35.2 hours played
Written 16 days ago
RE8 is fittingly RE4(2005) 2.0, an on-rails action experience that takes you from one set-piece to the next; except that Ethan Winter is comparatively bland compared to Leon S. Kennedy.
Writing is pretty bad, and the game mentioning the plot contrivances doesn't really fix it. The boulder punching a-hole should have told Ethan what was going on, but doesn't for the sake of an early-game mystery. The antagonists' plans are about as absurd and nonsensical as RE4, and felt the need to give Ethan a Jar-collect-athon instead of utilizing what was already in their possession; and then Ethan conveniently gives the Jars back under the mere suggestion of some guy who wasn't playing a part in the main antagonist's plans. Shadows of Rose continues on the bad writing through miserable attempts to pull at the audience's heartstrings, failing to actually add to the main game's ending, and the increasingly absurd decision to not give Ethan a face.
Gameplay-wise it's one of the more action-oriented RE, with faster-moving werewolves this time instead of shambling zombies (though it does have those too, moroaica). The castle is reminiscent of RE2r(2019), with you exploring and puzzling through a large building from attic to basement, whilst an unkillable entity occasionally chases you about. Beneviento house strips you of weapons and transitions into a more traditional & atmospheric horror. The reservoir is a water level with platforming puzzles that ends with you fighting a big fish, reminiscent of the lake in RE4, though you do get to shoot more than harpoons this time. The last set-piece shifts to industrial setting, which I guess complete's RE4's set-piece list (village, lake, castle, military camp).
Difficulty option is rather poorly balanced for first playthrough, trying to play on hardcore or VoS on the first playthrough is inadvisable due to everything being ridiculously bullet-spongy with un-upgraded weapons from NG+, coupled with less ammo; if you're avoiding fights (e.g. optional bosses) to conserve ammo, you are missing out on content. On the other hand you can breeze through VoS on NG+ with the easiest-to-unlock infinite ammo weapon. I think the difficulty options could use better descriptors (e.g. include health increase percentages) or be more customizable.
I like inventory tetris and all, but making crafting ingredients stack outside of inventory takes away from it a bit. Part of RE4 was crafting herbs together to save space in the inventory, in RE8 Ethan can store large quantities of metal scraps, herbs, gunpowder, and chemical fluid in his pocket dimension, which conveniently only takes up space if he crafts them into something.
If you're going to design for replayability, please let players skip the long-@$$ opening on subsequent playthroughs.
RE8 has various issues, but if you enjoyed the gem that is RE4, you'll probably enjoy this one too.