I picked this up a couple of weeks ago as a change of pace after I finally started getting my Returnal habit under control. I’m about halfway through it now, and I’m not really sure what to make of it. Technically and artistically it’s spectacular, and I’m certainly enjoying it (the story is absurd in all the best ways) but the more I think about it, the more I’m coming to the conclusion that it’s really quite a bad videogame.
There’s a lot of archaic design - on-rails sequences with instant death failstates, gimmick-driven boss fights, stick the crest in the crest-shaped hole “puzzles.” The combat is frequently not great, with some enemies that combine fast and erratic movements with a lack of hit- reactions/feedback to annoying effect.
Ethan Winters is, bluntly, a moron. Some of his dialogue is so terrible I find it hard to believe it’s not intentionally so, and he reacts to sustaining fairly horrifying injuries as if he’s stubbed his toe. Then again, apparently a severed hand can be treated by picking it up, sticking it back onto the stump, pouring a bottle of “medicine” over it and waiting 10 seconds, so perhaps it’s not that big a deal after all. To be fair though, some of the other characters are a lot of fun in a very campy B-movie sort of way.
But despite all that and some other annoyances (puzzles where you have to rely on wonky physics engines - just no) I’m having loads of fun with it and I’m off to play some more now. It’s an odd game.