Alrighty, I've already given my review of this in the "Games You've Played and Rate Them" page in the General Discussions tab, but I've now done two playthroughs, and I'm gonna go way more in depth than I did there. I also think I'm gonna be arguably the harshest here than anyone else...So strap in Jill's and Gents. If you didn't think I was a snob before, you will after this...
Let's start with the story, since Resident Evil has always been a story based series to begin with. It was just dumb. I actually figured I wouldn't get this game as soon as I did. I'm moving, getting married, and paying a lawyer for a custody case. Needless to say, funds are tight-ish. But my roommate, who has NEVER played an RE game (Just watched me play them, with interest in the story, but horror games aren't his thing) bought this game both because he was genuinely interested in it, and as kind of a goodbye gift to me. One last game to beat together before I left since we love playing games together. And while I did enjoy it, part of me knows its the emotional factor of playing it with him, not the game itself. And as such, since I didn't realize I'd play it as soon as I did, I replayed REmake like 3 times trophy hunting, and to get pumped for RE8. So the original story was fresh on my mind...
The story just
doesn't feel like Resident Evil. People talk about how it is a love letter to 4, and yeah, aesthetically that's true, but that's honestly where the similarities end. At least in 4 they make it VERY clear pretty early on this is a virus/bio-weapon. Here. Not until you play as Chris, which is what, the last 90% of the game? I mean yeah, we all knew that would be the case being Resident Evil fans, but for the average gamer who just wants to play this game because "Dommy Mommy has some nice seedless watermelons, also shooting things is cool" this was a horrible way to, story wise, portray it as a virus/bio-weapon. Also, the connection to Umbrella feels so beyond forced just to connect it to older games, that it would have made me groan with the annoyance of a Pro Life prostitute the has her 3 year old asking for cereal at 8 in the morning when she never wanted kids to begin with, but her religion kept her from aborting the annoyance to begin with.
On top of that, I called Mia being the bad guy from the beginning, and Mother Miranda
being Mia since before the halfway point. This is arguably the most predictable RE game to date. And yeah, I've been playing RE since the beginning, and get its a fine line to walk between honoring long time fans and creating a new story, but I feel like
anyone who's taken a junior in high school level class on writing could see this "twist" coming. Look when you're doing horror, predictable just won't cut it. How can you be scared if you know what's gonna happen? I haven't actually felt on edge and scared in an RE game SINCE 4, and that only because it was so easy by comparison I kept expecting it to take a sharp difficulty turn that would f*ck me over. Granted, that never happened, by my own expectations at least kept me on edge playing it based on 1, 2, 3, and CODE: Veronica X.
Chris's character also makes no god damn sense. Dude is being an @$$hole, not because it's in character, but to keep the player guessing. If this was a one off story, sure, that would work. But this is the 11th main game in the series counting Revelations, 6 of which starred Chris if you count RE7's DLC. 7 if you count the new scenarios in Umbrella Chronicles, and 8 if you count the Vendetta movie, since it is canon to the games. So we
know Chris's character. Having him act like a douche when he's always been a rather altruistic "I'll protect everyone and be a good person doing it" character was solely for the shock/suspense factor of this game. And I fell for it hook line and sinker. Problem is...we get no resolution to it. Like
@Turo602 mentioned, it feels like a side story. Glossed over. Narritively it makes no sense given how we've seen Chris in the past. It's classic MCU style writing makes it super annoying, or worse, boring, to long time fans of the source material.
Lets talk about the bosses and their motivations in the story. Lady Double D, as Turo so aptly put it, was honestly the high light boss character wise (Notice how I didn't say fight wise). Were I in charge of development, I would have put her second to last of the four lords, and had the doll chick first. This is where I'll start moving into talking about the gameplay while still keeping it to the story...
Majority of the beginning is the same, but after Chris makes sure "Mia" is below snakes, Ethan freaks and starts to question him. Chris, like the good dude he's been in all other previous games, begins to explain, one of the lords shows up and he holds them off for Ethan to get way. He runs, and gets to a house in the woods...
Start with the Doll b*tch first. Like so many have said, it's SUPER predictable and on a pattern. But if they placed that near the very beginning before you obtained any weapons, it would make more sense. Then you could have your PT rip off section as a way to teach you to avoid enemies rather than fighting, with the baby. chasing you. It also gets you accustomed to the easy puzzle solving. Find your first gun in the house after avoiding the baby, and do your first boss fight with Dolly Part-On (Damn. Not as catchy as Lady Double D's), giving you just enough ammo to defeat her, and have a knife from the get go in case you f*ck up. Have him acquire a Rose body part there. Think his daughter is dead, and while he's escaping the house, an emotional mess, have Heisenberg call him on a phone. Give him the cryptic yet semi-helpful dialogue similar to Zoe that makes him keep going. Even if it's just on the slimmest of hopes.
From there you go to the village and things play our as usual, but rather than ending up in the castle, you end up in the swamp. Again, maybe Heisenberg guiding you there with some cryptic method. You've now seen Dolls, Lychans, and swamp monsters. Most of Moroeu goes as the game plays out (despite the fact that he's the LEAST threatening lord, and I'm IRL afraid of water. This should be the most terrifying part for me), and only after you've defeated him, do you get by captured Miranda's remaining entourage. You go through an alternate version of Heisenberg's challenge, making it more difficult since you're far further in the game, and it ends with you succeeding and ending up in the castle. Also, when you're kidnapped by her entourage, they take the two pieces of the kids body you've found.
Now you're in the castle. You've found some weapons. You're doing what RE does best key based claustrophobic exploration. Lady D and her daughters stalking you. This plays out like normal but more difficult since you're further in the game. You eventually get through it. Lady D goes down like a Lady B (Minus the dumb@$$ dragon form), and you get the two pieces of the body, plus a third that she was holding, back. Now it's Time for Nicholas Cage. I mean Heisenberg.
This plays out also as normal but with a FAR less confusing map layout. Look RE has always been about puzzles, but the files and exploration have
always been key (get it...key...) in getting you through them. This map is just a maze for the sake of being confusing. It's not scary. Instead you make them far more sparse. You forget after a bit you're playing a horror game, just to have sh*t come after you. You pass Daddy Magneto's test. He tries to recruit you. You refuse. You're thrown immediately into the boss fight with Strum. You beat him. Rage Cage gets ****y. You fight him in a FAR more interesting fight than just junkyard Michael Bay reject, you get the final piece of your daughter, and you are face to face with Chris. First time you've seen him. He explains everything. And you go to take mother Miranda together. She murder f*cks Ethan then bounces out. Ethan gives Chris the pieces of his daughter and says so save save her as his dying wish as a father. Chris makes chase, you have your Chris gameplay.
You rescue the real Mia. Ethan is legit dead. None of that mold retcon nonsense. You finish her off with an ACTUAL f*cking rocket launcher. Like God intended. And you move on. Daughter grows up. Business as usual. Ethan is dead. Yada yada.
Notice how I didn't mention the Duke? It's because he isn't there. Do I love me some RE4? Hell yeah. Id sell my daughter to the bad guys from Taken to experience that game again for the first time. Do I also think the Duke is immersion breaking and upgrades should be found throughout the game? Most definitely. As much as I think REmake2 is a downgrade over the original RE2, it got upgrades right (Or maybe I'm thinking RE3. At this point it doesn't matter. It's all the same). The Duke just doesn't make narrative sense just like item boxes don't. At least there's a way to play REmake with them realistically. Put him in Mercs as a reference to the Merchant from 4? Perfect. That's right where he belongs. A fun easter egg for fans.
That brings me to Mercs. Finally. A positive. Mercs is done the best it'd done since RE4 (3DS game not withstanding as I haven't played it). RE5 has better levels, but worse item placement and characters, RE6 had potential but the gameplay drags it down. This is the best Mercs since RE4. It's close enough to the original but makes enough changes to feel fresh.
Ethan may suck and be boring as a character, sure, but the atmosphere doesn't. The sound design is arguably the best in RE history. The only contenders are REmake and RE4. And even then I think this is the best. The gameplay. as much as I'm not on board with first person RE, is more refined than RE7. The dialogue is heatwarmingly cheesey (Although, that brings me to another gripe. When Lady Double D's cut's off Ethan's hand, you get through it, put some Gwyneth Paltrow branded goop on it and says "good," they missed a PRIMO opportunity to say "Groovy." A reference to Evil Dead 2, the KING of cheesy comedy horror. If you're gonna be cheesy, at least go all the way).
The village itself is a fantastic setting, and while I think in the overall RE setting lychans don't fit and should never have been attempted, at least in this setting it aesthetically fits. Aside from Lady Double D's castle, is the most Resident Evil feeling setting in the game. The swamp, the forge, and the factory just don't feel like RE.
The game holds your hand WAY to much. Especially when it comes to the treasures. I don't want you to tell me it's combinable. Let me figure out if it is or isn't myself.
All in all, I'll be GENEROUS and give it a 6.5/10. It's arguably the best modern RE game aside from REmake2 (Modern being RE5 and on), and even then that's debatable), but I'll always be happy withe the sound design, the mercs mode, and the fact that it was the last game I played with my oldest friend before running off to get hitched.