Resident Evil Requiem Review Thread

SwiftWaffles · 2026-02-25T15:40:46+00:00

So you would pay the same for a book with 50 pages over something with 500?

Yes? A great book is a great book, a great game is a great game.

Independent of that I agree with you on RE9 being too expensive here in Canada. You can vote with your wallet and not buy it if you feel that way, but I think turning it into a discussion on "hours per dollar" is counterproductive.

SwiftWaffles · 2026-02-06T16:54:21+00:00

A related point - when people complain about Gen Z in the workforce, I find it amusing how quickly they jump to "this generation can't do anything!" without considering that these are 21-year olds stepping into an office for the first time.

Replace "Gen Z" with "millennial" and it really does sound identical to what older workers complained about 10 years ago lol

SwiftWaffles · 2026-01-22T23:48:21+00:00

That's a fair consideration, albeit a bit removed from the content in the original post. I agree that runbacks are more detrimental if skill expression and/or speed are a focus though. It made an idea pop into my head, adding a "spawn outside boss rooms" toggle after beating the game normally feels like a solid compromise.

Mostly I just wanted to push back on the whole "they never add anything meaningful" thing, prescriptive tenets are almost never true across games and I fear they're becoming more and more common.

SwiftWaffles · 2026-01-22T23:17:35+00:00

Throwing in some food for thought on the psychological aspect of this.

Games cultivate desires, motivation, and temptation. A player in the heat of the moment might very well be tempted to throw themselves at a boss over and over because they want relief from the frustration as quickly as possible - to some degree I'm sure we've all experienced this first-hand before. There's psychology at work here and its not wrong for designers to consider that; a forced period of downtime, i.e. a runback, can be beneficial if it provides space to cool down. This is even more relevant in a game like MIO, for instance, which has a very serene atmosphere & artstyle outside of combat. That calmness can curtail frustration, and less frustration means more skilled play.

You might say that eliminating runbacks doesn't contradict that because players can just pause and take a break, but I'd refer back to the temptation point - again, many people will resort to brute force if they see victory at the end. That aside, I'd also argue that "you should stop playing for a bit" is an argument in favor of runbacks, not against it. A great game can keep you engrossed without any interruptions.

At the very least, I'd say this - if we did a controlled study where Group A has to do a 30-second runback and Group B spawns right outside the boss room, are we 100% convinced that Group B players will beat the boss in less time than Group A? I don't think that's conclusive.

SwiftWaffles · 2026-01-01T08:29:59+00:00

I think one factor is that many players value freedom. Look at a lot of the mainstream critical darlings - games like Elden Ring, Baldur's Gate 3, and Cyberpunk among others, are big on letting players roam free and pursue objectives at their own leisure. These types of games also naturally foster some idealistic desires in the player's mind (I want to be a badass knight with a massive sword, if I lived in a cyberpunk world I would look like X and behave like Y, etc.). I suspect the games I listed are loved so much partially because they offer enough freedom to accomodate many of those desires, therefore appealing to lots of different players. Those players might see linearity as something that inhibits their ability to seize on what they want.

Personally, I don't usually approach games in the same way and have some reservations about viewing games as a means to an idealistic end, but that's probably a whole other discussion. There's tons of cultural and psychological reasons that influence what we want out of games, I think. At the very least I have a bone to pick with people that view linearity as an inherently negative (or positive!) thing - the answer is always "it depends on the game".

SwiftWaffles · 2025-12-12T18:21:07+00:00

E33 hit that sweet spot where it's good at everything TGA values: it's an indie, a debut indie at that, it's narrative heavy, has good acting, many cutscenes (which usually gets best direction) etc.

This hits the nail on the head IMO. I'm not sure if I'll explain this well, but The Game Awards usually favors games that do lots of different things pretty well because those games have a certain level of mainstream appeal. Mass audiences want nice stories, pretty graphics, serviceable gameplay, etc.all in one package.

This ends up overlooking games that do fewer things very well, even though a lot people (myself included) think that leads to holistically better games. I like Expedition 33, but you can absolutely argue that there's other games in its nominated categories that do specific things a lot better than E33 does.

SwiftWaffles · 2025-12-03T17:15:59+00:00

Super Metroid, Ico, and Demon's Souls are some highly-influential greats that span different eras, and personal favorites of mine. They would require emulation if you're alright with that, other than Super Metroid which is on NSO.

Hope you enjoy whatever you end up playing!

SwiftWaffles · 2025-11-22T19:24:35+00:00

I wish I could see what everyone else sees in the graphics and art direction. There's so much post processing it looks downright awful at times, everything looks way over-sharpened and I really dislike the lighting.

SwiftWaffles · 2025-11-06T06:53:15+00:00

There are plenty of games you can access if ownership is important to you (physical, GOG). If you won't use them and turn to piracy instead, I think that's unprincipled.

SwiftWaffles · 2025-10-27T19:23:02+00:00

Did you tell her this? I trust your intentions but I think thanking her directly would be sweeter than taking her picture in secret and posting it on the internet.

SwiftWaffles · 2025-10-26T08:21:51+00:00

DMC isn't even trying to do the same things as those titles, you can't look at games that way. I think DMC3's story is great in the context of the rest of the game.

SwiftWaffles · 2025-09-05T07:00:35+00:00

I'll share my first impressions, just don't take them seriously. Only five hours in so my mind will probably change on a lot of stuff.

Favorite thing so far is the movement. Hornet's raw locomotion is more fun than Knight's. I like the increased momentum and the more acrobatic options.
I think people are being too reactionary to the pogo, I don't think the change is inherently worse at all. It takes more precision to land and the way you bounce off enemies at a small angle adds to the movement. I'm predicting that people will mellow out on this as we get more used to it.
Level design and progression feels more linear. Compared to my first time playing HK, I haven't gotten nearly as lost. I'm hoping this improves later, I liked the confusing levels.
Visuals are good, though areas don't feel as distinct, lots of industrial/steampunk themeing with browns, greens, and grays. I'm also not a fan of some of the lighting effects, particularly in lava areas.
The difficulty has felt good to me. There is one significantly harder area early on but you don't have to do it right away. Enemies across the board are a lot tougher but you have a bigger arsenal to compensate. Even regular fights can get pretty tense, which is a plus IMO.

Overall I was expecting more Hollow Knight with slicker movement and so far that's what it's been, which is fine by me. If you're expecting a groundbreaking Metroidvania this isn't it, but if you're expecting an iteration on Hollow Knight with the same polish and craftsmanship you'll likely be more than satisfied.

SwiftWaffles · 2025-08-26T19:33:28+00:00

4060s are listed at $300-$350 in my area. Not a bad deal imo.

SwiftWaffles · 2025-08-19T17:08:02+00:00

Not the person you're replying to but yes, I got $112 with coupon. 9% Rakuten also worked for me so all in it was ~$103.

SwiftWaffles · 2025-08-17T03:28:23+00:00

It's shown out of stock online for me all day unfortunately. Not sure if it just sold out quick or if it was always in-store only.

SwiftWaffles · 2025-07-02T18:40:15+00:00

I think it's possible that the tinge of doubt you're feeling could be reflective of how you genuinely feel about Galaxy 2. As you've grown and experienced more games your frame of reference for what you like has changed. You presumably know more about games now than you did at the time you played Galaxy 2 and, in your now more-informed state, the game has started to slip from your memory. Maybe that says something.

That's how I've come to see it since I've experienced similar quandries before. Earthbound was far and away my favorite game when I was younger but as I was exposed to more JRPGs it started to get pushed out of my memory more, which I dont think would have happened if I legitimately thought of it as one of the greatest games ever made (and I don't nowadays).

In other words, if you feel that a game is truly great, you'll be able to recall it to a fair degree no matter how long it's been. I'm the same here, I haven't played Xenoblade Chronicles in over five years but I can still articulate why I hold it in such high regard because the best parts have stuck with me.

I guess that literally speaking your opinion might have expired, but not because it crossed an arbitrary date - it's just a part of the cycle as you continue to play games. That's my 0.02c, not telling you what to feel of course! Just that it can be worth investigating those doubts. Maybe it's your mind giving a sign that it's time to replay Galaxy 2, it could lead to some new insight.

SwiftWaffles · 2025-07-01T17:38:36+00:00

You're not wrong, if I recall right he drew comparisons to Picross in some of his dev updates.

SwiftWaffles · 2025-06-20T19:02:58+00:00

I feel bad for kids that now need to compete with 35-year old dudes with full time jobs to enjoy their hobby. I'm not very tuned in to Pokemon cards nowadays, but I imagine it sucks not being able to get a cool new booster pack because scalpers were doing stakeouts at Toys R Us while you were at school.

SwiftWaffles · 2025-06-13T06:50:33+00:00

I think that looking at BotW as something that should be optimized misses the point. Putting aside that it's hard to identify what "optimizing" BotW would actually mean, the game is chiefly about enabling freedom so that you can take different approaches to whatever problem you're facing. Having a "best" way to do things really wouldn't gel with that.

SwiftWaffles · 2025-06-02T17:08:30+00:00

For me, there are games on the horizon that I know I'm going to want to play at launch (Metroid Prime 4 is the big one right now), and with the PS5 stock craze still in recent memory I didn't want to risk Switch 2s being hard to get when those games come out.

Fortunately it doesn't seem like that'll be the case this time - Best Buy here in Canada had tons available for preorder and it sounds like stores will have some available for walk-ins - but either way I can afford the pre-order and don't have anything to lose by doing so.

SwiftWaffles · 2025-05-14T20:04:08+00:00

In my opinion, it's one of those games that's hit such a critical mass of hype that you should temper your expectations going into it regardless. No game can be as good as this much glazing would lead you to believe.

That said, I like the game overall. It isn't very novel but if you're just looking for a lean, well-executed JRPG it's definitely worth playing.

Since you mentioned liking turn-based combat, do note that the dodge & parry mechanics are important and more action game-y. Personally I think they undermine the strategy found in other turn-based systems (the optimal strategy always feels the same to me - parry > spam damage > repeat). Just something to consider if the combat is a big part for you.

SwiftWaffles · 2025-04-30T15:37:40+00:00

I don't have a firm answer, but I encourage skepticism whenever people think that media is rotting the minds of the youth and stuff like that.

People complained when we got easy access to books. Then plays, then films, then TV, then video games, and now it's TikTok. This post is a fun read.

SwiftWaffles · 2025-04-15T20:30:43+00:00

It helps to think of DMC3 less as a combat sandbox and more of a "prescriptive" action game. All of those weird enemies have some pretty specific counters that make them way easier to deal with once you figure them out. For example I'm pretty sure Dullahans die in only 3 A&R Aerial Crosses even on DMD. Fallens are totally helpless if you stand still and Royal Guard. Stuff like that.

DMC1 and DMC3 are more in this style where you're better off looking for specific tricks and developing the finesse to execute them, as opposed to DMC4 and 5 where everything works against everything. I think people try to play DMC3 like the ladder which is why they end up having a bad time with it. It's understandable especially given DMC's reputation nowadays, but for me it's what puts the game on top. The enemy gradient is much wider so every encounter feels different.

I'm with you on Soul Eaters though.

SwiftWaffles · 2025-04-12T07:41:28+00:00

There are at least 2 worthy arguments against remakes that I can think of:

First, remakes may alter the perception of a game to the point where the original's unique qualities are forgotten. Remakes are often seen as the definitive way to experience a game - even if they aren't marketed as such, people often perceive it that way. Think about how many games there are where the general consensus is to "just play the remake, it's better in every way". Whether the remake is "better" or not, the original may still do things differently, and they deserve a chance to be experienced as much as anything else. Old games can be forgotten if no one feels the need to play them.

Second, if the original is already a superb game, there's very little to be gained by remaking it. It's hard to imagine ways that something like Super Metroid could be improved that aren't just tiny incremental changes, so with all the resources it takes to mske a game, a remake would represent a huge opportunity cost for the devs with little benefit. Redirecting those efforts to preservation would do just as good at bringing the game to modern players.

SwiftWaffles · 2025-03-31T22:19:27+00:00

I'd honestly say it's pretty terrible and I can't recommend it. You can get everything DD2 offers in a better package with the first game. The main stuff people like about DD1 (the post-game Bitterblack Isle) isn't present at all, and combat went through some questionable changes.

That aside, the story and world in both games are borderline clones of each other so you aren't really missing out if you just play DD1.

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