It's noticeable from the start that Resident Evil 3 is a game that does a lot to differentiate itself from its predecessor. The pacing is a lot faster than RE2 and there's a much greater emphasis on combat than before. Where the earlier titles would have greater emphasis on avoiding violent encounters, RE3 instead opts to test the players combat skills. The new dodge mechanic serves to encourage players to take their chances with fighting on enemies since the taking damage isn't as much of a risk as it was before and the player receives apt resources to be able to take those fights with little regard for inventory. The pacing of the game not only affects how the combat and story progress but also the locations the player is at. For such a short game there is a good amount of diversity in where the player goes, its all standard for a Resident Evil title but being able to have so many different environments in such a short amount of time is impressive. All of these factors should should in concept make RE3 great and a title that can stand up to the acclaim its predecessor was able to achieve. In practice however, the aforementioned aspects end up not working to the game's benefit and among many other issues, make the experience a lot worse.

For every one step forward that RE3 takes it seems that it also takes two steps back and shoots itself in the foot while its at it. The combat is supposed to be a direct upgrade from 2's and while in many ways it is there are a lot of factors that make it so much worse to play. The dodge roll mechanic rewards players for getting good timing but this is only true when you're fighting a single enemy with ample room to move. There are a multitude of situations in the game where you can land a perfect dodge and you'll be instantly grabbed by an enemy with zero time to react. This would be a minor annoyance if it only occurred a couple times but it's something that occurs frequently and each time feels more cheap than the last and the effects can feel like they get worse over time too. On the topic of encounters with multiple enemies, there is an overabundance of times in this game where you're placed into a cramped room with half a dozen enemies and the game just expects you to be able to get through it with no issue. If it wasn't obvious already, these sections are a big problem to to how often they occur and how the features that would otherwise make these encounters thrilling and engaging just make them feel annoying and tedious. The one upside to these instances is that you never feel like you're ill equipped for them due to how generous the game is with resources, almost too generous.

Undoubtedly one of the best ways the past 2 RE titles relied on invoking thrill into the player was the overall scarcity of resources. There are instances where you might feel like you're getting a lot but the majority of the time in RE1 and 2 you were encouraged to avoid confrontation due to never knowing when your next chance to get ammunition for your weapons would be. RE3 takes a very opposite approach which works fine considering how the game is much more action focused but even then it's egregious with how much you're given. There was a plethora of times where I would just have stacks of ammo and heals that I didn't need at all. Another serious oversaturation is the amount of save points that are present. Saving, playing the game for a few minutes with minimal enemy encounters and then getting another opportunity to save so fast after just sucks all of the joy that normally comes out of finding a spot to save your progress.

Of all the flaws that this game is riddled with though, the worst one is by far how Nemesis functions as a plot device. In RE2 Mr. X always felt threatening due to the fact that he could always pop up out of nowhere and he would be genuinely scary and hard to get off your tail. The brief moments of respite while in safe zone trying to figure out your next move and maximizing time away from him were some of the most hair raising sections of RE2. Nemesis is supposed to serve a similar role but it feels like he's just added here to serve the same purpose while the developers didn't fully grasp what it was that made Mr. X work so well. The encounters with Nemesis are very cinematic and that factor works great for the game overall but the issue comes with the fights with him, and the the predictability of his appearances. Mr. X showing up was scary because all off the times where he would show up are extremely unpredictable and off putting. Conversely, every meeting with Nemesis feels very easy to see coming and the instances where you have to run away from him more often than not just feel like walking simulators rather than trying to get a hulking enemy off of your trail. The fights with him don't help either as he's either next to completely helpless due to his lacking moveset and your abundance of heals and ammo, or cheesy and unfun due to the severe flaws with RE3's combat.

Resident Evil 3 attempts to one-up the titles that came before it by leaning into areas that weren't as expanded in the earlier titles but ends up missing the mark by not taking into account how to make a survival horror experience thrilling, completely ignoring the other facets that make this series unique, and just feeling like an absolute chore to play. At least Jill and Carlos are great main personalities because without them Resident Evil 3/10 wouldn't be very far off the mark.

Its a very good game that encompasses the same exploration as its predecessor and is able to learn more into the horror aspect with more terrifying enemies and tense situations as well as the various methods to get yourself out of them. A much better narrative also helps the game this time around too. Nothing groundbreaking but Leon and Claire serve as very likable personalities and their respective companions you spend a chunk of the game with are also great. It's not without its flaws however. Many of the bosses can feel very spongey, unsatisfying to fight or overly gimmicky. Moreover, on hardcore enemy placement can be a little questionable and the game often feels either too generous or too scarce in the amount of available resources with only a couple of sections that strike a good balance. In spite of these hiccups Resident Evil 2 manages to stick its landing in remaking this survival horror experience in a modern way without feeling like it's trying to replace its original.

Despite essentially being but a demo for something much bigger to come, Unbeatable: White Label manages to have quite a lot of game on its bones. Its core gameplay is simple even for a rhythm game but it still manages to have a lot of depth through the notes that have different interactions and hazards which are avoided with just a single button press but with that they're able to add a lot more expression with the mapping of the songs. On that topic, the songs here are all consistent and all bangers, they share similar themes and its very easy to connect to them. The themes represented in the themes also seem to be apparent in the struggles of the main character, who is shown to have multiple issues and her venting her emotions through music is done very well. Really the only bad part about this game is that there's just not enough. The content here is all of high quality but its just a spoonful of what has the potential to be a gold mine of gameplay and writing, for what it is however it's very very good. If rhythm games aren't for you I think you should try this one out, and if you are a fan of the genre you'll definitely like this one. I hope to see great things from the full game coming next year.