Just beat the first chapter on "Hardcore" mode. It wasn't too hard. The Sentinal 9 is great but the Skull Crusher is meh as far as "Deluxe Edition" content goes, the costumes are a touch too silly for my liking, but that is petty stuff.
As for the game itself, it is quite 'Resident Evil 4', just updated in mechanics, controls and visuals. The addition of "Brutes" as enemies was nice and they are quite a tough intermediary foe between ganados and Salvador-type chainsaw opponents so this is good. I have mentioned the addition of stealth in other threads so no need to further elaborate there. I do like how the treasure and loot system seems more fleshed out this time around and there seems to be much more locked cabinets to go back and unlock so these are positives.
Not much else for first impressions, so far pretty solid and I look forward to finishing Leon's simple rescue mission and trying to maximize the game, will keep me occupied for some time I imagine.
P.S. lack of QTE cutscenes is definitely a plus
