Prelude
I hadn't planned to write about RE6 until I'd finished the game, but early on I had so many thoughts, both positive and negative, I ended up writing some impressions. I didn't end up posting them on here, but they generally hold true even after beating Leon's campaign, so I've updated what I said and added to it with lots of other thoughts and analysis. If I complete the other campaigns, I might return to add a few extra thoughts on those in their own sections below this review too.
Leon Campaign & RE6 Critique
For anyone who read my RE5 review, you'll know that the action-oriented direction Resident Evil took between 4 and 6 was one that I personally liked. Whilst 4 had more of a balance between action and horror, 5 and especially 6 make their intent very clear. That meant that 6 was one I was rather curious about and after going through 5, I was anticipating it quite a bit to be honest.
In the first few hours however, I've both been disappointed and surprised by the many ups and downs I've encountered. Whilst its over the top action and narrative is something I'm really enjoying, besides a few fun movement and gameplay options, much of the gameplay can feel unpolished and underwhelming, even if there are moments where it shines - such as with its satisfying dodge movement and melee takedowns and finishers.
I've played all of the RE games on a mix of easy and normal difficulties, sometimes higher, and for RE6 I chose normal. Very quickly however, I was considering knocking it down to easy, just so I could hopefully enjoy the game more as an action game, one that lets me focus purely on the power fantasy, without having to worry about running out of ammo, needing health items, or worrying about the enemy AI being as ignorant to bullets or have them kill me whilst I'm stuck watching the animation play out of me being revived - something that happened a good three or four times.
I really didn't want to adjust the difficulty if I'm honest, but some of the encounters can be genuinely frustrating and janky to get through, and many of them do not flow as well as they did in RE4 or 5 when overwhelmed with a ton of enemies. Not only that, but it seemed so many encounters had endlessly-spawning enemies that often were difficult to spot due to how dark so much of Leon's campaign is. There's no on-demand torch or anything so you're left with arguably the worst-lit locations in the entire series.
Whether it's the core movement that always has you running and one of those weird camera-locked sprint systems, a combination of frustratingly-designed enemies thrown at you, or the lacking feedback in combat where guns rarely ever feel strong or have any semblance of impact, the simple act of playing RE6 has unfortunately become a big point of my criticism with the game. It definitely ebbs and flows because whilst it's never truly perfect, it can be fun on several occasions, especially when you're properly able to execute dodges and avoid enemy attacks, before return firing and popping a head or two. In fact, there are some really neat ideas going on here, and the over the top action focus I really appreciate, particularly how it's not just narrative dressing, but actually a conscious decision that carries across to game design aspects like the new dodge abilities.
To be quite frank, the dodging might actually be my favourite aspect of this game and rarely does it ever not feel cool to net a near-miss on an enemy attack or slide under their projectile before following it up with a one-two punch or shotgun blast to the face. It's fairly robust with some nice intricacies too, letting you pull off some slick moves. Beyond that, not only can you dodge various ranged and melee attacks with well-timed movements, it also allows you to remain in position after a roll, letting you continue firing at enemies whilst laying on your back, with some extra mobility options like a quick backwards reverse or sideway-roll. There's a real commitment to ridiculous action with this system and you never don't feel cool when using it.
For the most part, it flows pretty well too even if I felt like hitboxes weren't always the most consistent. Besides that though, if there was just a bit more polish on other parts of this game when it comes to flow, enemy density and design, and how combat feels, this could've easily been one of the most fun third person shooters out there. It's not just doing the traditional cover-based shooting - though that does return from 5 - it's embracing the overall game's tone and letting it flourish further.
Looking beyond the movement and dodge systems, there are several other criticisms I have too, such as how movement is interrupted every time you swap weapons, or how the simple act of swapping weapons is now a horizontal scroll-list rather than a customisable D-Pad mapping because why not - weird given RE5's was basically spot-on in this approach. Admittedly the inventory management implementation in this entry is arguably one of the worst in the series, so it's no doubt a symptom of a larger misdirection in that space.
To be completely honest, that aspect of the game is basically non-existant. There's the inclusion of a traditional storage limit for your inventory, which makes sense for the more calculated design of other RE titles, but when this game is so action-focused and the inventory management is now less important and in a weirdly-shaken-up user interface, it feels like an unnecessary inclusion. I don't understand why they didn't just let you have weapons have ammo capacity caps and a single slot for every item. This is especially true when Leon's campaign doesn't actually have many items to collect - probably about 11 or 12 (?) - yet ammo can be carried across multiple stacks.
In amongst this, there's a weirdly different approach to how herbs and healing items are treated in this game. Each complete with their own animation each time you use one, there's an extra step and reworked health system that's no awful, but I just add it to the list of 'why was this changed?' Unlike in prior titles where you'd just use, or combine then use a herb from the menu and be granted health instantly, you now have to add it to a 'health tablet' slot, and each one heals one block of your health, which is now a bar consisting of 6 blocks. Combine two green herbs, that'll give you three health tablets, and combine three green herbs or a green and a red, and you'll be given 6 health tablets. Healing sprays are back, but these are relegated to a scroll-list like weapons are, but accessed by using up and down on the D-Pad rather than left and right.
This whole reinvention of the health and healing system is so baffling to me, and totally antithetical to the otherwise-steamlined action gameplay. I have absolutely no idea why this nor the inventory system were reimagined in these ways, and it just complicates the whole system. I already think it's weird in other RE titles why you can't reload ammo off the ground into your weapon, or combine a herb directly into another even whilst at capacity, but the changes made make a near-perfect system one that's needlessly clunk and convoluted.
Another change I don't understand is how there are no weapon or health upgrades in this game, but instead you're limited to earning Skill Points you spend on various Skills that can be unlocked and upgraded. Three of these are then selected and equipped into a loadout that you can then swap in and out more or less whenever you feel like it in gameplay. It's a strangely grindy system too that feels oddly extrinsic. My guess is they wanted something game-wide that would apply to all campaigns rather than making you re-unlock and re-upgrade stuff you already have in each campaign.
I can understand the approach looking at it from that perspective, but it feels a little too detached from the experience, and I feel like RE has long been a series that lets you add your own personal touch to it, whether that's how you manage your inventory, the weapons you favour, or the general playstyle you go for. With many of its decisions, RE6 robs the player of a lot of that freedom, and I think it speaks to how the game as a whole - whilst for sure much more expansive in terms of content - also feels like a much smaller game. I don't dislike that from a linear level/story perspective - RE5 has a very similar approach - but there's just so much needless reinvention and commitment to new systems that, even if the game is very action-focused, it also has lost so many of its core systems in the process and doesn't even stick the landing in doing so. It ends up being confused as to what kind of game it actually wants to be.
Another lacking area, one returning from RE5, is the companion AI that felt incredibly hit and miss during Leon's campaign, and in the opening hour of Chris'. Even if they were still eliminating various hostiles, the system isn't as tight or responsive, particularly when giving commands. Not only that, but the downed and revive systems are so cumbersome, it only extends this game's reeking stench of lacking polish. So many times my companion would ignore commands when I needed them to respond immediately, and other times when it comes to reviving, I'd be killed during the revive animation - a time where I have no control over my character whatsoever.
So yeah, Resident Evil 6 is most definitely a flawed game, however I want to give a shoutout to the story, not because it's anything mind-blowing - nor does it at all have a compelling villain - but tonally I really liked it. There's something so fitting about having an RE title where most of the key characters come together in a time where the Raccoon City incident was relatively minor by comparison. The stakes are much higher here, big things are going down, and there's a lack of uncertainty to the state of the world. It feels like the kind of stakes you'd expect from a final game in the series, and in a lot of ways, it makes Resident Evil 7 that bit more brilliant as a result because it's so lowkey and focused on one specific location. Of course, that's very much like RE1, but also a brilliant approach to rebooting the series and follow up 6's explosive crescendo.
If anything, playing through RE6 has only made me hopeful that if Capcom get to remaking this, they're only going to polish up all of these low points with refinement from top to bottom, yet whilst keeping the core essence of what this game is. Sure, it's very linear - much like 5 - but it totally makes sense for the story as far as I'm concerned. People will argue it's not Resident Evil, but when you're dealing with bioterrorists, zombies, and all kinds of weird experiments and monsters, why can't the game go crazy with a huge outbreak? Why can't the world be in such turmoil that it demands the gameplay be more action-oriented?
To me, I think this approach makes a ton of sense and I believe Resident Evil is a series that can and should experiment like that.
With that said, when each character's campaign is supposed to have different gameplay style and approach - which after playing Chris' chapter 1, is certainly true to an extent - it is a bit strange why they didn't lean into the survival horror more with Leon. Besides the beginning, end and the impressive set pieces throughout, it does feel like Leon's campaign should've probably been a little more skewed towards survival horror so that you can diversify the styles a bit further. Of course, I'm saying this before finishing Chris' and Jake's campaigns but especially thematically, considering the callbacks Leon's campaign has to his previous games, it does feel like he should've had a more traditional RE approach, more than the action third person shooter it essentially became. More time refining this campaign and the systems connected to it and I reckon you could still land a satisfying RE experience, even if the other two campaigns are still more outlandish and over the top.
For now though, that's all I've got to say on RE6. It's both a game I really like but also found pretty underwhelming at the same time. It's flawed to say the least, but despite my criticisms, the focus on it apparently being bad for its action focus - much like I mentioned in my RE5 review - I think is a bit narrow-minded and disregarding the potential of the series. That's not to say survival horror should never be relevant because that is the core essence of the series, and it's odd for Leon's campaign to more or less completely avoid that by a pretty wide margin. Not just that, but the game doesn't always give itself time to breathe, moving you through areas so fast there's basically no exploration in this one, and the second half of the game especially seems like it flies by.
When it comes to the story though, I really can't understate how much I like the overall setup and stakes of this game, and from what I've seen of Chris' campaign, there's some cool stuff going on there with flashbacks and some fun character development to experience too. The general setting, pacing of twists and turns, set pieces, and narrative beats in Leon's campaign alone are some of the game's standout aspects as far as I'm concerned. It's certainly not perfect, particularly when they have one of the least compelling villains in the entire series - a true letdown considering the direction of this story. Maybe this is fleshed out in the other campaigns, but since Leon's story sort of headlines the game, they're not a character who feels suitable considering the scale the game.
Ultimately, I'm very much in the love/hate space with Resident Evil 6. On one hand, I'd argue it's easily the series' weakest game, yet on the other, there's so much here I really do like that has me hoping for a true remake one day. There's enough room here to really curate Leon's campaign into something very survival horror - akin to 4 overall, but one that takes you through a thematically-similar journey seen across RE2 and 4. When it comes to Chris though, I think there's definitely room for something more full-on action, giving you a power fantasy trip in a way that Resident Evil doesn't always provide.
Fleshing those intentions out and giving more time to the various locations you visit and characters you encounter, I think, would help take this game to the next level. I'd like to think a remake of 5 and 6 will rework the story to figure out a more fitting villain for this game as there's one particular character who I feel like would be the perfect antagonist to go along with this game's overall tone and stakes.
We'll see if that happens, but for now, I'll see about checking out Chris' campaign further and report back if there's anything further I feel I want to share on this game. Short of the long though is that I both really like and don't like many aspects of this game, and at least going by Leon's campaign, it wasn't quite given the love and attention it deserves. Hopefully that's what a remake can rectify. I can only hope.
Chris Campaign & Skill Point system analysis
Giving the game a bit of a positive boost, Chris' campaign I actually found generally more enjoyable to play. Whilst I'd argue Leon's narrative threads have more interesting hooks, the character development and focus of Chris' story is one that's actually pretty engaging. It's some of the more focused character development seen in the overall series I'd say.
When it comes to runtime, it took me a similar time to Leon's with a conclusion that's equally as over the top in its own way. It also has a more varied set of locales, one of which is part of a flashback serving good purpose of backstory for Chris in particular. Whilst the core objective is never extremely gripping and the level design - much like in Leon's campaign - leaves much to be desired, there's still a good bit of enjoyment to be had when playing as Chris with a good number of set pieces sprinkled throughout.
On that note, Chris' campaign is very loud and a has entirely become a full-on third person shooter. However, here it seems like Capcom were clearly more in-tune with that focus for this campaign, leading to more interesting and well-balanced encounters that never really felt unfair or overly punishing. I ran out of ammo on a few occasions similar to Leon's campaign, and in all but one of them I was able to still continue and escape, really driving home that its design and difficulty scaling felt just about right.
Enemy designs were a lot better too, again with several varying unit types, a couple of which stood out thanks to either interesting visual design and/or combat mechanics. That's on top of what felt like greater feedback in combat, making gunplay feel a bit more impactful and responsive too. Not only that, but many of the enemies are more susceptible and open to melee attacks, making finishers and parries much more common. I also felt like I was successfully dodging a lot more too, likely due to less melee-based enemies and more room to play around in. It all lets this campaign play much better than Leon's.
So it's safe to say I liked Chris' campaign more, however the game still suffers from many of the same issues since it's still RE6. One of the most egregious I really started to take notice of here was the Skill Point system. I already wasn't keen on it, but I didn't quite take note of just how bad it is.
In RE4, 5, and 8, when you eliminate enemies, you receive a mix of ammo, health items, and money. All of these tied into core game systems you'd interact with as part of your playthrough, and they're all very intrinsic to the experience. Whilst RE5 began a shift away from RE4's in-world merchant to an in-between-chapters shop where you'd spend yourhard-earned looted cash, RE6 continues the in-between-chapters trend, but further ruins the system via its gameplay implementation.
I already spoke in the main review above how it's an extrinsic feature that feels disconnected, but I didn't mention how the acquisition method of skill points tramples all over the fundamental gameplay loop of Resident Evil, and is no doubt a large contributor to this game's poor design.
What I mean by this is how skill points are a potential drop from enemies and bosses, and also found in crates much like other ammo and items. This sounds fine on paper, but as soon as you realise that this now often gets in the way of resources you may be in much greater a need of in a given moment, you can see how this often completely floors a huge part of not only the balance of the game, but also the core survival gameplay.
This really stood out to me in the final boss fight in Chris' campaign where during one attempt, I had no ammo left with several remaining crates dropping skill points. The items drip-fed to me after that were not only rare as to when they'd drop, but also often primarily skill point drops rather than herbs or ammo. What this leads to is an already unlikely-to-finish scenario now exacerbated, all whilst the devs at Capcom sit back and laugh at their miraculous design that forgoes any sense of logic or coherent design philosophy, as I run around in circles endlessly hoping for an ammo drop. Even RE5, a game that launched on a new generation, introduced co-op, and similarly has a much more action focus still manages to retain these core fundamentals. Even if they're not perfect either, they're a far cry from the bewildering and baffling approach on show here and I'm left wondering what the hell happened during the development of this game. Why was so much reinvention in progress when already building out four campaigns?
Again, I understand the skill point system from a game-wide upgrade standpoint, but really this could've still been handled far better than it was, especially when an extrinsic feature is being so intrusively harmful to the core gameplay loop.
Anyway, that's my next rant about Resident Evil 6 done, a game that I really wanted to like but that’s becoming more and more difficult as time goes on. I still had a decent time with Chris' campaign, and I think its character-focused story is a nice one to see inside of Resident Evil. It embraces the military camaraderie tone well and lets us see Chris in a more-human light that solidifies him as a more believable character and one who I like even more now.
Jake's Campaign & Final Thoughts
After finishing Jake's campaign, I think I've pretty much hit the end of the road with RE6. Whilst his campaign was decent enough in its own right - again with several fun moments and set pieces - I just found myself bored and wanting to play less and less the more progress I made.
I enjoyed seeing how each of the campaigns came together narratively, and whilst Ada's campaign I am somewhat curious about based on her connection to the overarching narrative in this one, I'm also not sold on it. That's honestly not just because of my existing thoughts on the game, but also that I didn't really like Ada's characterisation in this one and her actions seem so unjustified. RE4's remake is still fresh in my mind - though I don't remember the remake being much different from the original in regards to Ada - so her actions in RE6 just don't really make sense. I'm sure her campaign provides insight into that, but she's so strange in this one, I don't really feel convinced to check it out, even if just for the story.
It's honestly a real shame since I was looking forward to this one, and whilst it has this weirdly appealing side, I'm getting a strong sense of Dark Souls 2 and Devil May Cry 2 energy from it. That is to say, it is not a game I hold in high regard whatsoever. Even if there are aspects or moments that stand out, I largely found myself looking forward to being done with the game by the end.
It's burnt me out so much that it makes me appreciate and miss all the other more-traditional games more. In weighing them up, I think I definitely do think these games got progressively worse, with RE4 being the series high point and it all being downhill until 7.
If RE6 is to be remade one day, I think there are a lot of great elements to be salvaged for a pretty expansive RE title, but they've really got a lot to do to upgrade this game, hone its edges and perfect the design. Until that day, I think I'm unlikely to revisit RE6, perhaps outside of Mercenaries, trying co-op at some point and maybe Ada's campaign, but that's about it.
Really am genuinely disappointed with this one - confused even - at how dull I ended up finding it, even if it's mostly enjoyable to see how all the stories play out and link up. For now though, I think it's time for me to jump ship and check out something else - and man am I looking forward to it!
I hadn't planned to write about RE6 until I'd finished the game, but early on I had so many thoughts, both positive and negative, I ended up writing some impressions. I didn't end up posting them on here, but they generally hold true even after beating Leon's campaign, so I've updated what I said and added to it with lots of other thoughts and analysis. If I complete the other campaigns, I might return to add a few extra thoughts on those in their own sections below this review too.
Leon Campaign & RE6 Critique
For anyone who read my RE5 review, you'll know that the action-oriented direction Resident Evil took between 4 and 6 was one that I personally liked. Whilst 4 had more of a balance between action and horror, 5 and especially 6 make their intent very clear. That meant that 6 was one I was rather curious about and after going through 5, I was anticipating it quite a bit to be honest.
In the first few hours however, I've both been disappointed and surprised by the many ups and downs I've encountered. Whilst its over the top action and narrative is something I'm really enjoying, besides a few fun movement and gameplay options, much of the gameplay can feel unpolished and underwhelming, even if there are moments where it shines - such as with its satisfying dodge movement and melee takedowns and finishers.
I've played all of the RE games on a mix of easy and normal difficulties, sometimes higher, and for RE6 I chose normal. Very quickly however, I was considering knocking it down to easy, just so I could hopefully enjoy the game more as an action game, one that lets me focus purely on the power fantasy, without having to worry about running out of ammo, needing health items, or worrying about the enemy AI being as ignorant to bullets or have them kill me whilst I'm stuck watching the animation play out of me being revived - something that happened a good three or four times.
I really didn't want to adjust the difficulty if I'm honest, but some of the encounters can be genuinely frustrating and janky to get through, and many of them do not flow as well as they did in RE4 or 5 when overwhelmed with a ton of enemies. Not only that, but it seemed so many encounters had endlessly-spawning enemies that often were difficult to spot due to how dark so much of Leon's campaign is. There's no on-demand torch or anything so you're left with arguably the worst-lit locations in the entire series.
Whether it's the core movement that always has you running and one of those weird camera-locked sprint systems, a combination of frustratingly-designed enemies thrown at you, or the lacking feedback in combat where guns rarely ever feel strong or have any semblance of impact, the simple act of playing RE6 has unfortunately become a big point of my criticism with the game. It definitely ebbs and flows because whilst it's never truly perfect, it can be fun on several occasions, especially when you're properly able to execute dodges and avoid enemy attacks, before return firing and popping a head or two. In fact, there are some really neat ideas going on here, and the over the top action focus I really appreciate, particularly how it's not just narrative dressing, but actually a conscious decision that carries across to game design aspects like the new dodge abilities.
To be quite frank, the dodging might actually be my favourite aspect of this game and rarely does it ever not feel cool to net a near-miss on an enemy attack or slide under their projectile before following it up with a one-two punch or shotgun blast to the face. It's fairly robust with some nice intricacies too, letting you pull off some slick moves. Beyond that, not only can you dodge various ranged and melee attacks with well-timed movements, it also allows you to remain in position after a roll, letting you continue firing at enemies whilst laying on your back, with some extra mobility options like a quick backwards reverse or sideway-roll. There's a real commitment to ridiculous action with this system and you never don't feel cool when using it.
For the most part, it flows pretty well too even if I felt like hitboxes weren't always the most consistent. Besides that though, if there was just a bit more polish on other parts of this game when it comes to flow, enemy density and design, and how combat feels, this could've easily been one of the most fun third person shooters out there. It's not just doing the traditional cover-based shooting - though that does return from 5 - it's embracing the overall game's tone and letting it flourish further.
Looking beyond the movement and dodge systems, there are several other criticisms I have too, such as how movement is interrupted every time you swap weapons, or how the simple act of swapping weapons is now a horizontal scroll-list rather than a customisable D-Pad mapping because why not - weird given RE5's was basically spot-on in this approach. Admittedly the inventory management implementation in this entry is arguably one of the worst in the series, so it's no doubt a symptom of a larger misdirection in that space.
To be completely honest, that aspect of the game is basically non-existant. There's the inclusion of a traditional storage limit for your inventory, which makes sense for the more calculated design of other RE titles, but when this game is so action-focused and the inventory management is now less important and in a weirdly-shaken-up user interface, it feels like an unnecessary inclusion. I don't understand why they didn't just let you have weapons have ammo capacity caps and a single slot for every item. This is especially true when Leon's campaign doesn't actually have many items to collect - probably about 11 or 12 (?) - yet ammo can be carried across multiple stacks.
In amongst this, there's a weirdly different approach to how herbs and healing items are treated in this game. Each complete with their own animation each time you use one, there's an extra step and reworked health system that's no awful, but I just add it to the list of 'why was this changed?' Unlike in prior titles where you'd just use, or combine then use a herb from the menu and be granted health instantly, you now have to add it to a 'health tablet' slot, and each one heals one block of your health, which is now a bar consisting of 6 blocks. Combine two green herbs, that'll give you three health tablets, and combine three green herbs or a green and a red, and you'll be given 6 health tablets. Healing sprays are back, but these are relegated to a scroll-list like weapons are, but accessed by using up and down on the D-Pad rather than left and right.
This whole reinvention of the health and healing system is so baffling to me, and totally antithetical to the otherwise-steamlined action gameplay. I have absolutely no idea why this nor the inventory system were reimagined in these ways, and it just complicates the whole system. I already think it's weird in other RE titles why you can't reload ammo off the ground into your weapon, or combine a herb directly into another even whilst at capacity, but the changes made make a near-perfect system one that's needlessly clunk and convoluted.
Another change I don't understand is how there are no weapon or health upgrades in this game, but instead you're limited to earning Skill Points you spend on various Skills that can be unlocked and upgraded. Three of these are then selected and equipped into a loadout that you can then swap in and out more or less whenever you feel like it in gameplay. It's a strangely grindy system too that feels oddly extrinsic. My guess is they wanted something game-wide that would apply to all campaigns rather than making you re-unlock and re-upgrade stuff you already have in each campaign.
I can understand the approach looking at it from that perspective, but it feels a little too detached from the experience, and I feel like RE has long been a series that lets you add your own personal touch to it, whether that's how you manage your inventory, the weapons you favour, or the general playstyle you go for. With many of its decisions, RE6 robs the player of a lot of that freedom, and I think it speaks to how the game as a whole - whilst for sure much more expansive in terms of content - also feels like a much smaller game. I don't dislike that from a linear level/story perspective - RE5 has a very similar approach - but there's just so much needless reinvention and commitment to new systems that, even if the game is very action-focused, it also has lost so many of its core systems in the process and doesn't even stick the landing in doing so. It ends up being confused as to what kind of game it actually wants to be.
Another lacking area, one returning from RE5, is the companion AI that felt incredibly hit and miss during Leon's campaign, and in the opening hour of Chris'. Even if they were still eliminating various hostiles, the system isn't as tight or responsive, particularly when giving commands. Not only that, but the downed and revive systems are so cumbersome, it only extends this game's reeking stench of lacking polish. So many times my companion would ignore commands when I needed them to respond immediately, and other times when it comes to reviving, I'd be killed during the revive animation - a time where I have no control over my character whatsoever.
So yeah, Resident Evil 6 is most definitely a flawed game, however I want to give a shoutout to the story, not because it's anything mind-blowing - nor does it at all have a compelling villain - but tonally I really liked it. There's something so fitting about having an RE title where most of the key characters come together in a time where the Raccoon City incident was relatively minor by comparison. The stakes are much higher here, big things are going down, and there's a lack of uncertainty to the state of the world. It feels like the kind of stakes you'd expect from a final game in the series, and in a lot of ways, it makes Resident Evil 7 that bit more brilliant as a result because it's so lowkey and focused on one specific location. Of course, that's very much like RE1, but also a brilliant approach to rebooting the series and follow up 6's explosive crescendo.
If anything, playing through RE6 has only made me hopeful that if Capcom get to remaking this, they're only going to polish up all of these low points with refinement from top to bottom, yet whilst keeping the core essence of what this game is. Sure, it's very linear - much like 5 - but it totally makes sense for the story as far as I'm concerned. People will argue it's not Resident Evil, but when you're dealing with bioterrorists, zombies, and all kinds of weird experiments and monsters, why can't the game go crazy with a huge outbreak? Why can't the world be in such turmoil that it demands the gameplay be more action-oriented?
To me, I think this approach makes a ton of sense and I believe Resident Evil is a series that can and should experiment like that.
With that said, when each character's campaign is supposed to have different gameplay style and approach - which after playing Chris' chapter 1, is certainly true to an extent - it is a bit strange why they didn't lean into the survival horror more with Leon. Besides the beginning, end and the impressive set pieces throughout, it does feel like Leon's campaign should've probably been a little more skewed towards survival horror so that you can diversify the styles a bit further. Of course, I'm saying this before finishing Chris' and Jake's campaigns but especially thematically, considering the callbacks Leon's campaign has to his previous games, it does feel like he should've had a more traditional RE approach, more than the action third person shooter it essentially became. More time refining this campaign and the systems connected to it and I reckon you could still land a satisfying RE experience, even if the other two campaigns are still more outlandish and over the top.
For now though, that's all I've got to say on RE6. It's both a game I really like but also found pretty underwhelming at the same time. It's flawed to say the least, but despite my criticisms, the focus on it apparently being bad for its action focus - much like I mentioned in my RE5 review - I think is a bit narrow-minded and disregarding the potential of the series. That's not to say survival horror should never be relevant because that is the core essence of the series, and it's odd for Leon's campaign to more or less completely avoid that by a pretty wide margin. Not just that, but the game doesn't always give itself time to breathe, moving you through areas so fast there's basically no exploration in this one, and the second half of the game especially seems like it flies by.
When it comes to the story though, I really can't understate how much I like the overall setup and stakes of this game, and from what I've seen of Chris' campaign, there's some cool stuff going on there with flashbacks and some fun character development to experience too. The general setting, pacing of twists and turns, set pieces, and narrative beats in Leon's campaign alone are some of the game's standout aspects as far as I'm concerned. It's certainly not perfect, particularly when they have one of the least compelling villains in the entire series - a true letdown considering the direction of this story. Maybe this is fleshed out in the other campaigns, but since Leon's story sort of headlines the game, they're not a character who feels suitable considering the scale the game.
Ultimately, I'm very much in the love/hate space with Resident Evil 6. On one hand, I'd argue it's easily the series' weakest game, yet on the other, there's so much here I really do like that has me hoping for a true remake one day. There's enough room here to really curate Leon's campaign into something very survival horror - akin to 4 overall, but one that takes you through a thematically-similar journey seen across RE2 and 4. When it comes to Chris though, I think there's definitely room for something more full-on action, giving you a power fantasy trip in a way that Resident Evil doesn't always provide.
Fleshing those intentions out and giving more time to the various locations you visit and characters you encounter, I think, would help take this game to the next level. I'd like to think a remake of 5 and 6 will rework the story to figure out a more fitting villain for this game as there's one particular character who I feel like would be the perfect antagonist to go along with this game's overall tone and stakes.
We'll see if that happens, but for now, I'll see about checking out Chris' campaign further and report back if there's anything further I feel I want to share on this game. Short of the long though is that I both really like and don't like many aspects of this game, and at least going by Leon's campaign, it wasn't quite given the love and attention it deserves. Hopefully that's what a remake can rectify. I can only hope.
Chris Campaign & Skill Point system analysis
Giving the game a bit of a positive boost, Chris' campaign I actually found generally more enjoyable to play. Whilst I'd argue Leon's narrative threads have more interesting hooks, the character development and focus of Chris' story is one that's actually pretty engaging. It's some of the more focused character development seen in the overall series I'd say.
When it comes to runtime, it took me a similar time to Leon's with a conclusion that's equally as over the top in its own way. It also has a more varied set of locales, one of which is part of a flashback serving good purpose of backstory for Chris in particular. Whilst the core objective is never extremely gripping and the level design - much like in Leon's campaign - leaves much to be desired, there's still a good bit of enjoyment to be had when playing as Chris with a good number of set pieces sprinkled throughout.
On that note, Chris' campaign is very loud and a has entirely become a full-on third person shooter. However, here it seems like Capcom were clearly more in-tune with that focus for this campaign, leading to more interesting and well-balanced encounters that never really felt unfair or overly punishing. I ran out of ammo on a few occasions similar to Leon's campaign, and in all but one of them I was able to still continue and escape, really driving home that its design and difficulty scaling felt just about right.
Enemy designs were a lot better too, again with several varying unit types, a couple of which stood out thanks to either interesting visual design and/or combat mechanics. That's on top of what felt like greater feedback in combat, making gunplay feel a bit more impactful and responsive too. Not only that, but many of the enemies are more susceptible and open to melee attacks, making finishers and parries much more common. I also felt like I was successfully dodging a lot more too, likely due to less melee-based enemies and more room to play around in. It all lets this campaign play much better than Leon's.
So it's safe to say I liked Chris' campaign more, however the game still suffers from many of the same issues since it's still RE6. One of the most egregious I really started to take notice of here was the Skill Point system. I already wasn't keen on it, but I didn't quite take note of just how bad it is.
In RE4, 5, and 8, when you eliminate enemies, you receive a mix of ammo, health items, and money. All of these tied into core game systems you'd interact with as part of your playthrough, and they're all very intrinsic to the experience. Whilst RE5 began a shift away from RE4's in-world merchant to an in-between-chapters shop where you'd spend your
I already spoke in the main review above how it's an extrinsic feature that feels disconnected, but I didn't mention how the acquisition method of skill points tramples all over the fundamental gameplay loop of Resident Evil, and is no doubt a large contributor to this game's poor design.
What I mean by this is how skill points are a potential drop from enemies and bosses, and also found in crates much like other ammo and items. This sounds fine on paper, but as soon as you realise that this now often gets in the way of resources you may be in much greater a need of in a given moment, you can see how this often completely floors a huge part of not only the balance of the game, but also the core survival gameplay.
This really stood out to me in the final boss fight in Chris' campaign where during one attempt, I had no ammo left with several remaining crates dropping skill points. The items drip-fed to me after that were not only rare as to when they'd drop, but also often primarily skill point drops rather than herbs or ammo. What this leads to is an already unlikely-to-finish scenario now exacerbated, all whilst the devs at Capcom sit back and laugh at their miraculous design that forgoes any sense of logic or coherent design philosophy, as I run around in circles endlessly hoping for an ammo drop. Even RE5, a game that launched on a new generation, introduced co-op, and similarly has a much more action focus still manages to retain these core fundamentals. Even if they're not perfect either, they're a far cry from the bewildering and baffling approach on show here and I'm left wondering what the hell happened during the development of this game. Why was so much reinvention in progress when already building out four campaigns?
Again, I understand the skill point system from a game-wide upgrade standpoint, but really this could've still been handled far better than it was, especially when an extrinsic feature is being so intrusively harmful to the core gameplay loop.
Anyway, that's my next rant about Resident Evil 6 done, a game that I really wanted to like but that’s becoming more and more difficult as time goes on. I still had a decent time with Chris' campaign, and I think its character-focused story is a nice one to see inside of Resident Evil. It embraces the military camaraderie tone well and lets us see Chris in a more-human light that solidifies him as a more believable character and one who I like even more now.
Jake's Campaign & Final Thoughts
After finishing Jake's campaign, I think I've pretty much hit the end of the road with RE6. Whilst his campaign was decent enough in its own right - again with several fun moments and set pieces - I just found myself bored and wanting to play less and less the more progress I made.
I enjoyed seeing how each of the campaigns came together narratively, and whilst Ada's campaign I am somewhat curious about based on her connection to the overarching narrative in this one, I'm also not sold on it. That's honestly not just because of my existing thoughts on the game, but also that I didn't really like Ada's characterisation in this one and her actions seem so unjustified. RE4's remake is still fresh in my mind - though I don't remember the remake being much different from the original in regards to Ada - so her actions in RE6 just don't really make sense. I'm sure her campaign provides insight into that, but she's so strange in this one, I don't really feel convinced to check it out, even if just for the story.
It's honestly a real shame since I was looking forward to this one, and whilst it has this weirdly appealing side, I'm getting a strong sense of Dark Souls 2 and Devil May Cry 2 energy from it. That is to say, it is not a game I hold in high regard whatsoever. Even if there are aspects or moments that stand out, I largely found myself looking forward to being done with the game by the end.
It's burnt me out so much that it makes me appreciate and miss all the other more-traditional games more. In weighing them up, I think I definitely do think these games got progressively worse, with RE4 being the series high point and it all being downhill until 7.
If RE6 is to be remade one day, I think there are a lot of great elements to be salvaged for a pretty expansive RE title, but they've really got a lot to do to upgrade this game, hone its edges and perfect the design. Until that day, I think I'm unlikely to revisit RE6, perhaps outside of Mercenaries, trying co-op at some point and maybe Ada's campaign, but that's about it.
Really am genuinely disappointed with this one - confused even - at how dull I ended up finding it, even if it's mostly enjoyable to see how all the stories play out and link up. For now though, I think it's time for me to jump ship and check out something else - and man am I looking forward to it!