The game is split into four parts if you count the prologue and the ending. On paper that structure sounds fine. In practice, it gets frustrating. It keeps bouncing between Leon and Grace every single chapter. Each part is divided between the two of them, and after a while it just starts to feel exhausting. It is not just a simple character swap either. Their gameplay styles are noticeably different. Inventory management changes. The upgrade systems are not the same. Even the way enemies pressure you feels different. One minute it feels like you are playing something close to the recent remakes, the next it leans more toward Resident Evil 7 or Village. It throws you out of the game for a few minutes every time you switch.
What makes it worse is that upgrades do not carry over. You invest resources into one character, start getting comfortable, and then you are thrown into the other campaign with the possibility that you never really got to see how effective those upgrades were. Sometimes you barely had time to test them before the switch happens.
They honestly should have split it into two separate campaigns like older titles and Resident Evil 6 did. My guess is they were worried about the total length. The game is around ten hours at most, and maybe they thought two campaigns would make it look short. The early horror segments also do not last very long. They rely heavily on jump scares. At times it feels cheap. Still, if you commit to first person only, the tension can work. Not always, but enough to keep you on edge during those opening hours.
Enemy AI is rather aggressive, smart, and sometimes genuinely annoying if you are not playing properly. It reminds me a bit of the original Resident Evil 4, where you have to control space and manage ammo carefully instead of just spraying bullets. Once you adapt, the combat feels satisfying.
I was honestly worried about the return to Raccoon City, but that section is a lot of fun. From a pure gameplay standpoint, exploring those areas again works really well.
What does not work as well is the pandering. I am not against fanservice. I did not mind revisiting Raccoon City at all. What bothered me was the blatant nostalgia bait during the RPD segment. It felt forced, almost like the game was poking you and saying remember this, remember how much you loved this. It did not add much beyond that.
Gameplay overall sticks closely to the foundation built by the remakes and Resident Evil 7 and Village. That is a good thing. It feels tight and responsive. The final stretch especially gives me hope for a strong Mercenaries mode if they add one later like they did with Village. That last portion finally lets you cut loose and properly test your build against waves of enemies. I usually do not like crafting systems, but with Grace it actually makes sense. It fits her playstyle and the way her sections are structured. With Leon, it feels more like an afterthought.
Replay value is clearly part of the design. The pacing is much better than Village. RE8 had a large on rails section that slowed everything down, plus long puzzle and scripted segments that become a chore on repeat runs. Here, you get more actual gameplay. Yes, there are at least two on rails segments, but they are very short and do not overstay their welcome. Even so, I cannot help but feel the game needed at least another hour focused purely on combat encounters.
The final portion is easily the best part for that reason. You can finally go all in and see how effective your upgrades really are. The only downside is that, unlike Leon, Grace only gets one real upgrade window, and it happens in the first half of the game. By the time you reach the end, her progression is capped. In the end, the game suffers from being just a bit too short. One or two extra hours, especially expanding that final act, would have made a huge difference.
The story is nothing special. At this point it is almost impressive and exhausting that they are still stretching this narrative. Spencer again. Umbrella again. Another secret organization. More retcons. Leon is sick again. The world is at risk again. To be fair, a couple of twists were less predictable than I expected, but I have no idea how many more reveals they can squeeze out of this universe. If they keep pushing it, I would not be shocked if we end up with aliens in the main plot at some point. That being said, it is nice to see them reference and bring back characters that even fans assumed Capcom had forgotten.
Despite all that, I had fun. It annoyed me in places, but when it clicks, it really clicks. A surprising 7.5 out of 10, at least for now.
I guess it is also worth mentioning that the game is very well optimized, especially for a AAA release. It might genuinely be the most well optimized big budget game I have played in recent memory.
It ran at max settings on my Linux machine without any real issues. Cosistent 60fps at 1440p without the need for fake frames. It was smooth pretty much the entire time, aside from three random freezes that lasted a few seconds each. Even then, the game recovered on its own and kept going. I was honestly taken aback while playing, especially considering the game has some very gorgeous places. At this point I almost expect major AAA releases to come with stutters, shader hiccups, or performance dips at launch. For a big budget title today, that alone deserves some praise. Still lacking FOV customization, but I guess that's intentional? Even if it's, not a excuse to not put it in the game.
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