(not properly rating it because i didnt play most of it myself, so i cant fully judge the gameplay aspect until i do, but spiritually this is a 5star for me lol)
after watching the game 2/3 times on my own i finally played this with my bf and we binged it in a day and a half! i have to say that character wise this is one of my favorite residents up to date. i loved grace so much, she felt so close and so human and the contrast between an inexperienced young office worker vs a seasoned field agent was so chefs kiss. i like having characters that move away from usual resident evil protagonists, it really puts into perspective the horrors these people go through when its just a normal person experiencing it. the attention to detail was lovely aswell, grace cursing withe every weird shit she saw, the shaky hands that slowly become steadier, the difference in the recoil of the guns. i also have to say that i quite liked the contrast between grace's survival and leon's action, its a huge whiplash at times but i enjoyed how it kept me at the edge of my seat.
even though it did not feel like a massive expansion of the lore like other games did, it still contributes and adds to it in a meaningful way while leaving a door open to continue the story (i wish it had been more, yes, and i was a bit dissapointed about that, but the RE universe is obscenely big and not that well written and i find it hard to think of satisfying ways to keep the story moving forward beyond "new virus just dropped" so im not super mad). it also adds interest to older characters like spencer which im super happy about. i liked all of the winks to characters that dont come up (rebecca, jill, wesker, ada) and honestly i personally didnt feel like it was entirely driven by nostalgia. character design was peak imo, the girl and gideon are absolutely gorgeous.
some parts felt pretty underwhelming, i will admit. like the helicopter part (very short and felt a bit inconsequential, i feel like there was a different way to show what they wanted to show) or the fight with the new mr. x (it felt very very short and not as scary as in RE2, it can be argued that its because leon is no longer a rookie and yes that makes sense, it would be weird if he was terrified and suddenly really bad at handling a tyrant, but i feel like the enviroment heavily affected it with the final fight being an open area in broad daylight after not that much stalking and following). zeno as a character was also a bit whatever, i guess that is partially the point of him, that he is just a poor imitation of wesker, but i wish we had gotten more time to see him getting hyped up only to show that he is a failure and a nobody. similarly with gideon, theres a lot of potential to him as a villain and a lot of lore to explore, but he was better utilized in this game (wished we had seen way more </3 )
finally, i adore the campy-ness, the over the top scenes, the dramatism and all the unnecesary shit they add solely because its cool (resident evil vendetta motorbike scene reference i see you and i love you), it would not be a RE game without them.
capcom please bring my girl grace back for future games dont lock her in the basement :(