This is considered the swan song of classic survival horror, since it's the very last in Capcom's line of fixed-camera titles. It came out just a few months after Resident Evil 4 redefined the genre, so it was an attempt to correct the weaknesses of the old style so the two could coexist. However, as you could probably guess from the aforementioned finality, that plan didn’t work out. It ended up being what is essentially a clone of Clock Tower, where you play as a disempowered teenage girl navigating a mansion and avoiding pursuers as you hunt keys. There are gimmicks on the side like alchemy and bonding with a dog companion, but there’s no avoiding that 90% of the game is running from room to room looking for random items. Since the only enemies you regularly encounter are the pursuers, who are dealt with one-at-a-time in their dedicated chapters, it's weird how little horror there is in comparison to the amount of tedium. If being chased was going to be the only meaningful gameplay, it should have been more nuanced than entering contextual hiding places once you’re out of sight. It’s so simple and predictable that the parts meant to be a climax of tension end up being little more than interruptions as you try to reach the next story moment. All this game ended up accomplishing was compiling all the things people were tired of into a single package, and it was eye-opening to see why people had become so disinterested in a genre I love. I have to credit the game for giving me a new sense of understanding of survival horror history, but I definitely would have preferred a good game instead.