Wow. So this is a massive thread resurrection.
I didn't even remember seeing that trailer, but watching it again is pretty funny. It's actually much more entertaining having forgotten about it, played the game, and then watching it again. It's kinda neat to see a live action representation of the stuff I've been seeing.
So was this really the only thread about the game here? Like no discussion of the game at all. Weird.
Anyway, I finally got around to getting this on sale. When it first was announced and when it came out, I wasn't really interested. I did enjoy Resident Evil 4 a lot when it was first released, but I never had the reverence for it that some do, and I definitely don't think the game or its mechanics have aged especially well. And the plot, some of the characters (I'm looking at you, Evil Napoleonic Dwarf who talks like a Saturday morning cartoon villain), and actual scariness weren't high points.
Long story short, I somehow became sort of loosely obsessed with the game. I watched some 実況プレイ (let's plays) in Japanese on YouTube up to a few chapters in, and was really intrigued. I liked the atmosphere and the crazy back and forth between very different environments. Was impressed by how hard they leaned on the gore, which normally doesn't do it for me, but the game looks extremely good at that stuff is just ... gross. In a heady way.
But I never grabbed the game because it never got cheap enough. I'd been looking at potentially importing the Japanese version, but it was just too pricey. Enter the Steam sale, in which I got the game and DLC for under $20. No Japanese support, but you can't win em all.
Turns out it's a good thing I'm playing in English, as the plot has really been a driving force to keep me going. I think the gameplay is above average too, but it's trying to piece together the disparate events of the plot to determine what the real story is that's keeping me going. I've been led to believe the ending is a disappointment, but everything's been great so far, at least.
No surprise that a game so revered as RE4 created a mass of angry Internet nerds when the creator went on to make something slightly different, but this game is nicely modernized while still showing a whole lot of RE4 as inspiration. Plenty of idiots can't see that, blinded by nostalgia, but this is a very similar game in a lot of ways. Just way less dated.
Anyway, it looks beautiful, plays nice, has great atmosphere, a compelling plot, and really fucks with your expectations. It's not just jump scares by any means, or just shock and gore. Those things are there, but working in concert with a compelling psychological horror base and a great presentation which in turn work together to really mess with the player sometimes.
About 10 hours in. Still have a good ways to go. Quality stuff so far ... really into it.
