On Zombies, Demons and Stupid Deaths

Resident Evil: Director's Cut Arrange Mode

Day 2

Mansion revisited

So I didn't quite make it to my goal. In my defense, that's because I'm a lot worse at this game than I remember. Thankfully not as bad as I probably should be having not played it in the last 5 years at least, but that's mostly a testament to how much time I wasted playing the thing when I first owned it.

One significant difference between now and then however is that I don't get the urge to snap the controller in two every time I die. Instead, I collect my thoughts, figure out how best to avoid dieing when I try again, and reload my save despite losing a good fifteen to half hour of progress. Maybe that's a sign that I'm more mature now... or that I've been playing a lot of Demon's Souls lately.

If that last comment seems in jest, it isn't (okay, maybe a little). In fact, I'd say that the reason some people reject Demon's Souls without getting more than an hour into the game is the same reason that many have dismissed the older style of Resident Evil gameplay; both of them utilize risk and reward as the core game mechanic.

Everything from managing your resources, the enemy AI, even the controls like I mentioned in Resident Evil's case center around the same principals; they require meticulous planning, careful execution, and the penalties for missteps range from severe at best, dire at worst. Yet the payout for successful play is balanced out; in Demon's Souls it means faster leveling, in Resident Evil it means more resources for the harder challenges ahead. Despite being two very different games, the only real way they differ is how they handle failure; in Demon's Souls you are warped back to the hub and simply lose any experience you've earned up to that point, and even then you're given the chance to recover it with interest. Resident Evil simply places you back at wherever you happened to save last, regardless of if it was 5 minutes ago, or 2 hours.

Forget the 32-bit era's graphical fidelity and tank controls, if there's one thing that's damned old school Resident Evil to the realm of the obsolete, it's the saving the game. I don't even mean the illusion of limited saving, but lack of places to save. Much of the significant time I spent playing was retracing progress through safe rooms to grab important items and resources, just to be killed before the next save room and sent back and forced to repeat the tedious parts until I did the action segments right. Either the game needs to rethink it's punishment for failure in such a way that doesn't kill the tension, or maybe include a safe room or two more in the mansion.

Regardless, I'm glad that I can still have fun with this style of gameplay, dated though it may be. It might not be what sells millions of copies anymore, but there's always room for niche titles like Demon's Souls (and it's younger brother Dark Souls) and indie darlings like Spelunky to fill those gaps. Okay, off to polish the game off so I can move on to the next horror title.

Jill! Head for that house!

Resident Evil: Director's Cut Arrange Mode

Day 1 -Stopped just before leaving the Mansion

The internet has spoken, so I started my new game of Resident Evil: Director's Cut as Jill Valentine. Sorry, one guy who picked Chris! If it's any solace, I'll now be playing as Chris if time permits and I can play the REmake later this month.

I didn't get to play until late last night, so I stopped a modest way into the game; so far I've beaten the snake boss and collected all three medals so I can resume at the gardens tomorrow. I'd like to try and get to the labs if time permits so I can knock this game out in a reasonable fashion – I've still got a long list of games I'd like to get to before Halloween comes and goes.

Next time I'll go a little more in-depth with a topic, but here's a couple of quick musings I thought about while playing:

• Tank controls have a learning curve, but they aren't 'bad' for say. It took a little getting used to before I was turning corners like a champ again. It's pretty obvious playing the game that they were a deliberate handicap, much like the delayed whip controls in the original Castlevania. I would never defend the game's decision to utilize it as good design however; if there's one thing that should never have a learning curve, it's the controls.

• The game does a really great job of creating tension via gameplay and smart design rather than through non-interactive cutscenes. Even though I know where all the jump scares are, shooting a dog whose aiming for my jugular when I'm one hit close to death damn near gives me a coronary every time. Anyone who outright dismisses the game's scare factor for solely relying on jumps must have nerves of steel, man. That or is just much better at the game than I am.

• I really, really miss this kind of exploration in games. It's true the majority of time you're playing a fetch quest, but traps like falling ceilings and exits sealing off when you take a key item makes the game feel like an R-rated Indiana Jones adventure.

• Barry Burton is still my hero. That man can carry me off into the sunset anytime.

Erm... About that last part. Forget I said anything.