"Prepare for your death Leon." - Krauser
I was absolutely terrified of achievement hunting for this game, since 100%-ing the range minigame and doing Professional Difficulty sounded impossible. But, with the help of some guides, I ended up loving this game even more than my first playthrough.
However, it is a very fatigue heavy game and after a while you get a little sick of the amount it throws at you. The castle has some pretty hard back-to-back areas, but the island is where the game gets kind of stupid. With the exception of the Regenerators which are hands down the best thing in the game, Chapter 5 is filled with some of the longest, hardest, and most headache-inducing areas. And having to do the "It" and Krauser bossfights back to back is enough to severely make you question whether you're even playing the same game where you were in a spooky village. I actually had to put the game down because after spending 20 minutes getting stuck on 5-4 I could feel a genuine head throbbing. Granted, I was on hard mode, but those damn turret guys...
I actually really like the QTEs in this game overall because they come out of nowhere and are insanely challenging compared to most games, so it feels more like actual gameplay than just flair for cutscenes. But the statue chase and any encounter with Krauser can feel really unfair because you have less than a second to react to QTE with random inputs. Apparently this remastered version increased the framerate without touching the QTEs so you actually have even less time to react then you're supposed to.
Unfortunately, because I feel the game kinda drags (16+ hours feels overly long for the type of game this is), and the fact it throws so much bullshit at you near the end, I am not bumping up my rating as I thought I would halfway through my replay. Although it's still a terrific game that holds up really well and is worth playing.
I was absolutely terrified of achievement hunting for this game, since 100%-ing the range minigame and doing Professional Difficulty sounded impossible. But, with the help of some guides, I ended up loving this game even more than my first playthrough.
However, it is a very fatigue heavy game and after a while you get a little sick of the amount it throws at you. The castle has some pretty hard back-to-back areas, but the island is where the game gets kind of stupid. With the exception of the Regenerators which are hands down the best thing in the game, Chapter 5 is filled with some of the longest, hardest, and most headache-inducing areas. And having to do the "It" and Krauser bossfights back to back is enough to severely make you question whether you're even playing the same game where you were in a spooky village. I actually had to put the game down because after spending 20 minutes getting stuck on 5-4 I could feel a genuine head throbbing. Granted, I was on hard mode, but those damn turret guys...
I actually really like the QTEs in this game overall because they come out of nowhere and are insanely challenging compared to most games, so it feels more like actual gameplay than just flair for cutscenes. But the statue chase and any encounter with Krauser can feel really unfair because you have less than a second to react to QTE with random inputs. Apparently this remastered version increased the framerate without touching the QTEs so you actually have even less time to react then you're supposed to.
Unfortunately, because I feel the game kinda drags (16+ hours feels overly long for the type of game this is), and the fact it throws so much bullshit at you near the end, I am not bumping up my rating as I thought I would halfway through my replay. Although it's still a terrific game that holds up really well and is worth playing.