Resident Evil 6 - Better than Resident Evil 5?

[Friendly]

From Capcom's Summer Jam event held yesterday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bqc3076Xu6s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epKfXxxznX4

[drauch]

First video looks good. Second video looks all sorts of mediocre. If they can keep that dark, atmospheric tone in that first video then I'll actually be excited for this. I remember 5 looking promising in its first gameplay video as well, so I guess I know how fast this could turn into a turd and promise all sorts of things that don't even happen. I won't get my hopes up.

[Friendly]

The zombies seem pretty weak; they die without even shooting them in the head...

[Skykid]

Looks okayish. Character models are so fugly. Why does Leon look like David Bowie?

[Leader Bee]

Sick of Leon, I want to play as Jill again or hell - even give me Barry Burton.

[njiska]

It looks a lot better than RE5, but then again so does polio. At least there is atmosphere present in those clips. Still, action-oriented RE does not appeal to me at all. RE4 was alright, but I still great prefer the puzzles and actual survival aspect of the original.

Leon looks like he's aged terribly.

[Skykid]

RE4 was alright

Understatement of the century.

[njiska]

RE4 was alright

Understatement of the century.

No. Not at all. Even when I played it in 2004 I wasn't blown away by it. In fact I was more impressed with REmake. Was it better than RE3 or CVX? Absolutely. But that alone does not make it something super special in my eyes and I have several problems.

- The engaging horror atmosphere is mostly gone by the end of the first Act.
- The game itself is not overly scary aside from the fight with the right hand man.
- Some of the QTEs like the fight with Krauser are annoying.
- Ashley is annoying to escort and can't walk around a simple bear trap. Also Dumbo ears.
- The gameplay was very enjoyable, but the lack of movement while shooting greatly annoys me. With the originals it was forgivable, but once the series moved to third person over the shoulder with a dual analog controller there was no excuse. Shadows of the Damned proves this point.
- Puzzles were too simple.
- You're far too heavily armed. El Gigante is never a terror as long as you have a spare RPG lying around.

I'm not by any means saying RE4 was a bad game, but it is far from the second coming of Christ that it's often portrayed as. To me it was an alright experience.

[Skykid]

I'm not by any means saying RE4 was a bad game, but it is far from the second coming of Christ that it's often portrayed as. To me it was an alright experience.

To me it was the second coming of Christ.

[njiska]

I'm not by any means saying RE4 was a bad game, but it is far from the second coming of Christ that it's often portrayed as. To me it was an alright experience.

To me it was the second coming of Christ.

And your reasoning? I was kind enough to explain my thoughts.

[Skykid]

And your reasoning? I was kind enough to explain my thoughts.

Sure.

- The engaging horror atmosphere is mostly gone by the end of the first Act.

The atmosphere remained resolutely creepy throughout, and thick as tar owing to the immaculate beauty of its design work.

- The game itself is not overly scary aside from the fight with the right hand man.

It's a matter of opinion. I never found any RE overly scary anyway, but 4 is peppered with heart-in-mouth confrontations.

- Some of the QTEs like the fight with Krauser are annoying.

The fight with Krauser is one of the greatest QTE battles ever.

- Ashley is annoying to escort and can't walk around a simple bear trap. Also Dumbo ears.

She was fine. Easier than Sheva in RE5.

- The gameplay was very enjoyable, but the lack of movement while shooting greatly annoys me. With the originals it was forgivable, but once the series moved to third person over the shoulder with a dual analog controller there was no excuse.

The restriction of movement and viewpoint, as well as needing to drop into menus to exchange weaponry was all intentional. This was cited by Mikami during interviews. The goal is to heighten tension by limiting your movement when in a firing position, exactly the same type of restriction used in Gears of War. It worked to a tee.

- Puzzles were too simple.

Best thing about the game.

- You're far too heavily armed. El Gigante is never a terror as long as you have a spare RPG lying around.

He is if you don't have a spare RPG lying around. Preparation and rationing was a big part of the strategy.

However:

dual analog controller

If I had addressed this first, all of the above would be null and void. The simple summary is you played a vastly inferior version of a modern masterpiece. You did yourself a great disservice and the game a great injustice.

The Gamecube version so outshines the PS2 port I absolutely understand (and pity you) for the lesser experience that you had. The Dual Shock analogs are useless for most things, letalone the pinpoint accuracy required in RE4 - it's no wonder you found the controls clunky and the QTE's irritating.

RE4 was designed around the Gamecube's architecture and control pad, and as a result fits like a glove. You may remember Capcom mentioning early on that a PS2 port just wasn't possible, until they were forced to make it possible.

In addition to fine controls, the aesthetic architecture on the Gamecube was far superior to the papery equivalent on the PS2. There were elements in the GC version (such as the fire room) that were some of the most impressive and advanced graphics of the time, but much of the impact and fidelity was lost in translation.

So yes, I can see why your experience was dulled. Anyone who wanted RE4 should have bought a Gamecube to play it on, there's no excuse.

[njiska]

Oh my dear Skykid, this shall be a fun discussion indeed. As long as we both keep in mind that a lot of this is subjective.

- The engaging horror atmosphere is mostly gone by the end of the first Act.

The atmosphere remained resolutely creepy throughout, and thick as tar owing to the immaculate beauty of its design work.

The opening scene, through the rest of the first act was nothing short of brilliant. It was creepy and it evoked several strong elements of early European horror. Then you got to the castle and you met this guy:


At this point I found the game started to switch from genuinely atmospheric horror to a "Storm the castle" vibe. It wasn't creepy any more, it was just weird. Then you got to the second disc and you were in the lab. This whole section I found to be quite sterile compared to both earlier chapters. I also started to feel too powerful at this point. Like a one man army. All of the fun of being the stranger, surrounded by evil was lost.

- The game itself is not overly scary aside from the fight with the right hand man.

It's a matter of opinion. I never found any RE overly scary anyway, but 4 is peppered with heart-in-mouth confrontations.

I agree this is quite rightly a matter of opinion. As stated above, my root problem is that the opening act is so strongly steeped in atmosphere that it makes the rest of the game feel inferior. Aside from the fight with the Right hand man, which was very heart-in-mouth, there was no tension at all after the first act. Jump scares are not exciting like constant dread is.

This is why my favourite game in the series is REmake. They got the atmosphere right. The original PSX version and RE2 also had good atmosphere, but by RE3 the series lost it. Half the reason the atmosphere of RE4 bothers me is because it starts off like the games of the series that I enjoyed and then shuns all the good bits.

- Some of the QTEs like the fight with Krauser are annoying.

The fight with Krauser is one of the greatest QTE battles ever.

I will give you that at the time fighting with QTEs was a neat concept, but what annoyed me about that fight was that you had to do it perfect. I don't recall any point where you could miss a QTE and continue the scene. That made the whole scene feel less organic and if you did feel one it was annoying to go through the whole scene again. A good QTE encounter allows some failures. Take the confrontation that happen in Fahrenheit or Heavy Rain as examples of good QTE confrontations.

- Ashley is annoying to escort and can't walk around a simple bear trap. Also Dumbo ears.

She was fine. Easier than Sheva in RE5.

Being better than one of the worst AI companions in a co-op game is not a sign of success. Both Ashley and Sheva are terrible. The only difference is that you can at least get rid of Ashley for portions of the game.

- The gameplay was very enjoyable, but the lack of movement while shooting greatly annoys me. With the originals it was forgivable, but once the series moved to third person over the shoulder with a dual analog controller there was no excuse.

The restriction of movement and viewpoint, as well as needing to drop into menus to exchange weaponry was all intentional. This was cited by Mikami during interviews. The goal is to heighten tension by limiting your movement when in a firing position, exactly the same type of restriction used in Gears of War. It worked to a tee.

I am well aware of Mikami's intentions, and don't get me wrong, i love the guy, but intentions pave the road to hell. Once you switched to that camera orientation with that kind of aiming system, keeping you still only builds frustration, not tension. Again, this is proven by Mikami's own Shadows of the damned where you can move and shoot using the same camera/aiming system and it feels far more comfortable. RE4 is just as much an action game as that is by the third act, so I don't see the problem. If there's no tension to be gin with, trying to build it that way will not work.

- Puzzles were too simple.

Best thing about the game.

Again, this is entirely opinion so there is no right an wrong. But I greatly prefer a slower pace and better puzzles to just finding a key and opening a door. Then again I also like actual "Survival Horror". This is why I lost interest in RE: Revelations.

- You're far too heavily armed. El Gigante is never a terror as long as you have a spare RPG lying around.

He is if you don't have a spare RPG lying around. Preparation and rationing was a big part of the strategy.[/quote]

Aside from the fact that I always had an RPG on me, even without it he wasn't hard. They did throw two of them at you once, which should have been a challenge, but you could pretty much insta-kill one of them.

However:

dual analog controller

If I had addressed this first, all of the above would be null and void. The simple summary is you played a vastly inferior version of a modern masterpiece. You did yourself a great disservice and the game a great injustice.

The Gamecube version so outshines the PS2 port I absolutely understand (and pity you) for the lesser experience that you had. The Dual Shock analogs are useless for most things, letalone the pinpoint accuracy required in RE4 - it's no wonder you found the controls clunky and the QTE's irritating.

RE4 was designed around the Gamecube's architecture and control pad, and as a result fits like a glove. You may remember Capcom mentioning early on that a PS2 port just wasn't possible, until they were forced to make it possible.

In addition to fine controls, the aesthetic architecture on the Gamecube was far superior to the papery equivalent on the PS2. There were elements in the GC version (such as the fire room) that were some of the most impressive and advanced graphics of the time, but much of the impact and fidelity was lost in translation.

So yes, I can see why your experience was dulled. Anyone who wanted RE4 should have bought a Gamecube to play it on, there's no excuse.

Ha, ha, ha. Oh Skykid. Didn't anyone ever tell you about jumping to conclusions? You see not only have I never even played the PS2 port of RE4, I actually did as you suggested and bought a Gamecube in March 2005 just to play it. Now if I had said DualShock, then your speculation would be sound, but I didn't. I said Dual Analog and you know what the Gamecube has? A dual analog controller. Yes, the C-Stick is a piece of shit when it comes to aiming (unless you swap it for another left stick as we did), but it's still there and usable.

[Skykid]

Ha, ha, ha. Oh Skykid. Didn't anyone ever tell you about jumping to conclusions? You see not only have I never even played the PS2 port of RE4, I actually did as you suggested and bought a Gamecube in March 2005 just to play it. Now if I had said DualShock, then your speculation would be sound, but I didn't. I said Dual Analog and you know what the Gamecube has? A dual analog controller. Yes, the C-Stick is a piece of shit when it comes to aiming (unless you swap it for another left stick as we did), but it's still there and usable.

Doh! That's my bad. Sorry, whenever I hear 'Dual' in relation to a pad, I automatically think of that PlayStation atrocity.



Well done for purchasing a Gamecube to play the game at its best. I know so many punks who didn't and then complain about the controls sucking.

Reading over your opinions, I can only assume that what it attempted to do that was considered to be new and exciting for the series -- amping up the action, lessening the puzzles -- is a matter of taste. For me it catapulted the entire series into a whole new dimension. I loved the fact it was riddled with influence from just about every horror film imaginable, including the 'storming of the castle' which I thought was breathtaking when those fireballs were raining over.

Its constant invention and variety is what left an indelible mark: there was always something new around the corner, a game literally bursting with effort. I believe it set the pace for the entire modern gaming industry in terms of scale and cinematic impressiveness - I'm just yet to see anything that matches it in terms of design.

If you didn't like the controls then you didn't like the key fundamental that made the game work. It would have been far less tense and claustrophobic using a regime that graced you with a broader view and lock on shooting.

The QTE's could be scrappy at first, but fighting Krauser is one of the most memorable (and cool) fights in gaming history. A seminal moment for the series. Oh, and Leon was really cool.

I was happy it did away with a lot of the stuffy conventions up to that point - RE3 and the remakes had already run over the concept enough.

RE4 shook up the world in my eyes.

[Paradigm]

Res 4 is one of the greatest games ever made. That's not an opinion, it's a fact.

Whatever was in the water during development, it sure as hell isn't there anymore and probably isn't coming back.

[mesh control]

Res 4 is one of the greatest games ever made. That's not an opinion, it's a fact.

Whatever was in the water during development, it sure as hell isn't there anymore and probably isn't coming back.

Clover took their water with them.

[Zaarock]

RE5 was bad but had a great Mercenaries mode that was fun to play for score, especially in coop.. worth buying for cheap nowadays just for mercs imo. Will probably buy 6 if it has something like that or the main game somehow manages to be good.

I agree that 4 wasn't scary after the beginning apart from a couple moments, especially once you had a arsenal of weapons and knew how to deal enemies efficiently (perhaps a result of the game being so long)

[Skykid]

RE5 was bad

It really wasn't bad.

Res 4 is one of the greatest games ever made. That's not an opinion, it's a fact.

Whatever was in the water during development, it sure as hell isn't there anymore and probably isn't coming back.

Fully agree.

[Daigohji]

RE6 is looking horribly generic. Say what you like about the quality of RE5 (I liked it), but its setting was a hell of a lot more imaginative than the stock urban environments shown in those two clips.

[FIL]

Needs less Sherry and Leon, more Rebecca and Barry.

[dan76]

So I've just finished playing the demo (no I didn't buy that game - much like RE5 it's easy to play the demo if you have a usb stick or blank dvd).

A couple of impressions - might be some SPOILERS in here:

The first thing - turn of the destination markers! Doing this alone turns the game into something that at least resembles RE. There are a ton of options to set up screen settings, camera speeds, aiming speeds, types of aiming etc. You should be able to get something you're happy with.

The forced co-op AI seems much better, I didn't have any problems with the demo in this respect. From what I could tell your partner couldn't take damage - though that might be because of the difficulty setting (it's very easy). Still not as good a being alone though.

Obviously Leon's scenario has the most promise, but is probably the worst for replayability with regards to the demo itself. One awful thing they've done is force you to creep around at a snail's pace at certain points. This is really bad and a poor attempt at creating atmosphere - which it doesn't need to do, the setting is good enough.

The other two are much more action based, similar to 5 but with different controls - lots of enemies with guns firing back at you. Ho-hum, not really Resident Evil is it?

Anyhow, with the Chris demo even though you are part of a team they don't go running off in front of you, so it still gives the impression that you're discovering the path ahead and not being dragged through a game. I was playing it fairly slowly, trying to pick off enemies etc. There a pretty cool giant moth thing in there.

When I downloaded this I was afraid of how awful it was going to be, but it wasn't. Resi 4 is still one of the greatest games ever made, and I doubt this will come close. It's looking better than 5, but it's still taking itself way to seriously in that it thinks story is all important (and not the fun of actually playing).

[EmperorIng]

I really like the original Resident Evil trilogy, with RE2 being, in my mind, my favorite of the bunch. Great controls (the tank controls actually work remarkably well, and I've never really understood the bitching about them. You get over any sluggishness after ten minutes), wonderful atmosphere (supported by a... stellar voice cast) and the games (Re1 springs to mind in particular) are actually lots of fun to speed-run.

RE4 is the great "action movie" game of the series. Before, RE2 kind of held that distinction by how Hollywood it got towards the end (seriously, I burst out laughing when that operatic music started playing when Mr. X showed up at the train with flames all around. SO CHEESY I LOVE IT). But RE4 took it to new levels. It was good that the game mechanics and design were more than competent to make up for the lack of atmosphere displayed in the previous games.

Now, I might invalidate what I have said by stating that RE4 was my first proper Resident Evil game on the GC - afterwards I went back and played the original trilogy on the PS1, and was blown away by how great they were. Very tight game-design, fun puzzles, and a real sense of survival-horror, which i felt the series started to lose with the seminal RE4. I find the most fun moments of the original series are when you are low on ammo, and you have a shitton of zombies (sometimes they take 8 pistol bullets to kill!) everywhere - that's where the series shines. REmake is probably one of the best REs in that regard, but playing it with a joystick can really be frustrating, sometimes. The tank controls were really meant for digital input. But a great sense of dread, great sense of item-management and survival-horror (especially with the awesome inclusion of crimsons), and a really, really creepy environment to explore.

RE5 was a blase boring action game, and RE6 is kind of really looking like more of the same (I'll sort of withhold judgment, but these initial videos are not getting my hopes up, even with Sherry returning). Come on, just set us up in some abandoned mansion or castle already! And bring back Barry Burton! The lack of love he has gotten in the series is really shameful.

[Ed Oscuro]

Damnit all, I need to play new stuff and you guys are all "oh look RE4 is the reason you haven't unplugged your GC yet." I played through it again only a year ago, if that!

"Just when I thought I was ready for gun-juggling, they pull me back in."

RE4 is the great "action movie" game of the series. Before, RE2 kind of held that distinction by how Hollywood it got towards the end (seriously, I burst out laughing when that operatic music started playing when Mr. X showed up at the train with flames all around. SO CHEESY I LOVE IT). But RE4 took it to new levels. It was good that the game mechanics and design were more than competent to make up for the lack of atmosphere displayed in the previous games.

Atmosphere =/= "CHEESY." RE4 has better atmosphere than any other RE game up to that time, with the exception of REmake (has its moments, but it's also a shorter game by far). Other games have their moments, and I do remember RE2 fondly, but it also has its share of brain-deadening stupidity in its plot exposition, characters, and so on - not to mention that even Shakespeare would look suspect if you got it through Babelfish. If you squeeze your eyes shut really tight and think about some of the sequences in RE2 (OH NO THE COP IS A ZOMBIE! OH NOES MEDIEVAL TORTURE CHAMBER WHAT IS THE GUY DOING THE MAYOR'S DAUGHTER THE EXPLODED IN HALF THE...WHAT) you will realize that it is not Shakespeare. There are some very nice backgrounds, and some crummy ones.

There's an interesting analogy: RE2's progression of "feeling" is similar to RE4 in that you start out with some atmosphere before you go into the industrial stuff and the Action Scenes! There is still a difference here, though, in that RE4's very lovely atmospheric areas are fresher than the other side of a door in the Raccoon City police station.

Now, I might invalidate what I have said by stating that RE4 was my first proper Resident Evil game on the GC - afterwards I went back and played the original trilogy on the PS1, and was blown away by how great they were. Very tight game-design, fun puzzles, and a real sense of survival-horror, which i felt the series started to lose with the seminal RE4.

I'm not sure if I could say my experience is similar or dissimilar.

Years ago, somebody (maybe me) selected Resident Evil DC for me and it was returned to the games store unopened (oh noes, the ZOMBIE looks BAD), but the little time I was able to spend with two PS1 games (Tenchu and RE2) had me totally convinced. Years later, I realize that the "aim up, aim down, or aim at the chest" system is fucking dumb and tank controls are annoying. I do enjoy Capcom's survival horror games (including the Dino Crisis games, both somewhat underrated) but they are all somewhat flawed both in execution and (arguably) in concept.

Then again, I suppose you could say the same of Kiler7, too!

Leon Kennedy...making the world safe for bingo and American action films since 1998.

njiska, my knee-jerk reaction to your pot roast of a post was to scream about idiots and heathens, but you make some interesting points which I think you get wrong, but for very subtle reasons.

- The engaging horror atmosphere is mostly gone by the end of the first Act.

The atmosphere remained resolutely creepy throughout, and thick as tar owing to the immaculate beauty of its design work.

The opening scene, through the rest of the first act was nothing short of brilliant. It was creepy and it evoked several strong elements of early European horror. Then you got to the castle and you met this guy:
TRICORNER HAT MIDGET IMAGE

At this point I found the game started to switch from genuinely atmospheric horror to a "Storm the castle" vibe. It wasn't creepy any more, it was just weird. Then you got to the second disc and you were in the lab. This whole section I found to be quite sterile compared to both earlier chapters. I also started to feel too powerful at this point. Like a one man army. All of the fun of being the stranger, surrounded by evil was lost.

Just a quick refresher:

The average RE game is "atmospheric horror" in a nice, but pretty one-note kind of way. Then after you've run past the expansive vistas (with musical stingers playing at the appropriate times) and the quiet engine rooms, there is HOLY SHIT! SELF-DESTRUCTION SEQUENCE INITIATED! - not to mention that the older RE idea of "atmosphere" is house -> industrial (or medical research facility) -> types of final boss you are generally unprepared for which will have many unexperienced players restarting and watching lengthy cutscenes because of late 90's Capcom's lousy RPG-esque pacing and difficulty "ramping."

I think that RE4's pacing is entirely appropriate. Yes, it turns into an action game. A third-person shoot'n game that acts like one? How about that?

I would love for the game to have been able to stretch out the first third's nighttime sequences (after winning the fight against El Monstruo or whatever the lake thing is called) which were absolutely brilliant, but nights don't last forever and on the first playthrough I bet most people were playing that through as long as an actual night might be. It would be really hard to get that kind of atmosphere going consistently through a whole game without it starting to feel one-note again.

- The game itself is not overly scary aside from the fight with the right hand man.

It's a matter of opinion. I never found any RE overly scary anyway, but 4 is peppered with heart-in-mouth confrontations.

I agree this is quite rightly a matter of opinion. As stated above, my root problem is that the opening act is so strongly steeped in atmosphere that it makes the rest of the game feel inferior. Aside from the fight with the Right hand man, which was very heart-in-mouth, there was no tension at all after the first act. Jump scares are not exciting like constant dread is.

RE4 doesn't have enough giant snakes, spiders, or alligators, obviously.

If you never were even worried about the Regenerators, though, your balls are made of somethin' special. Sure, on my last few Professional plays I just used a thompson or the handcannon, but remember back to when that rifle was better. The only problem here is that you knew that the Regenerators were slow and even if they could damage you, you'd take it. Not exactly an unstoppable force of nature kind of horror, I'll grant that, but still a damn sight better than most of the competition.

This is why my favourite game in the series is REmake. They got the atmosphere right.

DUTCH ANGLES

The original PSX version and RE2 also had good atmosphere, but by RE3 the series lost it. Half the reason the atmosphere of RE4 bothers me is because it starts off like the games of the series that I enjoyed and then shuns all the good bits.

I still haven't played RE3, but Code Veronica is pretty great at points. Frozen horror!

- Some of the QTEs like the fight with Krauser are annoying.

The fight with Krauser is one of the greatest QTE battles ever.

I will give you that at the time fighting with QTEs was a neat concept, but what annoyed me about that fight was that you had to do it perfect. I don't recall any point where you could miss a QTE and continue the scene. That made the whole scene feel less organic and if you did feel one it was annoying to go through the whole scene again. A good QTE encounter allows some failures. Take the confrontation that happen in Fahrenheit or Heavy Rain as examples of good QTE confrontations.

Again, "at the time." If we can grant the earlier REs a pass for their many (and often egregious) flaws, then RE4's gleeful insistence on showing you Leon Smashed By Rocks or Krauser Knife in Leon Sternum (ugh, flashbacks to Saving Private Ryan) might get a pass as well. I will note that the people who are going to object to the showing of those scenes (even once) probably don't like zombie movies.

- Ashley is annoying to escort and can't walk around a simple bear trap. Also Dumbo ears.

She was fine. Easier than Sheva in RE5.

Being better than one of the worst AI companions in a co-op game is not a sign of success. Both Ashley and Sheva are terrible. The only difference is that you can at least get rid of Ashley for portions of the game.

Ashley is great, end of story. The only sensible retort is that it's sexist, but I say sensible advisedly.

What was bad (or maybe not...) was Leon's unsuccessful dating scheme. You gotta respect the man for fighting his inner lolita complex even though she didn't really qualify but I guess Japan needed that slap across the face, although I guess the aforementioned failed date only reinforces that he ought to have grabbed Ashley...hmm. This reminds me, there's a lovable picture somewhere on the internets of a rather devilish looking Leon force-feeding Ashley a yellow herb over her tears.

- The gameplay was very enjoyable, but the lack of movement while shooting greatly annoys me. With the originals it was forgivable, but once the series moved to third person over the shoulder with a dual analog controller there was no excuse.

The restriction of movement and viewpoint, as well as needing to drop into menus to exchange weaponry was all intentional. This was cited by Mikami during interviews. The goal is to heighten tension by limiting your movement when in a firing position, exactly the same type of restriction used in Gears of War. It worked to a tee.

I am well aware of Mikami's intentions, and don't get me wrong, i love the guy, but intentions pave the road to hell.

Your last two sentences here are where I started reading, and I thought you were referring to this. Add me in agreement with Skykid here.

- Puzzles were too simple.

Best thing about the game.

Again, this is entirely opinion so there is no right an wrong. But I greatly prefer a slower pace and better puzzles to just finding a key and opening a door. Then again I also like actual "Survival Horror". This is why I lost interest in RE: Revelations.

RE never was Riven, and some of the puzzles in Zero (for example) are pretty ridiculous. (Lighting torches...thank goodness for GameFAQs so I didn't force my brain cells to commit seppuku after their inability to fathom the logic behind the animal torch puzzle.) But there were some interesting and borderline engaging puzzles in RE4, like the pedestal behind the church that yields a precious stone. Not sure a standard slider puzzle is pushing the boundaries, but if it's not another abuse of industrial plant controls, I'm all for it.

But yeah, I'd like to spend a moment of silence in memory of sliding statue puzzles.

- You're far too heavily armed. El Gigante is never a terror as long as you have a spare RPG lying around.

He is if you don't have a spare RPG lying around. Preparation and rationing was a big part of the strategy.

Aside from the fact that I always had an RPG on me, even without it he wasn't hard. They did throw two of them at you once, which should have been a challenge, but you could pretty much insta-kill one of them.

I think your memory is faulty (or you are thinking of another enemy). The first time you reach Gigante, you don't have an RPG. I don't think that any merchants even offer one for sale as early as the break after the house defense scene, which comes right before a second Gigante encounter (on the right path) - and if merchants do, it's your own damn fault for ruining the game; honestly I was hard-pressed for cash for upgrades my first few playthroughs and probably was already selling my Punisher bonus pistol (I still do). This is true at least on the GameCube, which is the system you played. You can hardly fault Capcom for giving some slightly more powerful weaponry on later returns (although I thought they mainly came as game completion rewards) if they were going to re-use the Gigante like a palette-swapped character for late game appearances as a regular enemy, but I don't think he returns commonly. The earliest appearance of a collectable RPG that I can think of is well into the castle.

If I can have a whine about the weapons, it's that replayability is harmed when using the excessively powerful reward weapons. For example, the infinite ammo of the Chicago Typewriter is problematic enough, but you don't even need to reload it - the reloading animation is just a bonus and has no functional purpose.

[EmperorIng]

I didn't know there were people who didn't like the cheesy B-movie atmosphere that has pervaded the series since its inception.

It has always been a balance between creepy-looking areas and absolutely hilarious voice-acting and plot-development. Shinji Mikami loves bad English dubbing, after all (the original RE cast was voiced by visiting Europeans!).

If you don't like that you probably wouldn't like any Resident Evil game. : /
I mean, half the reason you play an RE game is to laugh your ass off at its clunky script.

Which is another problem with post-RE4 scripts. They started taking themselves way too seriously. RE:Revelations feels like a rejected Kojima script. RE6's story trailers seem to follow that trend.

As an aside, while i enjoyed Killer7, it is a whole bunch of cool ideas marred with a very terrible execution. That's usually the case with every single Suda51 game. And i'm a fan!

[Marc]

I liked 4, but lost all interest when they started throwing in QTE's mid boss fight, total bullshit.

ReMake is probably my favourite of the series, it would be awesome to see that rendered in HD.

[Leader Bee]

I liked 4, but lost all interest when they started throwing in QTE's mid boss fight, total bullshit.

ReMake is probably my favourite of the series, it would be awesome to see that rendered in HD.

It'd be even more awesome to see a REmake of 2 and 3. I wish i'd have known the versions on the 'cube were just ps1 ports.

[njiska]

Aside from the fact that I always had an RPG on me, even without it he wasn't hard. They did throw two of them at you once, which should have been a challenge, but you could pretty much insta-kill one of them.

I think your memory is faulty (or you are thinking of another enemy). The first time you reach Gigante, you don't have an RPG. I don't think that any merchants even offer one for sale as early as the break after the house defense scene, which comes right before a second Gigante encounter (on the right path) - and if merchants do, it's your own damn fault for ruining the game; honestly I was hard-pressed for cash for upgrades my first few playthroughs and probably was already selling my Punisher bonus pistol (I still do). This is true at least on the GameCube, which is the system you played. You can hardly fault Capcom for giving some slightly more powerful weaponry on later returns (although I thought they mainly came as game completion rewards) if they were going to re-use the Gigante like a palette-swapped character for late game appearances as a regular enemy, but I don't think he returns commonly. The earliest appearance of a collectable RPG that I can think of is well into the castle.

If I can have a whine about the weapons, it's that replayability is harmed when using the excessively powerful reward weapons. For example, the infinite ammo of the Chicago Typewriter is problematic enough, but you don't even need to reload it - the reloading animation is just a bonus and has no functional purpose.[/quote]

I'm not going to address your entire post, just because it's a bit tricky to read with the missed quote tags, but I'll happily address this part. It has been a few years since I last played RE4, but my memory is far from faulty. The first El Gigante is not a challenge due to the fact that I always end up saving the dog. The second one is a bit of a challenge, but beyond that I always found myself loaded with cash and never walked around without an RPG after it became available form the merchant.

At the end of the day my main issue with RE4 is still an issue to me, and that's just that I find the game all round less exciting after the first Act.

[Skykid]

^ Guys, you all need to sort out your quoting tags, it's a bit confusing.

RE:Revelations feels like a rejected Kojima script.

Ha ha, a rejected Kojima script! I feel ill just thinking about such a thing. Does it have 16 hour cutscenes that attempt to address the secret of life and the universe?

[Ed Oscuro]

My quote tags are fine, they just quote njiska, quoting Skykid, quoting njiska.

I'm not going to address your entire post, just because it's a bit tricky to read with the missed quote tags, but I'll happily address this part. It has been a few years since I last played RE4, but my memory is far from faulty. The first El Gigante is not a challenge due to the fact that I always end up saving the dog. The second one is a bit of a challenge, but beyond that I always found myself loaded with cash and never walked around without an RPG after it became available form the merchant.

I had a look at the Resident Evil Wikia last night, and while it doesn't explicitly say a few things it does mention this: The dog only distracts El Gigante below Professional mode.

I view carrying a one-off RPG (at 30,000 pesetas) to be a waste of upgrade opportunities. If it really does make the game that much easier, maybe I'm the silly one, but I do feel vindicated if it means I get to play the boss fight the right way and not one-shot the Gigante.

But really, I can't take you seriously if you complain about the game being too easy if you play below Professional mode on a repeat play, and keep a panic bomb on your person at all times.

[Skykid]

My quote tags are fine, they just quote njiska, quoting Skykid, quoting njiska.

No, you've left Njiska's stuff partially unquoted and it runs into your own sentences. I managed to figure it out though, and I'm with you 100%

[Leader Bee]

But really, I can't take you seriously if you complain about the game being too easy if you play below Professional mode on a repeat play, and keep a panic bomb on your person at all times.

Cant say I used the RPG more than twice in my playthrough, once at the end when it's obligatory and once in the bell tower of the castle, when you fight salazar squid monster thing.

Not once did I buy one, waste of pesetas that could be better spent on upgrades.