I’m a long time fan of the RE franchise, so I think it would be good to review a more obscure RE title. Luckily, Resident Evil: “Revelaitons” fits the bill.

Reader: “Great. Second sentence in any he’s already had one typo. That’s our Lantis!”



Anyways, I’ve been a huge fan of Resident Evil for some time now. Sarah’s Knight and I used to dump countless hours into these games. We’ve been there through all the changes the series has made and I’m really proud of what Capcom has done. Yes, the formula used in Resident Evil 4 was dramatically different… as in it wasn’t scary. But you know what? That game was incredibly fun. In fact, it was some of the most fun I’ve ever had with entire franchise. I do kind of miss the whole horror aspect of the series though.

But that’s where Revelaitons comes in. It adapted the gameplay and controls of the newer style Resident Evil installments but brought back that creepy feeling that’s been lost. Sounds like a RE fan’s dream right? Well, before we get into that, I want to go over a bit of the game’s marketing before it came out and why exactly I was so excited for this game.

Here was the first trailer for the game.


The part in particular I was really interested in was when Jill Valentine held a gun at Chris Redfield’s head as he was tied up to a chair. She asks, “Do you really think you’ll get away with this?” To which he replies after successfully fooling Jill with a decoy and pointing a gun at her, “I already have, Jill.”

Jill: “Did you… do you have it?”

Chris: “Maybe. You’ll have to kill me to find out.”


Holy crap, guys. I was throwing money at my monitor. Jill and Chris have both risked their lives for each other time and time again for years. What on earth could have gone so wrong for THIS to happen? This was a great setup for a game, and I just couldn’t wait to find out what happens.

Well, the game finally came out. I was playing it day one. First thing I noticed is that there was an actual multiple file saving system. Originally, Revelaitons intended to only had one save file that you couldn’t alter… other than progressing through the game. I’m glad they fixed that. And as a side note, for the first two hours of gameplay, I tried to get adjusted to the 3D effect, but I eventually gave up and just turned it off completely. Also, Nintendo expected you to buy the “Slide pad pro” or whatever they called it to give you a second analog stick. This device effectively doubles the size of your 3DS. Something I wouldn’t do even if it was offered to me for free. Besides, the game plays perfectly fine without it. The control scheme was just fine.


The gameplay is a mix bag. It both added and took away from the RE4/5 system. In Revelaitons, you can hold up your gun with R, and then hold L to strafe or move forwards and backwards. This is similar to Dead Space, but still not quite as fluent as you can both move and aim at the same time without needed to hold a separate button. It is definitely a useful addition though. On the downside, you don’t have a real inventory system. This time you just have a max limit you can carry of each type of item. And, unfortunately, you can only hold 5 herbs at one time. Herbs, this time, work like F-aid sprays. The reason being because there are no F-aid sprays, red herbs, or blue herbs…. JUST regular green herbs. Also, you don’t hold your ammo like you normally do. It’s more like a FPS where you just kind of hold it all in your gun. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not, but take it as you will. I think they simplified the item management a bit too much though. It kind of kills the whole picking, choosing, and sacrificing aspect which kind of adds a layer of anticipation and stress in a zombie apocalypse-type setting, which is how it should be. All in all though, the battle system is still really good and made the game fun to play. The story, however… well, let’s talk about that.

You begin playing as Jill with her new partner in the BSAA, Parker. I don’t know what to think about Parker as he has literally no character. Through the entire game, I never became attached to him or really even liked him. He was just kind of there for the ride, I guess. Parker and Jill are looking for Chris who has been lost. Only to find out it was a setup by a terrorist organization called Veltro. They begin to threaten the BSAA that they will release a NEW virus… the T-Abyss virus. I’ll never understand why they need a new virus every single game. There’s no cure for ANY of the viruses yet. Not T, not G, not Veronica, not Las Plagas, or Oroboros. So why they are spamming them so much is beyond me. And better yet, they don’t even explain why T-Abyss is even different. Well, other than instead of turning into zombies, they turn into what they call… the ‘ooze.’ Really creative, there, Capcom. But what they don’t explain is why there are still traditional hunters and Cerberus running around… so whatever.


Anyways, after Jill and Parker get caught by Veltro, you find out that Chris was in the Europe searching a crash site. And here we are introduced to another new character: Jessica. I don’t know quite what Capcom had in mind for her, but she absolutely does not fit into the RE universe. The entire time she is very flirty… which just does not fit the life-or-death situation involved in a survival horror game. And what’s worse, she’s got this blinding jealousy of Jill. MULTIPLE times in the game, Chris has to calm her down when talk of Jill comes up. She’ll start drilling Chris with questions that she honestly shouldn’t have time to be worrying about at the time. Here is one of those conversations:

Jessica: “So… Jill, was it?”

Chris: “Was what? Stay Focused.”

Jessica: “She was your partner before, right?”

Chris: “Yeah, my partner. From before. What about it?”

Jessica: “I was, you know, just asking.”

-Later-

Jessica: “Sorry to bring this up again, but…”

Chris: “Bring what up?”

Jessica: “Do you trust me as much as Jill?”

Chris: “There’s no need to compare. I trust you both. Besides trust is built through actions, not words.”

Jessica: “That’s so like you, Chris. It’s always about the job, isn’t it.”

And this is just two of those times. She gets on this anti-Jill kick a few more times before the game is over. I cannot believe how hung up Jessica is on this. And what’s worse, later in the game when you finally meet back up with Jill, Jessica finally admits she just wanted in his pants the whole time.

Feel free to look yourself within the first minute and a half of this video:


I particularly like how she throws herself at Chris and he literally has to peel her off of him. Oh and just in case you are curious what she’s wearing… this is her outfit:


Not only that, but they introduce two OTHER character that make Jessica and Parker look like fully fleshed out and likeable character… Keith and Quint. I assume they are supposed to be the comic relief, you know, because that’s totally what the survival horror genre was missing. From these two you will enjoy such conversations as these:

Keith: “So you followed Jessica home? You know where she lives now?”

Quint: “Almost. I had her until the very end but I lost her near the- Hey! You think I’m a stalker, don’t you!”

Keith: “Haha. You said it. C’mon, let’s go.”


Riveting, Capcom. Just perfect. Most the time, Quint will be making pop culture references while you play though their segment of game. Just to depressingly remind you that you aren’t currently playing as Chris or Jill.

But if you suffer nine of the twelve chapters of the game, you will eventually be paired up with Chris and Jill and the game becomes MUCH better. And the cherry on top is that Keith and Quint supposedly died in an explosion after having recently fought INVISIBLE HUNTERS (that was a fun fight, let me tell ya). The last few chapters of the game involve a few plot twists of which I won’t spoil in the off chance you would actually get this game. I know how few people there are that actually have 3DS’s and fewer still that like the Resident Evil franchise. But I will go ahead and say that my hate for Jessica was completely justified as she turns traitor by the end of the game. My only regret is that she survives the whole ordeal. Actually, everyone does. Parker, Quint, Keith, and someone I’ve yet to mention named Raymond, all had scenes that implied they died with they did not. So yeah, it’s quite similar to Final Fantasy IV in that aspect.

So to sum everything up, the gameplay is there. The story is not. Not until the very last few chapters of the game. But it’s here I need to point out a very huge problem that needs to be addressed. Remember the trailer? The one where Chris and Jill had each other at gunpoint with Chris acting all evil and junk? You know, the WHOLE REASON I was excited for this game? … It never happened. That plot point never happened in the game! The entire time Chris and Jill were the happiest BFFs in the world! That’s just dirty, Capcom. How can you do that? Basically, the trailer was a flat out lie. And you may be thinking that maybe the scene was after the credits, or a hidden scene somewhere. But no, it’s simply not there. And what’s stranger still, is that I just can’t seem to find anywhere online where someone’s called BS on Capcom for this yet. This, on top of cancelling Megaman Legends 3 (but releasing a second version of Street Fighter IV and Marvel vs. Capcom 3 when said additions could have easily been handled in DLC) just does not settle well with me. I mean, what are they thinking!?

And finally, I just want to point something out real quick. The game is titled “Revelations.” You would be inclined that something that has been hidden in the series the whole time is finally revealed in this game. And as the misleading trailer suggested, it looked as though there would definitely be just that… a major revelation. It’s like, they named the game after that one scene in the trailer… pulled that scene from the game, and just didn’t bother to change the name. I say this because NOTHING is revealed or brought up in the game that is of any major importance. Congrats Capcom. I have not been trolled this hard since Parasite Eve 3.



For hard core RE fans, get it. Just go in there knowing that aside from Chris and Jill, you’ll hate all the characters. If you can get over that, you have a good game on your hands.