Turns out that The Blair Witch Project is the absolute worst film to watch if you’re camping out in the woods that night. With no evidence to the contrary I thought it was real and - though I still doubted the existence of actual witches - I spent the night sleeping in the backseat of someone’s car. The Blair Witch Project remains the most terrifying experience I’ve had in a cinema and makes me basically the prime target for Blair Witch VR.
My expectations were sky high, I was counting down the days to play it; frothing at the mouth, staring at my watch, screaming at time to move more quickly… ok maybe that’s hyperbole - but I couldn’t wait to finally load the game and start my experience.
I was very sceptical going into Tormented Souls, thinking that maybe this type of game should be left in the past, so I don’t have to watch my love and nostalgia being quickly eroded by games trying to recapture their spirit.
Luckily, I love Tormented Souls, it did exactly what it was supposed to do - first and foremost, allow me to enjoy the experience but also fired up my nostalgia and transported me back to the early days of survival horror.
The Disco Elysium opening tells you a lot about the game. First is a weird exchange between your limbic system and the void, and after that’s all done you awake in a trashed hotel in only your underwear, whilst hearing voices and with total amnesia. You proceed to find your clothes - which includes a talking tie - and it’s off to the races. It's interesting, it's surreal and it encapsulates the rest of the game.
Truthfully, If I was playing this game without intending to review it, I would have stopped after forty-five minutes and put it down as ‘just not my cup of tea’. Though I do enjoy occasionally trying out games that I would tend to avoid - to see whether the game can win me over and possibly change my view - this game sadly didn’t and in fact, further cemented my thoughts.
Now, I will admit that when I played seven, I had lost interest in both horror and gaming so I think that heavily skewed my opinion of the game, though I will say - even though I had issues with seven at the time, I understood that Resident Evil as a franchise needed a new direction in both story and gameplay, such as when four was released which moved to the over-the-shoulder camera with a story that was firmly tongue in cheek, accentuating the B-Movie horror qualities of the series. It was what the franchise needed and after six, it was clear they once again needed a new direction.
So, enter Resident Evil Village. Was I going to feel it was too heavy on action/horror… or was it going to be like the tale of Goldilocks, and everything was going to be just right?
The series has always been about the creative kills; drop a piano on an unsuspecting criminal, poison the mob boss’ morning gin, dress up as a clown and beat a villain to death with a frying pan at his child's birthday party etc.
It’s a series about creativity, of how cunning or sadistic can you be? My strategy would always be - try to plan something clever. Fail. Panic, ending up with bursting into a room, shooting the target and then hiding in the nearest bin.
Well, I was hoping for an action-packed, highly stylistic thrill ride… That is not what I got. This remastered version just feels soulless. It has a real emptiness and everything about it feels hollow.
