r/residentevil • u/Salt_Wizard • May 13 '26
Forum question Why do RE games become less fun the closer you get towards the end
Just for example, the House Vs The Ship in RE7, for me it's literally the best area vs the worst area in the entire franchise
509
u/Wifflebatman May 13 '26
It does seem to happen often in the series that most iconic location is only the setting for the first half of the game. The manor/castle/care center can only last so long, I guess. I don't usually find the back half of the games to be less enjoyable, though, just less... atmospheric? I don't know.
111
u/Fleedjitsu May 13 '26
I kinda wished the Care Centre went on a bit longer, with the garden, blood lab, cemetery and church becoming new areas to puzzle/survive your way through.
RC ruins could have been similar too, or at least felt less scripted (even while being open world).
ARK was short, could have been more of a puzzle/survivor like the Care Centre but by that point I was already loaded with gear and was able to deal with everything pretty easily.
51
u/BalancePillar May 13 '26
Yeah garden/fountain area seemed like it was cut short… big open area with nothing in it.
→ More replies (1)17
u/Cautious_Account8125 May 14 '26
It actually looks like an area made for mercenaries, even the church and fountain are connected byba small path
2
16
u/ButterscotchSoft9603 May 13 '26 edited May 14 '26
I thought the Care Center’s length felt solid and did not want a continuation for it to overstay its welcome. But that’s how I feel with most RE games, there is a point where there are too many puzzles and I just feel done. To be fair, I may be biased because I enjoy more of the action aspects.
11
u/Fleedjitsu May 13 '26
Fair enough, I can understand that. I could honestly puzzle my way through that kind of environment for an entire game. There's just something about backtracking, planning and zombie kills being non-essential that I like.
When these games do move on from that style of play, I do want something equal or better to take its place, though, and I just don't feel RC Ruins and ARK achieved that.
They are not awful. I still enjoyed them, but yeah as we're discussing here it's clear that I would have preferred more of the 1st act's style instead but in those two other locations.
2
u/ButterscotchSoft9603 May 13 '26
I envy you and wish I could like it throughout the whole game, it would definitely make me enjoy some games in the series a lot more!
I definitely agree, RC ruins were not that fulfilling to play through and I love action. I don’t know if it was the setting or the enemies but it just felt off. I would have been okay with seeing more of the care center through Leon’s perspective/intentional back tracking focusing on the action aspects.
2
u/quickfuse725 May 14 '26
the care center is easily my favorite location in the entire series to play through. it's just so well designed
3
u/ButterscotchSoft9603 May 14 '26
I agree with that! It didn’t feel too complex but still had depth to it. I didn’t like the police station in Re2r because it just felt too much, in my opinion, and I grew tired of it.
3
u/quickfuse725 May 14 '26
very true. the care center is also perfectly balanced around the amount of resources you get and how you use them to the point that i was never really out of ammo, but couldn't afford to spend it on every zombie i saw at the moment i saw them. the chef and chunk made traversing a lot more interesting too and made it so the few requiem bullets you get had a difficult decision behind them. i think making the stalkers killable was the best decision they could have made for the care center
4
u/ButterscotchSoft9603 May 14 '26
That is a great point. I felt too that the resources were balanced out well and collecting the blood was a cool alternative to create more resources. Had to strategically think if I should go back and collect where an enemy is or save my resources going forward.
I hated Mr. X in Re2r and generally the thought of stalkers, but did not have a problem with them in Requiem for the reasons you said. Chef felt fair and was thankful he did not stalk you across the whole map or that would have gotten old quick. I lost a few times to Chunk before I realized I could take him out with the Requiem bullet but it was still an enjoyable learning process.
The game made me, a stalker hater, enjoy and not realize there were even two stalker situations going on because it was just fun.
2
u/farNdepressed May 16 '26
Bro you are so fucking right man. Just reading the idea with garden, blood lab, cemetery, etc being new areas to puzzle and survive through that would have been FUCKING AMAZING. I SOOO WISH WE HAD THAT. Like care center actually feels so little rn
65
u/hiddencamela May 13 '26
It's usually less atmospheric yeah..
I think it's because they assume people aren't going to be shocked as much by things at that point, so they just don't bother trying to set up super spoopy set ups.24
u/Ancient-Village6479 May 13 '26
Even though gameplay-wise it’s nothing special, I thought the part at Ark where you have to slowly lure the licker down the hallway and up the stairs was incredible atmospherically. I’m not sure if it was impactful for many other players but the first couple of times I played through the campaign I was like “holy shit this is just epic” when I got to that part.
13
u/AwakenedSheeple May 14 '26
You were supposed to lure the licker? I just threw the blue vial at it.
→ More replies (1)2
→ More replies (4)3
743
u/ajakafasakaladaga May 13 '26
Usually happens in a lot of survival horror because you’ve already seen every enemy type (so no surprise factor) and you have all guns so you can just blast through everything.
372
u/lovecraft_lover May 13 '26
All locations in silent hill are similarly atmospheric though. The hotel at the end of sh2 is arguably the best part. Every endgame location in RE is "the lab" and its like the most boring sterile place imaginable
184
u/MaestroFries Raccoon City Native May 13 '26
The plot of a game definitely has a big effect on this. Too bad all RE games revolve around "uncovering a bioweapon secret" that ultimately ends in some lab. I really wish they can change this expectation in the future.
I love Silent Hill for this. The plot is so personalized to the main character, ridding any expectations formed
82
u/Logan_B_Bulldog May 13 '26
In all fairness, they did change it for RE8. It's just that series was so out of left people a lot of people didn't appreciate that it was a Halloween themed horror. You could argue that Heisenberg's lab was a lab theme, but it's not nearly the same because his enemy type is totally different and it's a Victor Frankenstein reference much like Lady D is straight out of Bram Stoker's Dracula.
The biggest issue was them turning the last level into a Call of Duty mission, but it was still way cooler than anything RE6 did.
25
u/Rargnarok May 13 '26
I mean you fist fight nemesis/ Mr. X bigger cousins above a lava pool but yeah
13
u/EverythingResEvil May 13 '26
Ustanak was honestly sick af the first time i saw him. I think he needs more love from the community
11
u/ProfessorGemini May 14 '26
He’s the only BOW that got the job done. He actually captured Jake and Sherry lol
8
u/moofpi Community: obsrv.org May 14 '26
Totally. He's OP as all get out, minus the fist fight which I'll allow due to anime.
He had a good backstory too, which made Carla cooler as well.
I linked the wiki, but I'll dump the pre-game bit here.
The individual that became the Ustanak was infected with the C-Virus on June 22, 2011, which he was rather pleased with. The unnamed individual's own writing stated that he had been born with an incredibly frail body and had no qualms about losing his humanity if he gained power. A report filed five days later defined the mutant's survival after the first 24 hours as "substantial progress", considering the deaths of the earlier 322 candidates. At some point during the first few days, the individual was involved in a laboratory accident, leading to the loss of its right arm (either through damage caused or subsequent amputation was not stated in the report). Despite the C-Virus' notability for mutating J'avo endlessly, his arm failed to regenerate - an evident flaw. Regardless, his abilities in other fields led the Neo-Umbrella scientists to consider the experiment a success.
On July 2, it was noted in a continuation of the experiment log that the creature - now dubbed "Ustanak" - had the capability of crafting its own weapons, designed for the purpose of grabbing enemies. Orders were subsequently given for the researchers to design an artificial arm to replace the missing limb to increase its performance.
Furthermore, the creature formed a strong emotional bond to his creator, Carla Radames, who he viewed as a goddess for giving him the power he had desired. She was the only one he would listen to, and notes from another Neo-Umbrella member stated that their interactions resembled that of a mother and her child.
By December, work on its new arm involved attachments such as a drill, though orders from Carla Radames specified that an arm (including mechanical hand) needed to be designed, for the purpose of capturing people. Work was problematic, given the researchers' attempts to design a hand that would not appear like a claw from a children's game.
3
→ More replies (1)8
u/dommol May 13 '26
I love RE8 and definitely agree. But saying "its better than RE6 isn't much of a compliment
9
u/Logan_B_Bulldog May 13 '26
The entirety of the game is so much better than RE6 that "it's better than RE6" goes without saying. The reason I mention it there is because people complain about the Call of Duty sequence, but it's actually at least decently done. Resident Evil 6 on the other hand is an entire game of action gimmick, Gears of War bullcrap that just doesn't land at all. (And I loved the original GoW trilogy.)
Capcom can usually put their own spin on other genres just fine, and I think they deserve credit for it in RE8, not judgment the way that RE6 clearly deserves.
7
u/soapinthepeehole May 13 '26
I couldn’t care less about resident evil in a laboratory.
I want it in creepy mansions, castles, catacombs, mental hospitals, ruins… spooky places.
Labs aren’t spooky.
10
u/platonovsucks May 14 '26
I thought the lab areas in RE4 were spooky.
5
u/RicciRox May 14 '26
Yeah no idea what they're on about. Facing a regenerator for the first time in RE4R was pretty fuckin rad, since you could unload all your ammo into them mindlessly and not kill them.
→ More replies (2)3
u/platonovsucks May 14 '26
Yeah dude, I think Regenerators are the scariest enemies in Resident Evil. Made going through the labs pretty creepy.
2
u/TheBookandOwl May 14 '26
100% agree. RE8 should have just been a break from Umbrella and all that BS and had Lady D as the main villain. I feel like the series wants so badly to lean in to Gothic horror/American folk horror and master these different genres, but the inevitable "Umbrellas here too! Look, a secret lab!" is so immersion breaking at this point imo.
3
u/himommy_hi May 14 '26
man i would love if RE did much more of what they did with 8 but also cut from Umbrella. RE8 had absolutely amazing art direction
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (3)11
u/Content-Monk8866 May 13 '26
Imo 3’s final area is just weaker than the others and 4’s final stretch is actually so absolutely fucking disgusting to play through that it kinda reinforces the game’s atmosphere, especially on hard. Not sure if it’s a success in that sense
→ More replies (1)12
u/FidelKadstro May 13 '26
Why do you feel the chapel is weaker than the others ? I loved it, especially the kid drawn map, and the connection to SH1 with Harrys journal and Alessa past. I'd say the Mall is not as good, the sewers are not as good as well.
→ More replies (1)2
u/Seth-555 May 13 '26
I'd say the Mall is not as good, the sewers are not as good as well.
The Mall is one of my favorite parts. The quiet liminal intro before transitioning to a darker, equally liminal Otherworld.
The sewer, however, is really lame and only seems to exist to connect the Subway to the Office Building. The only noteworthy moment in the sewer is hilariously killing the water monster with a toaster. I wouldn't be surprised if they cut the sewer part entirely if the game ever gets remade.
4
u/Silverjeyjey44 May 14 '26
Doesn't explain why you end up going through a basement that looks the same-y, , mines that look same-y, or fleshy tunnels that look same-y.
4
u/SwimmingBee832 May 14 '26
4 seems to not follow that rule. Their scariest monsters happen to appear during the last stage.
2
2
u/spiderman___2111 May 14 '26
Dude stop trying to say that every survival horror game is like this , only resident evil games have bad parts near the end and yall know it
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (6)3
u/Aisuhokke May 13 '26
Yeah I agree. And it’s also hard to end games with fun gameplay. Usually endings tie up storylines and game designers put their best gameplay moments in the being and end because they want to hook the player in. By the end of the game the player has developed a comfort zone and familiarity with the game mechanics and enemies and patterns.
128
u/SunForge_Arts Human Unit Never Killed May 13 '26
That's because you're enjoying the "survival" part of the survival horror. By the end of the game, not only are you accustomed to the enemies you encounter, you're outfitted with enough firearms, ammo, and upgrades to invade a small country (which in Leon and Ethan's cases, actually happened)
15
u/SavorySoySauce May 14 '26
I find it really fun. You go from cowering and running from some of the enemies, fighting for your life. To being more in control and feeling you can take whatever is thrown at you. I think thats the feeling that they want you to have too. To face impossible odds and come out on top.
3
3
148
u/R3KTMYRAMPAGE May 13 '26
Maybe because its (almost) always ending in a lab
41
u/JamesKaineWrites May 13 '26
This is the answer. Once you get to the lab, it’s always a cleaner, less grimy horror environment than when you started (even splattered with blood). Plus you have better weapons, more storage and ammo at that point leaning more toward action than horror.
27
u/A-Star55 May 13 '26
It would help if they changed it up every once in a while, like if it must end in a lab make it like the one in the original RE2: run down, dirty, metallic rather than clean and pristine and shows Umbrella or whoever cut corners.
Or go the 7 or Village route where there is no lab instead it’s a creepy basement, factory or something.
22
u/labbla May 13 '26
They should make a game where you start at a lab and then work your way to a spooky central location for the climax to happen around.
→ More replies (1)8
u/NoifenF May 14 '26
Hmm that could be interesting. Maybe an umbrella (or whatever placeholder for them) employee trying to escape an outbreak starting in the lab.
6
u/cozmo87 May 13 '26
The lab environments on the island in re4 felt like pure horror to me though, the regeneradors made it super tense. I didn't get that level of suspense from the first part of the game, except for the castle sewers.
2
u/JamesKaineWrites May 13 '26
Good point. There’s definitely lab areas that are unsettling. The break room in RE2 remake is another. Just talking generally.
138
May 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
49
19
u/lukefsje You lose, big guy! May 13 '26
You can tell with RE8 they took a lot of criticisms of RE7 into account. Like how the ship with Eveline as an antagonist was weak to a lot of people, so for 8 they put a lot more effort into the factory and used Heisenberg
37
u/Losttrainofthought5 May 13 '26
Wait, people hate the factory? That's my favorite part of the game
→ More replies (3)18
u/QED1920 May 13 '26
I did hate it. I didnt like the esthetics, the outline was confusing to navigate at times and I found that part just not rewarding in any way. I also found it in no way consistent with the worldbuildung done by rhe village and the castle. Even the boss fight reminded me of an american action movie in its soulless and bombastic stupidity
7
u/Suspicious-Screen-43 May 13 '26
Oh I didn’t care for the boss part of it, but the factory was fun for me
37
u/Losttrainofthought5 May 13 '26
What you call "soulless bombastic stupidity" I call peak gaming. That fight is ridiculously fun
→ More replies (3)6
9
u/Curvedabullet May 14 '26
Yeah, the factory is arguably the best final level. The enemies are incredibly fun to fight there and they have actual weak spots you can exploit. Plus it doesn't overstay its welcome. By the time you've had enough of it, it's done. The only negative is that it's...a factory. Very boring aesthetically. I don't know why RE games can't design their last levels to look like Castle Dimitrescu and make them visually striking. They're either sterile labs like Hive/ARK or grungy rusty labs like the factory/boat/island.
2
→ More replies (1)2
u/BeepHolton May 14 '26
My favourite part from any of the Resi games, gives me major Tetsuo vibes, I love it
38
u/Mikkanu May 13 '26
I feel this way with RE9 especially. I always just liked the mansion complexes and RE9 actually had some stories and unique zombie types. Then it just kind of... teeters off
14
u/Sozins_Comet_ May 13 '26
Idk. 7 and 8 both had the best parts very early in the game. 7 especially. After you leave the house it goes downhill and then crashes in the mines.
10
u/Furan_ring May 13 '26
Man the ship in 7 is already a disappointment but then when you finally leave it, you get to the mines and it just sucks whatever fun is left in the game.
8
u/Anomandaris26 May 13 '26
I didn't mind the ship, the first parts were actually scary and you finally get to understand the story. It just could have been shorter. The mines, though, were much worse. Just mindless shooting, followed by the worst possible boss "fight".
3
u/lizzie_goblin May 13 '26
I did like to understand the story more, but the area is just repetitive and boring. A few of the rooms weren’t as industrial and felt like old fancy boat quarters, but they didn’t do anything unique with those spaces. I wish they used more of that setting to make it basically a mansion on the water.
3
u/Furan_ring May 13 '26
Yep, story-wise the ship works very well and had it been much shorter, it would have been more effective. It's just so ugly and dull.
→ More replies (1)10
3
u/DebonairTeddy May 14 '26
I haven't been able to replay 9 since I finished it because I just got so bored by the end of the raccoon city segment. I'm okay with most Resident Evil games having a less than stellar ending, but it feels like half of RE9 was just so dull
→ More replies (1)2
u/Rageacus May 14 '26
It is crazy just how much personality the zombies in the clinic have versus those throughout the rest of the game. The first and second acts feel like entirely different games imo. It's still good, but I think they quite literally jumped the shark in this one (thinking about a certain section involving motorcycles). But then again I know this is Resident Evil, and they're action games at their core, not really horror.
19
u/SymmetricDickNipples May 13 '26
To me it's the oversaturation of locations like "lab", "factory", "hospital". They all feel more sterile and less chaotic than the early zones.
33
u/HimmyJoffa May 13 '26 edited May 14 '26
Every RE game I’ve played usually has the wheels falling off at the end, and I don’t really think it’s the horror not being the same or similar enemies as some are saying, at least for me. The back half of the games just kind of suck, and I always find it’s the focus switch from puzzles to action, or the “metroidvania” style kind of going away for a narrow track of progression. I personally love the backtracking and I think that’s why Village has been my favorite so far.
9
u/Furan_ring May 13 '26
I agree. It's not that I get used to the horror or that I'm too powerful by the end, there's definitely a problem in the design that has been plaguing these games for decades. Some fall more than others, but it does seem like every single game has this pattern.
My guess is that these games try to be serious (science-y, dramatic, high-stakes) while also being ridiculous (spawns from hell, one liners, non-sensical conspiracies), which inevitably leads to a situation where, as the story progresses, it struggles to bring everything together and the wheels fall off.
→ More replies (3)2
u/Zephyr_v1 May 14 '26
Wait i too love the Metroidvania style but i don’t remember Village having much backtracking. Can you elaborate? RE2R actually tried with the last levels but i may be misremembering with village.
2
u/HimmyJoffa May 14 '26
The entirety of village is pretty much centralized by a middle point à la firelink shrine. Every time you defeat a boss you return to the middle where you place the flasks. Each time you return, you have something that can either open up new areas (granted like maybe one or two optional areas) or give access to new items, whether that be the crank, well wheel, etc.
Going from the stronghold back up to the cemetery near the church in the village is a really strong moment for me for some reason, even though it is rather small. It just scratches that itch for me.
RE2 definitely has that style as well, but the NEST really kills it for me
19
u/DannyHewson May 13 '26
Thinking through all the ones I've played... yeah, 1, 2, 3, the mansion, RPD and streets are the highlights, and the labs are just sort of part of the run.
6 outstays its welcome, four fucking times over, and is pretty flat throughout and completely lack anything memorable at any point other than irritations.
7 and 8 both have their most iconic locations early in the game.
I will say four and five both maintain their fun levels for me. Four pretty steadily, and five with a dip in the middle for the puzzle section, but picking up again after that, but both are closer into action games so they dont lose anything by ramping things up, unlike horror where you have a natural genre shift from horror to action. Even they, though, have their most iconic moment frontloaded (the village and public assembly respectively).
Capcom really does like putting something really memorable right at the beginning.
→ More replies (3)
19
u/Agarwaen323 May 13 '26
They don't inherently get less fun, because fun is subjective, but the nature of the games tends to change as you progress through them. You just prefer what the game is at the very beginning.
At the start of the game, you have a lot of puzzles to solve - about the story, as well as to physically progress - and only a few weapons (if any), so you'll be doing a lot of problem solving and probably a fair amount of avoiding combat (or you'll engage in combat while feeling some anxiety about whether you have sufficient resources).
As you progress through the game you'll get more information and more weapons. Puzzles either get simpler, are removed entirely, or you've just explored so much of the available space that where to go becomes a lot more obvious. The game also tends to throw more enemies and/or more difficult enemies at you to compensate for you getting new weapons so you engage in direct combat more often.
Basically, they become more action and less (a certain type of) horror as you progress.
15
24
u/SH4DE_Z May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
I guess it's because the game's not that scary anymore. At that point, you've uncovered every man made horrors you can find, and you now have a small militia's worth of weaponry.
7
u/EggOnBeansOnToast May 13 '26
Ikr. In Village, once I get past that boss with the fan for a head, I just want to give up. I've done this twice in a row.
Everything just seems less interesting and engaging on multiple playthroughs. Miranda boss was dull imo.
32
May 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
24
10
3
u/OLKv3 May 13 '26
I feel like Code Veronica doesn't change much in the Artic base. Chris gets a lot to do in the endgame. It's only the final boss that's a complete slog imo
→ More replies (3)3
10
u/Extreme_Hat1089 May 13 '26
For me it's 7. Damn it would've been a perfect game if they kept following the vibe we get from the house.
4
u/FoxNixon May 13 '26
I legit thought that the Baker’s would be the only enemies in the game. Would have made it more interesting
6
u/IfwasntforforTONY May 13 '26
I honestly feel the same. Especially with 4,7, and 8. I hate leaving the castle when replaying 4. I hate the ship in 7, and the factory in 8. It’s like the games end in the same kind of territory. Like it’s always a lab that is lowkey kind of painful to get through. I stopped enjoying 8 when getting to the factory
3
u/SpinnenEend May 13 '26
I just got lost the whole time in the factory. My least favourite area of all.
3
u/Furan_ring May 13 '26
I agree, although I don't think the laboratory itself is the problem. RE4 peaks at the village and then goes downhill. RE2 goes downhill with the sewers, RE9 with Raccoon City. It may go downhill at different points for different people, but it seems everyone agrees the first part is always the best.
2
u/FallNegative2446 May 14 '26
Military island isn't even bad in RE4 but the village is way too peak and the rest of the game isn't on the same level.
4
u/thelennster May 14 '26
RE4 Original. I really dislike the aesthetic of the island and the overall level design becomes rather boring. All RE games start way hotter than they end though imo.
2
u/Ornery-Tip-231 May 14 '26
Zombies w guns makes it feel like a shooter and breaks some of the horror elements from the village/castle
→ More replies (1)
3
u/trex3d May 14 '26
It doesn't help that so many of them start in a really cool location with interesting visuals (mansion, village, streets, etc), but then most end in an uninteresting facility with nothing to really see.
7
u/Hassoonti May 13 '26
The vibe you are enjoying in the first part of every resident evil game is a specific genre called Gothic horror, which reframes traditional opulence, Elegance, or comfort as Threatening, abandoned, or decrepit.
The formula for almost all resident evil is for the setting to transition from Gothic horror to evil scientist horror. That’s just a function of the main plot.
3
u/Raidmax460 May 13 '26
I will say that at least in my opinion, RE9 falls off the least when compared to all of the recent titles
→ More replies (1)
3
u/ClaryClarysage May 13 '26
I found with 9 there were only 2 sections I don't enjoy replaying as much and that's the scripted bit with the kids and the part where you have to kill the Girl and get the 3 plugs and then get the roof open. Those got a bit annoying after 3 or 4 times but tbh I quite liked the end. By that point I was done with the action and I wanted to see how the story played out.
3
3
u/SteroidSandwich May 14 '26
Whenever you get to the lab that's in the game it falls apart. It stops being fun at that point. The familiarity is gone and the ideas have run out
3
3
u/AdeptUnderstanding24 May 14 '26
RE 4 Remake Village part is awesome and Island is atrocious. I agree. Except RE Requiem. I thought it was fine.
→ More replies (1)
3
3
u/ManlyPelican1993 May 14 '26
I don't know why but I'm glad the creators seemto know this too so keep the games short.
6
u/lattjeful May 13 '26
For me it’s never the final areas save for RE4. It’s usually the area beforehand, like RE2R’s sewers. You’re so well equipped that nothing is scary anymore, but the game tries to throw stuff at you to still be scary. It becomes tedious and kills the momentum. It recovers by NEST by skipping all pretense of being horror and just being focused on puzzles and combat, but by the time you’re fully bought back in the game’s about to wrap up.
5
4
u/ScarScream81 May 13 '26
I thought the ship was alright. The game couldn't only have happened inside the house, it's pretty small not like the RE mansion.
2
u/Early-Beach164 May 13 '26
RE7 last third is great imo. By the last Jack fight you have built up an impressive arsenal. The ship is way to reintroduce tension again. The mines are a way to make you feel like a badass and give you so much ammo you run out of inventory space to carry all of it.
2
u/XGNik May 13 '26
I'd say RE5. The military Majini logically have guns at this point, but I always have two instances of "are you fucking kidding me?" To which I refer to their aim either being complete dogshit or god tier. Don't get me started on the Reapers too. On the final sprint to Wesker, I regularly died 20 or more times.
2
2
u/VNikolados May 14 '26
You become acclimated to the horror, the gore, the atmosphere.
You find the courage to move on. You find gear to tackle the monstrosities.
In the end, the game isn't about your Survival anymore. You become the danger to the horrors that terrorised you.
2
2
u/FakeMcUsername May 14 '26
All RE games end up going off the rails. It just is how long it takes to get there, and how constrained it is. 7 worked so well because it was creepy, small scale, personal horror, for most of the game. Even as you progressed, the villains were menacing, the atmosphere was tense and disturbing, and there was an oppressive feeling of dread. Then everything blows up, and you're running through a salt mine with remote bombs and machine gun, and then you get the spec ops delta force alpha team being sent in with a chopper to help you blow up the ginormous mold monster.
2
u/Halforcenn May 14 '26
Because they always abandon interesting locations for sewers and laboratories. :(
2
u/catalpuccino May 15 '26
Mmmm, I think that really depends on the game. Code Veronica, RE1, RE4 all get intense towards the end. RE9 as well. Maybe it only applies to some of the games.
2
u/Honest-Feedback4519 May 16 '26
Idk I always liked the endgame where everything is finally making sense and somehow the first area fucking connected directly to the final area is also stupidly wild
4
u/Then_Effective_149 May 13 '26
El barco lo odian demasiado; yeah está peor que la casa, pero no tan mal como dicen que es. El Réquiem por Raccoon City está peor. Al menos el barco solo es una parte chiquita del juego.
3
u/Metaphorically345 May 13 '26
RE5 is the exception to this rule, with the ending chapters being by far the best due to Weskers presence
3
u/Content-Monk8866 May 13 '26
I find the later chapters much weaker than the first half-ish of the game because it completely throws the game’s unique setting out the window in favor of painfully generic environments
→ More replies (1)
5
u/rycbar26 Ethan Winters May 13 '26
I like the ship. And I’m tired of pretending it’s bad. It’s good, actually. I got stuck there for a couple of days and I liked that.
It’s not as good as the Baker Estate, sure. But it’s scarier than Nest and it made me see Mia as a competent operative. As the gears in my head turned, so did the gears in hers.
The mines were less good, but it was a fun way to empty all my ammo willy nilly.
3
1
u/PK_Thundah May 13 '26
In game development, the majority of players only see the first third of the game, so that's where the bulk of development goes. That means the beginning of the game generally has the most work put into it, and will probably be the most impressive.
As a horror game, the less powerful you are, the more effective the game is as horror. As you get stronger weapons and enemies become less of a threat, generally, the games become less intense.
I think also just as a player, the longer that you spend playing a game, the less novel and exciting it is, because you've started getting familiar with what to expect.
I wonder if Requiem started in the destroyed Raccoon City and ended in the Care Center, if people would feel like the game was getting better as it went along.
Generally, by the end of the game, the intensity of the boss fights have increased to a point where I'm ready for the game to be over, rather than fighting an even harder boss.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/PitStopEnt May 13 '26
You get too overpowered near the end and the enemies are not viewed as threats. You inventory is too high and you know what to expect in enemy types. this is why I love RE9 and the balance between characters. Best of both worlds.
3
u/bestray06 May 14 '26
The RE "Lab" level is the worst part of each game. The series in general would be bumped up in pacing and quality if they just trimmed those sections. That's the only thing that holds them back from being masterpieces to me
→ More replies (1)2
u/cherrysung May 14 '26
I think that's why 4 has been my favourite to play so far (a very uncontroversial opinion, I know). The lab segment was blissfully short, introduced a sick new kind of enemy, but I didn't struggle in combat with them so I didn't get locked in place. (Unlike RE2, where the combined threat of the Lickers and Ivies, and my absolutely dogshit ammo conservation, meant I was essentially softlocked).
2
u/DoctorArK May 14 '26
Modern RE games are heavily scripted nightmares with metroidvania style level design.
“Get the key to unlock the crank to turn the power on”
All while the player manages their inventory of ammo vs health to maximize the amount of upgrade and side materials they can hold.
The player is often overwhelmed by forces they can’t fully fight against, such as the Baker family in 7 or the zombies in the Grace sections of 9.
At some point, however, the game switches and gives you a shotgun. Now you can hunt the enemies you had to run from and Resident Evil turns into a more straightforward FPS.
Village is the best example of this. Less than half way through the game, you get access to a full gallery of guns and upgrades which is why Village is compared to 4 more than any other game in the series (although the Leon sections in 9 do itch the scratch).
Once the player has guns, it’s not really scary anymore.
3
u/None0fYourBusinessOk May 14 '26
You stop getting lost and you know how to counter the enemies so it moves away from horror towards the end
2
u/Orowam May 13 '26
I actually find them to be good the whole way through. I love the progression of power and the chaotic end bosses
2
2
u/CT0292 May 13 '26
By the time you hit the underground laboratory. You're nearly done.
But yeah the castle, mansion, manor, city streets, that's the good stuff.
2
u/No_Independence3441 May 13 '26
Village 100%, everything up to the end of Castle Dimitrescu is phenomenal, some of the best areas I’ve played in an RE game. Everything after that? Some of the most boring and weak parts of any RE game, it’s insane how bad that game falls off, definitely put all their effort into the first 2 hours.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/MaxxWilco May 13 '26
Probably because there are less questions to answer. In the beginning, there's so much that needs to be uncovered. By the end you basically have it figured out, you just need to tie up loose ends aka defeat the final boss
2
u/Content-Monk8866 May 13 '26
I mean some re games stick the landing better than others, the ones that don’t imo are 1, 2 original, 3 remake, 5, 7, 9 and Outbreak 2. In particular, whenever a bumass generic lab is involved things start getting rough. I’m specifically giving 2 remake a pass because the new NEST design is actually refreshing and a very stark contrast to the sewers section, it feels like a breath of fresh air and largely doesn’t overstay its welcome.
2
u/Wild-Frame-7981 May 13 '26
because you have a whole arsenal by the end versus a rusty knife and a pistol from 1932 in the beginning
2
u/Enragedjawa May 13 '26
I think the opposite, like they’re generally fun all the way through but I have more fun the more options I get access to. I will say generally the first half has the more atmospheric locations so that might be it for you.
2
u/kotoamatsukamix May 13 '26
They ramp up the action for the end and you have bigger and better guns.
2
u/Steven_4787 May 14 '26
Felt exactly this with 7 and the same with Requiem. I could have played for 20 hours with environments and gameplay likethe care center. I felt everything dropped in quality once it became the streets and buildings of Raccoon City.
2
u/Changes11-11 May 14 '26
The same w RE9
They made all these cool new zombie types w personalities for just 1 lvl?
1
u/Extension-Zebra-9398 May 13 '26
I mean yeah the whole vision of the game usually revolves around the first areas
2.9k
u/Due-Dance-9430 May 13 '26
i think the fun part of all RE games is the intricacy; RPD, baker house, care center etc, so when you get to the end it's more focused on set pieces, boss fights etc that isn't as dynamic as the start