#so if this feels like it has og re4 vibes

[teecupangel]

pops in here bc I’ve been writing Resident Evil crossover AUs for fun (and angst) and I have a fun little idea for you!

so, re4make has dropped some interesting and tasty lore about Los Illuminados, aka the parasite cult that makes up the main bad guys in this particular game. according to the new lore, they popped up in 1554 and were exiled from their old place in 1741. now, we know that mutations and parasites and viruses can possibly extend somebody’s life in REverse beyond their natural lifespan and also make them far more durable than humans. I was thinking—Edward Kenway gets killed in 1735. this we’re well aware of. but what if he wasn’t?

say that Birch is aware of Los Iluminados and their work. he wants to keep a closer eye on them since he hears a lot about Las Plagas and its hive mind abilities, but he’s not about to risk becoming a part of their hive mind—he doesn’t entirely trust this cult. and he has a pesky Assassin who’s just found out that he’s actually a Templar, and who has a book and a son he would defend. if he survives the night—and it’s damn near a guarantee that he would, Birch has heard that he once cleared a whole deck of a galleon on his own—there’s nothing stopping him from taking up his sword and beelining to Birch and just cutting down every last member of the British Rite. but he can’t do that, if he has a bug inside his head.

so Edward gets knocked unconscious, and dragged off to the cult. now Birch has a reason to keep an eye on the cult, and he’s taken Edward out of the picture with no one the wiser for it.

years later—hundreds of years later—Desmond Miles, 17yo runaway, gets kidnapped along with Ashley Graham for whatever reason. maybe he saw too much and immediately launched himself at Krauser and actually managed to acquit himself pretty well in a fight, only to get stuffed into a van along with a very terrified First Daughter. Leon goes to find them.

in the meantime, Saddler has a very fucked-up Edward stand guard, and Desmond starts to talk to this guy, bc something about him seems…not quite the same as the rest of the cult. there’s some core of humanity still holding stubbornly on inside him, even if he looks pretty bad off, if not heavily mutated by now. which is how Leon ends up finding both Ashley and Desmond having managed to get a very snarly pirate to help break them out and has to gently convince said pirate that yes he really is here to help them please put that pitchfork down sir.

Oooohhh, if you wanted to, you can even include one of Ezio’s or Aquilar’s descendants in the lore as well, maybe even both? 1554 is around the time Flavia and Marcello would be 20~21 years old. Old enough to be Assassins that would be sent to foreign lands to help other Brotherhoods. We can even have them be sent by the current mentor of the Spanish Brotherhood because of this cult that supposed worship something ‘strange’. The mentor thought that the Italian Brotherhood who had a mentor who had been quite verse in strange things would have an idea of what they’re dealing with. Flavia or Marcello (or both if you want) asks to be sent because it seems connected to the precursors and, as Ezio Auditore’s children, it’s their duty to continue their father’s legacy.

They meet up with Aquilar’s child (or grandchild maybe?) and they help in exiling Los Illuminados, making the cult hate them and the Brotherhood in the process.

It’s because of their hatred for the Brotherhood that Birch was able to have a distant alliance with them and it’s because of his connection with the cult that Edward starts to suspect him as being a Templar.

(To sprinkle more angst, how about Haytham saw his father being dragged away and tried to save him, killing one of the kidnappers which ends with Teresa seeing him as a cold blooded killer and he is indoctrinated by Birch as a way to try and find Edward but never found him. After learning Birch was the leader of his father’s kidnapping, he gives up on Edward because Birch burned all evidence that will link him to Edward and the Los Illuminados)

Okay, so we go to the Ashley and Desmond part of the story.

Ashley is around 20 years old when she was abducted so, if you’d like, she could be in New York to shop or something when she was kidnapped. Desmond was on his way to his first shift in Bad Weather and saw a woman struggling while being dragged into a car with men looking like professional bodyguards (suit, sunglasses, wired ear pieces) on the ground, unconscious maybe? Dead even?

Desmond didn’t have time to think, his body reacted and he punched one of them. He starts to fight them off while telling the girl to run and the girl tried to, screaming for help but there were more men than they expected but her screaming (and his battle cries, they were not screams, they were battle cries damn it) was attracting attention so they had to book it quickly and Desmond was swept alongside the girl in the process.

Leon is briefed that an unknown man with no past of his own may be with the president’s daughter and he’s a low priority. The most that Leon is expected to do is find out who he was and if he was truly just taken alongside the Ashley because he tried to be a good Samaritan.

Now Saddler though…

Saddler had planned to kill Desmond from the very beginning but then he noticed something peculiar.

Desmond looked familiar.

So he let Desmond live because he needs to find out why Desmond looks familiar at all. He orders Edward to guard them and to keep them there.

Leon starts doing his job and Saddler gets sidetracked.

When he heard that Edward had ‘betrayed’ them, he realized why Desmond looked so familiar.

In one of the oldest journals written by his ancestors, there were sketches of the three Assassins who led to their fall and exile.

And two of them…

… looked very similar to Desmond Miles.

So now, Saddler believes Desmond is a descendant of those who exiled them and wants to infect him as well.

Because what better revenge is there than to have a descendant of those who wronged them become their ‘property’?

Unorganized Notes:

I like to imagine Ashley and Desmond become friends immediately, with Desmond helping Ashley stay calm while Ashley gives Desmond something he wanted ever since he was a child, a close friend.

Ashley would definitely not leave without Desmond and Desmond would do everything he can to keep Ashley safe.

Edward ‘recognize’ Desmond, in a way that Desmond reminds him of his young son, but he doesn’t understand it, because the infection inside him mutated thanks to his ‘bloodline’, so he’s not exactly the same as the others.

Edward will be conflicted though because his infection would make him want to obey the cult but he can't hurt Desmond at all. He doesn't want to and his body will never allow it.

Is it his own free will? The reminder of a past long gone? Or...

The Calculations at work?

[postersofleon]

helloo!! hope ur doing well :))

im wondering what you think leon's day off would look like?

well, this is headcanons times, let's go! and thank you <3 maybe this isn't what you wanted, but just good vibes of leon. also this had mentions of sex, but nothing else

Leon used to wake up early, but it seems that during damnation (in my opinion) he sort of gave up. His body was trained to do it, thanks to being in the military. If he has a loved one, he kisses them gently on their forehead before going to the bathroom. All the Leon make noises when he wakes up, but damnation, re6, vendetta, and death island. Oof, they are groaning because his back hurts. He washes his teeth. If he has a loved one, he doesn't super hate himself while he stares in the mirror. Leon doesn't stop looking at himself. He is an emo boy at heart.

Vendetta Leon just stays in bed for a while until he stops hating himself. He is the guy he bed rots.

Like, death island Leon is the happiest Leon. He is the one tries to feel good of himself.

He takes a shower. He uses his partner's shampoo because he likes the smell of them. In my headcanon, Leon's canon hair is light brown so if he has his blond hair. He takes cold showers to keep the color in.

In my opinion, Leon knows how to cook well enough because he trains. He knows exactly what foods he needs to make himself. How many calories and such. But I feel he lacks to have fun with food. It's a simple breakfast. If he has a partner, he tries to make it "cute".

If he is alone. He is quietly eating.

If he has a partner, he speaks very lovingly towards his partner. All but re4 og Leon and vendetta Leon. Og leon wants to make them smile. He is still very romantic, but he just seems the guy who hates cheesy romance (but if his partner gives them kisses he groans with rosy cheeks).

Vendetta Leon is suffering from a possible hangover, he wants to apologize for drinking. But he is too stubborn. He gives you a kiss on the cheek and goes off.

After eating breakfast, the other Leons works out while Vendetta Leon just stares longingly. He wants normal life. He also tries to not drink a lot in front of his partner. Re2 Leon remake is just off to practice his shooting.

If he really need something, he goes to the store to buy food. Or he tries to fix his bike.

If he has a partner, he has sex with them and if he is lonely he jacks off. I honestly feel this man has no time for sex so he goes for it. If he doesn't jack off, he tries to go to the bar to find someone to mess around with.

When it's night, he doesn't wear pajamas. I feel he sleeps with boxers and a t shirt or no shirt if he really wants to. If he has a couple, he will try to share his pajamas as in he wears either the top of the bottom and his partner wears what he isn't wearing. Leon sleeps in any position. If he has a partner, he is big spoon.

He doesn't live an exciting life during his day off. Leon likes disappearing from his dangerous life (only hunnigan knows where he is).

[fonulyn]

how are things? and I was wondering if you've got a favorite fic that you wrote or if its just too hard to choose?

i've been down with a cold so things are kinda annoying but it seems to be getting better at least so maybe things are looking up :'D thanks for asking!

oh damn. it is hard to choose. and it also depends on my mood, and like... some are faves because they were fun to write, some because i like how the end result turned out, some bc friends liked them, and so forth. it depends on what kind of a favorite we're looking for :3

i scrolled through my RE fics and tried to pick only the top faves and still ended up with thirty fics :'D (and sorta sad bc so many of them were not crowd pleasers lmao)

but! shameless self-recs under the cut! (it got long lol sorry)

we didn't know how to fly so high (burned down before we reached the sky) (Chris/Leon) - this one's special because it's the first RE fic I wrote and it's what ended a three year dry spell of me not writing a single thing. it's also special because back then i could go "OH ONE NOTE!" and post the second chapter lol.

haunting in my head (tempting me, inviting me to fall asleep in its arms) (Piers/Leon) - since I picked the first one, I'm also gonna pick the latest one. this was the kind of an idea that plagued me until I got it written and i'm super pleased with how it worked out!

and it's kind of obligatory for me to mention the self-indulgent series, because for so long it was what kept me going and what kept me writing when nothing else worked. it might not be the best thing i've written but it's for sure what i've poured most love in.

tear me open (and make me whole again) (Piers/Leon, past Krauser/Leon) - from my whumptober fics this one i was the most excited about. i know it's got quite a bit of violence in it but like. i thought it hit all the right notes emotionally too, and i honestly wished it would've done better. i think it's worth it! am still happy with how it turned out.

(honorable mention to haunt you like it's part of you, another Piers/Leon and past Krauser/Leon, which is something i am really really into but apparently it's just me :'D but I really like the way the pairings clearly contrast each other tbh, i just think it's neat)

in the end it's you and I (Piers/Leon) - this is another whumptober fic I was super excited for! i'm beyond pleased with how it turned out and at least I feel all the right emotions while reading it.

all the things you are (Jake/Piers) - honestly I could've picked pretty much any of the Piers/Jake fic I've written because they were all really fun to write and their dynamic is super fun :'D I love the little bits in re6 where they interact bc they get on each other's nerves in all the right ways!

when it comes to metaltango, they're pretty much all close to my heart lol but can't help but follow in spite of going insane is something i regularly think back to and am still happy with how it turned out. same with the Krauser's back series, and question all my doubts, especially.

never too much to ask for (Piers/Leon) - this one is so very very important to me because LEON LEARNS TO BE LOVED. he learns to not only accept comfort but actually ASK FOR IT and it makes me emotional just to think about it 🥺

gonna show you tonight (Piers/Leon) - this one just makes me very happy.

and then there are the Piers/Leon ones where I've inserted Piers into a game/movie he isn't in, and honestly, those are ALL something I've had fun with and love the results! there's re2 with Piers, re4 with Piers, Damnation with Piers, and a combo of re4/Vendetta/og stuff with Piers! also the other re2 with Piers but that one only has one chapter for now so :'D

heal the scars and change the stars (Piers/Leon) - this one was based on a dream I had and I can still remember the exact vibe of the dream, and the way it haunted me afterwards, and I'm honestly really happy with the fic too. I have a thing for breaking up and getting back together it seems :'D

you're a dream (Piers/Leon) - this is something I've always always wanted to write, because soulmate aus are interesting but I've always gravitated towards imperfect soulmate systems, where it takes real effort to find them, and it's not so clear cut. and I honestly love how this turned out.

at the shore of the unknown (Piers/Leon) - another thing i always wanted to do was a soft apocalypse. this was supposed to be the first fic of a series, and the series is probably not happening, but i'm still content with the mood of this fic as is :3 i love these... slow empty worlds.

before I even knew your name (Piers/Leon) - THIS! this was SO MUCH FUN i don't know if I've ever had as much fun writing a fic :'D idk it was such a joy.

i crave therefore i am (Piers/Leon) - this fic however fought me every single step of the way, i wrote it like three times, and hated half of the process lmao, but i do love how it turned out. and the first scene is one of my all time favorite scenes i've ever written in my life.

to feel again (fwb!Chris/Leon at first, Piers/Leon eventually) - this was supposed to be a quick little oneshot but in the end it spiraled into something longer, and I do love it. like. the whole point of the Chris/Leon bit was that neither of them is the bad guy or wrong but they just weren't right for each other at that point in time, and then I enjoyed letting Leon build trust and a new relationship with Piers slowly at his own pace. 10/10 would write again :'D

last chance garage (ot3) - this one was very emotional to write and also got SO out of hand bc it was supposed to be like 1k max and in the end I wrote 8k lol. but it's my favorite ot3 fic.

winter lovin' (there's snow one like you) (Piers/Leon) - this one is super special to me because it happens in Finland :D they're vacationing on my home turf lol. but also because they're so in love, and they get to have fun and be together and. idk. the whole fic makes me all "🥺💖" like i literally turn into a physical embodiment of those two emojis. i love the fic.

stay until the end of life (Piers/Leon) - this one was also very emotional to write and I wanted to put them through a lot, and show how they really are in it for better and for worse. i wanted to show the struggles too, like... they love each other. they wanna be there for each other. but it's not always that easy. and I do think it worked out great.

three words to last forever (Piers/Leon) - I'm gonna end this way too long list with this because it's the first (and so far only) time I wrote a "choose your own ending" story and it was so much fun! I wish I could do a bigger story where you get to make multiple choices, but that would require some serious brainstorming lol. anyhow, I'm happy I got to do this! and happy with it turned out! especially the saddest ending :'D

now I'll shut up with my deepest apologies lmao.

[ms-gallows]

Leon Kennedy headcanons: Emotion & Personality

note: These are all based on Leon as he is in the RE4 remake.

This man is incredibly patient and level-headed. Definitely patient with service workers. There’s nothing to be mad about if he doesn’t have monsters or people trying to kill him. If someone obviously doesn’t care, however, it’s going to irritate him.

Leon is not aggressive with people (typically), but since RE2 he has developed a more aggressive music taste as a form of catharsis.

Anyone getting disenchanted Pisces vibes? Idealistic kind of guy, empathetic, but by the time of RE4 he’s definitely guarding that side of himself. He also might be a little numb. I might do an ‘astrology reading’ for him later, who knows.

Leon is totally fucked up over the fact that he was motivated to protect people because of what happened to his family, and then having those ideals totally obliterated by everyone on the force dying, getting manipulated by someone he trusted, and a corrupt system that has blackmailed him. In some way, his dreams and aspirations feel hollow. All he can do is keep surviving and working to protect Sherry and everyone he can; but being chained to corruption eats away at him.

He rarely cries because he’s afraid he won’t be able to stop. He’s got  a dam built up, and if it cracks, everything comes pouring out at  once.

After the events of RE4 when he gets back to his home, he’s just kind of going through the motions, until he suddenly breaks down and cries because all the stress, fear, and sadness for the people lost just hits him like a brick wall. Just randomly in the middle of making coffee or something.

He would really enjoy having someone around who could make him laugh. Hard to do, but boy will he warm up to someone so much more if they can get him to do that. Leon was motivated to protect Ashley from the get-go, but getting him to chuckle and joking with him made him develop a warmer feeling toward her.

I know Leon is hot and all but whenever I see this man’s eyes I feel like his dating life is just...kinda sad? Sure, he’s smooth and witty, but he fears if they look long enough, they’ll just see the depression oozing from his pores. He’s emotionally constipated at the moment, and he knows that’s not great for developing connections with people. One-night stands it is. He’s hot enough to land them when he needs to, and that’s about it.

RE4 remake Leon is markedly different from original RE4 Leon (read: water is wet), and while I see OG Leon making quips and trying to seduce his way into bed with someone, I don’t see Remake Leon laying it on as thick. I feel like he’s more quiet and prefers good atmosphere. Always picks a shadowy corner table. He’s a good listener, which makes his dates feel good and does him a favor in terms of getting them into his bed. He does want to get to know the person he’s going to fuck at least a little bit, so he does ask questions about them, only for it to be forgotten the morning after.

Doesn’t have a fuckbuddy. First, he doesn’t want to feel like he’s just using someone for sex, and second, he’s afraid of forming a connection. He can’t afford to do that in his line of work.

Considering that he’s pretty cold to Ada in the remake, I think it shows he knows how to set/maintain and respect BOUNDARIES, BABY! We love to see it. I’ll see myself out. If there are canon inconsistencies I apologize, I’m from the Silent Hill fandom and have fairly scant knowledge of RE in comparison lol.

[pink-strawberry-kissess]

Maybe I’m in the minority, but a scene I do feel like wasn’t improved in RE4R was then end scene when he shoots her down and she falls on the metal flooring. While realistically it wasn’t perfect in the OG since she landed on some convenient boxes below her and regained her consciousness that moment, the highlight of the scene to me is the quick shot of Ada’s expression when she sees that he stayed behind to save her. Like Ada did so much to help him behind the scenes without him knowing and teases him to the point almost of allowing him to believe the worst in her. Even when Leon was there to witness some of the moments she saved him, her expression gives off the vibe that she’s surprised because she had no expectation that he would help help her at all (which makes me sad thinking about it how Ada might see herself? Like she isn’t worthy of Leon caring about her). And then Leon asks her “you okay?” in a soft tone.

In the remake, scene & cinematography wise it was a lot more awkwardly shot. The way Leon calls out her name was emotionally great but then he stands there, shoots, and she hits the floor hard, so now all I can think this “damn Leon! Owww that must’ve hurt!” in an almost comical way that ruins the tone & tension of the scene for me. Idk maybe they could have had him run to where she was hanging so he could try to catch her before she hits the ground, maybe she didn’t have to be unconscious this time so she could attempt a better landing herself since she gains consciousness extremely quick in the remake anyways, or this time just change the scene entirely and not have her hanging at all but still placed as bait in another way he can save her and ask if she’s ok?

no, i agree. that's one the one scene that was SO oddly done. yes, leon is "lured out" almost immediately. he LEAVES ASHLEY behind which is one of the first times where he clearly leaves her, his job which is keeping ashley safe.

and he heads towards ada. in og re4, she falls into like.. potato sacks or something and leon is quick to be like "you okay?" and ada responds with, "i've been better."

but also re4 leon uses a knife, which makes WAY MORE SENSE THAN THE RE4R OF A SINGLE BULLET. he SHOOTS THE ROPE???? IN A SINGLE SHOT???? EXCUSE ME???

HOW IS THAT LESS CAMPY THAN THE KNIFE THROW???

(video should start at the scene)

my only theory is that leon didn't see a clear way towards her in a quick enough way that didn't require him to climb things. there's no clear ladder or rope from what i can see, and he could've seen that getting her down (or rather at least not tied up) was more important than her probably landing awkwardly. it could also be because leon has faith that she'll be okay from the fall.

i also like that this scene in particular is addressed in damnation when she's incapacitated again and is tied up, she has a knife in her heel that she can easily reach (also omg this was so hot what the fuck) and use to cut herself down from the rope. damnation also shows her using leon's advice and grabbing a knife to fight off svetlana.

now back to leon- if you actually watch the clip, leon takes a few steps towards her in the cut scene. after he shoots her down, and ada falls. he's actually heading towards her but the BUGS COME AND START ATTACKING LEON. I REALLY THINK THAT IF THE BUGS DIDN'T COME, THAT LEON WOULD'VE BEEN ABLE TO REACH ADA

[echidnana]

For the top 5 ask game! Top 5 horror games? (This is a cleverly disguised ploy for recommendations because you have good taste)

AWWWWW ty ❤️❤️ we r going to do franchises but also include our favorite games in the series!!

resident evil

our favorite!!!! re is one of our spins and is so expensive with tons of different tones throughout the games. our personal absolute favorites are probably re2 (og and remake) and re4! but we also love re5 and re6 because of the co op and feel like those are really fun (even though they aren't exactly "good" games). 7 + 8 are also awesome, 7 has the best horror atmosphere imo along with re1 remake.

silent hill

another classic!! we aren't as well aquatinted with sh than with re but silent hill is genuinely such an amazing series. sh3 is our favorite bc we LOVE Cheryl so much esp as a horror protagonist, she's so cool. but 1 2 and 3 are amazing.

haunting ground

HAUNTING GROUND MY BELOVED!!!! it's sooo good Fiona and hewie are so cool. I feel like it has similar vibes to sh3, even though Fiona and Cheryl are VERY different protagonists. they're both girls thrown into this horrifying environment having their autonomy violated, although they have pretty different reactions and survive in different ways. haunting ground is so good, there's a dog!!!, Fiona is such a sweet chracater!

the quarry

OK we usually don't really like this genre of "movie game" type of thing, but our cousin adores this game so we've been playing it with her and it's actually pretty fun! to be honest a lot of the fun of this game comes from playing with other people (esp someone who's hyperfixated on it) and not necessarily the game itself, but it's a cool experience and has a pretty interesting plot!

alien: isolation

we haven't even like. played/interacted with this game very much but genuinely this game is TERRIFYING the alien stalking you is the scariest fucking thing ever. from the gameplay we've seen it very much feels like being in the movie, plus stalker enemies are super fun to us so it looks awesome.

[laracroftsbraid]

AJSJFHFCJCJSJ ITS HAPPENING !!!!!

RE4 REMAKE TRAILER AND OOOH LEON IS GONNA LOO KSO GOOD 😭. I’m excited to see Ada cause I miss her. Can’t wait to see her save Leon’s life again. Also I can’t wait to see a new upgraded Wesker in this game(I miss him sue me) . I think this RE4 game is perfect timing. After the great reception of RE8, it make sense for them to come back to the OG science “magic” cult that takes place in some middle-of-nowhere village. Especially now that the RE8 hype has waned a bit. In my opinion RE2remake and RE7 brought back the survival horror feel that the series desperately needed again. RE8 brought a nice supernatural-esque gothic horror touch to the series that was refreshing. I think this RE4 remake will stay true to its source material. But it seems Capcom has learned from its past mistakes because this trailer was eerie and gives you chills. It looks like they really nailed the isolation vibe in the game. It was already spooky in the original so it’s definitely gonna be terrifying in the remake. I’m excited to see more lore and details in the village especially in regards to the cult. After playing RE8, I have faith that what made the cult and village terrifying in the og will be taken to the next level in this new game. I look forward to them expanding the environment. I’m just happy to see Resident Evil games coming back to their roots. I missed the horror and I’m glad it’s back.

[theirrationalzone]

Yakking ‘bout Games: Resident Evil 4

Yakking ‘bout Games is a series where I talk about games that I’m currently playing or have just finished. It can be new or old, console or PC, good or bad, it really doesn’t matter. If it’s a game worth talking about, you’ll see it covered here.

Where do I even start with this one? Resident Evil 4 is one of those games that doesn’t really need an introduction. It’s a legend of the industry. A game that somehow managed to transcend its own genre to reinvent another. I could start with how it was supposed to be a more traditional entry in the series. I could discuss about it being part of the Capcom Five, a series of titles intended to be exclusive to the Nintendo GameCube which ended in complete disaster. I think it would be easier to just dive in, wouldn’t you agree?

Fair enough, Leon. We’re getting into it now.

After the Spencer Mansion (RE1) and Raccoon City (RE2 & RE3) incidents, the evil pharmaceutical organisation known as Umbrella are finished. All is right with the world. It doesn’t last long however as Ashley Graham (the US President’s daughter) is kidnapped and only one man is up to the job: former rookie cop turned badass secret agent, Leon S. Kennedy. Leon is sent to rural Spain to locate and secure Ashley, but it isn’t long before things go pear-shaped and Leon ends up being infected with a mysterious parasite.

To be fair, when have rescue missions ever gone smoothly in movies and video games?

I wouldn’t say the story in RE4 is the most complex or well delivered, but the dialogue and characters certainly hold it up. I’m convinced that the writers just sat around watching Commando when coming up with the dialogue for this. Some of Leon’s lines feel right at home in that style of movie and I love them. A personal favourite of mine would have to be his exclaimation of “No thanks, bro!” when first encountering one of the villains. The characters are also a delight. I adored Luis Sera, a very charming womaniser, Ada Wong, a femme fetale type returning from Resident Evil 2 and Lord Saddler, the grandiose leader of the evil cult that kidnapped Ashley. Of course I can’t forget The Merchant as well.

You’re imagining his voice right now, aren’t you? Me too.

To say that RE4 is just a survival horror game is overlooking what this game managed to achieve with its gameplay. It still keeps with its survival horror roots in that inventory and resource management is a key element. You don’t have a huge amount of inventory space at the start (though this can be upgraded) so you can only hold a certain amount of weapons, ammo and healing items. Meaning that you have be a bit smart with whatever you have. You can even play a little inventory Tetris to fit items in. You still solve puzzles and still have to hunt for key items in order to progress but what truly made this game stand out from the crowd was its take on third-person shooting.

Resident Evil 4 finally managed to crack the problem that so many third-person shooters and action games could not figure out. It managed to fix the camera perspective by having the camera always overlooking the main character’s shoulder even when aiming. This was a literal game changer. It finally allowed for more precision and less frustration which wasn’t possible before. It feels great. Firing a gun in this game is a treat. All the weapons feel fantastic to use (especially the shotguns) and as mentioned previously, the over-the-shoulder perspective allows for more precise aiming so you can shoot enemies in certain body parts which plays a huge role as certain enemies and bosses can only be defeated this way. Instead of a reticule, you get a laser sight on all guns which adds a little difficulty to the aiming.

The melee combat also gets an upgrade. It was pretty simplistic in the previous entries as it was supposed to be more of a fall back option if you used up all of your ammo. You still get a knife in this game which can be drawn to give enemies a quick slash which is useful if they’re downed, but you can also perform melee moves after staggering an enemy with a well-placed shot. These are pretty fun to pull off and can be instrumental in saving your life. The combat just feels fantastic and this game introduces so many different ways to deal with certain situations. Guns can even be upgraded in order to be even more effective with them dealing better firepower and higher ammo capacity.

There are problems with the gameplay for sure. It’s not too long before you encounter Ashley and have her tag along with you for a decent chunk of the game. Now generally Ashley isn’t too problematic to have around. You can tell her to follow you, hold position and even have her hide in certain spots and generally she follows these orders to the letter. The problem lies with her AI just deciding to do some daft things from time to time. I had numerous instances where she would stop following me while we were escaping from some enemies and would just cower allowing the enemy to grab and take her away. Thus the ever grating “LEON!!!” screech begins (no offense to her voice actress.) I feel that Silent Hill 4 did the whole escort thing better. Eileen Galvin wouldn’t do anything crazy (unless you gave her a weapon.)

She’s not best pleased with me after that last paragraph. I don’t blame her.

Then we have the Quick Time Events. Now generally I don’t have a problem with QTEs being in games. It’s a regular thing in games now, I can live with it. The ones in RE4 at times can feel a little cheap. Especially the ones that just pop up out of nowhere during a cutscene when you least expect it. Not cool, Capcom. Not cool.

I bet Indiana Jones didn’t have to worry about pressing square to run away...

Another issue I have is that some of the boss fights in this game do a pretty poor job of telling the player if their attacks are having any effect. It feels like you have to dump half your resources before they even flinch. This is a problem I’ve had with most of the games in this series and it still happens in the recent ones. It’s just not as bad. For the record, I’m not saying that the boss fights are near impossible, I’m just saying that I wish that certain bosses gave better indication that they’re being hurt by my attacks.

Resident Evil 4′s presentation is still excellent to this day. Obviously the graphics are showing their age (even more so when blown up to HD), but the enviroments are still striking and carry a great sense of atmosphere. I especially loved the look of the castle sections of the game. It definitely gave me a bit of a Devil May Cry vibe. (Makes sense. The two series are very much linked.)

Definitely gets the “S” for Stylish.

The cutscenes look good and are pretty well directed. The voice acting is really good considering when this came out. Plus I couldn’t fault the music and sound design if I tried. It’s always been an area where this series has excelled at.

The game has a very good length to it. I finished it in about 10-11 hours. There is reason to go back again since you unlock some weapons and costumes just for finishing the game. There is also the Separate Ways and Assignment Ada chapters (available on every platform except the OG GameCube version) which focus on Ada Wong and they add a good few more hours to the play time. Plus you have the highly replayable arcade-style Mercenaries mode which tasks you with killing as many enemies as you can within a time limit to earn the highest score possible.

Resident Evil 4 is just sublime. The combat still packs a punch even to this day. It feels amazing and it allows you to approach different situations in a variety of ways. The game also just manages to stay true to the traditional fixed camera angle survival horror entries that came before by sticking to the same core values that made those games so tense and engaging. It may have some elements that haven’t aged fantastically, but it still plays well and provides a great experience for any budding survival horror fan. It’s a shame that because of this game, the series went off the rails for a while as some of the next entries just focused on the action. (For the record, I liked Resi 5 a lot.)

Interestingly enough, Resident Evil 4 doesn’t really get any of the stigma that comes with that fact. It’s still beloved and important. Play it yourself sometime and you’ll understand why.

[echidnana]

hey logan ! i’m thinking of getting into re8, so here i am at the re8 expert’s door for any lore and headcanon’s you have for any of the characters/place settings (i’m fine with ‘spoilers’!) :]

OMG OMG JACK HELLO I AM SO HAPPY TO OBLIGE

i’m adding a cut because i started rambling so the post ended up being a bit long. i tried to organize all the ideas as best i could and made some smaller sections to make it easier to process

also, i wrote this operating on the assumption that this is your first re game. so i might go too in depth for some stuff that you might already know i just like talking about re

TO PREFACE: i haven’t played 8, and i’m not sure if i’ll ever be able to. i’ve watched a bunch of edited play throughs and am currently about 2/3 of the way thorough snapcube’s full play through!

ok so. in my opinion 8 is VERY different from a lot of the other resident evil games in terms of atmosphere/setting. while most of the games before had been very ‘zombie/virus/mad science’ feeling, this game is closer to a fantasy type vibe (although it is all explained by science).

just to give a brief synopsis- ethan winters is the protagonist. his main motive is to rescue his daughter, who was taken into this village that is overrun by monsters. the village is run by mother miranda, who’s sort of a deity to the people of the village. the rest of the land is divided up amongst the four lords. i’m order to save his daughter, ethan has to fight through each of the lords.

my favorite lords

my favorite lords are donna beneviento and karl heisenberg. i hc them both to be trans and autistic :) to be honest, i hc every single resident evil character to be trans lmao

anyways. donna beneviento. she’s the doll maker and her portion of the game is probably my favorite. she only speaks once in the game, and you only see her face once. she’s very reclusive and typically speaks through her dolls. i also personally think she’s the most compassionate of the lords, despite her section being one of the most horrifying. her abilities rely mostly on causing someone’s own mind to sort of turn on itself and feeds into the person’s fears. but yeah, i love her and hc her as autistic :)

karl heisenberg is the magneto dude lmao. i love his parts in the game because he feels very… genuinely unhinged. like he’s HILARIOUS but not really on purpose, he’s just being really showy and dramatic. i personally wasn’t a fan with how they ended his part on the story bc i want to see more of him lmao

ok also. she isn’t a lord, but i adore daniela dimitrescu. she’s one of the daughters of the Tall Vampire Lady and she’s TOTALLY unhinged. even though i have favorite parts of the game, i love all of it. i wasn’t expecting to care that much about the dimitrescu section of the game but honestly all of it was so enjoyable

ethan winters

ethan winters is probably my favorite playable character of resident evil because he’s so… i don’t wanna say stupid, but he’s a dumbass

he’s like a horror movie protagonist that is in the situation they’re in because they made a dumb decision. but i think that’s so funny, especially for resident evil. his character in 7 vs 8 is pretty much the same- his objective is always to protect his family, and i think that’s really good for resident evil as well. most of the past characters’ motives were taking down huge corporations or stopping the spread of a virus, but ethan’s is just to protect his family and get somewhere safe.

tie ins to other games

i figured i’d add a section about this since i love all of the re games so much!

so the first obvious one- chris redfield is a relatively main character in this. he’s the co-protagonist of the original resident evil, so he’s definitely still involved with plot lmao. he was 25 in the first game, so in re8, he’s nearing 50.

at the end of re7, ethan winters meets chris redfield after escaping the baker’s residence. chris was working with blue umbrella at the time I THINK i’m gonna be honest i don’t keep up with what organization he’s with because he switches around so many times. basically he takes ethan and his wife and move them to europe as a sort of witness protection program. i like to think chris became close with them and would go over for dinner

anyways in re8 he gets tangled up in the plot in pretty significant ways. he’s one of the ogs of re so it was definitely fun to see him fighting monsters well into his 40s

there’s a few references to other games throughout re8. my favorites are

- the duke (who is the shop keep) has a line where he says something along the lines of ‘what’re ya buying? heh, just something a friend of mine says.’ this is a reference to re4’s merchant, who would say that when you opened his inventory. i thought this was a really funny implication- that the duke and the merchant know each other.

- one of heisenberg’s lines refers to chris as a ‘boulder-punching asshole’ which is capcom making a joke about themselves. in resident evil 5, there’s a scene where chris redfield literally punches a boulder into an active volcano. it was memed a lot because it was such a ridiculous scene, so this line is capcom acknowledging it

general/setting

i think resident evil 8 did a good job being a great game but also keeping the core resident evil elements. like the plot’s connection to the overall re universe is dumb as hell but it feels very resident evil. personally i feel like it’s super similar to re4 in the sense that it takes the typical zombie genre but gives it a completely different setting or tone than you’d usually expect. like, castles in a zombie survival horror game is BRILLIANT and not something i’d ever expect.

i’m also a huge fan of the sort of ‘mutating into something that isn’t human’ trope and resident evil 8 has SO MUCH of that. all of the lords are basically infected by a parasite that affected them all in a different way. so heisenberg can control metal while donna causes hallucinations and shit.

———

ok i think that’s most of my thoughts on it… re8 is such a good game and even though the plot can be dumb and full of contradictions the campiness and seriousness is balanced near perfectly in re8. one of the issues some of the past re games had is they took themselves too seriously. re8 does a great job at not taking itself too seriously in order to be a fun game.

i hope this wasn’t too long! i love re8 to death and will always jump to talk abt it lol. ethan winters is one of my favorite re characters ever, and this game is full of great ethan moments. i hope you enjoy it!! it’s definitely a great experience regardless of if you care about the lord and connections to other games.