Resident Evil Revelations

[Wrathborne]

Takenaka revealed that he is a "nut" for the series and has pointed out things about the story and timeline that the current developers completely forgot. So that's a good thing!

Well, in all honesty any fan whose been with the game since the late 90's can point out things the current developers forgot. :/

[Smiley]

Atmosphere and music are integral to the horror genre, but a good writer makes all the difference between whether the characters, scenarios and dialogue can be taken seriously or not in those situations.

[News Bot]

Atmosphere and music are integral to the horror genre, but a good writer makes all the difference between whether the characters, scenarios and dialogue can be taken seriously or not in those situations.

Sure. Something the series isn't exactly known for...

[Smiley]

Not all the time, no. But exceptions have been made. REmake was a game that took its dialogue and characters seriously as opposed to its original. RE2 for the most part had this as well even though at times it did have light humor. But then you have games like RE4 where the game play had its share of scary moments yet the plot and characters did not take themselves seriously.

The important thing about the writing is that if I don't feel the characters have anything to be afraid of in their environment let alone their own lives then the horror aspect of the plot fails. So for Capcom to make a point that they have this anime writer I do have to wonder how he'll tackle the series. The canon doesn't concern me, but I am curious to see where he takes the plot and characters. Rachel showed a good deal of fear, and what happens to her is creepy based on those trailers. The only problem I had with her was that she suffered from a poor design choice.

[News Bot]

REmake was a game that took its dialogue and characters seriously as opposed to its original.

The original took itself very seriously, it just got warped by the divide between Japanese and English localization and the fact that nobody on the development team could actually tell what shitty English acting was, nor could they read. They made a big thing about making sure it didn't get messed up in the second game (and succeeded, I guess).

All in all, the scenario has never really impacted upon making the games scary or not. It's *all* in presentation. The games mostly sound pretty goofy on paper. But their execution and atmosphere made them somewhat horrifying.

Compare BH2 to "Memory of a Lost City". Pretty much the same scenario, huge difference in presentation. One has "horror", the other does not (jump scares at best). Likewise, later games in the series have inferior (and just borderline fucking silly) enemy designs. Considering the enemies are where pretty much all of the horror comes from, the later games aren't really scary. Luckily, they seem to have realized this and are making some pretty decent enemies in REV.

[Smiley]

The original did suffer from overly silly dialogue. Some of those actors have had better acting gigs outside of RE.

The point still remains. It's just one aspect of the big picture. REmake had a more solid script, serious acting, well placed music and sound and a much more haunting atmosphere. All those pieces worked together accordingly to make it much more scary. Of course it does come down to the game play as well, since your fear comes from being immersed into it, but without interesting characters or well written scenarios to bring to life then the game will fall flat in the horror department.

Silent Hill is a series that is made or broken for more than just its music and atmosphere. The writing was also essential especially in the first three.

It's been said that when recording for Memories of a Lost City the general feel was 'Cloverfield'. Makes sense since the game play is an on rails shooter set in a scenario like RE2 where you're dealing with characters escaping from monsters. That's a step up from how the characters reacted in Umbrella Chronicles. They took that scenario and spun it in a different direction. Did it make it as scary as RE2? Nope. But the tension was there. And over all it made the game that much better to have the characters afraid of their situation. Just another well placed piece in the puzzle since you couldn't rely on the horror simply from the rail shooting game play.

[Pikminister]

The only thing I ever found scary in the classic games was running out of ammo and having to enter a room that I suspected was full of B.O.W.s.... that and that damn dog jumping into the window.

The dialogue was always a cheese fest in all of 'em. Regardless of how creepy it was suppose to be on paper. The end result is there. B movie material no doubt. And don't have a prob with that either. Since the whole franchise plays out like a homage to them.

I love the REmake to death. But the dialogue/script was... well... not too good. The thing that made it trilling again (RE1) was that they moved things around. So you weren't exactly sure what to expect behind a door or around the corner. That more than anything else IMO.

[Smiley]

REmake's script wasn't too good? It re-tooled the original to be more direct and less campy. Sure you had lines like the Jill sandwich remark, but as light humor it didn't derail from their tone. Barry saves Jill in the nick of time and throws a line of relief. That's not bad dialogue, that just tells you what kind of character Barry is.

Unless you have examples yourself that you felt were bad or in tune with the more campier titles?

[Grem]

Sometimes I wonder if the dialogues really sounds as cheesy as you say. As a frenchman, I don't really notice that there is something strange in the voice acting except for the original RE and perhaps the Umbrella Chronicles. I thought that all the others were very well acted, especially the most recent ones.

I love the REmake to death. But the dialogue/script was... well... not too good.

That's a perfect example. I found REmake to be quite good on that matter. What's really wrong with it? Do you have an example of something silly, cheesy or weird?

EDIT : Ok, Smiley made it clear for me :-)

[Smiley]

Yeah it's no surprise that I'm a biased REmake fan. Viva la Gamecube...

[Pikminister]

Yes there was a lot of silly dialogue that went beyond the sandwich thing. Those early chats between Jill and Barry are def cringe worthy material. Its just that when we compare REmake's cutscenes with the originals it obviously comes out looking like a million dollars. Oscar material even. LOL

But when you step back a bit and listen to the dialogue... that's when you realize that the actors really had to try really, really hard to make those lines sound decent on screen. They did good with what they had. But still, the cheese factor & wonky lines are still there. Just read REmake's script. Or watch most of the scenes with Barry in it. Most were "meh" but one of the last scenes where they face Lisa, I thought that one was quite good. And Wesker, at the end sounded like he was on something... he actually was suppose to be on something, though ( ). When he was doing the evil villain monologue thing.

Anyway, Capcom knew they that their script writers were living cheese factories & that's why they finally hired a westerner to do RE5's cutscenes cuz they wanted to cut down on all that. Replacing the Japanese corny lines with the bravado and action that characterizes Western flicks.

[Smiley]

Sorry, but I don't know what specifically they say that is qualified as cringe worthy to you. No one is saying any of the dialogue from the games is Oscar material (How and why would Resident Evil reach Oscar standards anyway?)

But it certainly is not as bad as you're making it out to be. Trust me. Any line you pull from REmake will never be as "cringe worthy" as the actual campy Resident Evil titles. You get on about Wesker at the end, but you don't know true cheesy villainous dialogue until you've heard the man in RE5. The comparisons do make REmake look better because REmake has enough sense to be tame.

[Pikminister]

Hey, I'm just saying that REmake is still full of cheestastic & awkward dialogue/lines. And it has that.

Now if you don't see it... then maybe you think that the 1960's TV adaptation of Batman is right up there with Shakespeare's best works or something along those lines. I mean, everyone has different standards and that's prob was going on here, right? Well its fine. You think the dialogue is top notch. Beautiful. I think its corny and awkward here and there. But you don't see it. Again, its a matter of opinion.

Also, what I'm saying is that I LOVE THE REMAKE WITH ALL ITS CHEESY/CORNY ELEMENTS. I <3 it, dammit. You think that I'm bashing it when in reality I'm pointing out its lovable flaws. Its my fave out of the whole bunch. What I'm saying is that like most RE games out there, it has cheese, wonky, corny dialogues and thats perfectly fine.

Now, I supect that you're just trying to deny Remake any of that cheesy/corny B movie GOOD STUFF because it kills your argument that only the early & recent games are like that. Not so my friend. The REmake has some of that too.

You think REmake is 100% without flaws & perfect... I think its perfect because its not perfect.

[News Bot]

I do agree that a good scenario helps the horror, though presentation ultimately matters most. Any corny shit can be made pretty horrifying if the presentation is handled well. Which was the case with the original game which managed to be pretty scary despite being a complete joke otherwise (of course, it wasn't MEANT to be a joke). BH5 could have been frightening, but the presentation was that of a full-fledged action game, no real horror elements whatsoever.

Dai Sato is a good writer so even if the scenario itself isn't "scary" (honestly, the stories in the series themselves are not really horror, even though they help), it'll help support the presentation and gameplay.

[Smiley]

Hey, I'm just saying that REmake is still full of cheestastic & awkward dialogue/lines. And it has that.

Now if you don't see it... then maybe you think that the 1960's TV adaptation of Batman is right up there with Shakespeare's best works or something along those lines. I mean, everyone has different standards and that's prob was going on here, right? Well its fine. You think the dialogue is top notch. Beautiful. I think its corny and awkward here and there. But you don't see it. Again, its a matter of opinion.

Also, what I'm saying is that I LOVE THE REMAKE WITH ALL ITS CHEESY/CORNY ELEMENTS. I <3 it, dammit. You think that I'm bashing it when in reality I'm pointing out its lovable flaws. Its my fave out of the whole bunch. What I'm saying is that like most RE games out there, it has cheese, wonky, corny dialogues and thats perfectly fine.

Now, I supect that you're just trying to deny Remake any of that cheesy/corny B movie GOOD STUFF because it kills your argument that only the early & recent games are like that. Not so my friend. The REmake has some of that too.

You think REmake is 100% without flaws & perfect... I think its perfect because its not perfect.

Whoa there fella. Jumping the gun a bit are we? If anything is campy like the Adam West Batman films it has to be the original RE. Comparing REmake to that just doesn't fly, and you're not really giving me any examples to show how compared to the other games. And if I'm not saying it's Oscar material then I'm expecting Shakespeare huh?

Here's a question: Why can't good material stand on its own without being compared to the highest possible class with you?

I don't care if you like REmake or are bashing it. If you're going to say it's as campy and cheesy then you're failing to get the point across. Sadly, the truth is the script will never be as bad as you make it out to be cause the original exists to prove how much it's improved since then. To go one step further the presentation all around is proof of that. This is one remake that delivers in all aspects.

Dai Sato is a good writer so even if the scenario itself isn't "scary" (honestly, the stories in the series themselves are not really horror, even though they help), it'll help support the presentation and gameplay.

He's a good writer of the anime he's worked on. But just as the case with any area be it film makers or designers if you tackle another project it doesn't always guarantee your cred will be of the same quality.

And the stories themselves are horror. The science behind the biohazard outbreak is placed in the background (where you discover who and what caused these creatures) as the bulk of each plot has to do with various people surviving against monsters. In typical horror fashion the first game might as well have been a haunted mansion where people on a spooky night run inside for safety and discover it's much worse than that.

But that's one aspect of the writing. There's others examples out there.

Hell the Itchy//Tasty file is a good representation of horror through the writing. That file certainly gave me chills first time I read it.