The atmosphere: This game has some of the most beautiful graphics and it is those graphics that help bring out the atmosphere of the environments. The train was done the best in this regard, the training facility not too bad, and the water treatment plant was in the middle of the two. This game was definitely a Resident Evil game through and through.
The item dropping mechanic. I know many people hate it because they hate to backtrack, but I loved that mechanic. I personally found it no different from the item boxes. In the earlier games, it's like you need the lighter, man gotta get back to that item box. In this game, need something I dropped, well gotta go back and get it. See really no difference. Besides, I really didn't mind backtracking, I knew it came with the Resident Evil territory. Besides, I have to admire the game for trying to both be more realistic and doing something different.
The partner zapping mechanic. I liked being able to switch between Rebecca and Billy, even though I was Rebecca most of the time. I personally think it's better to be Rebecca instead of making her the A.I partner. Billy was designed to take a beating and since we all know the A.I system could be retarded in this game at times (one of my negatives, will get into soon), at least if the A.I Billy is caught by a zombie, he will be fine. I don't know why people choose to put Rebecca in that role. It's makes things a lot more difficult and more health items are used IMO.
Rebecca and Billy's partnership. I know many claim these two to be boring but I don't agree. I adored the budding friendship between the two throughout the game. I personally think that before Jake and Sherry's appearance in RE6, they had the most realistic partnership and believable chemistry out of all the pairings of characters we'd seen before then. They went from partnering up just to survive to protecting to trusting each other [Billy saves her life 3 times and trusts her with the true story behind his arrest despite having fears that she would judge him and Rebecca chooses to go after him when he's in danger instead of leaving with her captain (which led to one of the best voice acted scenes in this series IMO when she saw him in that water. I felt her desperation and pain of not being able to get to him) and lie for him many times, including keeping the secret of him being alive]. In fact I would dare say they became friends in that short time.
Rebecca as a character period. I have always liked this character [I didn't think she was that bad in ReMake, although I hate the continuity issues her character suffers from (I blame the ReMake creators though). Could you imagine RE: Zero Rebecca in ReMake, she would have been something special] but anyway in this game, I became a even bigger fan. Sure she needs assistance at times despite being a STARS officer, but that's what I like about her. I like that she isn't this raging badass, that she, like most rookies make mistakes and does need help. It's makes her more human and relatable because if that was me, I would have died of a heart attack lol. I also like how she was standoffish when it came to Billy at first (which makes sense and is a realistic reaction, how would you react if you just ran into a convicted felon during your first mission?). Then when she got to know and see the real him, I loved the kindness and caring side she showed to him. During that one cutscene when he is telling her about his past, the understanding she shows him let's me know that this girl is a good person and I would love to have someone like that by my side in that situation. Sure she came across as naive, but as a optimistic rookie, it makes sense. Also, she show some major B.A and strong girl moments like boarding an abandoned train alone, being able to take a Tyrant down by herself (even if it wasn't permanent, she still wasn't afraid of it, props) and venture for Billy alone instead of staying safe with her captain. Also I like that she is one of the few characters in this series to show emotions and have a morality issue. Her deciding to lie for Billy despite it being lawfully wrong because it was right for her tells us a lot about strong she feels about her morals. IMO, Rebecca is such a likeable and relatable girl in this game (and in the series period). I don't get the dislike for her, but.....
The Ending Cutscene. That cutscene was just so beautiful and the messages in it was so telling. Seeing Billy throw off the handcuffs and thus symbolizing his new found freedom, Rebecca deciding to keep his status a secret thus symbolizing her strong morals and her kindness, the two saluting each other to symbolize mutual respect and the shot of the butterfly in the spider web over the mansion to represent that Rebecca was walking into a trap was powerful. Definitely one of the best endings in the series.
Molotov Cocktails. This is a small one, but I loved these weapons, especially when Rebecca had them as she threw them faster than Billy. I wish they would make a return to the series at some point.
Wesker and Birkin making appearances. It was nice being able to see a relationship between these two characters on screen.
What I'm in the middle about
The Training Facility was ok to me. I felt like it was trying too hard to a remix of the Spencer Mansion and it didn't need to be. This is why I wish the game mostly took place on the train and then completely skip the Training Facility and somehow go straight to the Water Treatment Plant.
Unbalanced stamina levels. I understand that the game was trying to be more realistic and play up on the whole Billy and Rebecca being polar opposites thing, but man did Rebecca suffer in this department. I don't think her stamina was this bad in ReMake during her playable sections. She should have been weaker than Billy yes, but not to that degree. Then in turn, they made Billy too strong IMO. His stamina is better than earlier characters that wore clothes better equipped for the situation (like Hunk or Leon in Re2). Basically they needed to nerf Billy and buff Rebecca. It made Billy not being able to mix herbs and Rebecca having this positive over him kind of pointless because he hardly needed health, especially if the player decided to be him.
The enemies. Some of the enemies for the most part were very uninspired. Giant Scorpion, Giant Bat, Giant Centipede, Giant Frogs, and Giant Leech Queen as the final boss? It's like Capcom didn't want to the game to be ReMake part 2, so they just made everything big. However, I did enjoy the classic zombies and hunters, can't go wrong there. I like the small monkeys, there were irritating, yet they were challenging. Also I thought the leech zombie were classic Resident Evil. There really should have been more of them because when they were around the tension went up to a ten.
The Story. Yes, the story and the writing could have been much better, but I am not about to sit here and get on this game for that as if the games before this one had award winning writing and a Oscar winning story. There was some good points and there was some bad ones just like any other Resident Evil game.
The A.I system. There are times when the A.I system in this game was amazing (which I thank Capcom for), it saved my butt many times. Then there were times when this system was beyond stupid (which I also blame Capcom for). The CPU character staying in a room despite you leaving or sitting there like a idiot when running out of bullets instead of switching weapons. Yet I can't be too hard on it because it was a first time experience and I applaud Capcom for trying.
What I didn't like about the game.
Music isn't that memorable. Outside the main hall of the Training Facility, the save room theme, and the end credits, I couldn't tell you anything about this game's soundtrack. Capcom really dropped the ball here.
Where the heck was the rest of the STARS Bravo Team? This game was suppose to let us get to know them before all of their demises, and yet outside of Edward who dies early in the game, and Enrico who is only seen once and heard on the radio twice, Richard, Forest, and Kenneth (the latter two who really needed the development) was no where to be seen outside the opening cutscene. It would have been nice for Rebecca and Billy to run into one or all of them. Imagine the drama that would have ensued. Rebecca would be in the middle, Billy would have been defensive, and the other STARS members would have had it out for him. Also it would have been nice to see Rebecca and Richard in more scenes together. Despite the short time you see them together in ReMake, they seem so close and friendly.
Why didn't Wesker or better Birkin and Rebecca and Billy ever cross paths? I can understand Wesker and Rebecca never coming across one another, but it would have been interesting to see her (with or without Billy) run across Birkin and talk to him.
James Marcus as the big bad of the game. He was terrible and didn't fit in Resident Evil. Enough said.
The big guns taking up two spaces. Stupid, stupid idea. What makes it worse is that it was not always going to be that way (I've seen pictures that show the hookshot, machine gun, etc, taking only one space, I'll try to find it for you all).
