This is the first ever survival horror game I've played (I think?), I dont like horror much, partly because I was apprehensive to delve into scares but mainly because it's not a genre that typically interested me. The praise this game got for years did intrigue me so I bought it on a steam sale in 2018 and didnt play it until 2023 lmfao. Anyways, enough with the pointless backstory, what I think?
When I first played it, I hated the tank controls. I didnt give them a chance, it felt too restrictive and unwieldy. And while I would prefer something else still, I see now that this was on purpose to make enemy encounters more tense. Making the camera so close to you, restricting your vision and making it hard to back up makes you feel trapped and clausterphobic. It's a pretty smart approach for the time. In the end, I was able to adjust and enjoy the gunplay for what it is. Level design is pretty decent, mostly linear with small bits to explore, and plenty of save points, checkpoints and a map pointing you in the right way so it never felt too frustrating. It was surprisingly a generous game which some hardcore people will hate but I preferred it this way. The escort bits I thought would be annoying but honestly Ashley rarely got in the way or got captured. The boss fights were kind of ass for the most part but they were easy so I would rather have that than being annoying and hard. I think the issue I have with this game though is by the end the game is spamming dozens of enemies that drain your resources so by the end I got tired and started running past them, the game felt about 3-4 hours too long honestly, I kind of wished it ended at the castle but I might be in the minority.
The story was cheese, smelly cheese. And that was for the best. The tone and cheesiness appealed to me, it felt just right. Leon is hilarious. The story itself I didnt care for although I was invested in saving Ashley at least. The horror is excellent, I was super scared at times, not always, but those weird tall humanoid dudes with teeth and the dogs, man that made me piss my pants lmao. The excellent sound design and perfect art style to this day enhances the horror and tone really well.
Overall, while it took some time to get to this game, I'm very happy I did give it a chance.
When I first played it, I hated the tank controls. I didnt give them a chance, it felt too restrictive and unwieldy. And while I would prefer something else still, I see now that this was on purpose to make enemy encounters more tense. Making the camera so close to you, restricting your vision and making it hard to back up makes you feel trapped and clausterphobic. It's a pretty smart approach for the time. In the end, I was able to adjust and enjoy the gunplay for what it is. Level design is pretty decent, mostly linear with small bits to explore, and plenty of save points, checkpoints and a map pointing you in the right way so it never felt too frustrating. It was surprisingly a generous game which some hardcore people will hate but I preferred it this way. The escort bits I thought would be annoying but honestly Ashley rarely got in the way or got captured. The boss fights were kind of ass for the most part but they were easy so I would rather have that than being annoying and hard. I think the issue I have with this game though is by the end the game is spamming dozens of enemies that drain your resources so by the end I got tired and started running past them, the game felt about 3-4 hours too long honestly, I kind of wished it ended at the castle but I might be in the minority.
The story was cheese, smelly cheese. And that was for the best. The tone and cheesiness appealed to me, it felt just right. Leon is hilarious. The story itself I didnt care for although I was invested in saving Ashley at least. The horror is excellent, I was super scared at times, not always, but those weird tall humanoid dudes with teeth and the dogs, man that made me piss my pants lmao. The excellent sound design and perfect art style to this day enhances the horror and tone really well.
Overall, while it took some time to get to this game, I'm very happy I did give it a chance.