I know the PS3 and 360 versions were garbage. The PC version also wasn't great at launch. But technical shortcomings aside (which didn't really affect me on my PC now), I don't get why this game gets such a bad rap.
The resource management and use of stealth in this game was honestly so perfect to me. The whole game honestly feels like a puzzle as you try to stealth and efficiently kill enemies without wasting your resources. Luring them into traps, using their own bullshit against them, that sort of thing. This is honestly extremely satisfying to me.
The more actiony sequences with forced combat almost feel like a final test. Did you play well enough until now to have the resources to fight? That kind of thing. With resources feeling a lot more limited than in games like Resident Evil, I genuinely tried to be as "frugal" as possible and did end up with a fair amount of surplus, but some parts had me stretching resources thin.
The combat itself is actually very very satisfying. There's some jank and the aiming feels imprecise for how erratically some enemies move, but not in a way that bothered me much. Shooting enemies in the head and seeing how chunks fly out and they get deformed was just so satisfying. The critical headshots were amazing, with their extremely satisfying feedback. In short, the aiming itself can take some getting used to but the actual moment you hit something feels amazing (save for some tankier enemies that don't react much).
My biggest gripe with combat would honestly simply be that some enemies are too slow and easy to avoid, particularly some of the bosses. Makes them way less threatening than they should be when you realize how easy they are to outrun. On the other hand, most of those assholes have instakills, so I guess that's how they balanced things out.
Story I admit I don't really understand fully at this point. I get the gist of it and the concept, but some key info seems to be stored away in the DLCs that I have yet to play. Despite that, I greatly enjoyed the game's use of its concept. Also really liked Sebastian as a protagonist.
One thing that's also just straight perfect to me is the game's aesthetics and atmosphere. While the game didn't really scare me all that much, I was genuinely in awe at some of the environments and how the game quickly swaps and transforms locations on you.
On the note of environments and story, though, I know I saw people complain about the game "teleporting you around at random". I can't tell if they didn't play enough to find out why that is happening or if they just didn't pay attention, but that's honestly one of the game's strengths to me. It keeps the pace up and keeps you guessing "what fucking mess did I get myself into now???". It's confusing and disorienting, yes, but that works extremely well for a survival horror game.
All in all, this is a survival horror masterpiece to me. It was fully engaging for its entire run and I loved it even when the game trolled me.
I just don't get why I saw so many people complain about it being godawful. Except those who played it at launch on 7th gen consoles, cuz those versions were like 360p10fps with 5 minute long loading times, but I didn't play that so I don't care tbh!
The resource management and use of stealth in this game was honestly so perfect to me. The whole game honestly feels like a puzzle as you try to stealth and efficiently kill enemies without wasting your resources. Luring them into traps, using their own bullshit against them, that sort of thing. This is honestly extremely satisfying to me.
The more actiony sequences with forced combat almost feel like a final test. Did you play well enough until now to have the resources to fight? That kind of thing. With resources feeling a lot more limited than in games like Resident Evil, I genuinely tried to be as "frugal" as possible and did end up with a fair amount of surplus, but some parts had me stretching resources thin.
The combat itself is actually very very satisfying. There's some jank and the aiming feels imprecise for how erratically some enemies move, but not in a way that bothered me much. Shooting enemies in the head and seeing how chunks fly out and they get deformed was just so satisfying. The critical headshots were amazing, with their extremely satisfying feedback. In short, the aiming itself can take some getting used to but the actual moment you hit something feels amazing (save for some tankier enemies that don't react much).
My biggest gripe with combat would honestly simply be that some enemies are too slow and easy to avoid, particularly some of the bosses. Makes them way less threatening than they should be when you realize how easy they are to outrun. On the other hand, most of those assholes have instakills, so I guess that's how they balanced things out.
Story I admit I don't really understand fully at this point. I get the gist of it and the concept, but some key info seems to be stored away in the DLCs that I have yet to play. Despite that, I greatly enjoyed the game's use of its concept. Also really liked Sebastian as a protagonist.
One thing that's also just straight perfect to me is the game's aesthetics and atmosphere. While the game didn't really scare me all that much, I was genuinely in awe at some of the environments and how the game quickly swaps and transforms locations on you.
On the note of environments and story, though, I know I saw people complain about the game "teleporting you around at random". I can't tell if they didn't play enough to find out why that is happening or if they just didn't pay attention, but that's honestly one of the game's strengths to me. It keeps the pace up and keeps you guessing "what fucking mess did I get myself into now???". It's confusing and disorienting, yes, but that works extremely well for a survival horror game.
All in all, this is a survival horror masterpiece to me. It was fully engaging for its entire run and I loved it even when the game trolled me.
I just don't get why I saw so many people complain about it being godawful. Except those who played it at launch on 7th gen consoles, cuz those versions were like 360p10fps with 5 minute long loading times, but I didn't play that so I don't care tbh!