Topic: Push Square Game Club Spooktacular: Resident Evil 4

@Th3solution that's a really helpful breakdown, thanks!!! I have only done three side missions but they seem to be really important for unlocking things so will keep bashing away at them. I'm not normally a trophy hunter but I'll have to try a couple of board countermeasures out as I've not done any yet.

Similar to others I've found the map tricky but the signs more straightforward. Worth noting that when you bring up the map button inputs still work. I managed to dash off a ledge last night while looking at the map 🙈

@R1spam haha nice, yeah I'm looking forward to it!

@R1spam Yep forget that every time 😆

I've played a bit of Control over the last few days. I am not really into the meat and potatoes of it yet. I've played a couple hours and I've got the gun and a telekinesis power so far.

My initial thoughts:

I am a bit gutted to play this on base PS4 instead of the mid gen upgrade One X. The graphics are noticeably poorer than Quantum Break. I am 99% sure it's because of the difference in hardware though as I think QB might have been outputting at 4K whereas this isn't on a base PS4. The graphics are still good but everything just looks a lot smoother than QB.

I've not experienced any glitches or frame lags yet but I am not that far into it.

So far, this seems like the scariest Remedy game I've played. It's scarier than both Alan Wake, American Nightmare and QB which weren't really scary. I think I can just be more scared of the weirdness of this game. The muffled voices, the static and distortion that gets louder, the blinding lights and the lack of light etc. It all creates a very uncomfortable atmosphere which can be quite frightening.

I like the general style of the story. It's somewhere between X-Files, Fringe and Twin Peaks. I guess the uncomfortable jilted conversations could be unintentional but I am leaning towards them being intentional because of the Twin Peaks vibe that it gives it and how that gels with the rest of the story.

But yeah, generally just weird and it's very successful in accomplishing that! Good game so far!

@ralphdibny I found it took a little bit of time for me to really find it a great game as it feels pretty limited when you start out with the base gun and no abilities, plus it's quite a confusing story that takes a while for you to get your head round. That said, the story thing makes sense as Jesse has no idea of what's going on either.

Jesse's acting can feel a little wooden at times but, again, I thought this actually suited her character the more you learn about her and it's actually quite nice to have a bit more of an understated performance.

@Thrillho oh for sure! Both things you mentioned, the acting (or indeed the direction and editing of the acting) and the being thrown into the deep end of the story really add to the Twin Peaks feel of it. It's almost like it's so bad that it's genius. Like it's brilliant performances that are juxtaposed in this kind of idiosyncratic way that makes it look odd and awkward. But it's one of the things that made Twin Peaks so fascinating to watch.

Im sure I'm not going to understand everything in this game anyway! I understood the broad strokes of Quantum Break but even the timey wimey stuff made my brain melt a bit. I just don't have the head space and physical time to look into every detail closely at the moment but I'm sure I'll enjoy it just as much as the previous 3 Remedy games I've played!

@ralphdibny The story starts to make sense and I don't remember many big reveals but there are just lots of little moments where things suddenly make sense. Plus, there's plenty of stuff that never gets explained but that also works in the context of the fact that they're researching stuff they have no clue about.

I seem to have blitzed through this game this time round. I’m sure it took me a lot longer on my first play through but I guess where I have a pretty good idea what’s going to happen I’m ready for the action.

I just love the characters and the world created by Remedy and even though it’s all happening in the same building it does feel limited in scope. One of my favourite characters is Langston. He’s totally non phased by everything and just seems like a regular guy who’s turned up for work at the office.

@ralphdibny I played this on base PS4 first time round and I’m finding the experience on PS5 a lot better. I’m using performance mode so having 60fps is great. I quite like the look of it though, they’ve hit that brutalist look bang on. Just wait until you get some more abilities and but the ashtray maze. You are going to love it 😁

@ralphdibny I'm completely with you on the twin peaks meets xfiles vibe! I played Alan wake on the 360 a couple of years ago and for me, it had serious twin peaks vibes. Clearly the folks at remedy are fans. Theres definitely an Wrea of this game that gives me Alan Wake vibes. I still wouldn't say this game is full on scary, but there have definitely been moments where like you, I've felt uncomfortable about going into an area because of the chanting/static. I've been playing on ps5 and you get the haptic pulse with footsteps that somehow make that tension even worse! I tried Ray tracing at 30 fps and performance at 60 fps and while the reflections are really nice, performance is the way to go.

From a gameplay perspective, I would agree with Thrillho that once you start to unlock some abilities and different weapon forms along with mods you can start to be a bit more creative. I'm actually going to take a break from the main story to do a few more side missions so I can change my playstyle from using hanging back, dashing and sniping to using shields/shotgun and see if I like that. I've mostly found the difficulty pretty fair, though one boss kicked my ass a few times before I figured out what was going on Salvador, when I threw a rocket at him after I broke his shield . The mechanic of losing some shards on death gives you some meaning to encounters but it's not so punishing to discourage you from experimenting in encounters.

I haven't done lots of side missions yet (5) but they have on the whole been very rewarding with new abilities and one with a fantastic boss fight. Definitely worth digging into a bit more.

@Thrillho I feel like I'm quite far in the story and while I have a grasp of what's going in the game, there's definitely a fair bit of mystery still! I just finished the Finnish Tango mission and have no clue what's going on with the janitor yet. . I've been making a really concerted effort to collect all the collectibles I can as they really help add flavour to what's going on. They seem pretty numerous though, I popped a gold trophy for collecting 120 items a couple of missions ago and still seem to be finding plenty.

Lastly, I think I found one of the quests that trigger the dlc. From people who have played the dlc, is that best left to the end of the main game?

@render haha I like him too, "I did a steady 40 hrs a week for 10 years and here I am" should be something I have on a coffee mug for work 😂

@R1spam Ha ha yeah I’m getting that if there’s ever one available. The DLC is actually harder than the main missions and I’ve found that this time round as well. I did go off on the AWE branch for a while, which is the one about Bright Falls and Alan Wake but I got my ass handed to me on the final bit so ditched that to go back to it later.

I’ve just rolled the credits on the main story so definitely flown through it this time but flippin loved every minute of it. Going to carry on and polish off the DLC etc because well why the hell not 😆

@R1spam Yeah, I’m my opinion the DLC (especially their respective bosses) are amongst the hardest in the game. I would recommend saving the AWE until late game (like maybe in the latter half or just before the final stretch) and save The Foundation until post-game. Narratively The Foundation works better at the end anyways. The downside to waiting is that the new weapons and abilities you get from the DLC won’t get to be used until just end, but honestly although I like the variety they added to the gameplay, I didn’t think they were any better than the standard weapons and skills you are given in the base game.

@R1spam I played the AWE DLC as it unlocked (not realising that’s what it was) and did fine on it. I can’t remember the boss being that difficult to be honest.

But you do get a brilliant ability during the early part which makes combat in the main game much easier and the grenade launcher weapon was one of my most used ones in the rest of the game too.

The Foundation DLC is only accessible post game as it carries on the story from there.

@Th3solution @Thrilho cheers for the tips! Will veer off and do the AWE stuff as I think I'm pretty far on just got the cassette player to help get through the ashtray maze . I loved the atmosphere in Alan Wake, I'm hoping Barry makes an appearance!

@render nice one, I'll look forward to it!

I'll also look forward to meeting this Langston you speak of. So far I've only met the main character and a blonde woman. Oh yeah and a cleaner. And the original director I suppose.

@R1spam oh sweet, that haptic pulse sounds awesome!!

I had to add Fringe to my crossover of styles because while it is just more of a bonkers X files, the variety of things they investigate in Fringe match Control a bit better. Whereas X files is like aliens aliens aliens, native American myth, aliens aliens aliens, chupacabra, aliens aliens aliens, fluke man, aliens aliens aliens lol. (I say that lovingly toward X files as I do actually love the show!)

I am looking forward to the Alan Wake DLC I guess though! It will cap off this playthrough of Remedy games that I've been doing over the last 6 months or so quite nicely I think.

Finished mission 3 last night. I like the mystery and sense of discovery while exploring something you don’t yet understand. The ability to switch between RT and performance mode on the fly is really nice. Performance is stil the way to go, but sometimes I want to check something out with RT enabled. Works much better compared to Spider-Man MM where you have to reload the last checkpoint.

@Mr_B021 Yeah, I remember switching back and forth between performance modes. Eventually I ended up sticking with the RT mostly. There is just so much glass in the Oldest house that it was much more immersive to me. What cinched it was that floating room with glass walls on all four sides — looked proper amazing with RT. Also the hotel has some beautiful light dancing through the windows and excellent shadowing with RT

@Mr_B021 @Th3solution It was all about that buttery smooth frame rate for me! I did tinker with RT for some photo mode shenanigans though.

I go with the buttery smoothness of performance mode too. I did actually have a few drops in performance the other day though. It seems to only happen in the mail room when there’s lots of stuff being flung about and one of those big dudes that create the tornados around them.

I went back and finished the AWE DLC last night. Quite enjoyed the ending to that having played through Alan Wake. Rolled straight into The Foundation DLC now which I remember enjoying the more out of the two and also comes with some new abilities.

Finished The Foundation DLC last night. Again I did enjoy that one more than the AWE one but I can appreciate if others feel different. For me it's because it's a different environment than the rest of the game and with the new abilities it feels like it opens things up a bit more again.

The central point to the area has a great look to it as well and where as photo mode is never my thing I was tempted to get a few shots. The aesthetic of this game is just something else and even by the end of the game I'm not bored of looking around. If anything one of the problems with this game is that the rooms are that full of stuff that looks like it can be interacted with I start looking around determined that I've missed something like a collectible.

So I'm tempted to carry on to get the platinum as I only have the board countermeasures to do for that. There's then the rest of the trophies for the DLCs that I haven't got so will see how much effort that's going to be.

Hope that everyone else is enjoying this as much as I have (again) anyway!!