October 2019 TR - Is That A Nightmare In Your Pocket...?

[noiseredux]

yeah I got sidetracked on Episode 8. The Overwatch Halloween event has been taking up a lot of my gaming time. I do intend to get back to Revelations, but good chance I won't wrap it up before the month is over.

[PartridgeSenpai]

Finished Circle of the Moon and now onto the last of the GBA Casltevanias just to round out the experience: Harmony of Dissonance (which has the lovely Japanese title of "Concerta of Midnight Sun").

It was a bit of an experience getting used to playing it at first after playing so much CotM. Having the dodging now being based around forward and backward dashing instead of double-tapping to run and jumping has been a bit of a transition, but it's been worth it XP. The game itself has some signposting issues, certainly (at least so far as how to open certain locked doors, and it's far too stingy with how it deals out its warps around the castle and the transition points between the two halfs, but as far as how it actually plays, I enjoy this game much more compared to CotM. Zooming around with the back dashes, a much faster whip, the ability to fling the whip around with the D-pad like you can in Castlevania 4. Yet at the same time, it's' got far less in the department of alternate weapons than even CotM which has its DSS system. This still feels like a very experimental take on how to move on with Castlevania post-SotN, so it's certainly still rough around the edges compared to even something like Aria of Sorrow, but it's still an experience I prefer much more.

[opa]

I finished Resident Evil Revelations. I played the game pretty casually; completing two or three missions at a time. My final time was just shy of 8 and a half hours on normal difficulty. For a portable shooter I would say that's a decent amount of gameplay.

I played the game on a 2DS. I find the system's layout a little more comfortable. However, the game struggles when loading new areas or if there's a lot of action on the screen. I have not tried it on my New 3DSXL but I assume the additional processing power in the "New" 3DS's may alleviate some issues. Also, while the game supports the circle pad pro I never felt like I absolutely needed a second stick. I'm sure being able to aim while walking would help but I beat RE 4 a billion times and you couldn't walk and shoot then either.

The enemies are genuinely spooky. Kind of a Lovecraftian-horror thing with the designs. I never really felt like my weapons were doing anything against the mutant zombies. Maybe that actually makes them more frightening but gameplay-wise I had very little in the way of visual cues to know if I'm actually hurting the slimy cretins.

The weapon selection is the standard RE armament. You can upgrade weapons by finding parts but, again, all the enemies are bullet sponges so upgrades never really felt like true game changers. I was surprised that the sniper rifle became my weapon of choice. It kills most zombies in one hit and if you're lucky you'll hit two or three with one shot. When the enemies became too plentiful or swift I had to swap to the shotgun. Handguns and machine guns were just not doing it late in the game.

The ship is a wonderful setting; or at least the beginning cabins. The "haunted ship" vibe goes away as you leave the initial living quarters area of the ship and explore engine rooms and other areas. It would have been cool if they kept that theme throughout the whole environment but whatever. I wasn't too wild about the side missions where you play as the two goobers; their adventures didn't matter compared to Chris and Jill's story.

No spoilers but the bosses were not as challenging as the regular encounters that are thrown at you. The hazards you face throughout the ships take a larger toll on your health than bosses that telegraph their attacks.

I liked Revelations. It doesn't surpass RE4 but for a 3DS title you can't really go wrong if you're a Resident Evil fan. I imagine the various ports add to the atmosphere with better lighting and graphics. I would probably check out a console version unless you're dying to collect for the 3DS. I kind of want to get another copy of Revelations 2 (I vaguely remember it being better than the first game).