Very fun game, a bit disappointing, but for the most part, great.
Graphics are nice for the time, definitely outdated by modern standards, but you get used to them fairly quickly. The pre-rendered backgrounds are beautiful and full of detail, bringing the streets of Raccoon City, the clock tower, the hospital and the cementery to life. The environments feel dangerous and chaotic, perfectly capturing a city in the middle of a zombie outbreak. Each area has its own atmosphere and identity, making exploration memorable. Character and enemy animations are surprisingly good overall, especially considering the game's age, although some animations can feel a bit weird.
Sound effects are fantastic. The zombies, monsters, gunshots, explosions, footsteps, and environmental sounds all contribute heavily to the tension and atmosphere. The soundtrack is excellent, creating suspense, anxiety, and excitement throughout the adventure. The voice acting is decent for the time, although some of the dialogue feels out of place.
Gameplay is still great, although, for me, it was the least favorite of the 3 classics. This one abuses the amount of enemies it throws at you; you are constantly forced to run or get grabbed, instead of strategically fighting like in the previous ones. Maybe it's because it relies on the new "avoid" mechanic, which doesn't work 99% of the time, and also the environmental items you "supposedly" can shoot, but in reality the aim system keeps targeting the wrong things instead of the thing you actually want to aim at.
Also, the ammo crafting is really frustrating. Instead of mixing the gunpowder just like you do with the herbs, you have to use an item, and I had to restart the game from the beginning because the item bugged mid-game and disappeared from my inventory, and I didn't realize it was gone before saving.
Nemesis is very frustrating; unless you cheese him with some weird mechanics, you can't position yourself to shoot him, and also you can't outrun him to properly shoot him from a distance. You'll waste all your bullets and healing items just for some weapon parts that, if you don't or can't defeat him again, are completely useless because you can't combine them with your existing weapons. Nevertheless, it's a really cool enemy. The "STARS!!" line that he constantly says, even when dying, is weirdly funny.
The "live choices" you can make in certain parts are a nice addition, but the flashing white screen you get when they appear is super annoying. Also, some of them are very confusing because you don't get much context on what you are actually choosing.
The enemies continue to be great and challenging. Requiring different strategies and/or weapons to engage them. Like I said previously, I didn't like the amount of enemies this game throws at you at once in various parts; it felt more like an action than a horror game in those parts.
Another thing that was a bit disappointing is the infinite ammo guns being locked behind the mercenaries mode, instead of the usual speed run of the game. I loved the speed runs in the previous games because you had to learn the locations of everything, plan the routes, etc., and having those rewards when you completed them was awesome.
The mercenary mode, I didn't like it very much, but maybe it's because they locked the infinite ammo guns behind it. But you get to play the game with a fixed inventory in a different route with different enemies and racing time.
The story is simple but memorable. Following Jill Valentine's escape from Raccoon City gives you a different perspective on the outbreak while expanding the overall Resident Evil lore. I was a bit disappointed that there weren't two protagonists like in previous games (yeah, you can play with Carlos, but it's only a blink).
In short, great game, a bit disappointing, but still worth experiencing. If you are a fan of the genre and the series, give it a try.
