Episode 3 Playthrough and Blog/Review/Whatever!

I recorded a playthrough for Revelations 2 Episode 3! Complete with the same obnoxious buzzing in the background-foreground-underground-allground that's practically a trademark of mine. As such, I'm not really surprised nobody pays attention to these as streams managing to stand out is difficult enough without a shitty mic dragging it down, too. Still, I've enjoyed broadcasting these and I like that my first-hand reactions have been eternally captured whence playing through each episode, regardless of how unfortunately shoddy it all still ultimately is. This time was at least a little different as there was a guy who hung around and chatted for a good majority of the stream, which I really appreciated. So, a big thank you to yeah_28!

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Another week, another episode of Revelations 2, and thus another blog of mine! At this rate it seems as if every episode is surpassing the last, with the first being something of a mixed but optimistic opening, the second episode finding its footing, and now the third with some pretty satisfying story steps being taken. However not all is well with episode 3, as while Claire's portion delivers unto us many of the game's highlights thus far, Barry's segment following thereafter almost kind of feels like padding. The episode could have easily wrapped up with Claire's, and Barry's segment feels latched on, as if due to the structure per episode Capcom felt they had to put him in here somewhere. Barry doesn't miss out on the praise completely for this outing, as his part once again features some charming, and rather important, character interactions, but actually playing through it all often felt tedious and mundane.

Still, not to start off on the negative foot, Claire's segment houses some of the better gameplay happenings in the whole game thus far. In a surprising turn from the previous two episodes, Claire and Moira are both forced to solve a number of puzzles that look like they'd fit right in any classic survival horror game. While none are especially difficult, I did think the one that required you to trigger the ceiling spikes to lower down enough so it destroys a statue with a key embedded in it (Yup!) pretty clever. Another that has you rely on Moira and Moira alone as she uses her torch to follow a series of footprints, helping her avoid the menagerie of death lasers that are trained on the location, was another highlight. Not only because it was at least out of the realm of something, like, simply reading a memo for a code and was actually relatively creative, but because it gave Moira in particular more of a purpose. While from a combat perspective she only seems to be getting more useless per episode, as Claire acquires more guns and via certain upgrades only gets more powerful, Episode 3 makes for a sound attempt in forcing situations that outright require cooperation.

Some obstacles are simple, such as having Moira hold onto a lever while Claire shoots enough hooks holding up passing carcuses into a grinder below so the blood then fills up enough so you can collect a fake piece of liver (...Yup, simple!), whereas another later puzzle requires the player as Moira to note the specific lever Claire must pull--AKA the one that won't result in her bloody demise--from the other side so she can join up with Moira. Of course it's not necessarily Moira who we should be specifically grateful for as these tasks could be performed by any secondary character. Still, it's at least enough to give Moira something to do as opposed to running around like a headless chicken while shouting the odd profanity. Though she does tend to make for good bait at least...

Claire's segment is surprisingly lengthy as well, and just when you think it's about ready to wrap up, complete with a classic 5-minute timer ticking down amidst a fiery stream of explosions, it introduces a whole new area with its own challenge due to the knee-high water limiting your maneuverability.

Barry's unfortunately threatens to drag the whole thing down it's so tedious. It takes place across two different areas, the first of which involves Natalia taking the high ground and turning the valves to open the way below for Barry. Barry meanwhile must try to safeguard her travels and shoot any slight obstacles. It starts off well enough and compliments the episode's overall emphasis on teamwork quite nicely. However it goes on for a little too long, and they've also reintroduced the zombie 'Rotten' enemies, which are so pitifully easy to dispatch that it's almost comical. Whereas the Afflicted during Claire's segment are aggressive enough to demand you keep moving and pay attention, the Rotten are slow and typically die from a single headshot, leaving Barry's first part to feel overly long and rather boring. The second part is even worse, however, as it requires you to transport a box throughout this mine to help you reach higher plains. This too comes across as busywork, almost as if Barry's working a 9-5 job as a factory worker or something, and quickly becomes tedious and sucks away any sort of momentum. This segment does at least introduce a new enemy type, though it's just too bad that it had to have been spoiled in Raid mode... Much like with certain other enemy types that I encountered in Raid mode before they were formally introduced in the story.

Speaking of which, story stuffs!

Claire's segment weirdly enough goes to great lengths to try and tie it with the events of the first Revelations, specifically Morgan Lansdale and his attempts to raise awareness of BOW-threats by basically instigating them... or something. Revelations' plot was kinda messy and a little hard to follow. Still, the predictable betrayal of Neil and his motives of trying to carry on Lansdale's dream made for a nice little callback; a means to help tie together the lore and give it some consistency. Also, fun fact, Morgan Lansdale is basically Gen from Street Fighter. Seriously, he even has a very Gen-esque melee attack in Raid mode!

Anywhoo, Neil is ultimately and also predictably betrayed by Queen Blondie Bitch Alex Wesker with a nasty dose of the Uroborus virus from RE5. He then thusly turns into something that looks like a mix between a Tyrant and a hentai manga... Because tentacles. In any case the boss battle itself, while I think could have standed to end a little sooner, was enjoyable and felt very reminiscent of a classic Resident Evil sort of boss. It's also not very often that you get to have Yuri Lowenthal voice a bad guy, not to mention one that continues to talk all monster-y. There's also another reference to Moira's backstory about Barry's difficult nature when they interact, while Claire also makes mention of she and her brother Chris having a similar relationship when they were young. Funny that Claire compares how Moira & Barry are behaving to a childish sibling rivalry; whether Capcom actually intended that to be Claire's intention seems uncertain...

The best part of it all is during the end of the boss fight, when Claire is bamboozled by Neil (who returns after his supposed defeat after the boss fight -- WHAT A TWEEST), forcing Moira to then potentially have to use Claire's gun to save her. We all saw it coming, Moira's act of defiance against her own morals to save another, but it's handled well as we then receive flashbacks to a scene from her past involving her accidentally shooting her younger sister Polly as a child and Barry discovering the accident. It actually managed to carry the gravitates of Moira's issues stemming from this event quite handily. Though funnily enough you could potentially miss that sequence should you choose to stay in control of Claire, as she then instead picks up the gun and shoots Neil Diamond in the lipless monster face. It's strange that they give you the choice as obviously Moira being the saviour is the significantly better and more thematically appropriate outcome. In a world where zombies and monsters are happening at least somewhere in the world, yo fucking pick up the gun.

Fortunately even Barry's segments has some worthwhile story to it as well, specifically again involving Moira's past. After Natalia injures herself, Barry then takes to carrying her on his back. For starters, it's adorable, and second he then decides to spill his guts regarding Moira and how he of course blames himself for not locking the door to where he keeps all of his fancy guns. Unfortunately, he also reveals that Polly didn't actually die and was able to recover, which seems like some pretty typical cowardice on Capcom's part. However, all the same, given the recent influx of controversy surrounding gun ownership in the US and the potential danger they posses--including real life incidents of children killing their loved ones by mistake--this bit of backstory actually feels surprisingly mature. I doubt Capcom are actually trying to say something political here, but it's all handled with enough seriousness to still feel surprisingly effective... though Moira's ''Go jump on a dildo'' line certainly does its best to deflate much of the earned tactfulness. Still, Michael McConnohie once again deserves praise for his performance of Barry, as he manages to portray the guilt and regret Barry's experiencing quite well. It also helps to bring the relationship of Barry and Natalia closer together, and if I had to guess he's likely to adopt her as his own once this'll all be over.

There's also this continued intrigue surrounding Moira, whom is purported to be dead by the time Barry's arrived, if not undergone a traditionally body-horror heavy transformation. I wouldn't think that to be the case, considering that Capcom rarely ever kill their good guys--especially since they didn't even have the balls to kill Polly, a character who hasn't even partaken in any of the games--but if Capcom actually force you to kill a monstrous Moira as Barry, they would certainly earn my respect!

Not everything concerning the story is handled with the best care, as while Moira, Barry and Natalia all give solid performances, Claire I can't say the same. She's primarily characterised as being a little 'grittier' and more prone to dry and sarcastic quips, and whenever the character is asked to portray a little more emotion, the lines really fall flat. There's also Neil, and how it's suggested that Claire had a thing for him and is all broken up about his betrayal and death. However because we barely ever saw or got to know Neil, that too doesn't have the necessary investment to matter to the player.

Nonetheless, Revelations 2 thus far easily ranks at what is Resident Evil's best told story. Not that that's especially high praise of course given the standards of the series, but it's enough to show that Capcom are actually improving. Each cliffhanger also does a great job in leaving me excited to learn more, and this one is no different, with the mutated Alex Wesker getting rather spooked by Natalia's admittedly creepy stare.

In some ways, Episode 3 is perhaps the best one thus far. It's a shame Barry's portion is primarily made up of sheer boredom, but Claire's excellent segment is able to weigh it back up and have it stand overall as a pretty good time. Only one more episode to go and I am now legitimately excited to see it to the end.