Going into this one, I worried that I wouldn't end up liking it as much as the first (remake), but the more it went on the more I enjoyed it and can safely say that despite the shift to being more linear, I think this is a great sequel.

I loved how the first game (remake, which I will now stop specifying) mixed Resident Evil third person survival horror gameplay with a layout much like a Metroid game, so when I noticed they got rid of the map tab in the menu, I realized the genre of game had shifted a bit. This game is still very much a survival horror game, but is now extremely linear with very few revisits to previous areas. I was skeptical on this change at first, but the more it went on the more I appreciated it. You visit so many diverse locations in this one. Every area in the first game was fairly similar visually but had enough to make it stand out from the others. Meanwhile this game takes you through a weird cult church, a speeding train, so many city buildings, and they all feel distinct while keeping the tone the same. I can't say I prefer one game's structure over the other because they both accomplish what they set out to do very well, but I love how both are laid out.

Gameplaywise, it's hard to compare the two because one is a remake from last year while this game is over a decade old. Some of the weapons didn't feel like how they did in DS1's remake. I didn't like how the ripper felt in this game which made me sad because I loved using it in DS1's remake. But I did like the new weapons in this game quite a lot. The harpoon gun is my favorite of the new guns. Not only are the harpoons extremely satisfying on their own, but its bumper button attack making your last fired harpoon discharge a ton of electricity made it great for more durable enemies. It also just feels really cool. Not new guns but I enjoyed how the flamethrower and force guns were in this one. The flamethrower's bumper attack firing a canister that acted as a grenade was a nice substitute to the wall of fire from the remake of 1. I didn't use the force gun in 1 but I loved it here.

Overall the game is still just a ton of fun and I'm glad jumping back a decade didn't change that, although I will say some of the new enemies were more annoying than scary. The necromorphs that hide behind walls and charge at you and then run away were the most annoying for me. The ones that spit acid at you and make you slower weren't my favorite.

Early on in the game I felt that the way this game does horror relied more on jumpscares than building up scares with atmosphere, and it still did that later in the game, but toned down more. The atmosphere did get better as the game went on too. I think this game is really good at making you feel tense. There were a lot more moments where I found myself bracing for whatever the game threw at me, whether it be Isaac's hallucinations jumpscaring me or just watching out for the new enemy types. The ones that charge at you definitely made me feel this most as the rooms they're in are usually designed for them to charge and hide. Not so much scared, just incredibly tensed up. I feel that way about a lot of parts in this game and that's not bad by any means.

Overall, really great sequel! I don't know if I necessarily enjoyed one over the other as I feel they're both very different even if they do similar things, but I can safely say I am a fan of both. Very intrigued to see where 3 goes as I hear it's very controversial.

I played this game two times back to back, the second playthrough being on a higher difficulty with new game+ while only using the plasma cutter. I absolutely loved it both times through. I have never played a game that gave me a rush like this one did. It was incredibly fun yet incredibly terrifying and I adore it.

The atmosphere is one of my favorite things here. The dark halls of the Ishimura are unpredictable from beginning to end and I was still getting jumped even near the end of my second playthrough. The game knows how to shake things up whenever I feel just a bit too comfortable. I have so much respect for the fact that the scary music doesn't play during an enemy encounter until you physically see them. Before then all you can hear are the eerie noises they make. It's perfect for building tension. Even the way you fight them is insanely unique with how you have to focus on dismemberment rather than easy headshots. Each encounter felt like a puzzle and I never quite knew when they would end.

The story is also surprisingly engaging here as well. The characters weren't really that special but they all served the story well in their own ways. The fact that the game doesn't have many cutscenes that take control away and instead has a lot of interactable face to face/video conversations made them feel a lot more personal.

If I could change anything it'd probably be shortening some segments that went on a bit too long. Mostly rooms where you have to defeat all the enemies before leaving. That kind of broke up the pacing for me, especially in the last few chapters. I feel like the final chapter in particular is a bit too lengthy with all its enemy gauntlets. It could've been a lot shorter. Overall though, I think the game was paced pretty well.

Small nitpick: I wish there was a custom waypoint feature tied to your locator. There were times where I backtracked to look for doors I couldn't open until I had the right level of security clearance and I got lost a few times even following my map. Letting you place a destination anywhere and having your locator guide you to it would've really helped.

Other than that, I don't really have any issues with the game even after two playthroughs. My second playthrough was for getting the achievement for only using the plasma cutter, playing on hard mode, and getting the alternate ending. Overall I'd say it was worth it. Not for the alternate ending itself, it's nothing too special, but just for appreciating all the foreshadowing on the second playthrough. The plasma cutter only run on hard was surprisingly fun, although the tentacle enemies in the walls were incredibly frustrating during it.

I'd probably put this game on the same level as the Resident Evil remakes in terms of how much I loved it. I might even love it as much as 4's remake. This game just feels really special and I'm so excited to play the sequels.

Been trying to figure out how to put into words how much I love this game ever since I finished it. I genuinely don't know if I can do this game justice. It's a masterpiece. It takes what Remake set up and expands upon it while removing all issues I had with it.

Not gonna say anything about the story obviously besides that I loved it. It was filled with so many great emotional moments while also knowing when to let itself have fun. The cast is elevated to even greater heights with amazing vocal performances.

I got lost exploring all the beautiful areas you journey through. Every region feels distinct and grand and I still haven't even finished exploring most of them. The game adopts a formula similar to the Xenoblade games in terms of its areas and I think it works perfectly. It also reminds me a lot of Final Fantasy XV, a game that I really like, but a bit more refined. It makes me happy to see these games that aren't connected outside of name and series take inspiration from each other to improve upon themselves.

The combat was an area of Remake that I thought they nailed yet it's somehow even better in this game. Everything feels a lot more satisfying and fast with the synergy mechanic and the new skill tree system. It always feels great trying out new abilities for the first time. Something I didn't realize I needed so much until late in the game was the abilities they give you early on that let you use elemental abilities that don't require MP. Made me feel a lot safer not having to worry about characters not having the right materia for weaknesses. Although, as I said, I only really started utilizing it near the end of the game. So if you haven't played the game yet I'd highly recommend trying them from the beginning.

All this isn't even getting into the seemingly endless amount of side content. I was trying to do every piece of side content for the first few regions but by the halfway point in the game I realized that I was burning myself out on it (which was my fault, not the game's). And the story was really picking up so I started skipping a lot of it. That may sound like a negative in terms of side content but it's actually a positive for me because it means there's still so much of this game that I just haven't experienced even after over 60 hours. I'm genuinely floored at how massive in scale it is.

I'm incredibly happy to say that this is the second Final Fantasy game I've played this year that I consider a masterpiece and one of my new favorite games. Both this game and XVI have blown me away in very different ways and I couldn't be happier with them. I have no idea when these are coming to PC or other consoles but I really do think the PS5 is worth it for Rebirth and XVI alone. These games have given me over a hundred hours of enjoyment and I know they'll give me even more when I go back to 100% them.

Rebirth gave me a sense of joy and wonderment that not a lot of games can. It's very hard to explain, but I hope I've at least given you a little bit of an idea. I cannot wait to see how they match or even top this with the third game.