honestly a really fun, scary and exciting game. already sunk 32 hours into after just a few days. 10/10.

[UPDATED]
This review was originally much longer, but after putting more hours on the game, my opinions have since changed slightly. I felt like an update of the review was necessary.

First thing to note is: This game will absolutely frustrate you sometimes, no matter whether you are playing Killer or Survivor. It can definitely have its fun moments, but the community sometimes brings the game down. You will experience toxic killers who BM you and target you all game, but you will also experience toxic survivors who sabotage the game for you and team with the killer, or teabag you on killer needlessly, or sandbag you at windows and pallets to get you hit. There are also players who are totally oblivious to their bad behaviours, and will do everything in their path to avoid taking the slightest bit of responsibility for being an ass.

The second thing to note is the pretty poor balancing. Some people will argue that Killer is overpowered, while others argue that Survivors are overpowered. After playing the game for over 1200 hours, I can confidently say that Survivors do get the upper hand in most cases. For example; if you are playing solo queue survivor, the game will probably feel Killer sided - especially if that killer decides to tunnel you out of the game, or if you get bad / trolling teammates. BUT, if you are against a 4 man SWF, Killer will feel genuinely impossible - especially if they have bully builds or gen-rush builds. Its important to note that your MMR can also play a role in which side the game seems to favour more. Although you can't 'see' your MMR, its pretty obvious most of the time whether you're in high or low MMR lobbies. I've noticed that a lot of players in low MMR swear that the game is Killer sided, and players in high MMR swear that its Survivor sided. I have to lean towards this being true. In my own experience; I used to whine like crazy that the game was "sooo killer sided", but as i've spent more and more time on the game, I came to realise that it is more Survivor sided. For clarification; I have never specifically 'mained' Killer or Survivor, I just play whichever side I feel like in the moment - therefore i'm pretty well versed in both sides.

However, this issue of unbalanced sides is where some Killers shine. I'm sure you are aware of the Killer tier lists for this game. And if you are planning on playing killer competitively on this game, it might be a good first step to try the higher tier killers first. You don't need to necessarily pick only S tier killers, but just avoid picking the harder killers or simple-designed killers like Trapper - who is mostly just an M1 merchant. There is nothing wrong with some killers being more powerful than others, I think it actually adds a bit of depth to the game. But, survivor mains will complain that some of these high tier killers are too OP - and that is part of where the "Killer sided" argument comes from. Its not a fair argument to use, as those killers still require quite a bit of skill - like Nurse, Hillbilly, Blight. Using these stronger killers aren't a "easy win game" ticket, the player will still have to utilise their abilities well or they can very easily lose the game. As an example; I recently picked up Billy after mostly avoiding him due to the fear of how hard he is to master, and for my first few games with him - I did pretty bad, because I misused his ability a lot. But now, I have gotten used to his chainsaw curves and I dare to say i'm pretty good with him. Yet, I can still get absolutely walked by a high MMR survivor or a mid MMR SWF. It just happens. And Blight for example, I still can't get used to his ability, and i'm pretty bad with him - even though he is considered one of the strongest killers in the game. I will say that some killers do have pretty annoying abilities, like abilities with little to no cooldowns or penalty for misusing their power - but that is also just how that Killer can be played, and there is nearly always a counter-play to that.

I want to quickly mention the made up rule book that Survivors have made for Killers - like the "no slugging, no tunnelling, and no camping rules". Slugging can be vital to winning or losing a match as killer. Tunnelling can sometimes be the difference between scraping a 1K, and getting no kills at all - and sometimes that 1K can snowball into a 2K, 3K, or even a 4K. Camping is sometimes a good strategy to hold pressure on hooks or even just generators. Out of these 3, I condone camping the LEAST, but I still won't necessarily hold it against a Killer for doing it if they have to. Just ignore survivors if they come to the EGC crying and verbally abusing you for using these very valid strategies.

I don't think I could finish this review without mentioning the amalgamation of cheaters and bugs. I have admittedly seen less cheaters recently, but most of them use subtle cheats now - like very slight speed boosts, or wallhacks that can pretty easily just be dismissed as aura perks. But at one point I literally made a dedicated list of cheaters I had encountered to call them all out and make sure they got banned. I don't think I need to go into too much detail about the bugs, I'm sure you all saw the abysmal Walking Dead chapter launch and the array of bugs it brung with it. At a certain point, you stop noticing most of them, or they just become a normal part of your experience with the game. Most do get patched, and a lot of them just disappear as you step into different MMR categories - as different MMRs like to exploit bugs differently. The good thing is that bugs are a universal part of the game at least. They affect both survivors and killers. Although, most killer bugs end up hindering the actual killer, whereas a lot of survivor bugs are just goofy.

I started the game in the middle of the FNAF chapter, so I missed out on the old versions of the game, and while I do feel somewhat nostalgic for the watercolour / oil painting aesthetic some of the textures had, and the darkness of the maps, and the overall grittier tone of the game: I will say the game is still definitely in a better place now. It is more competitive, but also more balanced. If you watch old DBD gameplay and some of the disgusting metas from back then, the game genuinely seemed really unfair. Some perks and item/addons would be ridiculously unbalanced, while some killers would be outrageously powerful - like The Nurse (she used to have 7 BLINKS... WHAT!!)

No matter what, I'll keep playing the game, I love it, and I have made some awesome friends and met amazing people from it. I just want the game to keep improving.

Thats all,

jamstar7.

This game has it all. If you were a fan of the more horror focused Resident Evil games - like RE7 for example, or if you just like Resident Evil in First Person - then this game is for you. If you like the more action focused Resident Evil games like RE4, this game is also for you.

You can play as Grace in first person - as her sections are more horror focused and feature a tighter level design, and you can play as Leon in third person - as his sections are more action focused and feature a looser level design. All of the sections for both characters are so well-thought out, and they each flow into the story of the game very well. The game also has a lot of mechanics that make for longer playtimes, and often really cool moments. Leon's combat especially intrigued me in this game, his introduction mission was so damn cool.

The story is roughly the same as any Resident Evil story. Its just Umbrella doing more messed up things again. Its still a good story, but I feel like RE games have quite predictable stories at times, and I know thats probably a hot take. But i'm not being negative about the game, I am still really enjoying the story - and the gameplay is keeping me engaged.

There are plenty of easter eggs, collectibles, and things to go hunting and searching the levels for - which is always a good thing for a Resident Evil game imo.

Now, I have GOT to mention the graphics, because holy moly they are so good. Every section of this game looks almost photorealistic; the RE Engine is genuinely insane. I must mention the animations while i'm talking about the graphics too: there are so many animations for the same moments but animated specifically for first or third person with whichever character you want. They basically had to reanimate all of the sections twice over. You can play the game in whichever perspective you want and you will have no issues in the entire playthrough. The animations are also very reactive and realistic, and I even saw a video pointing out the detail of Grace's animations becoming more confident - as told by her change in posture as you go through the game.

I'm still pretty far from the end of the game, and it seems like it'll probably take me roughly the same amount of time as RE4 did. Difference is, I have enjoyed this game so much more. I can probably say its now my new favourite game in the franchise.

10/10