again, I wish we got more dialogue to flesh these things out.
Maybe I'm being a bit hyperbolic regarding some of its shortcomings, and there is some other stuff I like here such as the fact it loads in real time and therefore doesn't require loading screens which feels like an absolute Blessing after Blood Omen's stop and start gameplay and the music is once again really good. But still, the majority of the time I spent playing this game was me bored out of my mind waiting for it to be over. Soul Reaver is a real Paradox. I don't get how a game that's so light-years ahead of its time in terms of characters, narration and story-telling can be so dated and archaic in terms of almost everything else.
2004
Yeah, this blows the previous 2 games out of the water in almost every aspect.
To begin with, the gameplay is better than ever. The weapon level system is completely gone so you can just jump right in and have fun without feeling needlessly restricted. Which is helped by the game having level design that is leagues above the previous games. Almost every stage has something memorable from the fast-paced platforming of Flizard’s stage to the snowboarding sections of Cactank’s stage. Every stage stands out in some way without having random difficulty spikes or bullshit spike placement that plagued Zero 1 and 2. The game as a whole is a lot easier so I can totally see someone who didn’t enjoy the previous games liking this one. Another important gameplay change is the disk system. They’re scattered across the stage just like cyber-elves were in the previous two games but aside from cyber-elves, the disks also can hold bits on info on the characters and enemies as well as Chips. Chips serve as the replacement for Forms and they’re handled way better since you acquire them naturally through beating bosses or exploring stages instead of having to fulfil random requirements. Cyber-elves are also much more varied in what abilities they hold since here they can hold special moves like the Rolling Slash and other elves can give you an automatic S Rank which allowed me to play around with some of the EX Skills. Plus, you don’t have to go back to the base to equip them so you get way more use out of them here since all you have to do is go to the cyber elf menu at any point and you can use them immediately.
The story is also the best one yet. Weil’s a good villain purely because he’s so irredeemable completely unlike Elpizo. But aside from him, every character gets some attention from Ciel rejecting Copy X’s offer or Harpuia speaking out against Weil’s actions. Also, the entire third act is just a rollercoaster of emotions and is probably the most fun I had in any Megaman game I played this year.
Then there’s the music that, again, trumps the previous 2 titles. None of it sounds like it’s held back by being on the GBA with highlights for me being Reborn Mechanics, Final Countdown, Trail on Powdery Snow and everything that plays during the final boss.
My only gripes with the game would be that if you get a gameover, you must collect all the Disks you found in the stage all over again. It didn’t work like that in the previous titles, if you got a cyber-elf you kept it regardless if you had to restart the level so I felt this was a needless change. Granted, the easier difficulty means I didn’t die often anyway, so this is really just a nitpick. My main issue is the bossfights. They’re much easier here, almost too easy once you use cyber-elves and so, they don’t feel nearly as satisfying to learn and defeat. Plus, some are just completely forgettable like Volteel Bilbio or Glacier le Cactank. The final boss was so easy it made the ending feel slightly less impactful because I beat him so quickly which was a shame.
Minor flaws aside, this game is still incredible. It removes every issue I had with the previous games while improving on what those games already did well.
To begin with, the gameplay is better than ever. The weapon level system is completely gone so you can just jump right in and have fun without feeling needlessly restricted. Which is helped by the game having level design that is leagues above the previous games. Almost every stage has something memorable from the fast-paced platforming of Flizard’s stage to the snowboarding sections of Cactank’s stage. Every stage stands out in some way without having random difficulty spikes or bullshit spike placement that plagued Zero 1 and 2. The game as a whole is a lot easier so I can totally see someone who didn’t enjoy the previous games liking this one. Another important gameplay change is the disk system. They’re scattered across the stage just like cyber-elves were in the previous two games but aside from cyber-elves, the disks also can hold bits on info on the characters and enemies as well as Chips. Chips serve as the replacement for Forms and they’re handled way better since you acquire them naturally through beating bosses or exploring stages instead of having to fulfil random requirements. Cyber-elves are also much more varied in what abilities they hold since here they can hold special moves like the Rolling Slash and other elves can give you an automatic S Rank which allowed me to play around with some of the EX Skills. Plus, you don’t have to go back to the base to equip them so you get way more use out of them here since all you have to do is go to the cyber elf menu at any point and you can use them immediately.
The story is also the best one yet. Weil’s a good villain purely because he’s so irredeemable completely unlike Elpizo. But aside from him, every character gets some attention from Ciel rejecting Copy X’s offer or Harpuia speaking out against Weil’s actions. Also, the entire third act is just a rollercoaster of emotions and is probably the most fun I had in any Megaman game I played this year.
Then there’s the music that, again, trumps the previous 2 titles. None of it sounds like it’s held back by being on the GBA with highlights for me being Reborn Mechanics, Final Countdown, Trail on Powdery Snow and everything that plays during the final boss.
My only gripes with the game would be that if you get a gameover, you must collect all the Disks you found in the stage all over again. It didn’t work like that in the previous titles, if you got a cyber-elf you kept it regardless if you had to restart the level so I felt this was a needless change. Granted, the easier difficulty means I didn’t die often anyway, so this is really just a nitpick. My main issue is the bossfights. They’re much easier here, almost too easy once you use cyber-elves and so, they don’t feel nearly as satisfying to learn and defeat. Plus, some are just completely forgettable like Volteel Bilbio or Glacier le Cactank. The final boss was so easy it made the ending feel slightly less impactful because I beat him so quickly which was a shame.
Minor flaws aside, this game is still incredible. It removes every issue I had with the previous games while improving on what those games already did well.