As someone who spent a ludicrous amount of hours on the original RE1 on the Sega Saturn, playing this remake of the original Resident Evil was a phenomenal experience which stayed true to it's origins and also managed to improve the entire experience of the original. Everything the original had is here and more, on a visual standpoint the halls of the Spencer Mansion are creepier and darker than before with an excellent use of pre-rendered backgrounds which made the most out of the Gamecube hardware (Which this version of the game was originally released on), they held up incredibly well over the years, the new 3D models of player characters and enemies blend in with the backgrounds more naturally. Gameplay wise it stays true to it's roots, keeping the fixed camera angles and tank controls, though this version also added 3D controls for those who wish the character to go at the direction they're pressing, it's a decent compromise all types of players. Combat is more tense than ever, enemies still have weaknesses to certain weapons thus rewarding you for keeping track of weaknesses, inventory management and exploration to find more resources with added mechanics of one-use defense items and some extra surprises which will make you think twice before spending ammo on zombies. There's more of the mansion to explore with expanded areas to explore and stories of horrific and tragic events that transpired prior to the arrival of S.T.A.R.S at the mansion adding even more to an already creepy story. Sound was completely redone, which for those who love the cheesy dialogue of the original, sorry, it ain't here. But now it does feel as if they fully realized what they originally intended to do. No complaints on performance, I got this ages ago when it came out on Steam, it already ran great on computers back then, so today's computers should run this just fine, controller support worked great, which I still find it the best way to play this. So even if you're an RE veteran or a newcomer, this is an amazing entry point, it won't hold your hand, you'll die a few times and will need to adjust to manual saving and it's particular style of action, while the difficulty is not brutal (Although there are added challenges for all the masochists out there) it will require you to play by its rules and be smart with the both resources you have at hand and your knowledge of the best routes of the mansion.
Considering the time this came it was clearly trying to catch up to Resident Evil after RE stole the thunder of the original trilogy. It takes lots of cues from RE and adds an interesting lighting system, it still looks nice having real time light effects on the static backgrounds with the flashlight which also doubles as aid to find items and other interactive items such as the notes and diaries. Both characters present different challenges, puzzles, paths and interactions, despite using most of the same areas in Shadow Island the differences are substantial enough to give motivation to try both characters. Although there are many rough spots, possibly some holdover design elements of the classic trilogy, keys aren't clearly labeled nor do their names change after you examine them, the game won't automatically use the keys if you got them, so if you want to avoid running back and forth trying all the locked doors, the game will make you look at the map, think of the description of the keys and make you think about where the keys go, when you think you got the right door you still have to go into the inventory and use the key from there. Combat is a bit rough, there are plenty of weapons, but a lot of annoyances come with figuring out which are most effective weapon for each enemy and the right moment that will trigger an enemy's pain state so you can attack efficiently, but if you explore the game does reward you with plenty of ammo, medkits and additional weapons and you can dodge a lot of the enemies without too much difficulty which helps against respawning enemies, you can pick your fights, some enemies will be kept in check if you find and turn on the light switch of that particular room, by the time I was done with Carnby's story I still had about 100 shotgun shells to spare. The game doesn't try to hint you of the most effective ways to deal with enemies, it trusts you to try and figure it out for yourself. The notebook option is also a nice touch to get your character's perspective of the events they experienced and also to help keep track of things if you get lost. The story starts strong enough, a good suspense with both characters having different motivations for going to Shadow Island and building trust through adversity and the shared goal of wanting to escape the place alive. Some of the dialogue is strange, but it's also telling of the time it came out. The ending, although the area is lengthy enough with action and puzzles the story felt rushed towards the end, the final boss barely felt like a proper fight, it took some experimentation but it wasn't hard to figure out how to win the fight, took a couple of attempts. Getting it to run can be tricky, do check the forums and google if you're running on Windows 11, I had plenty of issues running it mainly from cutscenes in wrong aspect and colours. All in all, it's clear they wanted to catch up to Resident Evil which already had 3 mainline games at that time, it succeeds in some aspects and makes a push forward with the lighting system, but combat and movement is often more rough than RE which will take some adjustments, but not a bad game for survival horror fans. Worth it on a sale.
While I haven't gone very far, first impressions are great, this is simply put an improved version of Soul Reaver 1 and 2, better visuals, support for current controllers, no need for additional patches or mods. Very similar to the Tomb Raider 1-2-3 Remasters, with even a toggle for the old and new visuals. If you're into adventure games that rewards exploration in a Zelda like fashion, there's a good chance you'll like this and the story is an excellent dark fantasy with a focus on matters of choice and fate, the dialogues will keep you well invested, especially the 2nd game. Though now a few things have been added like a map indicating the locations you have visited, it's a simple new feature, a compass and there isn't much else more, in its core, this is still the same Soul Reaver experience which requires you to explore, consult the friendly characters for pointers as to where you should go if you're lost and when loading a game it starts you off in the beginning which then you'll either walk all the way back or take a teleporter closest to where you left off, so BEWARE, if you were expecting a perfect save state option and objective markers saying "Go here dummy!", then this might turn you off. Other than that, they added many bonuses such as unfinished levels, video reels of the recording sessions with the voice actors (Who are absolutely amazing with their performances) and lots of other extras for those curious to learn more about how these games were designed. Overall I'm really happy with what's on offer here.
It stays true to being a Build engine game in the likes of Duke3D, Shadow Warrior and Blood but made nowdays. It flows wonderfully, there's lots of exploration (Although finding all the secrets will become a source of frustration) the maps are big and full of details, weapons feel great, environment has all those little interactive details which may not actually affect the game but it's always nice whether is just turning the lights on and off, to flushing toilets or eating and drinking stuff you'll find laying around, enemies have lots of reactions to the weapons including headshots, which for a build engine game is surprising. It nails what it sets to do, being that big throwback to the 90s build era shooters. It's quite long and replayable, after beating it, every now and then I get the urge to play a bit on harder difficulties.
If you want to play this, GET THE FAN-MADE PATCH! The game has a lot of inspired ideas for its time, mixing old school FPS action with RPG elements such as leveling-up system which enables you to make certain builds, each episode (time-period) has 6 unique weapons with a total of 25 different weapons (including the Daikatana), the weapons are creative although they're not always useful, some backfire often. The music is mostly good and puts you in the right mood for fast-paced shooting action. The problems ... oh boy, the problems are hard to miss, the first episode of the game is hands down the worst, slow pacing, small annoying enemies (robot frogs and mosquitoes) some irritating sound design with those enemies and cramped stages that don't always allow you to make good use of the weapons. When you get your sidekicks, in the original version you had to babysit them and if they die, it's game over, not to mention their path-finding is quite bad, they'll often get stuck and you need them close to progress. Luckily the fan-patch remedies by making them immortal or letting you remove the sidekicks. Some areas have weird puzzles that feel like a chore. Once you get to Episode 2, the game has a much better flow, the areas present fun combat situations and becomes much more enjoyable, nothing amazing but not a horrid disaster-piece of a game as some might lead you to believe. There'll be some annoyances and backtracking but it's an improvement over the 1st chapter. Basically if the development of the game hadn't been so troublesome and had the game released in a better state with some areas receiving some much needed improvements, this could have easily become a classic, if another company were to try to visit this concept and make a spiritual successor, they could strike gold. tl;dr: GET THE 1.3 PATCH! Pros: Good ideas in the arsenal, good music, 2nd chapter onward the game is medium to good. Cons: Annoying sound design, terrible 1st chapter, worse companion AI.
Did you ever play (and like) Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior or Blood? Get it! Not just because this is a game made on the Build engine, but it's a true callback to the best FPS's of the 90's. The action is fast, there's a good roster of enemies requiring quick thinking and reaction. The weapons are pretty fun too with some good alternate firing modes to give more flexibility. Visuals look good, the sprites are well made, with a good amount of detail and animation put into it, the stages actually look nice even if they don't use all the best effects that the latest GPUs can pull off nowdays. The art-style of the game is just good enough that you don't need the latest eye-candy effects to appreciate the visuals. The levels are huge, the amount of detail put into these are ridiculous (in a good way), I've played a lot of the classic Build games none of them felt like they had maps as big and detailed as the ones from this game while still retaining the good maze-like elements which involve finding the right keys and items to open up the stage. Plus there's a lot of little nods and easter eggs to other games as well, for people that grew up playing games in the 90's there's a lot of fun stuff here. Sound design is good, there's a sound cue for nearly every enemy, weapon sounds are good with a good punch to it and the music is well done and fitting. While I haven't finished the game yet, this feels like it'll be a great one to re-visit time and again after beating it just like Duke3D, SW and Blood are. Oh and controversy? Review-bombing? Oh please, just play the game and review for it's merits, not for whatever silly reason that doesn't really affect the enjoyment of playing the game. I don't like the so called SJW crowd, but review-bombing the game because they nearly caved to pressure is equally silly.
If you're into 2D platformers and not afraid of difficult games, go right ahead this one is for you now. I played this when it launched at Steam, suffice to say it failed to impress me back then to the point that I refunded the game. The art was gorgeous but the gameplay was sorely lacking it had a lot of problems. Seeing the positive reviews of the new version I decided to give it another try. I'm glad to see they took the criticism and used it in a constructive way, a lot of the problems I originally found seem to have been remedied, combat feels tighter and more responsive, they added a short invincibility time after being hit giving you a better chance to react to any situation, they've also improved the blocking system and the parry which is now a good way to recover mana as well. Movement still felt a little loose for me but it's far from being unbearable. With all those changes one would think the game got easier, which is not true it's still a chanllenging game though now it feels like a genuine challenge, unlike the original release which was due to it's flawed gameplay. The game provides lots of tools right off the bat, from regular combo attacks, jump, crouch, block, dodge and magic attacks. But the game doesn't mess around you have to pay attenttion to everything on the screen and if something seems off, it probably is. Enemies deal a lot of damage if you're not careful you'll die quickly, rushing head-on into any situation will most likely get you killed in many gruesome ways, the platforming can be challenging so timing those jumps is essential as well. The checkpoints won't take you too far back but far enough that you'll feel like you have to change tactics in order to succeed. I have to congratulate the devs, seeing how games release in a dreadful state and never get many fixes after launch it's great to see devs who care enough to make their game enjoyable through basically a huge patch, they should follow your example.
I got this on steam. If there's something useful I can tell right off the bat is that at first the game will be a bit difficult to understand, you'll probably die quite a bit trying to understand the mechanics. So what's this game about? You're a samurai who just arrived in a small city where conflict is breaking loose among three factions, the government, the British immigrants and a group of rebels that are against the British presence. You can take any side you want or no sides at all, many of the events require you to be in the right place at the right time, this makes the game quite re-playable since there are many endings to go after depending on which side you decide to ally and even some other secret endings also, some of your actions will carry on to the next playthru, for instance if in your first session you help the British open the hospital it'll automatically be there for your next session, this changes a few things and enable different events. I played this for over 60 hours exploring different ways of beating the game. Though I recommend using a FAQ. There's plenty more in the game itself, combat has a mix between having a good sword and a style that better suits your tactics, and even the enemies have some powerful weapons sometimes or at certain occasions you'll fight a huge group of enemies which makes nearly every fight tense, it's a weird system at first but it doesn't take too long to understand it's not Dark Souls hard, but at times it can get quite difficult if you're not prepared so always carrying some healing items or whetstones to fix your sword will help you out a lot. Talking about swords you can upgrade and even build your own sword by disassembling the swords you get from the enemies you kill, for this sub-system I recommend checking some faqs to better understand how it works so you'll make a killer sword which will make life easier on the harder difficulties. TL;DR: Strange at first, but rewarding with lots of replay value.
