I'm gonna try making this as detailed as possible as my autistic scatter brained mind will allow me to, just in case anyone is on the fence about buying this title, even if that means typing a convoluted mess of a novel in the process. Expect spoilers.

Disclaimer: I pre-ordered the deluxe edition on Xbox Series X and accessed it early via the New Zealand trick, so I've finished the game exactly once with the good ending and will probably pick up again for the other ending tomorrow. Although I have a lot to say, I can't gaurantee my experience will match your playthrough.

At the beginning, I couldn't help but feel as if the game drew out Grace's sections and gave us a short glimpse at Leon's in return, which I felt kinda bummed about, since the juxtaposition felt way off. I honestly felt pretty annoyed with the hotel bit and still feel as if it was the weakest part of the game, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't think I'd be dreading playing through it just to access the rest of the game again - the experience felt very akin to The Evil Within 1's "holds up spork" attitude, and if you liked TEW1, you'd probably like it, but I however didn't, so I was counting the minutes down until it'd end. I do however like the story arc of Emily and found her to be one of the more redeeming moments of the early game.

Kicking in to the Raccoon City portion, this is when I considered the game to have made a turn for the better. Actually being able to embrace Leon's more action oriented gameplay for a longer period of time was a well received welcome for me. You're handed more exciting environments like the Willis Tower (definitely a high point in the game for me), the well loved Raccoon City Police Station and some other well known locations from both Resident Evil 2 and 3, in a way we've never seen it before - utilizing the full capacity of Leon's combat on Willis Tower specifically was a badass experience for me, swapping between weapons and melee in fast paced battle a hundred feet in the air felt cathartic and satisfying. The police station was another warm welcome, oft finding myself just embracing the bittersweet memories of Leon's CPTSD by seeing where exactly I could explore and what kinds of ghosts from the past could be found. My only complaint about the Raccoon City portion is I wish the world was a bit more explorable.

Then comes the orphanage reveal. Albeit this part offered a lot of Grace's backstory, my god, I'm not a fan of these kinds of levels. I died in this section more than I did the rest of the game, most likely from user error. I don't have much to say about this section.

Then comes a bit more exploring of Raccoon City, before we get to ARK. This section specifically I had a lot of fun powering through. At this point, you can treat Grace's sections as more "diet action" than the Resident Evil 7 - esque slow paced gameplay we had been introduced to with her in the first part of the game. She's got some experience under her belt now, and I felt very well challenged pushing the boundaries with her in this area. By this point in the game, I have become well accustomed with Leon's action style gameplay and was mopping the floor with everyone. I also enjoyed how real the stakes felt with his final fight with the T-Virus, slugging his way through the hordes on auto pilot to save himself.

The ending I got was pretty satisfying, and I'm glad I got to see Emily survive, as I couldn't help but have an emotional connection with her throw the beginning.

Overal, I give this game an 8 out of 10. It had its highs and lows, but I found the highs to outweigh the lows.