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Resident Evil 6 Playing RE6 for the first time - everyone warned me to avoid...lol

Moonlight_Sonata

Well-Known Member
I'm also playing this for the first time ever right now and, to be honest, I really dig it. Granted, I'm still on Leon/Helena, but it's WAY better than I expected based on reviews and certainly far better than I "remember" from when I tried it on PS3, stumbled through the intro stage, and summarily said "**** this."

I think part of this is lowered expectations and greater comfort level with cinematic gameplay. In addition to still holding out for another RE2 when this game first came out, I think I was also kind of thrown off by how good the graphics were. I hadn't played video games in a while at that point, and it felt strangely disorienting to be playing something that looked so real. A decade of hyper-realistic CGI virtually everywhere has made me more capable of navigating the visuals.

I will not claim that this is really what I ultimately want from an RE game (that would be the first 3 playstation titles and RE2 Remake), but - after having played RE4 and RE5 back to back, it feels like a satisfying climax to that era of the franchise. If you're intent on going down the high-octane, action game route, this one feels like it does that while being a bit more tonally consistent with earlier games in the franchise. Going back to an American college town setting in the Leon scenario was definitely semi-nostalgic after the settings in 4 and 5. I also like the general idea of this basically being a blow off extravaganza, with characters from the entire history of the franchise converging. It feels slightly closer to the climactic sequel I always envisioned when I played the first game.

Can't speak to the other scenarios yet, so maybe those really torpedo the entire experience. I do think it's cool to see the visual evolution of each character and really dig the grizzled thirty something Leon and 40+ Chris designs.

The only thing that really annoys me so far is the item management system, which is just miserably designed and a real hindrance on almost every level. I'm sure plenty of people have complained about this, but the fact that they inexplicably designated the first aid spray as a weapon is insanity. It literally took me twenty minutes of play time to figure out how to heal myself. It's also really cumbersome to heal yourself using spray during a battle.
 

Moonlight_Sonata

Well-Known Member
Now 3/4 of the way finished with the game.

Leon's campaign is definitely the best one so far and, to be honest, the first three chapters of that are by far the most enjoyable. Didn't really like Chris' campaign that much, but I don't generally go in for the heavy military action stuff. Jake/Sherry left me kind of conflicted. I actually think adult Sherry is one of the most likable RE protagonists ever and such a refreshing change of pace from the super-badass Jill/Remake Claire/Helena archetype. She's capable, smart, and resilient but also feels like a human being and seems to have emotions beyond ****ed and really, really ****ed. Jake, on the other hand...
Either way, the last two chapters of that story are also kind of the pits, with the Jake MMA segment being one of the most ludicrously stupid things in the long, illustrious history of Resident Evil stupidity.

The final fight vibe of the game also gets tiresome at time. Just one setting after another, each filled with interchangeable enemies that you have to mow down before moving to another similarly populated area. The boss fights also get pretty repetitive after a few scenarios and they went really overboard with the unkillable Nemesis stalker trope. Seemingly every campaign has a boss that keeps coming back over and over to the point that it's just annoying.

I still like this much more than I ever expected. If you don't count the remakes, it's probably my favorite post-fixed cam installment..though I have yet to play the Redemptions.
 

Moonlight_Sonata

Well-Known Member
Just finished the game.

Wise-cracking Batman Ada is such an awful character. Do other people around her like her? I had a hard time even getting through her campaign because her swinging around on a grappling hook and making "clever" quips at every turn was such a grating experience. The fact that every scenario was basically structured around her making one deux ex machina appearance after another was definitely the worst part about it.

Otherwise, I liked the gameplay and the graphics were beautiful and certain aspects of other characters' stories were good. I liked Helena and Sherry.

Much better than I expected all things considered, and probably my favorite post-CV, non-remake RE title.
 

Mr.R

Well-Known Member
Just finished the game.

Wise-cracking Batman Ada is such an awful character. Do other people around her like her? I had a hard time even getting through her campaign because her swinging around on a grappling hook and making "clever" quips at every turn was such a grating experience. The fact that every scenario was basically structured around her making one deux ex machina appearance after another was definitely the worst part about it.

You're not alone. I always found Ada to be a very cliché character. Not a bad one, just boring. I always liked Claire better and I never liked Ada's interactions with Leon, apart from some moments. But RE6 Ada is unbearable. I totally agree with you that most of the places she appears is tailored for her to be an Deus ex Machina that saves everyone all the time. They took what happened in RE4 and turned to 11. Not only that, she's borderline a Mary Sue in that game. She's always right, she always comes up on top, she outsmart everyone, she doesn't show any weakness even when she should.

Being framed by someone who had her face and manipulated people she supposedly care for (Leon) should've been a good opportunity for Capcom to work new nuances on her character, but they only made her a badass omniscient being who's "cool" all the time.

I'm one of the few people who actively defends RE6. I really like the game. I know it's not perfect, but I like the game. It's fun. I have fun. But even I can admit that I dislike the direction they took Ada in this game.
 

windleopard

Well-Known Member
Ada is not a mary sue in RE6. She's a highly competent character which may or may not cause bad writing (and there are far bigger writing issues in RE6 than Ada's role).
 

Moonlight_Sonata

Well-Known Member
I guess she's technically competent, but that's not the word I'd use to describe her in RE6. Unflappable to the point of complete unbelievability is how I'd describe her.

Leon is a competent character. A hero. So is Chris. So is Sherry. So is Jake, whom I also sort of hated. Every single one of them, at some point during the game, showed a bit of fear, confusion, self doubt, sadness, concern, or empathy.

In this game, Ada experienced: having her DNA stolen, being cloned, having said clone launch a genocidal attack on the entire world in her name, witnessing said attack first hand, being chased by a mutated version of an obsessive ex-employer, watched someone she supposedly cares about (Leon) being stalked, attacked, and framed for the murder of the president of the United States.

Seemingly enough to at least rattle even the most together person.

To all this, Ada reacts by issuing cheap puns, behaving in a completely level headed, shrewd, some might say borderline precognitive manner, mocking her clone, mocking the inhabitants of an infected city, mocking Leon for caring about her, swinging around skyscrapers in high heels, mocking military helicopters as they fired missiles in her direction, cracking wise about airliners plowing into urban centers, etc. etc.

Helena's sister showed more human emotion and relatable character traits in this game, and she was a hideous undead creature.

Further, while almost every other character in the game falls short in at least some portion of their campaign (Leon fails to save Helena's sister, Chris fails to save his partner, Sherry gets captured, Jake gets captured), Ada skates through the apocalypse, a government cover up, worldwide military pursuit AND all the worst parts of every other character's story with nary a scratch. Or hurt feeling. Or second thought. She never fails, she never falls short, she never seems to consider that she might. Luckily, should one of the other characters populating the story fail to live up to her level of perfection, she is constantly conveniently positioned to swoop in and bail them out, too. It's absolutely absurd.

If you're going to make a character so all powerful, at least make them likable. If you're going to make a character so unlikable, at least don't let them get their way every moment of a 50 hour game. The combo of Ada being both incredibly unlikable as a character AND completely infallible is a real drain.
 
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windleopard

Well-Known Member
I guess she's technically competent, but that's not the word I'd use to describe her in RE6. Unflappable to the point of complete unbelievability is how I'd describe her.

Leon is a competent character. A hero. So is Chris. So is Sherry. So is Jake, whom I also sort of hated. Every single one of them, at some point during the game, showed a bit of fear, confusion, self doubt, sadness, concern, or empathy.

In this game, Ada experienced: having her DNA stolen, being cloned, having said clone launch a genocidal attack on the entire world in her name, witnessing said attack first hand, being chased by a mutated version of an obsessive ex-employer, watched someone she supposedly cares about (Leon) being stalked, attacked, and framed for the murder of the president of the United States.

Seemingly enough to at least rattle even the most together person.

To all this, Ada reacts by issuing cheap puns, behaving in a completely level headed, shrewd, some might say borderline precognitive manner, mocking her clone, mocking the inhabitants of an infected city, mocking Leon for caring about her, swinging around skyscrapers in high heels, mocking military helicopters as they fired missiles in her direction, cracking wise about airliners plowing into urban centers, etc. etc.

Helena's sister showed more human emotion and relatable character traits in this game, and she was a hideous undead creature.

Further, while almost every other character in the game falls short in at least some portion of their campaign (Leon fails to save Helena's sister, Chris fails to save his partner, Sherry gets captured, Jake gets captured), Ada skates through the apocalypse, a government cover up, worldwide military pursuit AND all the worst parts of every other character's story with nary a scratch. Or hurt feeling. Or second thought. She never fails, she never falls short, she never seems to consider that she might. Luckily, should one of the other characters populating the story fail to live up to her level of perfection, she is constantly conveniently positioned to swoop in and bail them out, too. It's absolutely absurd.

If you're going to make a character so all powerful, at least make them likable. If you're going to make a character so unlikable, at least don't let them get their way every moment of a 50 hour game. The combo of Ada being both incredibly unlikable as a character AND completely infallible is a real drain.
Well she does have an emotional moment at the end of her story when she shoots the creature Carla was creating.

"We're beyond sympathy at this point. We're beyond humanity."

 

Turo602

The King of Kings
Ada's hyper competence in RE6 doesn't really bother me. I think at this point, it should be understood that she knows a lot more about what's going on behind the scenes than anyone else. She's a spy and that puts her at a much higher risk than Leon the agent and Chris the soldier which means she has to be even more professional and risk looking like the bad guy. She has no time to be human as her epilogue in Resident Evil 3 implies.

However, what annoys me most about her character in Resident Evil 6 is just how tiring her role is. She's mysterious for mystery's sake. Not knowing how all her appearances are connected and what her ultimate job and purpose is, is getting old and makes me believe not even Capcom knows, which diminishes her greatly.

Having her only appear in Leon stories is kind of dumb too. I get that they have that complicated Batman and Catwoman-esque relationship, but she should be much more than that. It would be refreshing to see her in a game that doesn't star Leon. We almost got that in RE6 with Chris, but nope, it had to be a clone. What a waste of an interesting new dynamic.
 

Mr.R

Well-Known Member
However, what annoys me most about her character in Resident Evil 6 is just how tiring her role is. She's mysterious for mystery's sake. Not knowing how all her appearances are connected and what her ultimate job and purpose is, is getting old and makes me believe not even Capcom knows, which diminishes her greatly.

Having her only appear in Leon stories is kind of dumb too. I get that they have that complicated Batman and Catwoman-esque relationship, but she should be much more than that. It would be refreshing to see her in a game that doesn't star Leon. We almost got that in RE6 with Chris, but nope, it had to be a clone. What a waste of an interesting new dynamic.

I agree with you on that point. The fact that she seems tied to Leon's stories is kinda tiresome, especially because most of their interactions post RE2 are pretty much the same. They meet, Leon knows she's hiding something, they flirt, then she goes away accomplishing her objectives while helping and manipulating Leon. All the damn time. It never changes. Also, I kinda wished Capcom dropped the "romance" hints. I mean, even for a story pov, their romance is something that could never go on, considering the character's jobs and personality. Unless they both decide to run away together and disappear, they could never be a couple (and I doubt Leon's sense of responsability would let him simply run away from everything).

Maybe it would be interesting to see her on her own, with more clarity on what's her goals are. I also agree that by this point, Capcom doesn't seem to know what they're doing with her. Her role is mysterious spy that knows everything. And that's it.

That being said, I liked how she was written in RE2 Remake and I don't know if it'll mean something in the future, and if they'll write her in a more humane way, but RE2R for me was a good "restart".
 

Moonlight_Sonata

Well-Known Member
I also think the nature of their romance diminishes Leon. He's my favorite character, but boy does their relationship make him look like a chump.

I'm a sentimental dude myself, and I get that he met her on the worst night of his life, when he was already at a low point emotionally, and that it's hard to shake that. But, come on. RE 6 takes place 7 years later, and during that time he's encountered her one time previously, and their interactions were not exactly warm.

Here's a guy who is seemingly a catch to other women and regularly interacts with rather attractive peers who've demonstrated some degree of interest in him. And he spends his time longing for a woman he sees every three years during moments apocalyptic trauma. And who can't even be bothered to speak to him for more than 90 seconds when they do meet.

The "relationship" actually makes sense given Ada's character. She's all-powerful and all desirable and gets off on being better than everyone else. So of course it's cool with her to know Leon is pining for her for a decade and to occasionally drop in to his life to scatter some emotional breadcrumbs and maybe toss him a projectile of some sort. But I would hope that Leon would develop a BIT more self respect at some point being that he's already in his late thirties when RE 6 takes place.
 

Moonlight_Sonata

Well-Known Member
Interesting.

I have never seen this film, but I'd be interested to know just how and when this rendezvous went down.

I don't know if it makes it better or worse that they manage to meet up outside of cataclysmic scenarios.

On one hand, I guess it's good that she's making time for him between covert ops. On the other hand, it's kind of sad if someone you've slept with shows THAT little concern for you when you're being harassed by mutant monstrosities and the US government. I thought it was kind of cold to begin with, but you think shared intimacy would lead to slightly more empathy.
 

Mr.R

Well-Known Member
Interesting.

I have never seen this film, but I'd be interested to know just how and when this rendezvous went down.

I don't know if it makes it better or worse that they manage to meet up outside of cataclysmic scenarios.

On one hand, I guess it's good that she's making time for him between covert ops. On the other hand, it's kind of sad if someone you've slept with shows THAT little concern for you when you're being harassed by mutant monstrosities and the US government. I thought it was kind of cold to begin with, but you think shared intimacy would lead to slightly more empathy.

It's only alluded. Ada asks when they're gonna "carry on from when we left off that night" and Leon simply answer: "Any time but now." And then they carry on the usual Leon x Ada interactions.
 

mert20004

Well-Known Member
To me; re6 is my favourite re game and ı think it's the best modern re game in the series; better than re4, re5, rerev, re7 and the non-canon reimaginings.

I dont think it's better than pre-re4 mainline entries, outbreak games or rerev2 but it's better than every other re game imo; including non-outbreak spinoffs.

Reasons why it's my favourite are:

1. It was the game that got me into the series so ı have a special spot for it.

2. I like how 4 campaigns connect to each other storywise very well. The unlockable files also add depth to the story.

3. Action horror gameplay style is improved from re4 and especially re5. Not having tank controls is a great change.

4. Awesome voice acting for the characters. Great character interactions too.

5. Best mercenaries mode along with no mercy mode as well as agent hunt. ( I also like onslaught but screw other modes, they have balancing issues. )

6. Awesome characters.

7. C-virus which is my favourite virus in the series. Great enemy variety and designs.

I also agree with this video, old but still holds up:

 

Moonlight_Sonata

Well-Known Member
I'm a wily RE vet and played the first game the week it came out, but I also really liked RE6 for some bizarre reason. I think a LOT of it is the more street level tone rather than the militaristic bull**** from RE5.

The scene with Jake and Sherry holding the gun together is just terrible, though. That admittedly may be because I loathe Jake.
 
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