Resident Evil Revelations

[A horse of course]

It has worse characters, though.

You mean waifus had smaller / no tits or what?

I've heard and seen some extremely disturbing material relating to this concern. I suppose Claire's selling point was always her firm but phat ass, however, so that will be the real test.

 

[baturinsky]

I really like Moira's crowbar melee. Unfortunately, I can play as her for only about 1/3 of the game, because Barry's part is much longer.

 

[A horse of course]

I've played about 5 hours of Revelations 2 and I'm only half-way through episode 2 (which seems a lot longer than the first). So far I'm not nearly as enamoured with the game as spekkio indicated he was in the WGAYWTO thread. Good points first:

• It appears that for once in their time here on earth Crapcom actually resisted the urge go to full retard with a sequel. Eschewing the Michael Bay route, the game actually doubles down on the horror mechanics of the first game. There's still too much action for my liking but it's a huge improvement.
• The stealth section are simplistic (which is fair enough as a side-mechanic) but functional, and in fact the Moira/Barry sneaking areas were some of my favourite parts of the game. There were a few bullshit trial-and-error moments (not knowing which door an enemy is facing, for example) and more pervasively, sections in the Claire/Moira segments where it was more beneficial to kill everything and search for secrets than try to sneak past (a common problem with tacked-on stealth mechanics in mainstream shooters). But overall the stealth sections were one of the best additions to the Resident Evil series so far. I'm assuming they took cues from The Last of Us, but I haven't looked into it.
  
• Story has not (yet) gone insane. Apart from the cringeworthy opening, it's all fairly low-key and competent enough. That said, I've read a lot of complaints on RE fansites that the script was fucked due to Crapcom localization removing a number of controversial (incest-themed) Kafka references and messing up the VA direction, robbing Claire of a lot of her characterization. I didn't read too much to avoid spoilers, so I'll try to go into detail once I've finished the game.
• No idea why people were complaining about the graphics. There are typical 360-port textures all over the places and the secondary NPCs have significantly worse models compared to the main characters, but the lighting is fantastic, some great use of shaders (especially for slimy surfaces), a couple of the protagonists are actually strikingly expressive and the monsters look very detailed.
• There are quite a few little hidden areas with extra ammo and bonus points (AKA XP for buying new skills) that made it worth exploring a little.
• I've always liked games that use secrets/collectibles in a manner that actually gives you an incentive to search for them beyond "muh cheevos". Rev 2 has a nice little skill upgrade system that can be traded for hidden gems and such. I think this is a better system than Resident Evil 4's pesos, as the latter basically hamstrung the dynamic difficulty mechanic that gave out ammo/health/money based on performance.
• The music was a nice mix of haunting sorrow during downtime and understated tension for general gameplay. I'm not a fan of going as far as SILENCE UNTIL SCRIPTED BATTLE SEQUENCE, so the raw, discordant strings that wear away at you whilst edging round corners were very effective.

Now for the patented Codex bitching:

• Claire has NO FUCKING ASS. They just up and took it. It's gone. After the strides they made in Revelations, I can't imagine what happened here. One can only assume it was another casualty of developers' attempts at chasing the magic dragon of "realism". Don't get me wrong, Claire's still fairly pretty (the static screens make her look a lot more freakish than in-game) but this is a tragic misstep.
• Is Moira even supposed to be a waifu? Or just background decoration like Natalia? No tits, no ass, no endearing vulnerabilities that the player can empathize with (hurr I won't use guns because my tragic past). I suppose it's unfair to judge the ladies before I'm even 50% through the game, but signs are not promising.That said, I nearly got an erection when that chick covered in blood and half her face ripped off stumbles around the corner and collapses into your arms. Those glasses weren't doing you any favours, honey.
  
• I have mixed feelings about the companion system. On the one hand, I loved Natalia's stealth and detection abilities (I'm curious if Crapcom took cues from the obscure and thoroughly detested https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_(video_game) ), and Moira's flashlight effect is a cool skill for a partner (shades of Alan Wake?). But there are two major drawbacks. Firstly, I can't help but feel the game would be far better as a survival horror were the player following a single character. I'd kill to experience the first half of Part 1 (in the prison) if it were redesigned to be played solely as Moira and focused on stealth, evasion and traps. Secondly, the AI is fucking stupid and some of the best abilities rely on your companion having more than half an atrophied brain cell: Moira, for example, has a very powerful crowbar strike she can use on distracted foes and follow up with a coup de grace, but the AI is too dumb to utilize it and spends most of its time standing around being eaten alive or randomly making frontal attacks on tank-type enemies.
• The controls still feel slightly clunky. I know it's a huge jump over Resident Evil 4/5 but we've gone through this whole routine with the Resident Evil series for over a bloody decade now. At this point I feel like I'm at some family reunion and everyone's trying to be polite to the mentally retarded nephew who has reached his late teens and is finally capable of writing down his own name, albeit using tomato ketchup and forgetting to capitalize the first letter.
• Speaking of Resident Evil 4, even though I praised the hidden items and secret-hunting in my earlier points, I got very strong Sixth-Generation vibes from the level design in Reveations 2. Yes there is the odd side-room with a hidden crate, but most of the "exploration" and backtracking is just following objectives in a different order. It quickly became clear that only something like 3% of the rooms you can enter are optional and not mandated by the main objectives. In short, it's a very linear experience and there doesn't seem to be any attempt at following up on anything like the Solarium from Revelations or other extra content in the classic titles.
  
• Some of the crescendo action sequences were very frustrating. I get the feeling Crapcom never playtested them with anyone who didn't know what they were supposed to do. In the prison, I didn't realize the flamethrower could be spun around because the first time you get access to it is four seconds after activating a horde of enemies and you're not really paying attention to button prompts (inb4 quest compass). I died trying to get up the ladder during the village escape because you have to line Claire up just so, then died the second time because the other two NPCs bugged out and kept yelling at me to come up the ladder, even though I was already right next to them and about to be devoured by pursuers. The Claire/Moira bossfight in Part 2 was one of those annoyingly gamified sequences where enemies will spawn continuously until you kill the boss, which meant what felt like a five-to-ten minute battle that ended with the boss dead and Claire blown up by a minion, then a one-minute second attempt where I just poured everything into the boss, cleaned up a couple of minions and was overcome by that sense of shame you feel when you can't be arsed to wank into a sock and just let your underwear soak it up, then sit in your own calcifying jizz for the rest of the night.
• Barry's magnum is shit. If you don't think a magnum is the video game equivalent of a melta pistol, you shouldn't be designing Resident Evil weapons.

I'll poast some more of my thoughts when I finally finish it.

 

[spekkio]

Claire has NO FUCKING ASS. They just up and took it. It's gone.

What can I say?

Is Moira even supposed to be a waifu? Or just background decoration like Natalia? No tits, no ass, no endearing vulnerabilities that the player can empathize with (hurr I won't use guns because my tragic past).

She's something like a neo-waifu. Flatchested bitchy hipster teenager. This way Capacom can avoid being called sexist. Only to throw in this:

As a bonus/ DLC. She will improve as long as...

Spoiler

You play the boss-battle at the end od 3-1 right.

I'd kill to experience the first half of Part 1 (in the prison) if it were redesigned to be played solely as Moira and focused on stealth, evasion and traps.

BRO, remember it's Biohazard. Made by fucking Capcom. Compared to RE5/6 with their zombiecount reaching billions, the gameplay in RER2 is a massive incline anyway.

Some of the crescendo action sequences were very frustrating. I get the feeling Crapcom never playtested them with anyone who didn't know what they were supposed to do. In the prison, I didn't realize the flamethrower could be spun around because the first time you get access to it is four seconds after activating a horde of enemies and you're not really paying attention to button prompts (inb4 quest compass). I died trying to get up the ladder during the village escape because you have to line Claire up just so, then died the second time because the other two NPCs bugged out and kept yelling at me to come up the ladder, even though I was already right next to them and about to be devoured by pursuers. The Claire/Moira bossfight in Part 2 was one of those annoyingly gamified sequences where enemies will spawn continuously until you kill the boss, which meant what felt like a five-to-ten minute battle that ended with the boss dead and Claire blown up by a minion, then a one-minute second attempt where I just poured everything into the boss, cleaned up a couple of minions and was overcome by that sense of shame you feel when you can't be arsed to wank into a sock and just let your underwear soak it up, then sit in your own calcifying jizz for the rest of the night.

100% agreed, these fights (esp. 2-1 in the village) were bad, due to randomness. But I hated the final one in 3-1 even more.

Also, @ females having no T&A being portrayed in a less oversexal way than before: the (proper) ending would make Ripley and Samus run home in tears due to itz 'strong wymyn FTW!' trope. So - yeah - it's intended. Still:

That said, I nearly got an erection when that chick covered in blood and half her face ripped off stumbles around the corner and collapses into your arms. Those glasses weren't doing you any favours, honey.

You can play her in Raid mode or even story mode via mod:
http://residentevilmodding.boards.net/thread/3703/gina-storymode-claire

A bit of a warning, though:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/835623-resident-evil-revelations-2/71167473

 

[abnaxus]

• Claire has NO FUCKING ASS. They just up and took it. It's gone. After the strides they made in Revelations, I can't imagine what happened here. One can only assume it was another casualty of developers' attempts at chasing the magic dragon of "realism". Don't get me wrong, Claire's still fairly pretty (the static screens make her look a lot more freakish than in-game) but this is a tragic misstep.
• Is Moira even supposed to be a waifu? Or just background decoration like Natalia? No tits, no ass, no endearing vulnerabilities that the player can empathize with (hurr I won't use guns because my tragic past). I suppose it's unfair to judge the ladies before I'm even 50% through the game, but signs are not promising.That said, I nearly got an erection when that chick covered in blood and half her face ripped off stumbles around the corner and collapses into your arms. Those glasses weren't doing you any favours, honey.

StudioFOW will fix it.

 

[Jick Magger]

• I have mixed feelings about the companion system. On the one hand, I loved Natalia's stealth and detection abilities (I'm curious if Crapcom took cues from the obscure and thoroughly detested https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_(video_game) ), and Moira's flashlight effect is a cool skill for a partner (shades of Alan Wake?). But there are two major drawbacks. Firstly, I can't help but feel the game would be far better as a survival horror were the player following a single character. I'd kill to experience the first half of Part 1 (in the prison) if it were redesigned to be played solely as Moira and focused on stealth, evasion and traps. Secondly, the AI is fucking stupid and some of the best abilities rely on your companion having more than half an atrophied brain cell: Moira, for example, has a very powerful crowbar strike she can use on distracted foes and follow up with a coup de grace, but the AI is too dumb to utilize it and spends most of its time standing around being eaten alive or randomly making frontal attacks on tank-type enemies.

I just bought the combined fire perk and played as Moira a majority of the time. Claire does a little bit of damage with her guns, and for the most part will try and stay back from enemies. Plus when you play as Claire enemies can kill you and land you a game over, when you play as Moira the worst they can do to you is knock you over.

 

[A horse of course]

Finished the base game. I think the general quality of the game shot up around half-way through episode 2 and stayed there (roughly) until Episode 4, which went full retard in Part 1 and just seemed to be treading water in Part 2. I won't post my final thoughts until I've played through the two DLC though.

• Claire has NO FUCKING ASS. They just up and took it. It's gone. After the strides they made in Revelations, I can't imagine what happened here. One can only assume it was another casualty of developers' attempts at chasing the magic dragon of "realism". Don't get me wrong, Claire's still fairly pretty (the static screens make her look a lot more freakish than in-game) but this is a tragic misstep.
• Is Moira even supposed to be a waifu? Or just background decoration like Natalia? No tits, no ass, no endearing vulnerabilities that the player can empathize with (hurr I won't use guns because my tragic past). I suppose it's unfair to judge the ladies before I'm even 50% through the game, but signs are not promising.That said, I nearly got an erection when that chick covered in blood and half her face ripped off stumbles around the corner and collapses into your arms. Those glasses weren't doing you any favours, honey.

StudioFOW will fix it.

Sadly they didn't do that much. Google studioFOW claire

 

[spekkio]

I won't post my final thoughts until I've played through the two DLC though.

Don't bother. Esp. the "Dark Natalia" one is BSB.