okay, so i wasn't able to help myself and so i decided to start a chris run, just to see how his gameplay experience is different. and yeah, i'm ready to say this is one of the best games ever made. a lot is said about jill being the easier character for a number of factors (access to the grenade launcher, you can get shotgun much earlier due to having barry, the lockpick, and of course more inventory spaces), but whether it was due to having just played the game or chris actually being easier, i found chris FAR easier. the fact he has more hp and a higher headshot rate w/ the handgun is so immensely helpful to me, and at no point did i find having 2 less inventory spaces anything more than a slight annoyance. as long as you're diligent about clearing out one safe path to an item room within the mansion (i chose the east wing), you're golden.

managed to get the achievement for completing the game in <5 hours by the skin of my teeth this run (4:55!), even with running to item rooms adding like 10-15 minutes. old keys aren't really an issue to collect, either. pretty much every one of them will be placed near an area that jill's lockpick would normally open. but whether or not you're playing jill or chris, you need to play this fucking game if you haven't already.