@Pizzamorg It’s a good point that you bring out regarding the regional and national accents which can affect how one perceives the quality of the voice acting. I think sometimes an actor’s voice and inflection just sounds better or worse to a native versus someone hearing their accent as foreign.
Of course, some voice acting is bad no matter whether it’s foreign or not.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Pizzamorg It’s a good point that you bring out regarding the regional and national accents which can affect how one perceives the quality of the voice acting. I think sometimes an actor’s voice and inflection just sounds better or worse to a native versus someone hearing their accent as foreign.
Of course, some voice acting is bad no matter whether it’s foreign or not.
It is the anime fallacy, right? Is the Japanese cast actually that much better than the dub? Or is it just because its foreign I don't have an ear for it, so its far easier for me to be critical of the English language dub than it is the Japanese one?
@Pizzamorg Exactly. An extreme example, but that’s right. I’ve seen that a lot of people use that tactic for games like Forspoken with less than stellar voice acting — that the game is much more enjoyable in Japanese with subtitles. But you’re right - the Japanese voice work might be just as bad, we just can’t tell.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Pizzamorg In the case of Japanese media, you're also just more likely to see top-tier Japanese talents voice characters. Moreover, it's also that the rhythm of the language, as well as the pitch of Japanese voices, often fits the dialogue better. A good localization obviously helps in this regard, but unless you're just not sticking to the script at all, there's a limit to how far afield you can go from the original work.
Accidentally posted this in another thread the other day.
Metroid Prime Remastered (Switch)
Mission Accepted
My first time playing a Prime game, it successfully transitions the formula into the 3rd dimension. The biggest difference between it and the 2D entries is that while those have been evolving to be more quick & action-y, this has a more deliberate, almost puzzle like feel (heck, there's a big plant boss early on that feels very much "traditional 3D Zelda" in it's approach).
One of these changes is that instead of beam upgrades "stacking" on top of each other making you progressively more powerful, here they are separate equips. While newer beams are generally more efficient at taking out early/mid game enemies than what came before (helping with backtracking), late game areas tend to be populated with foes weak to a specific one, requiring you to switch things up encounter to encounter.
Another addition that's possible due to the first person perspective is the addition of visor upgrades. While you start out with the standard "battle visor" (your basic view) & "scan visor" (lets you collect data on enemy types & the environment), as you get further in you'll obtain the "thermal visor" (see in the dark & more easily track cloaked enemies) & "x-ray visor" (lets you see what can't otherwise be seen, usually environmental elements like secret paths). These really play into the more deliberate pace of the game.
One area where the game really uses the extra dimension to it's advantage is the morph ball sections. These are much more involved than anything you'll see in the 2D games, and I'll admit my jaw kinda dropped a few times, like the section that opens up right before a late game beam upgrade.
I also liked the fact that most of the upgrades seemed to be behind puzzles that were more deliberately built into the environment, rather than just behind a random destructible wall (even though there is some of that). Usually you can tantalizingly see an upgrade, or at least tell there's an environmental puzzle that's clearly hiding something, and it's just up to you to figure out how to obtain it.
If I had to nitpick, there would be a few changes I'd make to the map. Firstly, I'd have any upgrades that you've scanned be marked on the map until you collect them. Secondly, have some sort of general indicator if a room has an upgrade you haven't collected, even if you haven't scanned it (this can be more vague, not giving away precise location). The 2D games already do the latter, marking the map with a dot if there's an upgrade in the general area.
Pretty gorgeous game too, I think I'm just going to let these following screenshots do the talking.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time with it, even if I got lost a time or two. I think I prefer the more action-y direction the 2D games are starting to take, but I can only imagine how seminal this must have felt back in the day, given that they nailed the 3D transition the first time out, & with really only Super Metroid beforehand being a good example of the franchise. Glad I finally got to experience it.
Mission Complete.
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
@RR529 Nice review! I definitely agree that there is a lot of traditional 3D Zelda DNA in Metroid Prime, which took the basic concept of the 2D games (non-linear exploration of a lonely and hostile alien planet) and evolved it in a more puzzle-y direction. It's definitely impressive to see how they've updated the graphics for this, which seem to be almost entirely re-created for modern hardware. Pretty impressive that an otherwise faithful remake of an extremely old GameCube title is now one of the best graphical showpieces on the Switch, although I suppose it's fairly close to Sony's own remake of Shadow of the Colossus in that respect.
I'd definitely support your proposed changes to the map. I'd also, personally, better integrate the artifact hunt into the game's campaign, so you're not left with a tedious fetch quest before you're able to face down the final boss.
Hopefully this is a sign of what we can expect from Metroid Prime 4 in terms of visuals, performance, and overall design quality.
Rolled credits on Dead Island 2 today. Have a little side content to finish (my completion percentage is around 73 percent), but I am in two minds about just stopping here for risk of becoming burnt out, so here is my review.
Honestly, as I went through my notes I recorded while playing and just generally putting my thoughts together on this one in the context of me now finishing the main story, I think I went from thinking this might be my lowkey game of the year so far to actually just thinking maybe it is kind of bad?
Like what really made me love Dead Island 2 is how frictionless it all is and how few barriers there are to my fun. I know there are many who found this game boring and overly simplistic, missing the survival elements and various other player depowering systems often featured in these sorts of games, that they feel would have taken this to the next level.
And like... that is their opinion, and I'll respect it, but also respectfully couldn't agree less. Couldn't disagree more? I dunno what the right turn of phrase is there.
Like, sure, they may offer those games greater amounts of depth perhaps, but for my tastes, they don’t actually add any real extra fun. And I value fun more than I do depth. So I honestly didn’t feel, or miss, the absence of such things here, and in fact, was loving how powerful Dead Island 2 lets me feel, and how breezily I progressed through this, growing ever stronger as I did.
Sadly the last third or so of the game kinda betrays this main point of recommendation for me, with a sharp increase in difficulty that kinda makes this whole stretch a massive slog, if I am being honest. Maybe that is partially just general fatigue from a gameplay loop that never really meaningfully evolves after the first few hours, but I do just think the later mission design is bad, with these long checkpointless gauntlet style encounters where you are flooded with seemingly endless waves of enemies in a tedious, and frustrating, war of attrition.
You start seeing increasing numbers of variant zombies (because of course) and then eventually elemental variants of the variant zombies in addition, and almost all of these have irritating quirks, or are just massive bullet sponges. They just suck, to be honest. The fun is smashing a zombies head clean off with an acid spewing hammer with one massive swing. Not unloading 100 shotgun shells into some meat sack that you have to constantly circle strafe around so they don't do their stupid knock down move that leaves you defenceless.
Likewise, enemy elemental damage in general is insanely overtuned, often killing you faster than you can even realise you have been afflicted with a status. This makes these gauntlets especially infuriating, as you can survive wave after wave, be hit with a fire attack or something right in the dying moments and just be disintegrated in a second and then right back to the start you go.
Thankfully guns exist and are effectively a cheese as they seem as equally wildly over tuned in the players favour, but it never feels very good to make it through these encounters with guns, but without my guns I am not sure I would have ever made it through these encounters, so I guess you use what you can.
And maybe that alone wouldn’t kill the recommendation, but everything sorta crashes and burns in this last third, for me. The story, for example, runs off to nowhere just as soon as it starts getting… not exactly good exactly, but certainly going to some slightly more interesting places than you may expect, based on where it starts. It all just sorta ends on a massive middle finger, honestly.
It has a weird sequel bait/universe establishing ending that reminds me of the ‘Game is On’ running joke the Weekly Planet uses. It just seems bizarre to me for a game that has been in development hell for so long, and ran the risk of never even making it off of the runway, that they’d cheat their audience who made it to the end. By all regards the game has done quite well for itself, so who knows, maybe it'll all pay off in another game in a decade plus time. But this was not the way.
Likewise, there is a final tier of weapon rarity which only becomes available after the story finishes and there is no New Game plus, so this just also seems like such a bizarre decision to me. Gating your final tier of progression to a bunch of left over side missions that are otherwise meaningless once the campaign is finished.
The weapon and skill card systems are both very lopsided, as for the first few hours, they are very fruitful, and rewarding, but it just sorta runs dry after a while. If you were expecting Borderlands style weapons, or ARPG style abilities, which I wouldn’t begrudge you for thinking based on what you see at the beginning, then adjust your expectations. What you get in the first couple of hours, is all you are ever getting, you basically start with the strongest stuff the game is ever going to offer you (at least within the campaign) and everything after that is really just stat increases.
Given the systems are all rather thin anyway, and layered on such a basic loop, having it sprint off of a cliff is just another problematic pacing element to this, which probably gives away how troubled this all was behind the scenes.
I dunno, it just makes it hard for me to really understand who this is for. You are never going to have more fun with this than you are in the opening few hours, but those opening few hours are likely to deliver some of the most fun you'll have with a game this year.
Although it does become significantly more difficult in that final third, I still don’t think it delivers on what people feel like the game is missing. No extra depth comes along with the increase in difficulty, and it isn't a well tuned challenge like the Resident Evil 4 remake, it is just almost pure frustration.
But then for those who enjoyed the general lack of challenge the game offered, like I did, well, they are going to run into a similar wall like I did, too and are likely to come away from this game feeling sour, if they hadn’t already abandoned the game half way around due to the increasingly lifeless progression.
Either way, during that final stretch, at best they are probably going to be tediously shooting their way through the final few missions, and will be rewarded with a crap ending.
What a bummer of a recommendation that will be.
(And if you are wondering, no, there are also no difficulty options, or much in the way of accessibility options, so you can’t even tune this curve more to your tastes, this is the fixed experience you are going to get.)
I guess just wait for a deep sale or for when it shows up on some PS Plus or Gamepass?
@Pizzamorg When I saw that Dead Island 2 was being released, my immediate instinct was to think: "Didn't that already come out?" I was probably thinking of Dying Light 2. It's easy for me to get zombie stuff mixed up.
Sorry to hear the game got a little too brutal for you in its later hours. Poorly tuned difficulty spikes can definitely spoil what was an otherwise fun experience; especially if you like it at least partially for the fact that it's NOT challenging you early on.
It's always disappointing watching a game you previously enjoyed just sort of implode in front of you, leaving you feeling irritated and bitter by the end for having wasted your time on it. I'm trying to learn to hang games up before that happens, even if it means not finishing it. I did that most recently with The World Ends With You, when I realized I was actively dreading going back to the game. And in longer, more open world-y games, I prefer to stop before the magic is lost, which is why, despite enjoying both greatly, I never spent more than 100 or so hours on either Elden Ring or Breath of the Wild.
Did you ever play the original, or is this your first experience with the series?
@Ralizah Dying Light 2 is kind of the game I think people are describing when they describe what they wanted from Dead Island 2, which is funny to me, because Dying Light 2 already exists and I remember it was met with a pretty lukewarm response on release. I got through about 20 hours of it, which comparatively was enough time to clear the main campaign and the majority of the side content in Dead Island 2, but it feels like I barely made a dent here in that time, which very much ties into the open world bloat you talked about.
My issue though was so much of the story progression was locked behind these frustrating, tedious, checkpointless, stealth missions, that I eventually just bounced off of it. The fun for me was drop kicking zombies off of skyscrapers and killing bandits with rusted taped together piles of crap, but you often weren't allowed to just do that and progress the game in the process. This is why, for the opening few hours at least, Dead Island 2 was a treat, by comparison.
Funnily enough, that dread you are talking about has happened to me with the Resident Evil 4 remake lately. I haven't played that game in weeks, I recognise that basically objectively its a great game, but its just super sweaty. I would say the challenge is generally well tuned, so its never exactly frustrating, but most encounters usually take me a good few attempts even on the base difficulty, and a single chapter leaves me absolutely exhausted, even though many run less than an hour. It just isn't what I want from a game after a long day of work, and by the time the weekend comes around I am doing other things, so I just haven't touched it. And the longer I go, the more that fear grows that I'm gonna jump on, not remember all the controls and just get immediately stuck, unable to progress again, but the idea of having to go through it all over again from the start, also doesn't appeal to me at all, knowing some of the encounters I barely made it through the first go around.
In terms of Dead Island, it is one of those weird series for me where I swear I have owned a copy of either that or Riptide on every console I have owned since they have come out, but I have no real memory of getting very far in either of the games, despite playing them over and over again over the years. I guess each time I play for an hour, realise I'm not that into this right now, forget about it and then a new console comes along, Dead Island sounds like something I'd really like and it has been long enough to forget I attempted it already, so I pick it up and do the same thing again. I have them on PC, maybe I should make a meaningful attempt to actually beat them.
@Pizzamorg I've had the distinct impression that I'd probably like Dying Light if I ever got to it, but... eh, you know, zombies. And I don't need any more 100 hour games in my life than I already have, which is the even bigger issue.
Unless it's MGS, Splinter Cell, or some other sort of stealth-focused experience to begin with, stealth gameplay almost always make a game worse. Like, yeah, dude, this is what I wanted: tedious missions that make it where I can't utilize the majority of mechanics that made your game actually fun to play. I want to creep around and pray that your AI's dodgy detection doesn't catch me. And if I am caught, I want to go alllllllllll the way back to the beginning of the sequence.
In general, I'm inclined to agree that narrowing the scope of a game later on in a way that contradicts the appeal of the early hours is bad. If a game is based around freedom and survival, I don't want to be locked into setpieces just because you can't figure out how to structure a story well around a more gameplay-focused structure.
Interesting perspective on RE4R. The original, at least in my experience, was appealing precisely because of how easily playable it was. It was like one of those B movies you have to stop and watch every time you pass it on the TV. I actually do feel a resistance toward going back and playing horror games because of how tense some of them can be, but this is part of the appeal of the genre to me: a good piece of horror media will make you at least somewhat hesitant to keep diving in, even if it's excellent.
My PC is full of games I've needed to make meaningful attempts at for the better part of a decade now. One day, I'll stop buying new stuff and actually focus on what I own.
Currently Playing: Resident Evil Village: Gold Edition
I'm glad I am not alone in hating stealth in games, nothing ruins a game for me like random forced stealth missions with insta fail states if detected. Every one of those sequences needs to get in the bin.
@Ralizah It’s good to know I’m not the only one who has trouble distinguishing Dying Light from Dead Island from Dead by Daylight. Include the confusion that there are also separate games called Daylight and Deadlight, and all the games with “dead” or “death” in them which are horror or zombie based (Dead Nation, The Walking Dead, Evil Dead, House of the Dead…). Not to mention DayZ, Days Gone… The number of zombie horror games which are obsessed with putting “dead” or a version of the word and “day” is just crazy. Add several that have “dawn” in the name or some version of “light” or “darkness” and my brain just can’t keep up. 😅
Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (PS5)
Think this may actually be my first PS5 review here.
General Gameplay:
A survival horror adventure game that sees you exploring the dilapidated ruins of an old mental hospital, exorcising spirits, solving a variety of light puzzles, and more to progress. The first 2/3rds of the game generally take place across the same 2 building complexes, and features a lot of back & forth backtracking to access a new room or two here & there. The last stretch of the game opens up considerably, albeit through a much more linearly designed environment (not really a complaint, but I don't think the game world was that much, if at all, larger than that of Maiden of Black Water, & IIRC some complaints I remember about that one being that the game world felt smaller compared to it's predecessors. I don't really feel that's the case in this instance though).
Whether it be rhythm mini games, sliding tile puzzles, or even math, you'll have to stretch your brain a bit to progress.
Although the game world is one large interconnected environment, it's still broken up into 12 story chapters. You'll actually be taking on the role of 3 different characters during your playtime, and as a general rule of thumb your playable character is swapped from one chapter to the next (they all start at different points in the hospital, though in general all the rooms you unlock as one character are unlocked for the others as well once you reach an area you already explored as another character). Also, each character has their own independent inventory & equipment upgrades.
Of course it does feature those divisive "tank" controls prevalent in the genre, though I don't think they're much of an issue here (at least when it comes to exploration). The most irritating part is probably that you have to shine your flashlight across the environment in order to reveal interactive elements/pickups (the game will give you a general indicator that something is near you), and sometimes the game can be very finicky with how precise you have to be in order to illuminate something (sometimes I had to go over a surface 3 or 4 times before that familiar sparkly glow would appear). Also, there is a slow and long animation involved pretty much anytime you reach out to touch/grab anything. The reason for this is that some items are optional, and in those cases there's a chance that a ghostly hand can reach out & grab you (causing you to permanently lose said pickup) if you don't let go of the button & pull back quick enough. Luckily, these grabs didn't seem to be as common as they were in Maiden of Black Water.
You aren't gonna grab me... and I'm not gonna get a good photo of you.
The game doesn't include an auto-save function (well it does, but it only activates when you pass by a save point anyways), so you'll have to seek out a save point if you want to save your progress. Luckily there's usually one nearby with how interconnected the environments are, but even when not it's usually not all that dangerous to trek back to the last one if you feel you really need to (most encounters seem to be scripted, so you don't have to be worried about ghost encounters in areas you've already been through unless the story is sending you back that direction again). Save points don't recover your health, but you can spend some of your score (which effects your endgame grade) as currency to buy basic healing items, film, and even alternate costumes/accessories (though those aesthetic items have to be unlocked by gameplay achievements before you can purchase them).
Combat:
Two of your characters come equipped with a Camera Obscura, your main tool used to interact with the world & exorcise ghosts. When a ghost appears the HUD indicator at the top of the screen will flash either yellow or red (or blue if there's a non-ghost point of interest nearby). If it's yellow, the ghost won't attack you and you can nab some points by taking a picture of it before it vanishes (the harder it is to snap it, the more points it's worth, and these appearances tend to be used as a hint as to where you should head next, so keep an eye on them). If it's red the fight is on. Although you can shave off some health anytime you take a pic, what you really want to do is wait right before you're attacked, that way you can hit them with a titular "Fatal Frame". This deals extra damage & allows you to string together 3-4 total shots in quick succession dealing major damage if you pull it off (and adds a ton of points to your score, especially if you defeat it with one).
Ready to go, though I don't think I'll be able to do much damage here (more on that later...).
You do have a basic film that has unlimited "ammo", however you can obtain more powerful variants that have limited usage (the lesser of these can be traded for at Save Points, but the most powerful are only very rarely found in the environment so you'll want to hoard them). You can also obtain a selection of various "lenses" for the camera, which when equipped will unleash different special attacks if you have the special guage filled (which refills when you hit ghosts with regular shots/Fatal Frames). Some lenses may slow down a ghost's movement speed, while others take particularly powerful shots.
The third character comes equipped with a Spirit Stone Flashlight instead of the Camera Obscura. Pretty much it's gimmick is that it can blast ghosts with stored moonlight, and in all honesty is a much more effective weapon than the camera. It only has one type of "ammo" to keep track of (it's infinite, but you have to wait for it to recharge quite a bit if you fire it off in too quick succession) meaning it's strength is generally built to last the entire game from the start and it has a wider area of effect making attacking groups of ghosts easier. Like the Camera it can also be equipped with a number of lenses (one of which allows it to take pictures in exchange for it's offensive capabilities, which is useful in certain scenarios, like snapping the "yellow indicator" ghosts). This is a pretty big departure from how it would go on to be used in Maiden of Black Water's Ayane (from DOA/Ninja Gaiden) campaign, where it could only briefly stun ghosts IIRC.
This auto trophy pic is the only shot I have of Flashlight combat.
In comparison to Maiden of Black Water, combat in general is a lot more tense, but not always for the right reasons, though there are some upsides too. With a few exceptions the environments in Maiden were a lot wider & there was more going on with the combat system, making encounters much more "gamey" & fun, but ultimately at the expense of atmosphere (especially since lesser "mook" ghosts would often respawn IIRC). Meanwhile there are a lot of encounters in Mask that take place in small or tight areas (like hallways) that make combat a bit more clunky (heck, fighting more than 2 ghosts at a time tends to be a nightmare in general with the Camera, no matter how large the environment. Luckily that doesn't happen too often. Most group ghost attacks tend to happen when you have the Flashlight, which is better equipped for those encounters). That said, as mentioned before most encounters seem to be scripted, so if you do need to trek back to save after a rough patch you won't have to deal with respawning foes.
I should also mention that there is one ghost you'll occasionally run into who can't be defeated (hard to miss, as the screen will become black & white and all film grain-y), where you'll have no choice but to run to the nearest exit. While it can be surprising when she pops up, like the other encounters in the game I eventually learned these are scripted and you can usually re-enter the room right after you escape with no worries.
Other Gameplay:
Along the way you'll have the chance to stock up on these Blue & Red "Spirit Stones". Blue ones are used to upgrade the general capabilities of your Camera/Flashlight (attack power, reload time, special attack meter capacity, etc.) while Red ones power up the effectiveness of Lenses. Again, each character has their own inventory, so don't hold back on one character in an effort to hoard for another one, as it doesn't work that way.
Also, there are these creepy little "Hazuki Dolls" hidden away all across the environment (I assume there's at least one in every single room, no matter how small or insignificant) that you can take pictures of. I'm not exactly sure of their purpose (other than getting a message that it's curse has been lifted whenever you snap one), or what if anything you get for finding them all (I honestly thought I had found the vast majority of them, and while I found over 50 of them, there are more than 70 in total!) You can buy a guide that reveals all their locations at a Save Point, but it would take a huge chunk out of your score so I didn't go for it.
Hey! What are you doing up there?
Story:
Across your adventure you'll take control of Ruka Minazuki & Misaki Aso, a pair of amnesiac 17 year old girls who were patients of the abandoned hospital when they were younger (and are amongst the few survivors of whatever incident befell it). When the other survivors start dying mysterious deaths, they feel compelled to explore the complex and find the truth of the matter once & for all (they have the Camera). You'll also take control of Choshiro Kirishima, a private detective who found the girls when they were younger during the mysterious incident back when he was a cop, revisiting the site in order to solve the mystery himself (he has the Flashlight).
Ruka Minazuki
Misaki Aso
I somehow managed to go the entire game without screenshotting the dude, lol.
Outside of that, most of the lore & narrative is revealed by notes, diaries, recordings & such you find throughout your adventure.
Apparently there are actually two different endings, with a basic "bad" (or I guess neutral) ending, and a better "good" ending. Whether or not you have to play through the game multiple times to get the good one (screw that) or if there's just something I missed (maybe the dolls? Just a guess though), I don't know.
Graphics/Audio:
While it's origins as a Wii game become apparent if you get really up close to any textures, it's generally been touched up really well, and the dark grimy atmosphere is both effective at hiding imperfections & being genuinely unsettling. Seriously, even when I was fairly certain nothing was going to happen, the atmosphere is good at keeping you on edge. Plus there are a handful of jump scares (like a mannequin turning to stare at you the first time you point your camera at it, and only the one time) that are really fun, even if they are few & far between.
Whether it be derelict operating rooms, subterranean caves, and ancient shrines, there are a lot of creepy environments to explore (though the starting hospital areas are the creepiest, IMO).
Our lovely leading ladies showing off some not so lovely environments.
It has super effective audio design too. Whether it be ambient moans, scratching, creaking & more, or the sudden piercing sound of a phone ring or intercom system, it's constantly unsettling. Probably one for earphones, though I'm too much of a sissy, lol.
Overall:
Pretty solid time if you know what you're getting into. Yes, it's a bit clunky which is common for survival horror (especially of it's time), but it has a highly effective atmosphere that oozes dread & stayed with me when I went to bed at night (especially when I was playing it late). Plus, I can't dislike a game that includes swimsuit costumes too much, lol (though the costumes pictured are the DLC swimsuits, I never met whatever conditions were required to unlock the base game swimsuits). With the Maiden port & this remaster releasing in relatively close proximity, I hope that means they're planning on doing more with the franchise soon.
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
@RR529 Nice! I really need to get back to this. While I like the more claustrophobic setting aesthetically, my issue with it is that it makes certain setpieces pretty frustrating, since ghosts will materialize in the walls and grab you from the side, which is incredibly difficult to avoid. This is the first time I've felt genuine frustration over the combat in this series. One encounter early on literally took five or six retries, because it was an in a narrow hallway, and I was surrounded by spooks.
Going back to an old game like this, it's also difficult to remember that it doesn't have free camera controls. I eventually learned to leave the right analog stick alone, but I think this series worked best in that regard when it still had fixed camera viewpoints.
But yeah, the atmosphere remains effective throughout, which is, more than anything, what I appreciate about this series.
"I somehow managed to go the entire game without screenshotting the dude, lol."
I could pretend to be shocked, but I think both of us probably fully expected that you wouldn't, right?
Very nice screenshots, btw.
Currently Playing: Resident Evil Village: Gold Edition
@Ralizah, I think I know of the exact encounter you're talking about (three ghosts that appear the first time you try to enter one of the patient rooms?). I died like 5 times there myself. Luckily, most of the other times you have to fight 3 or more ghosts with the camera it usually happens in more open areas, but it's still highly annoying (usually causing me to drain my healing item reserves).
The flashlight is seriously the more effective weapon here, especially once you upgrade it a bit (by late game I was practically walking straight up to ghosts nearly one shotting them up close with it).
To be fair, I was almost certain I had taken a screenshot of him standing next to a painting. I must have accidentally deleted it when I was purging all the trophy videos (not sure if you have a PS5 yet, but it both takes an auto screenshot AND video every time you earn a trophy). I'm sure I could probably just turn it off, but I haven't fiddled around the settings yet.
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
@RR529 That was the most egregious instance, yes. I guess that particular battle must be difficult for a lot of people! But the truth is I've weirdly struggled with combat throughout the game. No idea why tracking the ghosts is so much harder for me this go around!
Currently Playing: Resident Evil Village: Gold Edition
@Pizzamorg Me too. Rog writes some of the best reviews on the site. And I really appreciate that they often don't conform to the majority wisdom, yet are always well-reasoned.
Currently Playing: Resident Evil Village: Gold Edition
@Ralizah@Pizzamorg@HallowMoonshadow Apologies for the confusion the other day. I wanted it to be a nice thing to post on May the Fourth, but truth is I don't feel comfortable sharing my opinions any more, so I won't be re-posting the review.
I really do appreciate your kind comments, though. Last thing I wanna do is de-rail this topic (again!) so I'm sorry for the awkwardness I'm clearly continuing to generate.
Looking forward to reading any and all future contributions, about any game!
I'm sorry you feel that way! If I can share opinions here, I would hope everyone feels comfortable 😂
I also realised my comment seemed like real faint praise, the writing was great as well by the way, I hope my reply didn't come across otherwise as I only mentioned the screenshots 😬
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