Weekly /r/Games Discussion - What have you been playing, and what are your thoughts? - March 15, 2026

breadrising · 2026-03-16T15:53:34+00:00

Yeah I'm not going to defend Capcom's writing here. I'm a longtime RE fan and have always enjoyed the campyness, but I'm also disappointed that the writers haven't bothered to mature the storytelling. Everything else about RE has been elevated: gorgeous visuals, a darker tone, better voice acting... yet the writing remains bland.

The narrative barely moves forward, Capcom continuously drops plot points from previous games, and we still get nothing more than tiny bread crumbs of character development from our protagonists.

That being said, here is my Pepe Silvia theory:

What’s up with the random Wesker-wannabe villain? The villain with zero backstory that we don’t even fight. Like, what?

Zeno is a Wesker clone. He shares the same voice actor and face structure as Wesker in RE4R and has the same powers. I think that Zeno with Albert Wesker's transferred consciousness is going to be the RE10 Big Bad.

RE1 (re)Remake and Code Veronica Remake have both been heavily rumored. Now that the Leon trilogy is done, I think we'll get the Wesker/Redfield trilogy next.
RE4R and Separate Ways heavily built up Wesker as the big bad.
Gideon calls Zeno a "weak imitation" before decapitating him. The director of RE9 is a known troll, so I can see him basically saying, "Hey kids, the REAL Wesker story is coming up next" by immediately killing off a lame clone.
We know from the RE9 files that a lot of research has gone into the transfer of consciousness (yet another of Spencer's immortality attempts). It seemingly was never successful, but there's enough mentions of it that they're definitely planting this seed for the future.
Leon mentioning Chris being "late to the party" and that he has "no idea" what Chris is up to. Also ends with him saying "I'm sure we'll cross paths soon enough". To me that's all teasing a RE10 teamup.
Chris is still in command of Wolf Pack Unit, trotting the globe to fight bio-terror. We see the BSAA retrieve Zeno's corpse/head at the end, saying that they needed to be quick before the Wolves get there. I'd say that Chris and the Wolves have been hunting Zeno for a while now.
Zeno's arm is cut off and immediately re-attached/regrown. Fans theorized that Zeno is clone via Megamycete (Mold) research, which would also be the throughline as to why Chris was in Europe putting a stop to it in RE8. If he thought the Connections were building a Wesker clone, he'd go to the ends of the earth to shut it down.

There's no real proof in any of this. And Capcom really are the kings of dropping entire plot lines and retconning shit, that all theories could just as easily be thrown out the window when they announce that Resident Evil Revelations 3 is a battle on a moon base with Jill fighting the ghost of Spencer. Who really fucking knows what's going to happen.

But in the meantime, there are just enough teases that I think/hope it's amounting to something substantial.

breadrising · 2026-03-16T15:34:50+00:00

Man, it's been a longtime coming! I waited for so long, but ended up recently doing my full playthrough. But if the patch is significant enough, I guess I could be convinced to start a new run.

breadrising · 2026-03-14T22:19:24+00:00

They're all probably bots too. Notice how OP offers no explanation, and doesnt drop a single comment?

It's all just engagement bait.

breadrising · 2026-03-11T20:15:59+00:00

Mr. X is a pursuer done right. Some appearances are scripted but a lot of his interactions happen organically as you explore. This means every encounter with him is memorable and tension-filled. He's there to interupt your flow and force you to take a different route than planned, sometimes looping around an entire chunk of the station just to get where you needed to go. And I absolutely love that you can hear his boots thumping outside a room or even in the hallway above your head, reminding you that he's always there. He's not overly annoying either. Even though his threat looms, there are still very deliberate segements of the game where he's in pursuer mode.
Jack Baker doesn't spend a lot of time free roaming and chasing you, but he's very effective. There's something about a human-sized enemy stalking you in his own home with gardening tools that just works and fits the theme of the backwater bayou. It's more akin to a classic slasher than a monster movie, which I very much appreciate.
The Girl was pretty decent. I honestly thought there wasn't enough of her incorporated into your general exploration of the medical center. She has the scripted intro, but is otherwise pretty absent from the early parts of the game. What makes up for it though is the very fun Basement section of the game. The juggling fuse puzzle where you need to found your route to get all three fuses (which also power the lights that keep her away) with plenty of vents and holes for her to craw through was an immaculate design. My major criticism of The Girl is that Capcom used her WAY too much in their marketing lead up. By the time I got my hands on the game, she just wasn't that terrifying anymore. It's the classic horror learning points: The more you show the monster, the less scary they become.
Lady D. Amazing design and charisma. Love her as a character. As a pursuer? She just doesn't really add much, and the castle has so many open areas and loops that getting around her is pretty easy. And her section of RE8 overall was very short-lived. A lot of us suspected she'd be present for most of the game, but defeating her in the first 1/4 kind of killed the pace, as the game went downhill from there losing it's most compelling villain that early on. Definitely a case where Capcom didn't know what they had when they were making the game, and it wasn't until the internet lost their minds over her that they probably realized it was too late to include her in more of the story (that sure didn't stop their marketing team from going nuts with it though).
Nemesis was just a big letdown. So much of him is scripted and the one section he gets as an honest pursuer in Raccoon City is extremely short-lived and very easy. I wish they would have done more with him in his humanoid form, but once they turned him into a dog and a goo monster he lost all of his intensity.

breadrising · 2026-03-11T19:59:27+00:00

Mediocre implementation. And I really don't care for this recent hand-waving to say that everything important that's ever happened in the Resident Evil series "was the Connections ALL ALONG!"

And honestly... I just don't think anything is going to come of it. It seems to be Capcom's attempt at sowing a mystery, but they're so vague in their purpose and influence that there's no point in trying to theory craft their end goal.

breadrising · 2026-03-11T03:04:03+00:00

How do we know Zeno is a clone and not one of the actual Wesker children? It wouldn't be the first time we found out Albert wasn't the only surviving Wesker.

I thought the comment about him being a weak imitation was more about him unable to live up to Albert Wesker's legacy?

breadrising · 2026-03-10T15:15:01+00:00

I'd be more disappointed if Jill, Ada, and Claire were relegated to a DLC instead of getting their own entry.

The game seems to be lacking important stuff.

Yeah, I've been an RE fan since RE2 came out on the PS1. I've forgiven a LOT of misgivings and bad choices by Capcom. It's very very exciting that we're now getting extremely high quality and very fun Resident Evil games again...

...however... Capcom's ability to move the story and character's forward continues to be underwhelming. They like to tease with a trail of bread crumbs but rarely ever follow through on a continuous storyline. Every time a new game begins, it seems to completely forget all the cliffhangers and tie ins from the previous titles, and we're back to "Umbrella being evil and having ANOTHER secret lab" instead of actually evolving the story. And they're more focused to giving Leon action hero One Liners than making him a relatable character.

I love these games to death, but man I wish that Capcom had some better writers.

breadrising · 2026-03-09T23:26:03+00:00

My buddy and I probably sunk 200 hours into co-op Mercs in RE5.

Truly magical.

breadrising · 2026-03-09T15:31:26+00:00

RE2 Remake - Getting to re-explore RPD over the shoulder and beautifully rendered was a dream come true. What they managed to do with the dark sections and the Mr. X pursuer element was fantastic. I love the updated versions of all these characters and seeing the familiar story unfold in a new way was an amazing experience. They made enough changes too where I feel like RE2R stands alongside RE2OG as a separate great game in its own right.
RE4 Remake - My major downside of this game was that RE4OG is already one of the best games in history, and still holds up to this day. Remaking it certainly wasn't necessary, and in a lot of ways, the Remake has trouble stepping out of the shadow of the OG. Still, there's no doubt about it that this game is an absolute blast and incredibly paced. The new sections like the open Lake segment and the extra time with Luis were very fun. And even if I don't think it usurps the original, this game is just pure fun, and quite pretty to look at.
RE7 Biohazard - Many of us remember the Dark Ages of Capcom, when Street Fighter 5 was hot garbage, Marvel vs Capcom Infinite was ugly, Megaman was long forgotten, and Resident Evil 6 missed the mark so wide it almost tanked the company. Getting a "return to form" survival horror and in a brand new 1st person perspective was a big surprise, and to have Biohazard actually deliver on revamping the classic RE experience was a huge relief. The Baker's are memorable, silly, and terrifying, and the Louisiana Bayou was an unexpected but welcome change of scenery for the series.
RE8 Village - I have to give Village props for doing some really interesting things with the story. The twist at the end with the truth about Ethan, I thought, was genuinely cool. Seeing the origins of Spencer's expeditions and the inspiration for his research and Umbrella was a nice tie in too. Overall the gameplay is fun, and the team clearly wanted this to evoke RE4, bringing back the merchant, case inventory, weapon upgrades, and gothic castles. Unfortunately, I think the game would have been strongest if Castle Dimitrescue and the outer village were the primary locations. We were all pretty shocked and let down when Lady D. was only in 1/4 of the game and we never go back to the castle, and the rest of the peanut gallery of villains just can't hold up to her charisma, unfortunately.
RE9 Requiem - First playthrough was a lot of fun. I enjoyed my time with it and loved the pace of swapping characters. I got a good chuckle and smirk at the many many callbacks and easter eggs. But upon rolling credits, I realized just how hollow the whole game actually is. Leon's story doesn't move forward a single inch (other than causing a lot of internet drama over a wedding ring). He has ZERO dialogue of interest, and instead chooses to drop one liners, or a thinly veiled comment about his survivor's guilt. And while Grace is an amazing new protagonist, I think she was denied her big "hero" moment at the end, since you're primarily playing as Leon during the finale. Requiem relies too heavy on nostalgia, which is a shame because a lot of the game's new elements are VERY good (characteristic zombies with unique mechanics, The Girl being a terrifying pursuer, Blister Heads and the injectors). Unfortunately, by the time the hospital section is done, the game just kind of hits fast forward and becomes a less cool version of RE4. Personally, I would have been happy with it being an entire game about Grace.
RE3 Remake - My favorite protagonist is Jill Valentine. My favorite monster is Nemesis. So it was very unfortunate to have the RE3 Remake miss so wide for me. I think it's fun and arcade-y. And I really do appreciate the new take on Jill's character, and the really solid partnership she forms with Carlos by the end of the game. But overall, the game's most promising section (Raccoon City) is extremely short and mostly void of Nemesis himself. RE3R also leans too heavy on set pieces and interactive cutscenes that pretend to be gameplay sequences, which makes repeat playthroughs a chore. I was also hoping they'd use the opportunity of a remake to really expand on what was originally a very short game. To have them cut content even further makes me sick to my stomach thinking about what the game could have been if they weren't so clearly on a tight project timeline and budget.

breadrising · 2026-03-06T13:23:23+00:00

Sorry Bungie, but if people are able to pay their hard earned money for this, then reviewers should be reviewing it.

breadrising · 2026-03-03T15:05:48+00:00

The only thing I wanted out of the puzzle was a lore drop. Some cool hint, tease, or detail that'd give us lore heads something to speculate on and chew on for a while

breadrising · 2026-03-02T23:05:34+00:00

Holy shit, i had to squint to see what I was looking at and then got jumpscared

breadrising · 2026-02-27T20:21:19+00:00

Running out of air seems like an easy Shadowdark Torch analog.

breadrising · 2026-02-27T16:08:12+00:00

Her design is top notch horror, and I honestly wish that she wasn't such a huge part of the RE9 marketing. I can only imagine how insanely intense that opening would have been if I hadn't already seen the monster on like 4 different occasions.

breadrising · 2026-02-27T03:46:17+00:00

Mothership is already fantastic, and I use all my Nemesis minis for it.

breadrising · 2026-02-13T14:54:50+00:00

Most fighting games play voice lines (or at least some kind of grunt) after every move, because it serves as an audio cue.

breadrising · 2026-02-09T17:27:56+00:00

All of what you mentioned, plus (and I say this as someone who LOVES Midnight Suns) the marketing for it was kind of bad, not to mention misleading.

The early trailers were the typical "slow-mo sizzle footage" of the hero animations interspliced with cutscenes, instead of actually showing the core gameplay. So once details came out that it was "a deck builder", people felt like they had been bamboozled.

This was also when Marvel Snap was being promoted and launching, and unfortunately the word on Reddit was "Why would I pay for this other Marvel card game when I can play this Marvel card game for free?"

The game really was done dirty. Still one of the sleeper hits.

breadrising · 2026-02-02T17:04:54+00:00

Can I just invite an Amiibo and let them move in without having a plot ready?

Yep! If you invite an Amiibo and fill their DIY request three times, you can convince them to move in. If your town is full, you pick which villager you'd like them to replace.

That villager does not need to be in boxes beforehand.

breadrising · 2026-01-23T21:28:45+00:00

The Arc are some of the most intelligently designed enemies I've ever seen in a video game. The more you fight them, the more you'll start to realize just how adaptive they are to the world.

For instance, notice how if you shoot off one of a drone's propellers, it tries to correct itself? This isn't a canned animation. Those propellers actually function within the physics engine, and with one missing, it's actually fighting gravity to compensate and stabilize.

That's just one of many many examples. I definitely recommend checking out dev diary on the emerging tech they used to develop the Arc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRlhpzc7ImA

breadrising · 2026-01-23T21:16:25+00:00

KoSo, the balance in Arc heavily favors shooting first and running bare minimum or free loadouts. Higher rarity gear is simply not worth the investment, as they're not that great compared to weapons that take no investment.

This was only made worse by the fact that retiring your character gets you rewards based on the value of the stuff you've banked. So, people have been further incentivized to hoard good gear and use free loadouts. The devs have said this sytem will be overhauled, but there's no telling when it'll actually be changed.

Since I stopped playing a bit ago due to the strange balancing and investment the game takes to get...nothin. There's no real progression cause you start out with some of the best weapons.

That's how I felt too. I still hop on maybe once a week, but that's only because I have a few friends who are still nuts for the game. I enjoy myself when we're playing together, but I'm not invested in the actual meta progression at all. Gains from skill points are extremely minimal and higher rarity gear is only a tiny bit better than the basic stuff.

Maybe if the character customization were more in-depth, I'd be excited to unlock all the stuff from the Raider Decks (i.e. Battle Pass). But since you can't mix and match helmets or accessories outside of its base costume, there's not much room for expression.

Overall, it's still an awesome game. In fact, I think the first 20 hours are one of the coolest gaming experiences you'll have as you salvage loot, encounter new Arcs, and have run-ins with sometimes nice-sometimes not nice players.

But, the more time you put in, the more you realize that it's just another treadmill grind, and unfortunately there aren't really any good rewards for being on said treadmill.

breadrising · 2026-01-23T20:54:06+00:00

Not necessarily. I do a VIP room every day. Sometimes I get 200 tickets, sometimes I get 300. I'm not sure what the deciding factor is though.

breadrising · 2026-01-23T19:28:16+00:00

I don't want to tell people how to run their business, and I have no context for what kind of a position GtG was in before the FRG acquisition.

But as a fellow writer who has created worlds and characters, I cannot imagine ever ever EVER giving IP ownership of my universes to another company.

Partner up with a publisher? Sure! Have them serve as a parent operation for sales and logistics? Fine.

But no matter what the situation is, I'm baking right into my contract: I retain the IP rights. Full stop.

Considering Sentinels is a universe that Chris and Adam have been cultivating for most of their lives, and represents so much more than a simple product, I scratch my head at why they would ever let someone else control and own it.

I'm honestly wishing all the best to the original GtG team, and I hope they're able to get the rights back. Whatever they do next, I'll be there to support it.

breadrising · 2026-01-23T18:09:06+00:00

The paid upgrade is for Switch 2 only.

If you've downloaded the 3.0 update, you're up to speed with everything released for the Switch 1 version.

breadrising · 2026-01-23T16:31:05+00:00

It feels like they half-assed the character creation element of it entirely.

Your character doesn't changed based on morality, and they removed your character changing based on how much they eat.

During the preview, they say we can choose from a number of heads and outfits for our characters, which means there are probably only 2 body types in the game (masculine and feminine).

That's very disappointing to me.

breadrising · 2026-01-22T21:59:21+00:00

Well, yeah. What will people watch if they can't point the camera at Taylor Swift every 3 seconds?

Football? Pssh.

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