Recent reviews by wesker's degenerate

wishlisted this one on a whim while browsing the main page the other day, having zero thoughts of what this entire thing could even entail, and... i have to say i'm kind of obsessed with it now. it just refuses to leave my head.

a (relatively) short indie game about typing out whatever junk the machines cannot yet read as you sift through countless of letters, some better left unsent (unseen too?); subtle, heavy and full of emotional gravity, it makes you feel like you’re prying into something far darker while realizing, halfway, that you were meant to find it. you just sit there, read some, type a lot more, repeat, but it doesn’t take long before you notice the quiet uncanny. it’s deliberately confusing at first, yet it draws you closer against all odds.

what’s pleasantly surprising is how it doesn’t rely on 'cheap' stuff to pull you in. the first playthrough leaves you unsettled (in the best way possible as you'll be curious enough to proceed past that). play after play, you really start to see the pattern. confusion slowly morphs into understanding, but never comfort. it gets you with atmosphere and pacing, you keep on going because you want to, and not knowing every single detail about 'how' or 'why' something's happened the way it did somehow feels so bad.

emotionally, it’s a spectrum, and it may be hard on you lot who feel things easily. unease grows every step of the way, uncertainty is constant, and some letters actually left me sitting there close to tears with my chest constricting because of how simple it is to let yourself care, and how little it takes to invoke all of that. it feels earned and lingers long after you close the game; an afterthought impossible to shake.

that almost goes without saying, there’s a sincerity to the game's design. it won't simply feed you easy answers, but rather reward you for patience. the final impression i'd say is something between melancholy and awe, and i look forward to more of mike's work.

the multiplayed addittion is possibly the greatest thing they could've done. had much fun offing my pookie, then getting offed by her three more times, and then it led to a hot sloppy make out session afterwards. i give it a yeah!

buckshot roulette is great, plain and simple. you actually gotta make use of your brain sometimes (shocker for me it was), and the music and aesthetics of it all combined just make you feel on edge with each new turn. i could talk about this game's ost for days on end, mike klubnika, one chance please-

this little piece of media looks quite simple but believe it or not, it's the most fun i've had shooting people in a videogame for, like, ever.

this game is THE game ever because i can be obnoxious meowing constantly and make out with my homies and vandalize public property and be unemployed

I LOVE PLAYING WITH MY FRIENDS' BALLS!!!!!!

this game actually feels like having an epileptic seizure while being stuffed with various drugs (i also tried playing it drunk because why not) and all of my beliefs are completely shattered and im really scared to go to clubs now
all the kitties tho!

boy oh boy... THE... THIS! where do i even begin...
sooo the game's been out for a whopping 15 years, everyone and their mother has played it up and down, so i won't be touching on the gameplay aspects. think of it, kind of, as a little personal essay, if you will.

if i'm completely honest, this one is really reeeeally biased since the entire franchise has been a strong special interest of mine for at least three to four years now, strongly going on forward.
resi5 is very special to me. i just can't help but keep coming back to it for the sheer comfort it gives me, even though i've gone through it for about ten times, give or take a couple. definitely deserves to be called a classic and can be picked up times and times again despite not having too much replayability. coop mode makes the experience so much more enjoyable too; grabbing a buddy to throw em into the action as a piece of living cannon meat tops everything else.
(i absolutely loved killing my friends with grenade launchers at the slightest inconvenience. you don't gotta suffer alone!)

five is probably the most action driven out of all the main games, and while i know for a fact some die-hard biohazard fans are fussing about them shifting lanes like that, even to this day, it ultimately proves to be a satisfying high-energy journey (just proves that change isn't always a bad thing). incredibly corny one too, in a good way however- you gotta admit, Chris punching that huge ahh boulder is... something!

everything is about unchecked scientific ambitions. as Chris and Sheva dig deeper, they discover the very disturbing chain of consequences decades long. the dynamic between those two highlights the story, their relationship grounded in mutual respect and determination of reaching the same goal. Sheva's a capable and independent character in her own right, it'd be awesome to see her come back again somewhere in the future! a perfect ally driven by a strong sense of duty, she wants to protect and avenge her people- she does it, even with Chris being all weird at first as he tries to get it together.

the boulder punching guy... we all know and love him as it is, and this entire thing is about redemption to him, mostly- especially when it eventually comes to Jill who's believed to have died earlier. it's pretty emotional with those two, giving us a great sense of personal stakes. it's hard trying to save the world as one seeks to uncover the truth behind their partner’s disappearance, being so close to each other and then torn apart by your very own personal arch nemesis. the way he calls for her as he's forced to rid her of the P30 device makes my heart ache.

speaking of the arch... the Wesker dude! the franchise’s iconic villain. his obsession with reshaping the world order is particularly interesting now that he's stopped hiding in the shadows and stepped out to orchestrate the grand plan directly. no more of that cold, calculating nature; poor buddy gradually becomes more unhinged and obsessed as time goes on. his history with Chris gives their final confrontation an intensity unlike anything else; that constant game of cat and mouse that should've stopped working already but somehow still does. and by saying that i mean that I've never been more invested in whatever chemistry a couple characters might have going on. some of the cutscenes quite literally gave me chills during my first playthrough and that's totally awesome. as the biggest a.w. apologist and enabler (jk...) i sincerely hope there will be more content with him in the future games, whether it's little pieces of lore or cameos or... whatever.

a tale that resonates long after the credits roll. i can't recommend it enough.