Are you tired of Capcom's nonsense? I know I am, and Daymare 1998 was there for me. A budget title that delivered a fantastic experience from start to finish. Yes, the story beats don't break new ground or reinvent the wheel, but I had a damn fun time and was genuinely spooked from time to time. The story is fairly well told from multiple character's perspectives, weaved together competently, and the monsters are pretty awesome too.


This is absolutely a budget title so set expectations accordingly. Took me roughly 16 hours to finish it for the first time and I only got stuck and needed a guide about half a dozen times or so. Some of the puzzles are a little obtuse, and some boss encounters are trivialized. I think there were some serious balance concerns at some points in the early release period that the devs may have overcorrected on? I'm not sure, but a few boss encounters just give you unlimited ammo in the form of ammo bins. Which does make sense since given the location for there to be a large supply but also kinda made the game go out on a whimper?

Some enemies are almost impossible to kill, or can only be "killed" for a short time before reviving. That was a pain in hospital due to one of the few save/stash rooms having one right outside. Backtracking can be dicey due to this.


Without massive spoilers, all I can say is that the ending should have a thing but it does not have that thing and so was extremely disappointing. Easily dropped the overall score from 85/100 to 70/100.

So you know how I said that Daymare 1998 doesn't really break new ground? That was a lie, mostly to keep you on your toes. What if your Survival Horror was Dark Souls-esque storytelling that involved decoding in-game documents using the developers website? With a user interface from the 90s? How about MilSim elements like fast reloading that drops your weapon's magazine but reloads immediately Vs a slow reload that stows your empty magazine for later re-use? Yes you can pick it back up.

How about a walk, jog, run, sprint movement system? That isn't cumbersome and gives you amazing control over your character; complete with limited stamina. Does that make this a Souslike? No.

I love Daymare 1998. This is the direction Survival Horror should be going in if it is going to lean into the Action genre. Military-level gear doesn't guarantee survival.

Resident Evil 2, just nowhere near as good. It's not terrible, just 'meh, okay'. Might be worth buying at a big discount but not worth £25.

Alot of fun but some of the puzzles are very confusing.