#I also finished re6... love resident games too much

[apllecrash]

soo... seven minutes?

[pink-strawberry-kissess]

my re4r analysis  (spoilers for gameplay, story/plot, characters, aeon)

analysis here is without information about separate ways for re4r so please keep that in mind as my opinion may (and will mostly likely) change slightly 

(for my separate ways analysis read here)

gameplay

It very much falls in line with a newer modern interpretation of the series. There’s gameplay that caters to new and old audiences. If you’ve already played re4, you’ll still find re4r enjoyable as well.

the dark and moody look to the game is so well done and overall the visual designs are beautiful and devastating stunning.

there is still a considerable amount of things cut that I don’t think was detrimental to the overall gameplay style. 

the lack of QTEs was a good thing, and the parry system was the perfect way to allow players a new way of playing resident evil games. 

each chapter felt like the right amount of time, and has an amazing amount of replayability.

Because of the open world nature of the game, there are many possibilities to miss things and I’ve seen many people accidentally miss things because they rushed their first playthrough or didn’t bother to check every single little thing.

og re4 players can play on standard or hardcore and still have an INCREDIBLY difficult time finishing the game with a good rank

there’s still a bit of adaptive difficult, if you’re on hardcore and continue dying, it will help you out and switch to assisted if it’s continual deaths. 

story/plot

pacing was very well done, but again, some scenes were removed for a lot of characters and i wish they were still included in some way

the changing of luis was JUST the right about of lore that was needed to flesh out a more cohesive story. why we want to know more about him and why he’s doing what he’s doing. (this also leads to why we need separate ways and how he works with Ada)

a lot of people tend to not read the notes but you are missing a lot of the story that way.

It does feel like a few things are missing, (again maybe it will be better with separate ways) but particularly with krauser I feel like a lot is missing)

I also laughed too hard at the “fight”-xposition (exposition + fight)

there were a few retcons with how the scenarios worked out but i either liked them or felt indifferent about it

characters

leon 

I actually initially disliked the attitude change they gave for Leon. He seemed so rude and distant, even from Ashley. Og re4 he was incredibly sweet to ashley, his voice getting higher and more gentle sounding. Whereas in re4r, Leon just ignores Ashley a lot of the time. He’s cold and it may be a facade he plays to get over the trauma he had gone through.

(Although I do like the scene where Leon comforts Ashley because she’s upset after she “changed” and attacked him. It was the right amount of comfort needed with a bit of humor as well.)

He doesn’t want to feel anything good, maybe he thinks he doesn’t deserve it. It’s a much colder interpretation of Leon (think Vendetta Leon) In the end, I don’t really hate it, but I wish we got to see some sweetness with him. He was nice to Ashley one time, Luis only when he was dying, and Ada when he lets her go after their initial meeting. (It’s the first time he smiles in the game- when he sees Ada.) 

I kinda miss the canonical cheek scar Leon has from og re4 that is still there in re6. I guess this cut is retconned for the newer timeline. 

I’m still a fan of Nick for Leon’s voice but I will say that I much enjoy him as re2r Leon as opposed to re4r. It’s still obviously familiar to me, and although I still think he did decent work, I am still a fan of Matt Mercer for Leon as he was the one I fell in love with first. 

His design is good as well, and I don’t mind the slight alterations. 

Ada

Now a lot of people think that her character has been completely changed and or “ruined,” but I really think that capcom had decided to work on Ada’s “redemption arc” as soon as humanly possible in the canon. 

I do like that she seemed more like a person in this interpretation. She’s not constantly putting on the “Sexy spy lady,” facade. And since a LARGE majority of RE fans outside of aeon stans, still to this day think of Ada as an “evil” woman. I think it’s fine that capcom decided to get her to show more of an emotional side, that she does pine over Leon. And that despite her job, she still tries to help Leon. (but people who play Separate Ways or her re6 campaign, would KNOW that Ada continually and consistently tries to help Leon and save him.)

Even though she had “more screen time” in re4r than in og re4, I do miss the few scenes that were removed with her.

Lily’s expressions for Ada are SO incredibly heartbreaking and oh boy did they push up the angst. 

Lily’s voice for Ada grew on me more and more, she she has a coldness that makes sense for her character’s growth and development. The fact that men were thinking she’s not sexy enough is more of a them problem than anything.

Because Ada’s re4r design is incredibly hot and sexy and I 100% think capcom decided to keep her almost entirely covered with clothing to keep her from being overly sexualized. (And her old outfit didn’t make sense for the cold weather but... I digress.) 

Ashley

I don’t know how they managed to do it but they made her an extremely likeable person. She’s ambitious but scared. Terrified but excited. She’s the perfect self insert :P BUT yes, I do enjoy how they changed her and allowed to somewhat be able to be more capable.

She does “flirt” with Leon a lot but I barely blame her. But her subtle hints at flirting go on deaf ears lol As Leon continually ignores her or rebuffs her statements. And furthermore calls her a kid/young girl twice when talking about her in third person. 

A lot of people still think that Ashley’s just being nice to Leon rather than flirting, which is also fair. We need to have more platonic relationships in games, and the fact that capcom explicitly removed the ability to hold Ashley’s hand because they didn’t want the relationship to be interpreted as romantic says a lot. (I didn’t care much for the removal, but it made the few times that they did hold hands make it seem more friend like rather than romantic, I do agree with that.)

Even towards the end of the game when Ashley asks for Leon for her protective detail, he still turns her down. “You don’t need me.” Rather he encourages her to protect herself. 

I think her AI was a bit dodgy at times, it’s so easy to get her killed. Too easy imo. And having her downed all the time was a bit annoying. Even in good playthroughs that I watched, people lost Ashley after she died over something really stupid.

Luis

WE love love love more lore and backstory. The fact Luis helped to make nemesis??? WOW

His banter with Leon and Ada (god I’m hoping for more in separate ways) is SO SO good, and he’s so flirty and unserious at times, which makes his death so much more upsetting. He’s trying so hard to atone for his sins and even from the beginning we can already see he’s very similar to Ada. Wanting to do good despite all the red in his ledger. he wants to make amends in any way possible. 

Also Luis has smokes later!! Did Ada remember?? Where did he get the smokes from :’)

The switch from Ada to Luis, saving Leon in that fight made me like Luis more, but also a bit sad that this scene was cut from Ada. Especially since capcom has a habit of favoring their male characters as opposed to their women characters.

Jack Krauser

I initially did not like his voice. It just seemed odd to me, but once I had more information on why the actor decided to go that way. it kind of made sense for his character. That he was “silenced,” in some way so that it actually affected his vocals. His rasp that’s not sexy but damaged sounding. 

His design is.. interesting.. I made a point to realize that he looks like a messed up Matt Donovan from TVD, and i can’t unsee that so that’s great LOL

His scenes are a bit lackluster, the only one I really liked was when he showed up after killing Luis.

That man is not straight.

Hunnigan

I do not like that she was basically gone for the entire rest of the game after she loses connection with Leon. She doesn’t even get confirmation at the end of the game if Leon and Ashley are even safe. I felt like they really did her dirty imo.

LOVED her redesign though she is gorgeous 

it’s wesking time

I WANT EVERYONE TO GET OVER THE FACT HE DOESN’T SOUND LIKE WESKER. We (og fans) know that Ada is talking to Wesker at her second? scene, and it would’ve been way too obvious to viewers that it was Wesker if he was like MMRHRHAAHWWW YESSSSS IM WESKERRRRR IT’S WESKING TIME KITTENWHISKERSMEEYAEAAHSSS That bit of his voice is JUST enough for me to still read it as Wesker. And the banter between Wesker and Ada. 

“Don’t come crying to me when you get bit.” “Control your dog.” OH MY GOD. Ada’s, “He’s a good boy, predictable.”

This also removes the whole fight with Ada and Wesker though. “I don’t play by your rules Wesker,” so I don’t really know how I feel about that, but in saying that, this ALSO fleshes out the relationship between Wesker and Ada. The fact that Wesker already knows about Leon and Ada in THAT kind of context makes me WOW.

Did Ada go crying to Wesker about Leon before? OH MY GOD SO GOOD

I also think his redesign is good, tbh most of the redesigns were UP >>>> as opposed to og re4

The Merchant

Every single playthrough I watched, everyone wanted to kill the merchant and found him annoying lol

He kind of grew on me and I do like his voice even though people hated it because it wasn’t a carbon copy from og re4

whatareyabuyin?

The Enemies

I don’t want to go into every single enemy type so 

the ones that scared me the most were Armaduras and the Regeneradors

At some point during the game, the enemies are a bit repetitive but at the end it’s not that much of a complaint since you’re still hit with new enemies a lot. 

I HATE THE BUG ONES even though those are the easiest to kill they just scared me randomly the most

“IF YOU CAN MELEE A BUG- IT’S TOO DAMN BIG.”

aeon

now ever since the game came out people have been asking me my opinions on aeon “do i think the ship is ruined?” etc.

Absolutely not. If anything, it helped the ship. 

OG re series had Leon be this flirtatious, (often times cringe) type of ladies man, where it kind of doesn’t make sense? 

“I’m a one lady type of guy.” Is a complete retcon from og Leon. (This is also since his gf in re2 is retconned in re2r, and his flirting with Hunnigan is also retconned. And he’s outright mean to Ashley a lot in re4r tbh or just ignores her. He’s also a bit rude to Ada (which is actually more justified tbh since he’s angry with her, but he doesn’t have a reason to be mean to Ashley.)

We have to remember that between 1998 and 2004 is 6 years of NO CONTACT FOR THEM. Leon thinks Ada is dead. And he’s had 6 years of trauma, mental anguish and survivors guilt. Which heavily affects Leon and how he interacts with the world. He’s just genuinely a lot meaner. He sees the world as broken still. And when she just shows up alive, he’s allowed to be angry. Instead of having re4 Leon just be like

“Your right hand comes off?” “No THANKS BRO.” He still has some one liners here and there, but he’s not as goofy as fuck anymore. He’s more grounded. (And you’re completely allowed to enjoy re4 more than re4r, that’s an okay opinion to have imo.) I firmly believe that both can still be enjoyed.

Now for Ada we have, is what I believe is what capcom intended for her. She was immediately labeled as “an evil woman,” and nothing else. And capcom wanted to get rid of that idea immediately. “Nothing personal Leon,” she is just doing her job. And in that ending she betrays Wesker as soon as she realizes that he’s going to kill billions of people. She may have a questionable moral compass but ultimately she’ll do what she thinks is better. And she KNOWS THIS. She’s very much the lesser of two evils type when it comes to her work.

“Have you changed Ada?” “What do you think?” She wants her actions to be louder than her words. She never has her finger on the trigger when she first sees Leon. (re2, she never had bullets left in her chamber when she threatened him with her gun) 

She invites him onto the helicopter knowing that Leon would say no. She even has the back up with the keys and bear (thank you capcom for the bear) Capcom clearly wanted to show that Ada still wants him, even in ways that general audiences couldn’t see. (Where as aeon stans who played separate ways, and her re6 campaign, already know that Ada tries to save him whenever she can. Same with Damnation. She warns him and does what she can to get away.)

I think the whole banter of “you owe me,” is simply a way to continue their relationship, that there’s a promise of seeing each other again. 

I’m honestly not the hugest fan of the whole marvel “WE SAID THE THING :D” because true og fans know that separate ways is Ada’s campaign. BUT it serves for the angst. We know that we don’t see aeon on screen till damnation which is another 6 years but the developers have already stated that their lives continued on off screen as well. That’s where we get the re5 off screen “that night.” 

When the developers were remaking the games, they knew that the whole re2 “They fell in love immediately,” and then they said, “that’s not right, there needs to be more interaction first.” Which COMPLETELY goes with where capcom is going with a more realistic interaction of the ship. 

The fact that they flipped the “she’s like a part of me I can’t let go,” to “HE’S like a part of me I can’t let go,” is a BIG change for how capcom is interpreting their relationship and expressing it WAY MORE CLEARLY that Ada is interested. 

A LOT of people still see Ada as someone who doesn’t care about Leon, which is the furthest thing from the truth. The fact that Capcom felt the need to do the reversal really shows that they always intended for the ship to be mutual. That it was merely their lifestyles and jobs that would make it difficult for their relationship to work. Which is what AEON FANS ALWAYS KNEW.

But this is for outsiders, new fans who don’t have all that information. That the slightest bit of a redemption arc, and VISIBLE hurt from Ada from Leon’s “rejection,” is what people needed to see to see that they are still mutually interested in each other. 

Even after receiving the bear keychain, Leon still looks longingly at Ada as she flies away. He doesn’t question her, he simply accepts the fact that their jobs make it so that he can not follow her. 

And reminder again we have 6 YEARS to flesh out what happens next.

Overall, I still very much enjoyed the game, I feel like a few things were missing but not entirely enough so that I felt like parts were missing, more like beats were missing. But again, with separate ways, we’ll maybe get to see more of the other side of the story.

gameplay 8/10

story/plot 9/10

characters 7/10

aeon 8/10

overall 32/40

and as leon said it,

“take it however you like it.”

[alicethepiper]

hello im back on my bullshit again after a day? a two day break?? idk i wish the weekend would never end all i want to do is play this damn game

so im in the castle with ashley and i hate the foutain chamber shit water room it was so frustrating on my first playthrough - i think that it will be fine this time because keebie and mouse aiming is so much nicer and also ive done it before i can do it again it'll be fine...

so i am trying to kill sometime and i didnt want to finish the castle part because i didn't want it to take too long so i fucked around on mercenaries, and then i started playing as ada A LOT. and now... now i've started separate ways and i'm actually so excited i've never played this before and i'm very excited. i love playing as ada. i love her hair it is so floofy and moves around so nice.

but here are some photos to catch up

here is some more heather ashley - i think this is the newer mod for this costume she is so cute i love her

she is so cute i love the the left photo makes it seem like she is looking directly up at moushley hahaha

SHE JUST LOOKS SO GOOD

okay HERE IS THE NEW MOD

I LITERALLY WENT THROUGH EVERY MOD FOR THIS GIRL AND FOUND THIS ONE. I LOVE IT. I LOVE THAT HER TOP IS ORANGE TOO THAT IS SO CUTE.

although seeing ashley with like gear and whatnot makes me feel like she should be helping me out lol

it also reminds me of co op resident evil games and that's so fun i have hope for re5 and re6 remake pls do it good capcom

ahHHHHH she is so cute look at her outfit it looks so GOOOOD

LOOK AT HER LITTLE SMIRK

haha lil hands on their hips haha

also the way he died was so funny

OKAY NOW SEPARATE WAYS

I LOVE THIS MAN. THIS INTRO IS ACTUALLY SO AMAZING. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH. CAN CAPCOM DO EVERYTHING GOOD PLEASE.

okay i am little two minutes in, so im gonna get back to it because i'm actually so excited also LOOK AT HER HAIR AND THE WAY IT MOVES (i don't have photos just go play or look it up her hair moves so nicely it's amazing)

mods used: Luis Classic Color Theme - TrieuPham Ada Wong - Resident Evil 6 Outfit -xBaebsae Leon Long Sleeves - pakjuaan Ashley- Cute Ponytail Hair - xBaebsae Heather Mason Outfit For Ashley - AmanoSomething Sheva Alomar - Ashley Graham - Glitch (Glitch5970) Moushley Graham - Ratatouille Mod - cathroon Punisher Color Collection Four Types - CrossingFN9 AKA HANAREIKO okay i think that's it im gonna go play separate ways im so excited ehehehehehehehehehehehehehe

[pixelgrotto]

Visiting the village

It took me a few months because of job changes and a focus on freelance work, but I finally got around to playing Resident Evil Village. And I found it to be...okay. It’s a mid-tier RE game for me that doesn’t hold up to Resident Evil 7, which I loved. (Mild story and location spoilers ahead, so be warned.)

The game ties up the tale of Ethan Winters, the relatively bland star of 7, by having Chris Redfield invade his home in the opening sequence, shoot his wife and kidnap his daughter. Gasp, has Chris finally snapped after 23 years of punching boulders? No, not really, and in fact the ENTIRE plot of Village could have been avoided if Chris decided to sit down and actually have a conversation with Ethan. Because he doesn’t, Ethan has to save his baby from Mother Miranda, the cultist leader of what’s pretty much the Bioweapon Justice League - complete with Tall Vampire Lady, Creepy Dollmaker, Gibbering Fish Dude and a guy who’s basically Magneto but with a suave hat and a hammer. Along the way, Ethan fights werewolves, meets a cool fat guy named the Duke who sells him weapons and tries to figure out why these folks want his child. It’s an alright story, and it even throws in some last minute connections to Umbrella that are fun for hardcore fans. Unfortunately, its foundation is centered around making a good guy like Chris seem bad, and then denying all of the answers as to why he’s acting bad until the eleventh hour. Which is something I tolerate in comic books, but even then only begrudgingly.  

Village is also a lot more “gamey” than its predecessor, which managed to take the classic Resident Evil formula (running around an area, conserving weapons, backtracking and collecting doodads to open new areas) and transfer it in a relatively realistic and down-to-earth Louisiana mansion. In contrast, Village immediately points out that there are four big bosses that you’ve gotta kill to get four items that you need to place in a pillar to unlock the final boss, and hooo boy, is the video game structure blindingly obvious here. This was probably done because the game is sort of open world, with the titular village acting as a hub that branches out into different regions. Each region represents a different slice of horror, giving Resident Evil Village a very “theme park” feel that would’ve been great if the sections were up to the same standard. 

The first section, in Tall Vampire Lady’s castle, is gothic horror, and the closest that Village gets to a traditional Resident Evil. This part’s pretty good because it’s reliant upon that tried and true Spencer Mansion formula dating back to RE1, and as you avoid Tall Vampire Lady and her daughters and eventually start sniping flying creatures on the spires of the castle, Village hits a nice rhythm that’s almost evocative of the excellent pacing of RE4. 

Following this, Village dives into psychological horror with the Creepy Dollmaker’s house. This is the only area that’s legitimately frightening. I’d go so far as to say it’s one of the scariest sequences in the entire series, largely because it takes its vibes from Silent Hill (specifically P.T.). I had to “nope” out of the immersion as soon as the game took away my weapons and had me fiddling with a mannequin in a creepy basement, and even with the Zootopia soundtrack playing in the background (don’t ask, it’s how I cope with stressful segments in horror games), this entire section still gave me the heebie-jeebies. I wouldn’t necessarily want to play an entire game like this, but this small slice of mental terror is very well done.

Then we’re on to Gibbering Fish Dude’s section, which was probably meant to evoke thalassic horror but largely ended up annoying me. There’s this part where you need to rearrange sections of a bridge and dodge fishman as he jumps out of the water, and he one-shots you if you screw up. The whole thing reminded me of the Quick Time Events plastered all over RE5 and RE6. In fact, there’s a lot of sequences in Village reminiscent of those, which probably contributed to the slight disappointment I felt while playing. 

After a brief shooting segment, finally we reach the last stretch of the game, an industrial horror wonderland run by not-Magneto. Resident Evil has always featured industrial areas, so this one’s pretty par for the course, though the enemy designs reminded me of the often-neglected Resident Evil Revelations 2 more than any other series entry. It all goes on for a bit too long, and at one point Ethan even blusters, “Damnit, not again” after not-Magneto kicks him into a hole, making him fall through three factory floors for what seems like the umpteenth time.

The game ends with Chris Redfield reappearing to finally deliver exposition and some bosses that are reminiscent of the ridiculousness seen in RE6. There are a few plot threads hinting that Ethan’s daughter is going to be a pivotal figure in upcoming games, but by this point Resident Evil has so many unresolved plot threads that it’s hard to know if Capcom will actually follow through with this. (Remember when Albert Wesker’s son was supposed to represent the future of the franchise?) 

At the end of the day, I enjoyed Village enough to push back all of the freelance projects I should’ve been working on today to finish it and write this blog post. But the inconsistency of its theme park feel is tough to ignore, and the game brings Resident Evil back to the wham-bam-shoot-’em-up vibe of RE5 and RE6 to a degree that surprised me. Perhaps this was done to prepare audiences for the inevitable remake of Resident Evil 4, which I’m sure will emerge in a year or two and reuse half of the assets on display here. Whatever the reason, I’m glad the series got another first-person entry to wrap up the saga of Ethan Winters, but this Village won’t be one I’ll revisit in the near future. 

[fonulyn]

Saw your post about the confusion on vendetta's timeline, and I just wanted to mention that's someone who 1. Finished a full playthrough for village and 2. Compiled all the important timeline dates for resident evil in order to write a fic series, vendetta has been shown to take place in 2014/2015 since before the full game for village came out. Don't know when specifically, and I can also say that vendetta isn't mentioned like, at all in the game.

It's actually kind of dumb, Chris is in the game for a total of maybe five minutes until suddenly near the end of the game, Ethan "dies" (you said you were fine with spoilers when you answered my other ask, so I hope that's still the case! If not I am so sorry D:) and you get to play as Chris for a solid half hour lmao and then he's in the game until the v end. It was v sudden tho the way they pulled him back into the plot of the game, but I'm just glad he didn't die lol

Also can we talk about how GOOD a job Chris' voice actor did??? Bc it was amazing, I actually teared up at the end of the game from the sheer emotion in his voice. Chris Redfield does things to me, okay? I love that man and he deserves so much better smh @ capcom

ahhh okay so I just didn’t notice that they changed the year to 2014/2015. it must be fairly recent bc I, too, have visited the page for fic timelines several times before and there never was a year for vendetta! and since the general fandom consensus seemed to be it’s 2016-2017-ish so that’s what I’ve always used for ficcage purposes and now i feel kind of ...dumb? annoyed? undermined? :’D that apparently it’s wrong lol. but if it’s not actually mentioned in the game? then I can still go on ignoring the year bc from all the game stuff i’ve ever seen it’s still just “between re6 and re7″ lmao

and it’s not that deep, really, it’s not like my fics are 100% canon compliant anyway whenever it’s not convenient to me so. i’ll ignore the year in any case :’D

i am absolutely 100% fine with spoilers no worries! (and tagging them with “re8 spoilers” if anyone wishes to avoid them!) 

from what I’ve seen and heard it’s... well. at least it’s done better than in re7? :’D and chris looks more like himself too. and I am glad he didn’t die or turn villainous or whatever else people were all so afraid of. but at the same time it does seem a tiny little bit forced how he’s put into the game i mean... it could also just be me wishing he had a bigger part of it tbh I am fully willing to admit that :’D

haha as for the voice I don’t know because i haven’t actually watched any vids of the gameplay or the cutscenes, all I’ve seen are gifs. but I will have to check it out at some point because you’re not the first one I’ve heard praising the voice actor so he must be good! 

[rpdwong]

[LET’S TALK RE2MAKE] Claire, Sherry (+ Leon) and Found Families

The Found Family trope is probably one of my favourite fictional tropes. Give me those relationships where a group of characters with nothing in common find each other and they become “home” and support each other, no matter what. It’s a powerful message: you choose your family. If you’re lucky, you might have a nice biological family that loves you. But that’s not always the case, and people should bond over something more than their blood ties. I think Claire and Sherry’s (and Leon to some extent) story in RE2 rings very true to this trope, and I was looking forward to watching how it developed in the RE2make.

Once again, I was happily surprised—to the point where I was almost teary eyed at certain scenes. I love Resident Evil with all my heart, and I cry at literally everything, but RE doesn’t usually have dramatic tension or sadness that hits that hard. But Claire’s scenario in RE2make did manage to get me and man, Claire and Sherry deserve a hug, a shower, all the puppies and parrots.

Sherry’s strangled relationship with her parents was explored in the original game. But, as I mentioned in my previous Let’s Talk RE2make about Ada and Leon, the game had its shortcomings when it comes to storytelling, simply because it’s a product of its time. I know RE2make is probably not most narrative driven game (we have BioWare games and, even though I haven’t played all of their games, I know Naughty Dog is praised for this) and it could do better, but when it comes to Resident Evil it IS a huge improvement—and this shows with Sherry’s character as well as Annette.

You see the strained relationship between mother and daughter in their brief encounters, you can also see that the Birkins were REALLY shitty parents, but Annette did care about her daughter—though that doesn’t really excuse her behaviour, but people are complicated and this is how it is.

So we have this poor little girl with huge abandonment issues, running around a police station looking for her mom, though she knows Annette doesn’t always have time for her (you might think NOW she should). But she is scared, she’s been chased by a monster (and as far as I remember, I think she’s aware the monster is William, right?? I really need to replay all scenarios, just writing all this  from memory), alone and defenseless…

And then she meets Claire.

I think it’s important to highlight that Claire is also very young here, just 19 years old. A BABY AS WELL. We know she’s capable of looking out for herself, but it’s still a terrible situation, she might even be still worrying about Chris’ whereabouts here (depending on which scenario you play). But Claire, despite having no obligation to take care of Sherry, looks after her and decides to help her find her mom/escape.

Claire even takes it upon herself to save her from Irons. Again, Claire could just have walked out once she makes it out of the station—but she doesn’t. So, for once, there is somebody there for Sherry. Someone she can rely upon and trust, who makes her feel protected, as any child should (especially in a situation like this).

When Claire rescues Sherry from the dumpster, after she’s been infected, Sherry asks her why Claire is doing all this. Claire answers: “Because I care.” Then I start crying, because this is so beautiful. It’s not that Annette doesn’t care, we know she does in some way—but she’s still terrible with Sherry (that conversation they have over the CCTV makes me want to punch Annette so, so badly)  when the girl needs her the most, needs that reassurance that “hey, everything’s going to be fine”.

Claire is the one who gives her that, who genuinely cares about her and shows it. It’s great that Claire also calls out Annette on her shitty behavior a few times (when she finds Sherry and later on before fighting G 3). When they’re on the cable car, Claire wants to give her the pendant back. Sherry rejects it, because it was a gift given by her mother, when all she wanted was for her to be home and spend time with her. It’s a sort of memento of everything that’s wrong between mother and daughter, in some way. Doesn’t help that, later on, we find out the pendant is the key to get the vaccine. We could say this is Annette’s saving her daughter in some way, but I also think it’s just another link to Annette and William’s job, which was the problem in the first place.

In the end, the bond Sherry and Claire develop is that of a newfound family. Thankfully, for the first time, Capcom has given us confirmation on what the hell happened to Chris and Claire’s parents, and we know they died in a car accident. So she only had her brother as family, which is why Chris is so important to her. The reason she travelled to Raccoon City because she hadn’t heard about him in a whole month. Maybe she even knew about the mansion incident, so she was getting worried something might’ve happened (though I don’t think Chris would tell her much, just to protect her).

But the thing here is that Sherry doesn’t even have a Chris. She has nobody, she’s alone. Claire can relate to being parentless, that’s why she bonds with Sherry (as she tells her to comfort her at the beginning). But, just as she had Chris, Sherry deserves that one person she can trust and rely upon—and that’s her now. They become family during this terrible experience, because Claire moved heaven and hell to save Sherry when no one else did. She was there for her when it mattered, unlike her parents (disclaimer: even though I really like Annette’s evolution in this game and she’s a good character, you can see I hold a grudge against her— it made me so angry how she treated Sherry!).

Now, I mentioned Leon in regards to the Found Family trope, because I think he more or less is a part of it. Leon, Claire, Sherry and Ada are all the “original” Raccoon City survivors (we have Jill afterwards, but since her story is completely isolated from RE2 and in a different game, I don’t think it counts for this). Ada’s a complicated case because of her role in the story and she only makes contact with Leon (except for that tiny moment in the original, where she retrieves Sherry’s pendant) and she doesn’t actually escape with them.

But Leon and Claire are our heroes, they make it out alive of Raccoon City and they help Sherry in the process. Even though in the RE2make Leon and Claire interact way less than in the original, and Leon doesn’t even meet Sherry until the very end, I think that last scene still resonates in the audience as a family moment, in which Leon is included.

In the original it’s all fun and games, until Leon says the “It’s up to us to take out Umbrella” or Claire says “I have to find my brother”. They have made it all more light hearted and fun in the RE2make, which I also think is much more realistic than just HEY WE HAVE TO BRING UMBRELLA DOWN or Claire immediately leaving, as RE3’s epilogue implied. After all she’s done for Sherry, she wouldn’t just leave her like that.

I have heard of two main criticism regarding the ending I’d like to address before finishing up this thing:

a) Sherry is way too cheerful after having just lost both her parents (and especially her mom, whose death affects her more). I can understand this and it is a valid complain, but I also think it could be a coping mechanism. That’s why she even jokes with the “You guys could adopt me!” because now she’s lost her real family, but has found a new one in Claire, and hey, this new guy seems to be on Claire’s good side and he’s helping and taking her to safety. I mean, I’d LOVE to be adopted by Leon and Claire, who wouldn’t??? I also think this is a case of Resident Evil not being ever really 100% down to Earth. RE endings always end up in a hopeful note, sometimes even cheesy. It’s a way to comfort the player as well, after all the terrible things we’ve been through with our characters. I think this is just another version of that, and it’s so beautiful to watch Leon and Claire holding Sherry’s hands and walking into the sunset. There might be problems ahead, but hey, they made it out! They are alive! It’s less cut and dry than the original, and it gives you a feeling that they’ve all bonded over this experience. And this is so fitting with what we know from RE6 Sherry. She talks about Leon and Claire with the utmost admiration, tells Jake they’re the reason she’s alive and she just wants to live up to their example. I think this ending resonates with that feeling she shares in RE6 and it’s beautiful.

b) Capcom is pushing Leon/Claire as a pairing. Ok, let’s open this can of worms. First of all: I hate shipwars, they are pointless and a waste of precious fandom time, and I don’t ship Leon and Claire, never have in my whole life, but I do see the appeal and it’s clear some of their interactions in the remake are kinda flirty. And this is all fine. Now, I don’t think their interactions at the end are the flirty ones. 

When Claire jokes about the “one helluva first date”, she’s answering Leon’s comment when Sherry asks them about the girlfriend/boyfriend thing (where he points out they’ve just met, literally). Then Leon’s answer to Claire is clearly a reference to what has actually happened to him with Ada. That being said, Capcom was probably teasing the idea in a fan servicy way, but it’s still all in-character. Sherry’s the one pushing all those things here, and it can be explained because she’s just a 12 years old girl and is wondering who Leon is and why Claire knows him, since they’re happy to see each other alive. Hence the adoption comment later on. Sherry craves a family and, right now, these two people are practically her world after having suffered terrible things. 

I do see Leon and Claire as sort of parental figures to Sherry, or at least the big sister/brother vibe, but that doesn’t mean Capcom is pushing anything here, IMO. My only gripe with all this is that I liked the idea of Claire being one of the few female characters that had  0 romantic tension with Leon, but still I don’t think we can call it that since they barely interact and it was just flirty banter. (I do enjoy, though, that their interactions are friendlier than in the original and they keep cheering each other up with those “We’re gonna make it!!). And hey, they’re both VERY PRETTY. If I were Leon, I’d get all flustered around Claire and viceversa. As some people have pointed out, both characters have a record of being flirty in general with other people, so this isn’t out of character for them either. In any case, I don’t think this is what’s happening in the ending scene and, even though it’s a nice fan service moment for people who do ship Leon and Claire, it can be seen just as a easily as a Found Family moment without any romantic connotations. Both work perfectly and leave every fan happy, no need for ship dramas. They ruin everything and it’s not worth it.

Seriously, that image of the three of them walking together into the sunset, holding hands fills my heart with happiness <3 Whether you ship one thing or another, don’t let anyone or anything rob you of the beauty this moment holds for Resident Evil history.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #107

“i love everything you do, when you call me fuckin’ dumb for the stupid shit i do.”

The beach or the pool?  The pool.  Cleaner, less risk, no sand. Do you have many internet friends?  Most of my friends are online. Do you think those friendships are on level with your real life ones?  Shit, I'm closer to some online friends more than I am "real" ones. Did you name all of your dolls and stuffed animals?  I think I might've...  I know I named the ones I really loved. Is your middle name plain?  Pretty sure it's one of the most common middle names. Do you like Resident Evil games?  RE4 is in my top 10 fave games.  I've played some of the original RE, but I didn't like it.  Controls were awful and I didn't find the story all that interesting.  I played like the first 30 minutes of RE6 with Jason, but for some reason we never finished it?  I'd love to play more, even though I've heard it was terrible.  Def wanna play the 7th too bc Leon is love.  Eeeeven though I heard that one was awful, too. What would you say is your WORST phobia?  I actually recently found out what pisanthrophobia (fear of trusting people due to negative, past relationships) is, and it is 100% that. Do you wish your last name was more interesting? Sure, I don't like my last name. If you wrote a novel, would you give the characters ordinary names?  Some would be, some wouldn't be. What’s your favorite leaf color?  Orange. Have you ever had a close friend get knocked up early?  I don't know why the term "knocked up" is annoying to me, but whatever.  Anyway, no. Have you yourself ever gotten close to getting pregnant? No. If you were to get pregnant as a teen, what would happen? Have the baby and give it up for adoption. Do you have any pictures of you kissing someone? A few exist, but I no longer have any. Are you afraid of needles?  No.  I mean the idea of getting a deep shot is unpleasant, but I'm not afraid of them. Do you find piercing attractive or unattractive? It really depends on the piercing and the person, but usually attractive. What's your most popular post? I actually made a gif of Chica and Mark almost two months ago (this isn't my main blog obvs.) that took way too long and Mark actually reblogged it (he controls his own social media) and????  A whale-like sob escaped from the very core of my soul?????  And I couldn't sleep for two days?????? Manga or anime?  Anime, I don't read.  I've never read manga, actually. A card game that you're good at? None. Favorite flavors of ice cream?  My favorite is vanilla with chocolate syrup, but I also like plain chocolate or moose tracks. Have you ever overcome a disease that was life-threatening and, if so, which one?  No. Have you ever sent a text to the wrong person? Yes, but thankfully nothing embarrassing.  I've come close, though. Do you like Subway?  Yes, but I always get the same thing there. Would you rather lose your best friend or your boyfriend? *girlfriend, but I'd rather lose my other best friend. Have you ever dated someone in secret?  My relationship now is secret to most people in my face-to-face life.  I mean I wouldn't lie if I was asked, but I'm not going to tell most people otherwise for a few reasons. Do you ever send people good morning texts?  Sara, sometimes. Do you kiss your pets? I kiss Teddy.  I would happily kiss Venus is it wasn't for salmonella. Would your parents approve of you dating someone of a different race? Yes. How old is the oldest person you know? Hm... I'm not sure.  Maybe this woman my mom used to watch; I met her once, and she was such a sweetie.  I think she was almost 90. Have you ever had to put your hand over someone’s mouth to keep them quiet?  Yes. Do you have an accent?  People tell me I don't really have one, even people from outside the state, but with some words, people can tell I'm from the south. Do you own any figurines? Of what? I have one of a small dragon. How long does it usually take you to get to sleep?  Now that I take Melatonin, like, 15-20 minutes I'd guess. What was the last picture you took with your phone?  My dog because he was being precious. Do you have trouble waking up in the morning? What gets you up and awake? I tend to lie there for a while, so kinda?  And I just get up once I'm not incredibly drowsy. What is one thing you and your best friend have in common physically? With Colleen, we both have blue eyes, with Sara, we both have brown hair. Now based on your interests, what is one thing you both have in common?  Sara, we both love reptiles, with Colleen... Jesus, like nothing. Where do your grandparents live? Florida (but she stays in New York a lot) and Michigan. When is the last time you went out to dinner with a friend? Where did you go? Who paid?  Earlier this month with Dad.  We went to a Mexican restaurant whose name I can't remember.  Aaaand I hate Mexican food. Do you get excited when you learn you have to dress up?  Not really.  Too much work. What’s your ideal first date?  Don't have one.  Plenty of things can be fun with different people with different interests. If you type for awhile, do your fingers start to hurt?  Boi step yo game up that's some amateur shit *doesn't mention how I have carpal tunnel so my wrist disagrees* Chinese or Mexican food?  Hate Mexican food and don't like much Chinese, but Chinese. Are you the type of person who would study for a test for hours?  No.  I'm not willing to invest THAT much time into studying. Do you hate when you’re in a good mood and one person ruins your mood?  Ha, yeah.  People can do that easily for me. What’s worse: Rude people, two faced people or fake people?  Rude or two-faced. Does your house have a doorbell?  Shit, does it? o_o  I don't think so... Do you know someone who has dropped out of high school?  A few. Has your Facebook ever been hacked?  I don't think so. Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook?  I love Tumblr so much help I didn't want this. Do you have any quotes on your bedroom walls?  The serenity prayer, yes. Do you wear earrings?  Ugh no because all of mine are silver, which I'm allergic to.  I want to get gold or surgical steel ones so I can actually wear them, I like earrings. Is your WiFi protected?  Yes. Does your phone have a cover on it?  No, but I'd like one. Would you ever lie about your past?  Already am about some things to people in my "real" life. Some say that high school is the best time of your life. Was that true for you? It was in some ways, others not. Is it good to have pride in your own race or does that separate people from each other because it makes them think of everyone else as ‘outsiders’?  It's perfectly fine to feel proud of your race as long as you don't look down on others. What’s the bravest or most daring thing you have ever done? Shit, probably speak my mind to my mom since she's scary as fuck when I disagree with her. Who owes you an apology? A number of people. Who deserves an apology from you? My dad deserves another, for one. Is a prenuptial agreement necessary or does it take the romance and trust out of marriage? Fucking destroys trust, imo. Know of any conspiracy theories you think might be credible?  Not off the top of my head.  I do find the theory of the moon landing being fake very interesting and there is some compelling evidence, but I still believe it was real.  It's my fave theory, though. How do you go about losing weight?  I don't eat nearly enough most days. What is the worst mistake you’ve ever made? Overdosing.  I mean it led to my recovery, but I could've achieved that in a different way. Are you patriotic?  Not especially, but I don't hate America either. When you ask people how they are doing you actually care about their answer or is it just polite?  Yes, I care. Would you consider yourself to be very polite?  In most ways, yes. Which group generally annoys you more, people older than you, or people younger than you?  Younger. What do you think of crop circles?  They're interesting, but I don't blame them on aliens. Have you ever written graffiti on anything?  Nope. Should birth control be taught in high school? How about in jr. high or elementary school?  Around 4th/5th grade. Some kids start having sex early, and it's about this time where a girl can get pregnant. Do you use bad grammar or hate bad grammar?  I only ever use it sarcastically or comedically. Last time you fed your pets? My mom always feeds all the dogs simultaneously, and Venus hasn't wanted to eat since I got her.  If she doesn't eat by mid-November, then I'll be concerned (already kinda am). Do you know/ have you met your significant other’s ex?  I know Sara's online but obviously never "met" him. What do you think about censorship in music?  I honestly think both versions should exist.  Some people don't like profanity and I don't believe children should hear it. Do you have any of your teachers on MySpace/Facebook?  I have a few. Have you seen your family tree? Someone made one, but I've never seen it. What are you most likely to do first in the morning; grab a cup of coffee, have a cigarette, or use the bathroom?  Use the bathroom.  I don't smoke and I hate coffee. What are you most likely to do when you are upset; talk to somebody you’re close to, cry yourself to sleep, or bottle it up inside?  I've finally learned how to talk to someone. What are you most likely to do if you get drunk; pick fights, hook up with people, or socialize with anybody & everybody? Never been drunk, but apparently I'm seriously giggly and social when I'm tipsy. What are you most likely to pick if you got to choose your topic on a research paper; drug abuse, mental illness, or the death penalty? Oh, I can write a damn novel on mental illness. What are you most likely to do if there are no good surveys floating around at the time; make some new surveys for yourself & everyone else to take, bitch & complain about how there are no good surveys then take a survey you don’t even feel like taking, or go find something else to do besides taking surveys?  Oh hun.  I get surveys from about a billion sources so I will never run out. *cackles* Do you hold grudges or forgive easily? If someone is truly sorry, I forgive easily. In a relationship, how important are looks? I don't care.  I care about your personality.  Sure, it's nice to be attracted physically to your s/o, but it's not a determining factor on whether I date you or not. Do you have to know someone for a while before you will date them?  I mean I won't date someone too quickly, no, but we don't have to have known each other for months or anything.  Jason and I started dating I don't even think two weeks after meeting, and we had a great relationship for almost four years 'til the end. What do you consider the greatest threat to mankind?  Hm, deep question... probably lack of compassion. Describe your music taste in one word:  Consistent. In the event of a zombie apocalypse, where would you go to hide?  Ideally a brick building or something likewise. Who’s your favorite character on That '70s Show? AHHHHH I LOVE THAT SHOW!!  Probably Hyde.  Maybe Kitty.  But I love them all omg <3  All the characters are SO memorable. Do you fangirl/fanboy over anyone?  hahahahahahahhHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH Have you ever said 'I love you’ and didn’t mean it?  I've said it back to Mom when I feel that I didn't, though I know I did. Use one word to describe your last kiss. Awkward. How much is gas where you live? Two-something.  Mid twos. What has caused you to reinvent yourself or reevaluate who you are? Absolutely Holly Hill.  It saved my life.  I looked at my situation in a totally different light. Short, knee, or ankle skirts?  I tend to aesthetically like those that are a little above the knee. What couldn’t you live your life without? My mom.  I don't think I'd survive.  She's the one who makes sure I keep myself on the right path. Would you be on that who wants to marry a millionaire show as a contestant?  1.) Why the fuck would I marry someone just for money and 2.) why the fuck would I want to go into a relationship with someone I just met. Is it easier to live when you’re evil? Sure, no remorse. <<< Yeah. Have you ever given blood?  Once. Are you a miracle? I consider every single life a miracle; it's the source of one tattoo I have.  This world being created and adapted as it has is miraculous enough, and then the odds of you exactly being conceived is SO fucking rare. Can musicians be held responsible for influencing people to behave badly?  No.  People make their own choices, lyrics don't change that. What annoys you the most about yourself?  I immediately assume the worst end result of any situation. Is it better for people to change and evolve their ideas or always be consistent?  It depends on the belief. Do you want a girl or a boy as your first born?  I don't want kids, but if I did, definitely a girl. Do you have any embarrassing usernames?  Eh, don't like some anymore, but no. Have you ever scratched yourself until your skin was raw?  I have six long scars on my left shin (one being the worst scar on my body) and four more mild ones on my right front scratching the fuck out of them after I shave and then shower.  I don't know why the fuck it happens, but it's awful.  Even lotion doesn't really help. What is the longest essay or research paper you have written?  Ten or so pages. Do you worry about being judged by other people?  I shouldn't be but I'm heavily concerned with it. If someone doesn’t like you, do you usually want to know the reason?  Duh.  I want to know if it's petty or something I can improve on. Can you do a flip on a trampoline?  I used to do front flips, but I was too scared to do back flips because I had this intense fear of breaking my neck or something.  Stopped entirely because of that fear. Does your doctor freak you out?  She doesn't freak me out, she's just unfriendly. Does it annoy you when people’s eyebrows are a different color than hair?  Don't care. Has your grandma ever cussed in front of you before?  More like at me.  But in front of me, too, once or twice. What primary color is your Christmas tree?  Green.  I want a black one, man, but since it's a family thing, it's obviously not just up to me. What’s the best camera brand?  I think it's technically Canon. Where do you go fishing at?  Dad and I haven't gone in forever, but it was pretty much always somewhere on the Tar River or Sapony Creek. How old were your parents when you were born?  Uhhh I don't have my parents' ages memorized, but Mom was around 35 and Dad's one year younger than her. Is there one song that you know all the lyrics to? A decent number, yeah. Has a cat/dog ever thrown up on your bed?  Omg no I'd never sleep on that bed again pretty much. Have you ever had a concussion? Ugh, yes.  Can't even explain how bad it was. Have you seen the movie "The Dark Knight?"  You can't date the world's biggest Joker fan and not at some point. Do you know anyone who has a pet gecko? Summer has a leopard gecko and he's super-duper cute. Is there an animal that you’re afraid of? Maggots and slugs are the worst, whale sharks, some spiders and bugs. Kissed someone who was a really bad kisser?  Tbh. Gotten in trouble for public displays of affection? OKAY SO.  Jason and I used to ride the bus home together and one day I was falling asleep in his lap, and he was too.  Our friends were joking around and yelled something along the lines of us being too affectionate, so the bus driver came back to see what was up, and she looked so confused when she saw we were just trying to sleep lmao.  But she still told us to just sit next to each other.  Looking back on it, it was funny. Do you get bad hangovers?  Never had one. Have you ever sent a friend request to someone who you thought was someone different? No but true shit the only reason I accepted Jason's friend request was because I thought he was a different Jason lmao. Have you ever chatted with someone on webcam?  No because it's awkward as fuck.  Wait.  I did once with Jason.  Never again.  Jeez, three questions I've mentioned him in the last four ones.  Ew. Have you ever solved a Rubik’s cube? I ain't got the patience for that shit. Are you embarrassed/uncomfortable dancing in front of other people? YUP.  One reason why I don't. Do you ever drink directly from beverage containers because you don’t want to dirty a cup? No, because I don't want other people drinking my backwash??  This is such a backwards question. If you carry a purse, roughly how big is it? What do you carry in it? It's small.  Phone, iPod, wallet, keys, hand sanitizer, a few other miscellaneous things I may need. Of all the pets you have had throughout your life, which one has meant the most to you? Is there a reason why?  My current dog Teddy.  He's an absolute angel that adores me probably even more than I adore him.  He's been an important part of my life for 11 years, and I could never love a literal child more. Imagine it is a dark night, you are alone, it is raining outside, you hear someone walking around outside your window. WHO do you wish was there with you? My mom 'cuz she'd kill a bitch. Is love a commitment to one person, or can you love more than one person at the same time?  I believe it's totally possible to be interested in more than one people, but love?  Only one.  I believe loving someone is about putting him/her above all others. What is your favorite kind of incense?  Omg I had this one, red incense that smelled fucking AMAZING, but I don't remember what it was called! D: Who is the most immature person you know?  *winks @ Sara* Do you read your friend’s surveys? Yes, because it's a cool way to learn usually miscellaneous things about them you wouldn't have known. If you had to get a tattoo tomorrow, what would you pick?  I wouldn't want to get one tomorrow, actually.  I want to get a Markiplier tattoo I designed for Christmas, and I'm going to estimate it'll be around $150-$200 (I'm not good at estimating tat prices, so take that with a grain of salt), so I want to be sure we have money for that first.  Literally the only thing I'm asking for for Christmas, I just don't ask for much anymore. How do you feel about band tattoos?  I'm not against them or anything, but I'm not sure I'll ever get one. What piercing do you like most on the opposite sex? Opposite or same, lip piercings. What brand of hair dye do you prefer to use? Splat is the only kind that's ever actually made the color stick for months.  Won't use anything but that anymore. Would you ever get your hips pierced?  No, seems painful as fuck and dangerous with pants and all, and I'm not skinny enough to look good with them. Have you ever gone to court? Not for a "real" trial, but I did have to give my reasoning as to why I felt I should be discharged from the hospital earlier (I think they wanted me there a month) to a judge, and it was one of the most nerve-wracking things ever.  I did win the case, though. Would you ever want to swim with the sharks?  No.  I'm not necessarily scared of sharks and even believe they're immensely misunderstood, but I don't trust a shark enough to swim with it. Do you like sushi? I can pretty much guarantee I'd absolutely loathe it.  Never trying. What is the worst thing that could possibly happen to you? Relapsing.  I will fucking not go through that again. Who is your favorite visual artist?  NukeRooster and Culpeo-Fox of dA.  Their styles are super recognizable and just wonderful.  I actually want a tattoo of one of NukeRooster's pieces ("Denialism") and actually got her permission, but it would be INCREDIBLY expensive with how intricate it is, so it's gonna be a looooong time 'til that happens. How old were you when you figured out what you wanted to do for a career?  Lmao last month, so 21. Is there anyone with whom you would like to be better friends? A LOT of people.  Mostly online friends, but some irl too. Who was the last person you cried in front of?  Mom. Do you like pretzels?  I have a massive preference for soft ones, but I'll eat either. Do any of your friends have children?  My best friend's pregnant and I have some friends I used to be closer to who have young kids. Would you rather cry in public or make someone else cry in public?  I'd rather cry, but either would suck. Would you rather re-live today forever or not live?  I have absolutely zero desire for immortality. Have you ever truly thought you knew who you were going to marry?  Yeah. Who was the last person of the opposite sex to be in your bedroom?  I actually don't think a guy has ever been in this bedroom...  Well, maybe save for when people were helping us move in, but I don't remember. Do you like kissing in public?  Only if it's just a simple peck. Is the male or female body closest to perfection?  I don't think either is "better" than the other. Four guys/girls whom you find attractive:  1.) Mark Fischfuck, 2.) Link Neal, 3.) Hannah Hart is like my biggest female celeb crush, 4.) uhhh... I'm not really sure.  Maybe Johnny Depp? What is your definition of cheating? As soon as you're flirting with someone else in an obviously non-playful way, you're cheating. Do you tend to go for older or younger when looking for someone to date? Older guys for maturity, no preference with girls. When do you want to get married?  I don't have a specific time in mind.  I don't want kids, so it's not like I'm racing the biological clock. Describe your personality in 3 words or less:  Really Fucking Awkward™ What size bed do you have?  Queen How many friends do you have?  Very few that I consider "friends," really.  Around like 10, and most I include are more like... a bit higher than acquaintances, but not really "friends?" What's the worst thing you have ever done?  It's something I don't talk about because it's humiliating to think I've done it. What is your skin type? (oily, dry, etc)  Dry as actual fuck. Are you going to change your last name when you get married?  If I marry a man, yes.  If I maybe a girl, depends on whose name sounds better with whose last name lol. What is your phone background?  Lock screen, Mark Fischbach, home screen, the magic sigil from "Shadow of the Colossus." Have you taken self-defense classes?  No, but I should.  Particularly with how much I distrust people. What are you known for among your friends? Being very quiet. The person you would never want to meet? A rapist.  For someone who's never even been harassed, I am fucking terrified of them and rape in general to the point my mother and therapist have asked multiple times if I've ever been molested. You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be? The divorce.  I would say the breakup, but that, in the end, had an amazing effect on me. Have you ever built a snowman?  Yeah. What is your favorite milkshake flavor?  Vanilla, but sometimes I'm in the mood for chocolate. What is the last thing you drew a picture of?  The picture I did of one of my RP OC's scars to demonstrate how it looked since it was hard to describe. What do you think about babies?  I'm very uncomfortable around them and feel like I can just touch them and they'll break.  And unlike, like, everyone, I don't find newborn/very young babies cute. What is the effect on you of having people physically nearby, if they’re not interacting with you? AWKWARD AS FUCK I GET SO UNCOMFORTABLE.  Like whenever my mom sits on the couch (it's directly outside my door), I have to close it because her being able to see me and me being able to see her is awkward to me.  If I'm sitting in the front seat of a car with someone, I need music on. Have you ever been extremely tired but refused to go to sleep?  I do that a LOT. Have you ever experienced something paranormal? I feel I have at least twice. What’s the longest amount of time you’ve been stuck in traffic?  I don't know.  You don't get AWFUL traffic jams in this part of NC, but we've definitely waited a while. Best field trip experience? The zoo in 5th grade!!  Saw meerkats for the first time and I was fucking ecstatic. How much time do you spend on Facebook, if you have one?  Sometimes I don't go on for days, and if I do, I go through my news feed once and am done. What is the worst thunderstorm you’ve experienced? Maybe this one time when we still lived in Sharpsburg...  Mom came to get us from our friend's house, which was maybe like 15 minutes away, and I was having an absolute panic attack. Favorite episode of Spongebob?  Hm.  Maybe the Slasher one.  Or the pizza one. What bug frightens you most?  Rhinoceros beetles and wasps. Do you hate your weight? Yup.  But it's getting better. What do you usually order on a pizza?  Jalapeno from Domino's, pepperoni from Little Caesar's because their jalapeno is too hot for even me. What is one thing that the Titanic has taught you?  Don't go on a ship in a fucking arctic ocean. What is one thing you dislike about sheep? Why? I'm going to assume they smell bad?  But otherwise, I love sheep, they're super cute. What do you think is an assumption that someone could make about you, just by looking at your Tumblr? Would this assumption be correct?  That I love Mark, Rhett, and Link more than I love myself & they're probably right lmao. Do you sleep with your door closed or open? It's usually open, but I sometimes close it because Bentley annoys the fuck out of me because he comes into my room just to scratch himself relentlessly and get more fur in my room than there already is.  Like he ALWAYS comes to my room just to do this shit.  It's most annoying just because he's obnoxiously loud when he does this and I'm trying to sleep. Do you sometimes need help opening water bottles, Gatorade bottles, etc.? YUP.  My hands are extremely soft, so it hurts easily. What would you say is your number one priority in life right now?  My mental health, 100%. Are you someone who has to hide the things you like around friends? I don't have to, no, but I ABSOLUTELY do.  I'm way too easily embarrassed about what I'm passionate about.  But for some reason I'm not online. Do you like word or picture tattoos better? It depends on the style, how well it is done, and the placement. <<< This. When will your driver’s license expire?  My permit expires in December. If you did, did you have to get a Tetanus shot?  I think?  Isn't that a required vaccination? What color lipstick do you think looks best on you?  Black.  I think me being so pale actually makes it look nice on me. Do you prefer pastel colors or dusty colors? Forests or beaches? Strawberries or bananas? Pastels, forests, strawberries. Do you prefer sunshine or moonlight? Gardening or baking? Flowers or succulents?  Moonlight, neither, uhhh flowers maybe.  Or maybe the latter.  Idk. Do you use emojis when you text or type online?  No, I use emoticons.  It's a fucking miracle if I ever use an emoji. Do you like playing games by yourself or with other people? If you're talking about video games, usually alone. Do you prefer honey or jam? Roses or sunflowers? Oatmeal or cereal?  Jame, roses, probably cereal. Give me a random word in another language. Tell me what it means.  "Erdmännchen" is German for "meerkat." A romantic meal, a trip to a theme park, or go to a concert? Concert, dude. When was the last time you had an alcoholic beverage?  Two months ago because Mom felt like getting Smirnoff's and apparently we have the same favorite (the Jamaican one) and she laughed "well you better drink it before me or Nicole do" so we shared two. Do you believe you'll find someone better than who you're with now?  Honest opinion, I think she's perfect for me.  So finding someone better would surprise me. Do you like pineapple?  YES Would you ever smoke?  No.  I don't fancy cancer, bad breath, and a likely addiction. What was the first thing you are/were excited to do upon turning 21?  Even when I got out of the hospital, I did nothing to celebrate.  There wasn't really anything I looked forward to besides just legally being an adult. You’re drunk and lost walking down the road; who is with you?  I don't ever want to be drunk considering I don't like the idea of not having a full grip on myself but if that was to ever hypothetically happen, it'd be Colleen, I'm sure. Do you like hickeys?  If they're not obvious. Do you always answer your texts?  If I have nothing to say, no. Do people ever call you by your last name?  No, I'd hate that.  I don't like my last name, plus it's masculine. What do you most like about making out?  It's just a passionate experience. When you kiss someone for the first time, is it usually you who initiates it or the other?  Huh.  Kinda split according to history. Are you too shy to ask someone out?  Apparently not. If an attractive person was pursuing you, but you knew he/she was in relationship, would you go for it? 1.) Looks are whatever and 2.) I'm not an ass, and even if they broke up, I wouldn't date a disloyal person. Is it hard for you to imagine life away from your hometown?  I don't live in my hometown already. Do you expect to move out in the next year?  That'd be pretty much miraculous. Name something you have always wanted and never got.  An iguana, for one. Do you want a small or big wedding?  I'm sure it'll be pretty small.  I'm not close to enough people to want them to come, but it obviously also depends on who my s/o wants to come. Do you actually participate in gym class, or just stand there? Participated considering you couldn't graduate without it.  Which was fucking stupid. Have you ever found yourself worrying about commitment?  I've never had that fear. Are you dressing up for Halloween this year? I'd like to, but I doubt it. Do you have unlimited texting? Yes. Have you ever slept a whole day away?  Accidentally and I had a massive panic attack because it totally screwed me up. Do you like those ramen noodles?  I actually really dislike ramen.  There was this one spicy kind, though, that I essentially survived off of in the apartment, and it was good.  Don't remember the name, though. What’s your favorite song by Daughtry? "No Surprise" Do you make good first impressions?  I honestly doubt I do because I'll just make it fucking awkward because I'll be uncomfortable. Are you ashamed of your past?  Many parts of it. Name all the social networking sites you use: Just Tumblr and Facebook. Do you watch "The Walking Dead"?  No. Are raisins good?  Omg no.  Disgusting. Do you get cold easily?  I get hot easier. Have either of your parents gone to jail?  No. Do you think homosexuality (anything beside heterosexual) is a choice? I personally believe it's a mutation considering it defies the biological plan, BUT a mutation does not equate to being wrong.  I fully support it.  I don't believe it's a choice either because you can't force yourself to be sexually attracted to a certain gender. Do you wax, pluck, or leave your eyebrows?  Leave them.  Mom takes Nicole and me to get ours waxed for only special occasions.  There's really just no point. Do you like guns? NO.  I'm not into extreme gun control and overall do support the 2nd Amendment (but with some degree of improved control), but I'm personally horrified of them and never want to touch one.  They hold way too much power. Do you sleep with all the lights out, or do you leave a lamp or even the television on? I keep Venus' light on. What do you think of mosh pits?  Seems pretty stupid, honestly.  I've never heard of someone not being in pain after a mosh pit. Do you wear hoop earrings or studs more?  Eh, kinda tied. Have you ever had stitches?  Twice. Does heat seem to drain you of your energy?  Completely. Who do you think has it harder in terms of expectations regarding physical appearance: men, or women?  Elaborate on your choice? Women, easily.  We have an absolute novel of societal expectations. Who is the most emotionally strong person that you know?  I have a number of people in mind, but I don't know about most. Do you feel comfortable staying over at other people's houses for the night? I have to know the person very well. Or would you rather they stayed over at yours?  No, my place is boring as fuck. Do you spend time online when your friends are over?  I'll twiddle on my phone if we're doing nothing, but I don't use my laptop. Do you spend [too much] time texting when you’re around others? No, I try to refrain from texting when I'm with friends. Who was the “bad guy” in the last book you read? That I finished, Ner'zhul was the "main" one if we're being technical, but Arthas was a villain as well. Are you an insomniac? I officially do have insomnia.  I now have to take Melatonin every night if I at all hope to sleep.

[xxdeathnotronic]

As I said earlier, I finished Resident Evil 7, and while I gave my thoughts at the end of my video, I do want to just kinda put them down here. Especially considering I’m such a hardcore fan of the games before RE4. BTW, this will have story spoilers, so. PLEASE scroll past fast if you’re on mobile, and skip over.

I want to mention that I’m 29, and have been playing Resident Evil since 1997/1998 (I can’t pinpoint the exact year, but it was in that range because the first game I played was Resident Evil Director’s Cut.) So basically almost 20 years jfc, yes I’m old.

When Resident Evil 4 was released, I was originally very hyped because it was another game with Leon, and I loved RE2. But... much to my dismay... there was such a focus on fighting and clearing rooms, and less on exploring. That actiony vibe started with Code Veronica, honestly, but Code Veronica still had that nostalgic feeling. So, I was pretty bummed about RE4, and later RE5... and even more so by RE6. So much that I didn’t even touch the Revelations games. I just didn’t care. So, when they announced Resident Evil 7 at E3, and it looked so fucking good, and so fucking scary. I was surprised, and hopeful. My favourite thing about Resident Evil is exploring the location you’re in. I know the Spencer Mansion in the Arklay Mountains like the back of my hand, both layouts, the original and the REmake. I’ve played Resident Evil 2 and 3 so many times, I forget which one is the one where there’s a first aid spray at Rebecca’s desk in the STARS office in the RPD.  Resident Evil 7 delivered in that regard. Exploring the Baker mansion was the best part, I was doing a Let’s Play of the game, and my total playtime was 9 and a half hours.  The Bakers were interesting pursuers, and considering how the story goes, they’re a very sad part of the story. It humanizes them. Something that rarely happens in games with pursuers. Seriously, think about it? Chris in Outlast, he’s a pretty shitty dude prior to being a big monster. Traeger also pretty shitty prior to being a monster. And even in prior Resident Evil games, Nemesis was a creation specifically made to kill you, same with Mr. X. Jack and Marguerite were genuinely normal people prior to the story. Lucas was kind of always an asshole. Resident Evil 7′s story was very Resident Evil. Sorry, but it is. Its about a bioweapon that got out of hand. End of story. I’ll admit the last two parts of the game were my least favourite, beyond a very amazing cutscene. I don’t like a lot of combat. I’m not good at it, but you know what... I gave a lot of difficulty. Hell, I didn’t even notice lead ups to boss fights. I literally wandered into Marguerite’s boss fight and I didn’t even realize there were gimmicks to each boss, which is DEFINITELY a thing carried over from RE4. (Prior RE bosses only required dealing enough damage, there were not a lot of “You must hit this place” or “Do this specific attack at this time” moments.)  The ending does confuse me. I got the bad ending straight away, but I don’t mind. It was good for me, and I have since seen the good ending. I’m hoping the DLC coming in the spring will explain more about that. I enjoyed Resident Evil 7. It had nice call backs to Resident Evil, every puzzle felt like a Resident Evil puzzle. The Baker house was a great environment. You can tell the game was made for VR, but it doesn’t ruin the non-vr version. (And the VR version is so good. I played a bit of the game in VR and it was so good. I played the boss fight with Jack in the garage, and being in VR during that part was insane. The perspective is perfect, nothing feels too big, or too small, you feel like you have to duck at some points. its good.) I’m not sure what else is coming this year that I’ll even be interested in playing, but for now... Resident Evil 7 is a high contender for GOTY for me, especially if the DLC is great. I just wish my computer didn’t get so hot playing it because I’d love to speedrun it or get through it again in my new game plus.

[entergamingxp]

Being Quarantined Has Strangely Made Me Want to Play Some Really Odd Games from My Backlog

March 28, 2020 2:00 PM EST

There has never been a better time to play Knack 2, Resident Evil 6, and Mass Effect: Andromeda.

Since many folks around the world have now quarantined themselves in their homes to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, this is arguably the best time in modern history to do nothing else but play video games. For many, this newfound free time may allow them to pick up some games from yesteryear that they’ve always been meaning to try out. Others may find it comforting to return to one of their personal favorite games that they haven’t played in quite some time. And some will likely dive into multiplayer experiences so that they can still socialize with friends from the cover of their own home. But for me personally, I keep having these strange desires to play the most nonsensical games from my backlog, and I have no earthly idea why.

As this whole coronavirus has really started to take hold in the United States, I’ve begun realizing that I’m going to have much more time on my hands in the coming weeks and months. So much so, in fact, that I’ve actually started to take inventory of my backlog for the first time in awhile. In case you don’t know how I operate, I have a list on the notes section of my phone that’s full of “Games I Want to Play” at some point in my life. Over the past year or so, I’ve been so busy playing nothing but new releases (and League of Legends) that I’ve opted to kind of stop worrying about this artificial list of games hanging over my head. But as this whole pandemic has come about, I decided to revisit this list and see what I could now finally pick up that I couldn’t in the past.

Amongst a list of titles that includes critically-acclaimed gems like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, all-time classics like Chrono Trigger, and games like Red Dead Redemption 2 that I never saw through to the end, the titles that have been jumping out to me the most are the ones that are likely the most mediocre of all. Like, I’m talking about some truly bizarre games like Resident Evil 6, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Days Gone, and Knack 2. So just why are these oddballs the ones that I’m wanting to play the most? Honestly, I do not know.

I think that of the specific games I’ve listed here, Days Gone is the one that I’m most able to rationalize why I want to play. Even though I never had a lot of interest in the game leading up to its release last year, I ended up picking it up for reasons I’m not really sure of not too long after it launched. Since then, it has been sitting on my PS4’s dashboard and I often see it out of the corner of my eye when I go to play other games. Days Gone had a pretty mixed reaction from critics, but I’m actually inclined to believe I may enjoy it a fair amount. I’ve always been a fan of Ubisoft’s checklist-style open-world games and Days Gone absolutely seems to have aspects of that. Games of this ilk have often been comfort food for me over the years, so I at least understand why I’d want to give it a shot.

Sticking with the PlayStation exclusives, Knack 2 is the one that I’m truly a masochist for even giving a thought to play. Believe it or not, I do actually own Knack 2. I bought it essentially as a gag like two years ago when it went on sale at one point in time, and it’s been sitting on my shelf of games ever since. I’ve often told my roommate over the years that we need to actually do a full, non-stop playthrough of Knack 2 at some point because, “Haha, the memes, dude!” He thinks I’m an idiot.

Also, it’s worth pointing out that I bought the original Knack with my PS4 at launch back in 2013 and I played through the entirety of it. My verdict? That game totally stunk. So, again, why would I ever seriously consider playing the sequel like I am right this very moment? I honestly don’t have an answer for you.

Both Resident Evil 6 and Mass Effect: Andromeda, on the other hand, I can at least understand my desire to play just because I love each franchise so dearly. Resident Evil and Mass Effect are likely in my personal top 5 of most beloved franchises, which means I’m a complete sucker for each of them deep down.

In the case of RE6 specifically, it’s the only mainline Resident Evil game that I have never played. When it initially released back in 2012 and I heard it was a disaster, I decided just to avoid it entirely rather than have it break my heart. Since that time, however, I’ve been morbidly interested in returning to it, especially since Resident Evil has been back on the come-up the past few years with RE7, RE2 remake, and next week’s release of the RE3 remake. Now that I know the series is in a good place again, what’s the harm in going back to see it at what many consider to be its lowest point? I’ve been putting off playing this one for nearly a decade and I’m thinking I finally need to rectify it.

And then there’s Mass Effect: Andromeda, a game that’s so bad some have even claimed it killed the whole series (despite the fact that BioWare is reportedly working on a new entry). I came into 2017 more excited for Andromeda than any other game that was set to launch in that year, and after playing it for a few hours, I quickly realized I didn’t like it at all. Not only was it buggy, but the story, gameplay, and just overall tone of this new world wasn’t clicking with me whatsoever. It really, really bummed me out greatly that I didn’t like it initially, but I always swore I’d finish it one day.

Even as I look at this one on my backlog and legitimately entertain the thought of finally returning to it, I just don’t know if I can do it. Andromeda is almost like the inverse of RE6 for me at the moment. I think I need to see Mass Effect as a whole redeemed before I might be able to play this one all the way through just to see what it has to offer. For now, it’s just still too painful to know that EA and BioWare really screwed up things up so badly with this entry. It still makes me sad to even talk about.

via GIPHY

So, why am I even writing this piece to begin with? Partially, it’s just to inform you of how dumb my brain is. I don’t know why I’m like this. Please, talk some sense into me if you’re reading this article. Convince me to play The Witcher 3 in its entirety like I know I should be doing rather than diving into Knack 2, of all things.

The other reason though is to just say that it doesn’t really matter what you’re playing right now. As long as you’re deciding to stay at home and “flatten the curve” as we’ve been told to do, anything from Superman 64 to Persona 5 Royal is more than adequate to spend your time with. Playing video games is, bizarrely enough, almost a form of public service at this point in time. Even though your time can surely be spent experiencing many better games than some of the ones I’ve listed here, take pride in the fact that it’s now more socially acceptable than ever before to plop down on your couch and do nothing but veg out and play the vidyas.

As for what’s on the docket for me this weekend? I think I’m going to actually dive into a replay of Halo 3: ODST because, sure, why not? It’s not like I’ve got anywhere to go.

March 28, 2020 2:00 PM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/03/being-quarantined-has-strangely-made-me-want-to-play-some-really-odd-games-from-my-backlog/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=being-quarantined-has-strangely-made-me-want-to-play-some-really-odd-games-from-my-backlog

[booksandtea]

Since Steam summer sales are arriving soon, Tecsie decided to clean up their Steam wishlist a little bit by writing a Steam Wishlist Clean Up post which was inspired by Lia’s Down the TBR Hole book blogger meme.

I really liked this idea and asked Tecsie if I could take part too so here I am. Though with a slight difference, Tecsie managed to go through a lot more of her wishlist in one go. I already know that will not be the case for me. So you’ll likely see a few of these.

Sit back, enjoy, and browse some video games with me.

Starting Point: 170

As I missed out on posting one of these last week due to the book club announcements, I’m gonna go through 20 games this week to make up for it.

State of Decay: YOSE was something I’ve been interested in since release. It’s about surviving in a zombie apocalypse open world, and you have to build a base to keep everyone safe. I played a little of the original game on XBOX so I’d love to hop in on the remastered one.

As I’ve mentioned before I’d love to playhtrough all of the Telltale games and as I already own the other The Walking Dead ones then its only time until I get this one too.

Now two Resident Evil games! I think I’ll remove one of these as I’ve not played any RE games for a long time, as RE6 allows co-op and multiplayer its staying! Sorry RE4, we’ll see you in the future.

Okay so we’re back to 4 anime styled games, or well 3 and a pot of Mayo.

Invisible Apartment is a free to play visual novel on steam which I really enjoyed so yes I’d love to play Invisible Apartment II. Its a cyberpunk setting too which I love.

Natural – Beyond Nature – has mystery, drama, and supernatural elements too. It doesn’t match any of other games I’ve played but I’m fairly certain I’ve played through others by this creator and was a fan.

In Panty Party you play as some panties and fight other panties… Could I have just removed this from my wishlist and not posted it here? Sure. Am I gonna? No ahaha. Its one hell of a meme game and for once I actually will remove it from my wishlist.

But just because I removed one meme doesn’t mean My Name is Mayo gets the same treatement. This is another clicker game – because you can’t have enough! Remember cookie clicker, the web game? Its basically that I guess. I’m sorry its staying.

More Final Fantasy games? Phew. Okay lets try and narrow this down. I’m currently playing World of Warcraft which has a monthly sub but I’ve heard nothing but great things about FF XIV Online and honestly £9.99 for the base game isn’t bad so yes I’m keeping this for the future when I’m not paying for WoW.

FF XI: Ultimate Collection Seekers Edition is another MMO with a subscription and as I prefer the other one this one has to go, as will Lightning Returns as its the concluding chapter int he FF XIII saga and I never finished part one or two. I also think I’m gonna do it and say goodbye to FF IV wow.

Night in the Woods is a game I’ve been dying to play and is 100% a priority for me! I love the art work so much, it looks amazing.

Sonicomi seems to be about encouraging your friend on how to become a model, what type of outfits they should wear, and you focus on taking the best photographs of them! Its supposed to be one of those haha boobs and panty games but I saw a few reviews where they state if you ignore that and focus on achieveing great photographs the story is really good. I’m still very tempted by it.

Sakura Nova  and Sakura Agent, wow two Sakura games? Okay let me check them out… I’ll remove one so I can save some face. Agent is staying because the girls are cuter and it has slightly more polished art.

NieR: Automata is a priority game that I am dying for but am I gonna spend £40 on one game? HELL NO. Even if it does deserve it because its an amazing game, my limit really is £25-30

The Longest Journey is related to the previous two Dreamfall games I’ve mentioned so its staying along with them so I don’t forget about it. I also have no idea what order those games should be played in and I’m too lazy to look into it which is another reason it stays.

Watch_Dogs 2 is a surprising game to have on my wishlist because I hated the first, but I saw a lot of praise for this after its release so I’m pretty excited to one day pick this up.

FarSky is giving me Abzu vibes but with more survival aspects too it so I’m kinda into the idea of it but on closer inspection there are no achievements and no trading cards so realistically I’m unlikely to aim to complete it, bye.

Stats at the end of this post

Priority: 2 / 20 Keep: 11 / 20 Remove: 7 / 20 Steam Wishlist total: 144

We did it! I hope you like this post. Please let me know if you love any of these games or think you could be interested in any. I really enjoy doing these type of posts as I think it really shows non-gamers the wide choice of games out there because its not often I’ll play those that are big in the media.

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Steam Wishlist Clean Up (11) Since Steam summer sales are arriving soon, Tecsie decided to clean up their Steam wishlist a little bit by writing a…

[pink-strawberry-kissess]

It will be interesting to see how an RE6 remake where Leon is more suspicious of/aware that Carla might not be Ada plays out. Especially in regards to how this will affect his arguments with Chris about trusting her.

I'd also hope such a remake delves more into how Ada feels about having her likeness and identity used and abused in such a manner.

On a side note, I never understood why fans kept saying Claire was supposed to have Helena's role but was swapped out for the last minute given how different Helena is from Claire.

yes i agree, i feel like the disparity between ada and carla needs to be more uncanny valley and feed into the narrative that there's something horribly wrong with "ada"

i can get down with the idea of leon not realizing it's not ada at first. but i always wished that it was clearer that it turns at some point and leon vehemently knows and recognizes that she's not ada.

i love the idea of carla trying to fake ada's voice, or just being too outwardly grandiose with her actions so that she's so noticeable, (so it's easier to say she's wanting to frame ada) and so it would be odd if "ada" were doing that

i know people are worried about the chris leon fight scene being cut in a potential remake, but considering it was the most highlighted and used scene in promotional work, i kind of doubt it. there has to be a big conflict and the leon chris conflict imo worked well in re6.

it would be stupid on capcom's part to remove it

re6 IS ada's game. her campaign is the most difficult to complete and her's is necessary for understanding the narrative. it's a shame that people don't finish her campaign- guess those aren't "real resident evil fans" huh ;)

that being said, i agree that her story is the most sad and really highlights how much abuse she receives in the story and narrative and just in general as a whole if we're talking about the fandom. she's at the butt end of sexualized jokes because she's leon's love interest. she has at various points, overt sexual appeal so she's degraded and vilified. she's not white so add racism to that too.

i find people who want helena to be removed and replaced with claire just really disingenuous and or wanting to just stir shit up. in absolutely no circumstances would it be permissible to remove claire and replace her with another character, DESPITE the fact that claire is easily the most replaceable of the core 5 (leon, chris, jill, claire (i guess) and now rebecca ig)

people would be PISSED if claire was removed suddenly from ANY of her games, so why THE FUCK, is it okay to just remove HELENA, FROM HER GAME AND HER STORY also. (it's still also about ada, but helena's story is also so important)

it's assinine to me that people think that they (capcom) would ever rewrite the entirety of re6 and rev2 so that for some reason claire would be in re6. narratively there's no reason for claire to be in re6.

anyways i don't get the arguments of claire vs helena. both of them are white ladies. and like? helena has ALWAYS been more interesting to me from the two if we're gonna compare women. (also don't do that- don't compare women like that, that's so just anti woman what the fuck)

i've yet to see an argument for replacing helena with claire that didn't go further than "but we want more claire stuff!!! there's no claire stuff!!!"

OKAY???? SHUT THE FUCK UP FIRST OF ALL. THERE'S SO MUCH CLAIRE CONTENT WHAT DO YOU MEAN.

AND SECONDLY. WHY WOULD YOU GET RID OF HELENA'S ONLY APPEARANCE IN THE ENTIRE FRANCHISE. DO YOU HATE OTHER FEMALE CHARACTERS SO MUCH AND THINK SO HIGHLY OF CLAIRE THAT YOU THINK SHE SHOULD TAKE PRECEDENT ON THE ENTIRE FRANCHISE??

honestly shame on the fans would think that "claire has nothing," while in the same breath think that it's okay to remove helena's ONLY APPEARANCE.

it's SO FUCKING RUDE, to want to REPLACE characters with your faves. take your entitled ass elsewhere.

okay ty sorry for ranting

[drscotcheggmann]

Resident Evil VII: Evil Seems to Have Moved House.

First of all, this isn’t a review. Not really anyway. If it’s a good ol' review you’re after then allow me to oblige: the game is great; buy it! I’m hoping that you’ll still want to keep reading, even if that was all you wanted to know. But I warn you now: all who enter here beware, for spoilers lurk around every corner! Fair warning, more than Ethan ever got! When Resident Evil VII was first teased, I’m sure a lot of fans, like myself, held their breath and said the same sentence to themselves over and over: ‘Please don’t fuck this up, Capcom!’ Well it seems that mass fan recital of that very wish has paid off in full and we can all finally breathe out. Despite some blips in the series most recently, I am pleased to say that Resident Evil VII is a true return to form, ensuring the series remains as relevant as ever. The latest release in the franchise feels less like Resident Evil VII and more like Resident Evil I. And by that I don’t mean a modern reworking of the original formula; I mean, it feels like the series is starting again, acknowledging and retaining what once made it great but at the same time dragging its festering corpse in a fresh (or putrid) new direction. Arguably some of the most striking examples of how this entry in the series attempts to stride into brand new territory occur before the action even begins. The cover art is interesting in itself. Ok, there’s a big spooky house, creepy little girl, a garden in need of some pruning and a fair sized puddle that hints at an underlying drainage problem. Standard horror gaming fare, right? Yes. And I’m fine with that. Does the puddle symbolise the waterlogged, murky and troubled recent past of the Resident Evil series pre VII? Does the fact that the little girl is standing at the other side of said puddle mean that Capcom have exorcised the ghosts of RE6 in particular, hung themselves out to dry and are now ready to tackle whatever the future holds with a fresh set of clothes? Does the sun breaking over the roof of the house hint at a new dawn for the series? In a word, no. This isn’t High School English poetry analysis. The most I can give you is that the house’s porch looks like a gaping mouth into the unknown, the pillars flanking each side acting as teeth, hinting at the menace that awaits on the other side of the front door and ready to swallow up anyone foolish enough to come near. And the little girl? Her face in darkness, it isn’t clear if she’s approaching the house or walking away from it. Entrance or escape? Having finished the game and looking back at something as simple as the cover art, this idea of Evelyn's escape or refuge and its consequences in terms of how pivotal she is to the whole plot, takes on a frightening new meaning. I can honestly say that I’ve never invested so much thought in the cover art of any game to date. All of this conjecture may be a load of old twaddle but at least its interesting old twaddle. But the actual art aside, it’s how Capcom have chosen to market the game’s title that really catches the eye, or at least my very overactive one: The VII hidden or not so hidden in the word Evil. Clever. But is it about more than being clever with words and shapes? Yes, this is VII. The one after VI. But the game isn’t called ‘Resident Evil VII’. It’s called ‘Resident Evil’. The biohazard tag, all lower case and oddly uncapitalised for a title, seems almost like an afterthought. Or else perhaps the name of the first entry in a new series (here’s hoping). But the message is clear – this is a Resident Evil game first and foremost which, ok, is number seven but the understated number seven. It’s as if Capcom wanted to acknowledge it as the next entry, perhaps in ‘hiding’ the VII they hoped to create a little distance from VI but at the same time make clear that it’s a new breed of evil and that’s how we should approach our time in the Baker household. We should expect something new. Yeah, yeah, yeah so why not just call it Resident Evil? Well, I’m sure that calling it this and then risk defecating all over the original’s cult status, especially had VII flopped, was a path that Capcom were reluctant to tread. 'Resident Evil? Do you mean the good one or the shite one?' I’m glad this never happened and Capcom has allowed both games some space to breathe and to exist independently of one another. For this reason I'm sure there was a conscious design decision to set the game in a house rather than another mansion. Run down dilapidated old house means fresh start. And it is a house by the way, a big one but not a mansion. Mansions are luxurious and decadent. By the looks of things in VII, you'd be lucky to find anything fitting that bill in this front yard. I'm also pleased to see that Capcom did not feel the need to blatantly cross reference previous entries in the series for the sake of sycophantic fan service. Don't get me wrong though, Resident Evil VII does have cross references but I'm glad that they don't consist of bland and frankly forgettable audio files and written logs which we often feel obligated to collect for fear of missing something important, as is the norm now in games of this ilk. Resident Evil VII's cross references are subtle and meaningful to those who know what they're looking for. They’re not thrust down your throat with a ‘This is a reference to Resident Evil II! Fucking appreciate it!’ kind of tone. If you miss them, you miss them. It really isn’t a loss in the grand scheme but a gain if you like that sort of thing. For example, there's a painting of the Arklay Mountains in the Main Hall which I'm sure many of us missed. These were the mountains where the Spencer Mansion from the original was built. Didn't know that? No big deal. If you did happen to recognise the name though, you still have to do some memory jogging to pin it to the mansion, especially since said mansion isn't pictured. Subtle. But clever too as the picture does not look in any way out of place in this dimly lit hall and blends seamlessly into the decor of the place, despite it being an obvious/not obvious cross reference. There really is something for everyone here. Perhaps the final example I'll put forward to illustrate this point is the VHS tapes that can be found dotted around the house. Handled incorrectly, these tapes might well have turned into the type of heinous obligatory file collecting exercise mentioned above; the type that has the potential to bore the arse off you, especially if there are 563 of them hidden around the house, which you then feel you must find and listen to. But these tapes are far from arse-numbing. These tapes, remnants of a now almost dead and buried technological age, are paradoxically one of the freshest and most modern mechanisms in the game. Find a tape recorder, put the tape in. It actually takes a minute to load. Shit, is the tape broken? Is my PlayStation broken? Is my TV broken? A click and a flicker and it's rolling. Then not only are you privy to what the tape shows but you become the subject of the film and have control over what you're viewing. Your actions here help inform your decisions as you seek to drive your own narrative forward once the tape clicks and pops out of the recorder. But, again, miss one of these tapes? And you might, as there aren't 563 of them (but why would or should there be in a house this size? A family vendetta against Blockbuster, deliberately never returning rentals?) There are a mere four VHS tapes. Three are optional. It's actually no big deal if you miss an optional one. Ok, you've missed a gem of an ordeal caught on wobbly handheld but you can still proceed regardless. This is brilliant. And realistic. And fresh. And new. For this series at least. But let's pause and rewind, a squeaky VHS style rewind. Perhaps the true taste of things to come arrives as early as the title screen as, with trepidation, you take the plunge and press ‘New Game’. But the traditional ‘RESIDENT EVIL’ voice clip that heralds the beginning of every game in the series, like Christian Bale’s Batman with a chest infection, the voice that always struck me as verging on the ridiculous and somewhat tonally inconsistent with the atmosphere of terror the game tries to create: this voice never comes. It was this voice’s absence that chilled me more than on any start screen of past entries. This is still Resident Evil but not as we know it. In terms of major thematic departures from some previous entries, the one thing that really leapt out at me in REVII, as well as all of the things I really didn’t want to leap out at me, is how ‘human’ the game feels. This may sound odd considering how a large proportion of the game involves sub human abominations seeking to disembowel you at every turn. But I do mean 'human' in the truest, most redeemable sense of the word as well as in the very darkest sense. The central protagonist, for the first time in the series’ history, is a nobody. No offense, Ethan. This is to your and Capcom’s credit. Ethan is not some macho, dual machine gun wielding, in the gym five days a week, protein shake drinking super cop who has direct links to some far-fetched government conspiracy. He’s just an ordinary, everyman looking for his missing girlfriend. In fact, we don’t ever even get to see what he looks like. His facelessness is indicative of this new direction Capcom have taken. Ethan is you, me, everyone and anyone. We all have or have had loved ones and by thrusting us into the character of someone who has had one taken away, we are drawn in immediately and arguably feel a more intimate connection with Ethan than with any other Resident Evil protagonist. The game’s clever subversion of expectations in the opening hand held camera cinematic is both chilling and deeply affecting as Ethan’s girlfriend, Mia looks straight into the camera, addressing you the player directly: ‘…if you get this, stay away.’ Not, ‘come after me, help me, save me’. Pause a moment and think about how genuine this is, from a human rather than a video game protagonist’s / purely narrative perspective. Despite one’s obvious state of emergency, what decent human being would drag a loved one by invitation into a hell hole of horror if it meant putting them at risk? Yet so many games, movies, books have run headlong into this narrative pitfall. Sure, sometimes it can be entertaining but is it realistic? Well done, Capcom on two fronts here. The first is for actually portraying how normal human beings would behave in this situation. If Ethan had heeded his girlfriend’s warning it would have made for a fairly short and shite game for 45 smackers but thankfully he doesn’t. His decision to drive into rural Louisiana is also down to a well met sense of humanity: he loves his girlfriend and cares enough to want to save her. She’s been missing for a few year for Christ’s sake! There’s nothing wrong with that but it’s these sorts of emotions that are sometimes missing in games at the expense of setting up exciting or emotionless dialogue or a cheesy set piece. And thankfully, as Ethan’s car rolls up on the edge of the Baker estate, he doesn’t open the trunk, haul out a Gatling gun and sling several ammo belts over his shoulder ready to wage war on whoever the fuck took his sweetie pie away from him. He doesn’t even seem to anticipate a fight. He’s there to get Mia out and that’s it, not to play the hero in any romantic sense. That leads onto hooray for Capcom point number 2: Mia is no damsel in distress. She’s a highly educated research scientist, not a naïve and over trusting hitchhiker who stumbled upon the wrong house. She can also handle herself, even if this is when her veins are pumping to bursting point with the virus. She’s a strong female presence who is just as robust as her male counterpart, Ethan. While not the main protagonist, she has a face and so is in some ways more identifiable than Ethan is. The gaming scene has seen a positive upsurge in strong female leads recently, most notably the new, significantly less sexed up version of Lara Croft, the headstrong young mind of Ellie in the Last of Us and Aloy, the post apocalyptic kicker of robotic dinosaur ass. More of this, with an extra dollop of humanity all round please! And the much discussed switch to first person is also a great fit to help achieve this sense of the game being more human and intimate. This is never more obvious than when sampling one of Resident Evil VII’s finest items of functional décor: the simple door! Gone are the slowly zooming cut scenes of doors creaking open in previous installments that felt detached and often distanced the player from the action momentarily. For instance, when the Nemesis chases you through that police station in Resident Evil III, frantic music pumping in your ears and you come to a door and have to wait for its animation to finish before proceeding (albeit slightly quicker than normal since you are in kind of a rush) 'Come on, for fuck sake!’ And then the Nemesis just breaks the bloody thing down anyway! What was that about? But here, Ethan’s hand, our hand eases each door open, with a pause before being pushed fully ajar. For me, this, with the deliberate pause, was ten times more tension filled than a generic cut scene, so much so that I would only trust myself to open about three doors at a time before legging it back to a tape recorder. Never in any game I’ve played have corridors, confined and more open spaces been so heavily pervaded with dread. And thanks to how the character of Ethan is introduced to us, his eyes being our eyes and his relationships our relationships, there is a sort of trickle down effect in terms of human emotion and feeling. As a consequence we feel much more deeply affected by it all. And by affected I mean scared. There, I said it. Pure shitting myself for large portions of this, I was. All because Capcom have bothered to make it's setting and everything in it feel real. When I wasn’t staring in wonderment at the box art or title screen, I spent the vast majority of the game scrubbing skid marks from my underpants which in turn is testament to Capcom nailing the other side of the human coin: the subhuman. Resident Evil is an exploration of the darker side of humanity: depravity, cruelty, sadism and blood lust. This is barebones horror. But it’s ok, because it’s not mindless gore. All of the horror you witness as Ethan is not as straightforward as it first seems. Never have you felt more sorry for a family of cannibalistic sociopaths than you have for the Bakers, who happened to be living in the wrong house, on the wrong waterway as the wrong ship ran aground, with the wrong chemically infused little girl on board. It’s a pity it takes until the very end, having been almost run over, chain-sawed and bludgeoned to death by one of the family for you to realise this. But forgive and forget, eh? They are the victims as much as you and Mia. They were a family before all of this happened. Family photos found around the house show a closeness and affection for their children. But unfortunately as we progress, our view of the Bakers is tainted by the fact that they would prefer to have your intestines for dinner (literally) and smear your blood across their living room wall. And you, the lone wrecking ball that blunders in and begins to dismantle this sick family from within, destroying them bit by infected bit. This raises further questions which are not immediately obvious as you make your way through the game: are you noble in your quest to save Mia when you're also ultimately responsible for the death of this backwater family, regardless of what state you find them? Are you saviour or usurper? You might say you're doing them a favour, putting them out of their misery? Has a Resident Evil game ever been so keen to confront you with so many hard hitting and 'human' questions, beyond the more sweeping ones raised by the unethical actions of a megalomaniacal corporation, as seen in previous installments? Then there's the biggest little question of them all: Evelyn. She wants to be loved. She’ll pump your veins full of her muck in a blink and kill you in the process but isn’t that adorable all the same? I’ve only completed the game once and am unlikely to have a second go. But I would be very interested to see how I would actively feel toward what I am going through with all of this knowledge on board. I sense I might be playing an entirely different game. That’s clever! This is the Capcom we deserve but it’s not the one we need! Actually, no, we do need this. Never has this genre needed it more and Capcom have delivered. Resident Evil VII is a gem, there's no doubt. But it's still an imperfect one. The puzzles are nice. That’s a really bland word and it’s a fair one for the puzzles. Not overly challenging but at the same time not overtly offensive either. Solving them quickly means the action and exploration can continue apace. The game is also guilty of quite a bit of hand holding. I’m looking at you, constantly ringing telephone. I did try to melt the cord with the burner at one point but to no avail. Hand holding in this game is especially annoying since the house itself, while not completely linear, is not a huge place. The final and also weakest portion of the game is completely linear and akin to a tower challenge level in which waves of monstrosities are thrown at you to test your mettle, each wave stronger than the last. Then there are the boss fights which, I’m pleased to say, are not as bad as many make out. They’re far from the most sophisticated encounters in gaming and are heralded with the now standard glut of ammo and health remedies housed handily in the room immediately before the fight itself. This stood in direct contrast to the vast majority of the game where I found myself dangerously low on both and having to make sure that I managed my inventory well and that all of my bullets counted. But to the game's immense credit, in nearly all but one boss battle I didn’t fully realise I was engaged in an actual boss battle until the fight was almost over. My chief aim in the garage boss fight with Baker, at least initially, was ‘How the fuck do I get out of here alive?’ rather than actively seeking to engage with the madman. Marguerite's insect form had me literally scraping the coffers of my ammo and health reserves, running around the lower flower frantically, with pee running down each leg, looking for a chance herb or box of bullets. I eventually won this battle backed into a corner, slashing blindly with my knife. Skin. of. my. teeth. And not a boss health bar in sight which was refreshing, a detail that Monster Hunter championed. But at least in that game a monster would limp when injured and near the end. Get with it, Capcom! That one’s your game too! Although I’ve dedicated a sizeable paragraph to the game’s shortcomings, these really are minor when all is said and done. I'm not a Resident Evil/survival horror fanboy by any stretch but imperfections notwithstanding, Resident Evil VII is an absolute tonne of nerve jangling, heart attack inducing fun that will leave you feeling extremely hopeful for the future. It’s handling of people and human beings and how human beings and their emotions should form the focal point of any believable narrative is refreshing to see fullstop, let alone in this genre. For some bizarre reason, this is a detail, as obvious as a wet fish to the face, that is so often sacrificed in video games in favour of jumping off high things, blowing things up or swishing the biggest sword imaginable. I know that not every game is driven by people but when you are aiming to go down that route, let’s do it right. Let’s hope that Evil has not only come home but that it has also moved into a new house! For good. And there's plenty of room for lodgers too!

[pixelgrotto]

The horrific Resident Evil playthrough, finale

Approximately one year ago I began the somewhat mad quest to shove as much Resident Evil into my brain as quickly as possible. I blazed through thirteen games, a handful of spin-offs, and as much supplementary material I could get my hands on. I chronicled my thoughts each step of the way via posts here, on Twitter and in a massive ResetERA thread where a lot of good people gave me advice on how to proceed with the series. Not all of the stuff I experienced was great (those Paul W.S. Anderson movies come to mind), and sometimes this massive undertaking felt like work, but now that I’ve come to the end, I can say that it was worth it, because it’s quite the feeling to bring yourself from having zero knowledge of something to morphing into a Wiki-reading fiend in just a year. At this time in 2018, I had only the barest notion of what this series was about and who characters like Jill Valentine or Leon Kennedy were. Now, I could probably write a pretty heated Twitter thread about how Jill needs to be brought back to the forefront of the series not just with a remake of Resident Evil 3, but with an entirely new game, because she’s been sidelined for years despite being the central figure in promotional material like the fancy artwork that I’ve posted above! Ahem. 

My initial desire to become more familiar with Resident Evil has been part of a larger push in recent years to consume more horror media, mostly because as I get older I find myself increasingly attracted to eerie stories that I was too much of a weenie to dive into when I was younger. Some of it probably has to do with the fact that as an adult I now find stuff like health concerns, existential dread and paying taxes to be more horrifying than things that go bump in the night, but part of it is also because that even as a scaredy cat kid, I was always kinda intrigued by macabre stuff like Resident Evil, even if I couldn’t bring myself to play through the games. 

Now that I’ve plowed through the franchise, I wish I could go back and whisper to my younger self that aside from the first game, RE7 and perhaps bits and pieces of both versions of RE2...Resident Evil isn’t all that frightening. The series does have its jump scares and gore, but it quickly crosses genres into the realm of action, and even in its more tense entries, Resident Evil stays dripping with a fine dollop of cheese, either through B-movie dialogue or moments when the main characters wink at the camera and suddenly take a zombie to suplex city. Action, comedy and horror are unusual but frequent bedfellows, I’ve learned, and with RE embodying all three of these genres, translating them to the realm of electronic entertainment via a format emphasizing survival, it’s only appropriate that this is the franchise that has come to serve as the face of spooky thrills in the video game world.

Resident Evil’s also in a very good place at this moment in time. RE2Make has gotten well-deserved praise from just about everyone who’s played it, and after a moment where it looked like Capcom was going to tilt the mattress and upset the delicately placed bedfellows - emphasizing action and over-the-top comedy more than horror - now it appears that the devs have gotten their heads straight and maintained the balance once more. There’s still room for improvement and careful experimentation though. As the series forges ahead into the 2020s, I hope that Capcom doesn’t get drunk off of RE2Make’s success, milking its formula to exhaustion. I want at least another mainline game to utilize the first-person perspective of Resident Evil 7, which worked better than I ever would’ve imagined, and I’d also like to see the Revelations sub-series, which was supposed to focus on stories that took place in between the main games, continue - in spirit if not in name. (A Revelations 3 or similar spin-off with fixed camera angles - perhaps in a mid-tier budget point ‘n click style a la Detention - would be something that I’d love, though Capcom probably will never go in that direction.) Finally, I’d like Resident Evil to remember that it had fabulous female representation in its earlier entries. The later titles have mostly had male protagonists front and center, which directly reinforces the trope that it’s okay for survival horror games to star the “must be protected” ladies, but anything action-orientated should star dudes so that male players can have their power fantasy trip. This can easily be fixed by doing what I said in the first paragraph - bring the queen Jill Valentine back. 

Finally, because these sorts of franchise reflections are never complete without a good ol’ fashioned list... Here’s how I’d rank the mainline games, complete with a snappy sentence or two for each.

Resident Evil REmake - Because if I had to recommend just ONE game for someone to get a decent idea of this series’ mechanics and themes, it would be this one.

Resident Evil 4 - It’s survival action instead of survival horror, but when the gameplay’s this good, can you really complain?

Resident Evil 2 - Over 20 years old and still a thrilling experience. The epitome of the fixed camera angle games.

Resident Evil 7 - I was afraid that the change to a first-person perspective would alienate me, but I beat this game in two days and couldn’t put it down.

Resident Evil RE2make - Almost as good as the original, and a great sign of the franchise’s future. 

Resident Evil Revelations 2 - Worth playing for the return of Barry Burton and the moving story alone, which is basically about fathers and daughters, loss and acceptance.

Resident Evil 1 - The OG that started it all. A little clunky to play in this day and age, but the magic’s still there. 

Resident Evil 6 - The equivalent of an overstuffed exploding cake, RE6 is excessive as hell and sometimes infuriating...but one thing you could never call it is boring.

Resident Evil 5 - A solid series entry about Chris Redfield punching boulders in Africa, this one’s excellent if you play it co-op. Solo, a little less excellent.

Resident Evil Zero - RE probably didn’t need this prequel showing what Rebecca Chambers was doing on the night before she got stuck in Spencer Mansion, but good chemistry between the main characters makes it worth experiencing.

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis - A lot of folks love this one, but IMO it feels less noteworthy than RE2 and RE1, probably because it was originally designed as a spin-off. I rank it low but am eager to see how a RE3make could boost it. 

Resident Evil Revelations - Jill Valentine’s in a wetsuit that clings to her booty this whole game and she hangs out with a partner who looks like Russell Crowe. Aside from that, Revelations is fine but kinda forgettable.

Resident Evil: Code Veronica - The only RE that truly annoyed me with backtracking and some cheap bosses, Code Veronica is technically still an okay game. But Steve Burnside is a garbage character. 

Thus, we bring the horrific, 2018-2019 Pixel Grotto Resident Evil playthrough to a gentle finish. *Cue relaxing save room theme here.* It’s been fun, ladies and gents. I need to rest up a bit and try some other games that aren’t survival horror for a while. But I like the idea of doing more series playthroughs in the future...

And I think Silent Hill might be a good choice for the next one. 

The header artwork is a textless version of the radical Biohazard 20th Anniversary poster that Capcom put out in 2016.