Giallo Corsa
Member
Resident Evil (8) Village was released on May 7, 2021, which places its launch 4 years, 3 months, and 13 days after the release of Resident Evil 7 on January 24, 2017.
Now, i finished RE7 back in the day and while i did enjoy it...let's just say that i was (and still am) in the "RE should be in 3rd person only" camp so RE8 wasn't really on my radar, thing is, during the (horrible) COVID years, the release flow of new AAA games wasn't the best, sure, Playstation already had Returnal, Spiderman Miles Morales and Demon's Souls remake but on the xbox front things were different, so, in the end i couldn't resist and grabbed it for my XSX (please don't start the usual MS Vs Sony shit).
To sum it up, I did enjoy it, but it left me with feelings similar to those I had with RE7. While it was atmospheric, it didn't quite feel like a "proper" Resident Evil game, but rather more like a spinoff. Additionally, while the first-person camera does enhance the horror experience, it doesn't seem quite right for Resident Evil games.
Pros :
- Although the graphics were pretty static with no real or "next-gen" interaction they were pretty good and especially the character models.
- Art-direction, although derivative was pretty good (more on that later).
- Sound production is also Ok-good.
- Ethan's story concluded satisfactorily : things got explained and the ending was fitting.
Cons :
- it felt like a mishmash of ideas/concepts, it's like they didn't know exactly what to do with the whole esthetics/lore AND gameplay, with the village part they obviously wanted to take you back to the RE4 glory days which was OK since, IMO, this alongside the Castle part were the best parts of the game.
Then you have levels like the swamp, house Beneviento which they really tried their best to emulate something like PT (heavy emphasis on FP horror with no real action bits) and finally the factory which, both thematically and esthetically doesn't really vibe nor gel all that well with the rest of the (previous) levels.
What's funny to me though is that even then, it somehow felt more like a RE game due to its gritty atmosphere filled with those biomechanical monstrosities compared to all the previous Werewolf and Vampire shite.it's during that level that it truly becomes a typical, RE game where after reaching the mid/final point "everything clicks" and both the stakes and action ramp up - that Heisenberg (almost) turret boss section can die in a fire though.
It certainly seems as though Capcom had multiple concepts for various games, yet they ultimately combined and integrated these ideas as to release it as a mainline, numbered entry, things are way too wacky even for an RE game since the constant tone switching gets jarring.
- In general, the gameplay lacks a satisfying feel, the enemies are excessively fast, there's an absence of hit stun and their reactions are underwhelming compared to thee remakes and RE5.It often feels like one is striking cardboard cutouts. This issue becomes even more noticeable after playing the RE4 Remake, where the enemies' reactions are impressively dynamic and vary depending on the hit location.
...fast-forward to today :
I needed my survival horror fix and found the Gold edition on sale for 20 Eurodollars (it ends tomorrow in case you're interested, base game goes for 15) and thought of giving it another chance since i don't have my xbox anymore and AND because i also wanted to try the 3rd person camera which got introduced/patched in with the Winter's expansion DLC and...i'm actually enjoying more ?
The graphics have aged gracefully; although the RE Engine may be considered outdated/long in the tooth nowadays, RE8 still boasts a very polished and clean appearance/visuals. In contrast, the subsequent RE4 remake exhibits considerable shimmering and the character models, for some reason, appear more "cartoonish" and less photorealistic than those in RE8 - don't know how they managed that but, here we are (i suspect it had to do with optimization due to the denser/higher enemy numbers in RE4RE).
Atmosphere is still very good and the 3rd person camera, while obviously not RE2/3/4 Remake- level of attention and polish, is good enough to make the game feel different - not to mention "fresh".
There's still some apparent pop-up here 'n' there and the enemies are still bullet sponges (obviously).
Don't know if it's due to the 3rd person camera or just 'cause i'm in the right mood for a game of this nature but, all in all, even with all its faults, it's definitely a good and atmospheric game and i'm enjoying this way more now compared to my 1st playthrough.
So, after 3 years, what's your take on RE8 Village gentlemen ?
Cheers
Now, i finished RE7 back in the day and while i did enjoy it...let's just say that i was (and still am) in the "RE should be in 3rd person only" camp so RE8 wasn't really on my radar, thing is, during the (horrible) COVID years, the release flow of new AAA games wasn't the best, sure, Playstation already had Returnal, Spiderman Miles Morales and Demon's Souls remake but on the xbox front things were different, so, in the end i couldn't resist and grabbed it for my XSX (please don't start the usual MS Vs Sony shit).
To sum it up, I did enjoy it, but it left me with feelings similar to those I had with RE7. While it was atmospheric, it didn't quite feel like a "proper" Resident Evil game, but rather more like a spinoff. Additionally, while the first-person camera does enhance the horror experience, it doesn't seem quite right for Resident Evil games.
Pros :
- Although the graphics were pretty static with no real or "next-gen" interaction they were pretty good and especially the character models.
- Art-direction, although derivative was pretty good (more on that later).
- Sound production is also Ok-good.
- Ethan's story concluded satisfactorily : things got explained and the ending was fitting.
Cons :
- it felt like a mishmash of ideas/concepts, it's like they didn't know exactly what to do with the whole esthetics/lore AND gameplay, with the village part they obviously wanted to take you back to the RE4 glory days which was OK since, IMO, this alongside the Castle part were the best parts of the game.
Then you have levels like the swamp, house Beneviento which they really tried their best to emulate something like PT (heavy emphasis on FP horror with no real action bits) and finally the factory which, both thematically and esthetically doesn't really vibe nor gel all that well with the rest of the (previous) levels.
What's funny to me though is that even then, it somehow felt more like a RE game due to its gritty atmosphere filled with those biomechanical monstrosities compared to all the previous Werewolf and Vampire shite.it's during that level that it truly becomes a typical, RE game where after reaching the mid/final point "everything clicks" and both the stakes and action ramp up - that Heisenberg (almost) turret boss section can die in a fire though.
It certainly seems as though Capcom had multiple concepts for various games, yet they ultimately combined and integrated these ideas as to release it as a mainline, numbered entry, things are way too wacky even for an RE game since the constant tone switching gets jarring.
- In general, the gameplay lacks a satisfying feel, the enemies are excessively fast, there's an absence of hit stun and their reactions are underwhelming compared to thee remakes and RE5.It often feels like one is striking cardboard cutouts. This issue becomes even more noticeable after playing the RE4 Remake, where the enemies' reactions are impressively dynamic and vary depending on the hit location.
...fast-forward to today :
I needed my survival horror fix and found the Gold edition on sale for 20 Eurodollars (it ends tomorrow in case you're interested, base game goes for 15) and thought of giving it another chance since i don't have my xbox anymore and AND because i also wanted to try the 3rd person camera which got introduced/patched in with the Winter's expansion DLC and...i'm actually enjoying more ?
The graphics have aged gracefully; although the RE Engine may be considered outdated/long in the tooth nowadays, RE8 still boasts a very polished and clean appearance/visuals. In contrast, the subsequent RE4 remake exhibits considerable shimmering and the character models, for some reason, appear more "cartoonish" and less photorealistic than those in RE8 - don't know how they managed that but, here we are (i suspect it had to do with optimization due to the denser/higher enemy numbers in RE4RE).
Atmosphere is still very good and the 3rd person camera, while obviously not RE2/3/4 Remake- level of attention and polish, is good enough to make the game feel different - not to mention "fresh".
There's still some apparent pop-up here 'n' there and the enemies are still bullet sponges (obviously).
Don't know if it's due to the 3rd person camera or just 'cause i'm in the right mood for a game of this nature but, all in all, even with all its faults, it's definitely a good and atmospheric game and i'm enjoying this way more now compared to my 1st playthrough.
So, after 3 years, what's your take on RE8 Village gentlemen ?
Cheers
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