Resident Evil: Revelations spoiler thread

[Leggetron]

Finally finished this an hour or two ago.

I liked it as a Resident Evil game and as an addition to the series' canon, and I truly, genuinely enjoyed playing it. But I don't think it's 100% deserving of some of the praise it's been getting.

Firstly, it's really not the return to the roots of the series that I've seen bandied about a bit. It still has quite a lot in common with RE4 and 5 in terms of the "action" feel. In fact, I'd go as far to say that it even ups the ante in those stakes in many ways. Ammo is always super plentiful and there are loads of sequences where you're spammed with enemies. Of course, they're offset with more "traditional style" slower-paced sections, but they don't quite pull it off (in my opinion).

As much as I really wanted it to be the ambassador game for the full console-like experience on 3DS, it wasn't quite what I'd hoped it to be in that regard. Maybe it was the episodic nature (something that I think works for a portable RE but also something that I don't want to see in RE6), but the level design/exploration seemed a bit pared back. Also, the series' puzzle elements weren't as prevalent as I'd have liked.

Despite all of this (reading that back, it might sound like I disliked Revelations), I really, really enjoyed it for what it was. It IS still impressive, and I think it's easily still worth a solid 9/10. It's just not quite the return to "form" that people may have expected, and I don't think this is any more a survival horror title than RE4 or RE5 were.

[Newsboy]

I really loved it, more so than RE5, and unlike you I actually really want RE6 to mimic the episodic nature. I mean, RE4 and 5 were basically episodic themselves with little breaks after each chapter to give you stats, this just allowed Capcom to swap out characters in a nicer way, and I LOOOOVED getting caught up on the story every time I loaded the game (having the option to skip it as well was LOVED).
I'm a little biased on that though as it is something I've been waiting for games to have for the past 2 years, and Alan Wake really failed at it in my eyes.

As for the action vs traditional stuff, while the traditional stuff wasn't anywhere the level of the original games, it was a step in the right direction, and I really enjoyed going between the two states. It felt like more of an evolution of a series than RE5.
In my eyes I feel this is the game RE5 should have been. Sure the story wasn't overly good, and the voice acting wasn't the best it's been, but the fact that they actually tried to build up atmosphere this time went a long way for me.
The lead up to the "may day" boss was easily the most "Resident Evil" the game was, and I was seriously disappointed with the extra chapter after kicking the shit out of the last boss. They should have put that little escort mission before the typical "end it with a rocket launcher" ending.

As for the little snippet showing Chris and Jill heading towards a mansion, you're right that it's from the RE5 DLC (since it only shows Chris and Jill and not Barry and Wesker) but I got caught up in my want for a remake of the original games with the new engine.

What Revelations proved to me is that they COULD make a game like the originals, but they, for some reason, have chosen not to. There were parts that took me back but they were promptly snatched away, thankfully by stuff that kept me entertained.

Is it a good sequel to 1 or 2? Not at all, but it's a damn better sequel to 4 than 5 was.

Edit: Oh, and I loved the underwater cruise ship section too. That was all kinds of awesome.

[Leggetron]

I'm not sure that I agree it's what 5 should have been. And I kinda see what you mean about it being a better sequel to 4, but I'm also not sure I agree with that :P

I think that Revelations is actually a really satisfying action game that's kinda good at pulling the wool over our eyes a bit. Despite a few nods to the first games in terms, it has less survival-horror elements than even RE5 in my opinion. I very rarely felt like I was in danger, and I never really felt that I could end up in a situation where I was ill-prepared for what was around the corner. For me, these are crucial elements of survival horror. Remove these and you're heading ever closer to straightforward action-shooter territory.

As for the episodic thing, I felt the execution here made it feel a little disjointed. I prefer the "alternate scenario" approach of the older games where you play through and survive as one character and then come back for a different perspective as a different character. Also, the episodic thing often made this feel more like a season of Alias than a survival-horror game. :P

Again, I really liked Revelations, but just not in the way I generally like RE games. It's also not really the direction I want to see the series go in, and I actually have a few more concerns for RE6 now having played it (like, the episodic, constantly-switching-between-characters thing).

Oh yeah, as for the snippet/Mansion thing - yeah, my first thought was Lost in Nightmares as, canonically, it's probably the next thing to happen in the series' timeline. It's also the point where Jill is separated from Chris and indoctrinated by Wesker in preparation for RE5.

I played some solo Raid Mode last night and dug it. I agree that it's better than Mercenaries mode, which I've always personally kinda hated.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I'm SO not interested in a RE1 remake in the style of Revelations :P

[Leggetron]

Ha, sorry to carry on about this, but I've just been reading some of the reviews of the game now that I've finished it. I just read a paragraph in one that particularly resonates with me:

"Only the early part of Jill's adventure is an homage, though. About two-thirds of the way through, Jill forgoes exploration in favor of pure action sequences. There are no more keys or puzzles — nothing but linear action sequences. This isn't a bad thing, but it feels like a betrayal of the concept. For a short period, it felt like Capcom had figured out a way to mesh new and old Resident Evil. In the end, it's more like a thin layer over the true game. There are puzzles, but they are the same puzzles repeated over again. There are keys, but you never really have to search for them. It's a very shallow attempt to replicate the old games in a new system. One can only hope that Resident Evil 6 does a better job of striking the balance." - http://worthplaying.com/article/2012/2/7/reviews/85034/

^^ I agree with this. The demo had me so pumped that Capcom could pull this off, but it was kinda disappointing to learn that the full version kept this aspect of the game to a minimum.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by Leggetron

I very rarely felt like I was in danger, and I never really felt that I could end up in a situation where I was ill-prepared for what was around the corner.

I find this odd as there were plenty of moments where I was low on ammo or completely out and running was the only option.

[Leggetron]

I notice that opinion seems to be divided on that issue amongst the reviews I've read: some reviewers say that ammo scarcity is a point of similarity to the older games, while others said ammo was in abundance (which was my experience). I never had to run, and don't recall a situation where I didn't have much.

[Newsboy]

I felt ammo was in abundance on the action heavy missions (pretty much anything that involved Chris and Jessica or the black guy and the nerd), but yeah, with Jill I definitely felt the struggle. Do you see yourself going through on Hell Mode? It might be more to your tastes.

I remember playing Dead Space on Hard difficulty on my first playthrough and being terrified and having to run to conserve ammo, while a friend played it on Normal and barely found it scary or a challenge.

[Leggetron]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

I felt ammo was in abundance on the action heavy missions (pretty much anything that involved Chris and Jessica or the black guy and the nerd), but yeah, with Jill I definitely felt the struggle. Do you see yourself going through on Hell Mode? It might be more to your tastes.

I remember playing Dead Space on Hard difficulty on my first playthrough and being terrified and having to run to conserve ammo, while a friend played it on Normal and barely found it scary or a challenge.

Yeah, I will definitely check out the higher difficulty levels and look forward to doing so Except maybe not the end boss - that was a bitch, even on the default difficulty...

I think I'm gonna try to write up my own review of Revelations to convey my thoughts a bit more cohesively. I've made a load of notes - just gotta find time to pull them all together now

[Newsboy]

I found the final boss rather easy tbh, especially since I didn't actually run out of ammo on that one.

[Leggetron]

Yeah, he just seemed to be able to hit me virtually every single time in the final phase of the fight (where the holograms come at you from two different sides).

Even having the 'daze' upgrade on my shotgun didn't seem to slow him down at this phase. I think I just got lucky and he missed a few times in the instance where I did beat him.

Wish I could play Raid Mode online But that will have to wait until I move and get a new modem/router.

[Newsboy]

No luck getting Raid Mode to work?! Damn!

I just found that when the holograms started I just walked backwards and each apparition would appear right in front of me, and then he'd appear behind me so a quick spin and shoot would sort him out. Took me a couple of times to figure out his technique, but once I did he was piss easy.

What are your thoughts on how they chucked the rescue chapter in after the rocket launcher ending?

[Leggetron]

Nah, I had the same problem with Resident Evil: Revelations' online as I did with Mario Kart 7's It seems that my router just doesn't play nice with the 3DS. I will be sure to avoid Belkin routers when I set up shop in the US

I banged out a review of Revelations this evening too, Newsy --> Click.

As for your question about the rescue chapter, I had no problem with it other than the problem I had with the whole episodic/character-switching nature of the game. It's just doesn't suit a perceived "survival horror" in my opinion - not in the way it was executed here, anyways.

I did like how they had a Tyrant-style boss fight AND a huge, mutated blob boss fight a la RE2

[Newsboy]

Yeah, that was pretty awesome. It just felt weird that they wrapped up all the stories, and then tacked on the rescue mission at the end. Felt disjointed.

[Leggetron]

I really wish my modem/router would play nice with my 3DS so I could try it co-op, but I'm still really enjoying Raid Mode on my own! Hunting for new weapons and customisations is loads of fun