"Escape" over "explore". Truncating some of the better areas + puzzles in the original is a sacrifice made for the sake of streamlining an explosive title such as this. While brief, the scale here feels elevated significantly, transforming it from survival horror to action/adventure horror. Solid (but not great) replay value in substitute for a longer experience (more intense difficulties & points to start new playthroughs with refreshing + game-changing items), making this the highlighting feature of the game for me. Removal of the quick-time-selection-branches was a shame & only stands to shine a light on how little wiggle room you have in this game. Look no further than how streamlined the exterior level design is of the Racoon City streets.

Disappointing in the content department, but a reboot of one of the more underrated RE cuts in the series worth playing nonetheless. If REmake 2 is a haunted house, REmake 3 is an amusement park.

A good game, but a butchered remake.

Divulges the "twist" of the story a little too early on, leaving the second half of the game for the protagonist to reckon with their actions which, as a player, can feel rather sluggish to meddle about until it is completed. Effective, maybe, but I much prefer the mysterious first half of traversing a Silent Hill-esq school, solving puzzles while avoiding the wrath of mostly benign enemies with impeccable sound design. The puzzles in the second half certainly manage to hold my attention to continue pushing through the fractured nightmare of ones own foggy memories.

Well executed story, all in all. A tad on the derivative side, generally speaking, but one so chocked full of oppressive atmosphere that coincides with some of the themes that it rounds out the heart twisting narrative to the fullest.

Forgive thyself.

When the B side of This Heat's sophomore record, "Deceit", begins, the first track starts the exact same as when the A side plays. The listener may, for a brief moment, think that they may have a faulty vinyl & are lulled into believing that the opening song may be repeating itself. That is, until, an entirely new, manic, anxiety inducing song commences to completely tear the rug out from underneath you. During some vignettes of 2:22 AM, a similar instance occurs when suddenly, a stroll around a desolate city that you thought you knew erupts into a nightmare when the buildings begin to ascend to the heavens, shattering whatever dreamy scenario you thought to be experiencing.

Played at 4 AM. I'll see you in my anxiety dreams.

Fails to excel at anything in particular nowadays (especially the parodical ethos of the foundation); would have likely been incredible had each element been sewn into the disconnected fabrics. Frankenstein's monster had its limbs strewn about in various points of the room instead of being put together. As it stands, however, each element/mechanic makes for an aloof treat. A fun-house mirror that warps your silhouette (permanently). Illbleed reinforces & confirms that variety is, indeed, the spice of life.

Seems to revel in its deliberate obtuse direction; unapologetically convoluted sense of progression & borderline non-sequitur story related events. Gone is the bottle-film pathos of the original full of mystery, familial twists, & shocking reveals. I admire the idea of swapping between "characters", but when the player needs to manually trigger it via a 2-step process only to find themselves in areas otherwise locked out for no reason & shitty combat scenarios, I have to wonder if the developers shoes were also tied together because of how hard the concept fell flat on its face.

Fixed camera angles, at their best, serve as a way for the developer to highlight specific objects & challenges in a view which allows the player to comfortably navigate while remaining tense & mysterious. Perhaps that isn't something that everyone can agree upon, but in the case of this game, I think fixed angles, or any other camera for that matter than the one given to us, particularly in close combat areas, would have been better. What the game lacks in controls, camera, direction, objectives (glorified errand runner), & combat, it makes up for in some genuinely fun environments/setting, & some clever variety that no matter how frustrating the game can be at times, still has an air of charm to it. It's not completely unbearable, but it certainly isn't fun nor interesting.

Something we can all agree on, however, is that Blue Stinger is a christmas movie.

Segregating each episode into bisected timelines, following the trail of the previous half, allowed for the opportunity to reimagine one of the series' staples: backtracking. Never once did traversing repeated areas in a different timeline was the experience squandered because of it - if anything, the progression of the twisted story, enemy variety, insight, & sight seeing was enhanced thanks to it. Different character pairs felt beyond natural & each respective companion aided in every scenario. The "zapping" system, while perhaps a bit too subtle for it's own good (& could have been explored even further), is a wonderful addition & the dynamic results in something more playful than anything detrimental. Unlike Rev1, the new characters, while sloppily written at times, are wonderfully explored with interesting developments that no longer act as shells of action hero tropes. There's a specific sense of intimacy involved with the duo system, particularly during the slower portions, which is something one admittedly does not feel with previous entries with similar mechanics. The simulationist level design that RE in known for incorporates more immediate verticality & the pairs work off of this aspect beautifully.

Quite the unrealized potential of balancing in some halves of episodes as well. For example, while Barry's portion in Ep3 is somewhat lackluster in comparison to Claire's, the latter's portion in Ep4 ends far too soon & is especially underwhelming seeing as the former's has what is arguably one of the most stand out eleventh hour in the franchise. I would even argue that this imbalance could have been further explored & even remedied in each episode rather than just the last 2. With that said, b2b, the latter 2 episodes are outstanding regardless & work particularly well played in one fell swoop. On a small note as well, I personally could have done with some logic puzzles in-between the combat, stealth, & exploration.

Extremely underrated gem here. Barring some questionable non-diegetic RPG-lite elements or wonky delivery of key story reveals, the episodes are not only delightfully engaging to play, the overall writing & pacing of the story as a whole being something to revel in, & every new mechanic is properly implemented throughout.

Helps that the rain falling from the clouds is laced in surrealism that comes from the one true king of the genre. I may break the rules & pass thru the gate.

Airtight & almost fantastic. The episodic format by no means does a service to the rather twisted knot of a story (some episodes are practically interludes posing as something greater) & would have likely performed smoother by having each character stretch be their own episode instead of swapping back & forth between each other in the span of each episode.

Lovely genre blending, though, & one of the better examples of the RE franchise pulling it off. Dank, dark & damp Jill moments; Shoot 'em up ball to the wall Chris & Parker sections. Both of which result in a nicely balanced romp. At times, even the former has instances laced with this rather arcade style game/gunplay which, in some cases is a detriment to the moody boat-rocking atmosphere, but for Rev1 is a peculiar blessing.

None of the fresh faces are either interesting or well designed, parading around as otherwise faceless entities present to simply stretch the twists in the plot a bit long. Major props to the setting, however, as a pirate's life is clearly for me.

Sacrifices the stripped down gameplay to double down on some varied gameplay mechanics which has hits & misses. Expanded combat is sometimes a total crapshoot, but the object orientated changes (remote, flashlight) were executed delightfully.

Sacrifices a rather unpredictable yet straightforward narrative for a somewhat unnecessarily complex "time travel" story. Thankfully this is played out nicely, & adds some twisted lore to our two main characters throughout the adventure, & leaves open the likelihood of another entry. Though, arguably, the true joy of this series thus far has been the more obscured & open-ended interpretation of a simple yet effective story which utilizes environmental story-telling.

Sacrifices a unique & memorable setting (cruise ship) for something less precise & otherwise generic (abandon city). Luckily, the art direction knocks each locale out of the park - the hospital in particular being a disgustingly dense & body-horror thrill. The lighting is, much like the first game, a definite highlight of the visuals. However, the main monster designs are a step down the staircase with some previously seen traits (elongated limbs, bloated mass, etc) & is frankly the most disappointing. The extra enemy designs, on the other hand, are horrifically glorious (patients, bullies, & viewers).

Sacrifices the 1 for the 0.