2-1 is mostly fluff and forgettable, 2-2 is pretty good, 2-3 is bad, and 2-4 is fantastic. A step down from the first, but the high (2-4) is higher than the first game ever got. Franziska Von Karma is a very annoying new character, the whip gimmick gets old quickly, and I think she's just not as fun to go up against as Edgeworth, which makes his late game return a welcome one. Pearl is a much more likable and funny addition to the series.

As for gameplay, I felt this game had more frustrating moments than the first, both in terms of pacing and in how unravelling the cases seemed overall less logical than the first. A lot of moments where you have to present a specific piece of evidence where another one should have led down the same line of thinking, or the game wants something out of you that isn't very clear. Overall, I had fun, but it could definitely be tedious in parts.

I'd say this game is at its best in the first half and just gets progressively worse and worse. It's lacking basically all of the fine tuning RE4 had and as a result its systems don't gel nearly as well with one another (treasures and the gun upgrading system feel very imbalanced compared to 4 especially). The combat encounters and level design also are a big step back.

The story, while giving some satisfying moments as a series fan also feels all over the place compared to its predecessors. Wesker is fantastically hammy but the secondary antagonists don't shine and the rest of the plot is not very engaging.

Gameplay variety is great in the first half with imo very fun rail shooter segments and interesting enough gimmicks in the encounters (especially co-op) but it's the second half where we get a lot more confusing progression triggers as well as the introduction of enemy types that are just obnoxious to fight. Kind of couldn't believe what was happening as I watched this slowly turn into a mediocre cover shooter.

Not an original opinion here but this is one of the worst games I've ever played lmao. Why does Yuji Naka think his stupid one button philosophy is a good idea for a 3D platformer of all things? Losing the ability to jump with certain costumes kneecaps the level design so hard and the decision is entirely arbitrary.

Movement feel is terrible, art/designs are mostly garish and simply bizarre, technical problems are everywhere. The "Tims" are just... not explained? Anywhere? And they seem to be the only point of the collectible gems as well so the fact that it's this obtuse is baffling. A platformer with awful platforming, a collectathon with bland, confusing collectibles that aren't even placed in interesting locations. Don't even get me started on the "combat."

Why is there just terrible raw mo-cap data slapped on exaggerated cartoony characters with no extra work done... why do all of the NPCs just vanish when you get close to them... why does the world have this nauseating stage morph effect always going on... I'm just rambling at this point.

This entire trainwreck is absolutely hilarious to the point where if you didn't already consider him to be a bad game director I think this has to force you to reevaluate Naka's entire legacy. Final point: Arzest should be shut down for crimes against humanity, we can't keep letting them get away with it

Had a really great time with this one! I respect it a ton and Mikami is amazing. The level design here is just so labyrinthian and it gets very satisfying to finally start to learn the layout of the mansion the further in you go. A great argument for fixed camera angles, the game looks absolutely gorgeous still and the camera does a lot to add to that moody atmosphere. Crimson heads are a fantastic idea and add so much to the tension, forcing you to plan out routes to avoid creating more potential headache later on. Some small complaints: It'd be real nice to skip door opening animations... at the time it obviously wasn't possible but I'd love to see this version of the game patched or reworked to have more seamless loading. Also, the inventory management got just a bit too out of hand for me at times. With all that being said, I'm really glad I finally played this.

It is absolutely amazing how a single design decision like the removal of item boxes can absolutely cripple an entire game. That's far from the only problem though. Small QOL issues like picking up items/loading new areas/inventory screens all being obnoxiously slow are rampant. The story is pretty undercooked and uninteresting, and the main villain is definitely campy, but not the type of campy I like out of Resident Evil. The map design also makes traversal a huge chore and the amount of pointless backtracking is very high. Positives: Rebecca and Billy are both great, visually it's very impressive... ehhh