Video Game Compare, and Contrast

[Crafter]

Recently I did yet another run through on Resident Evil 7, and I kind of took pause. In a couple of months on Halloween, The Evil Within 2 is coming out, and now that I really think on it, Resident Evil 7 seems like the exact opposite game, within the same genre. I guess I just wanted to share my thoughts;

1. Before release The Evil Within was super-hyped due to being directed by Shinji Mikami who many tout as the "Father of Survival-Horror" with Shinji himself even claiming that the game would take the survival-horror, genre back to its roots. Resident Evil 7 by contrast got some flak, before release due to being made by Capcom who people were already annoyed with Resident Evil 5, and 6 about, and some people claiming that RE7 was simply a rip-off of Outlast, or Silent Hills P.T. When they actually came out, many people were disappointed in The Evil Within, while RE7 received high praise.

2. RE7 is a relatively short game, that's not a bad thing, I'm simply pointing out that playing leisurely only takes around 9 hours total. The Evil Within by contrast on a first play through averages 16 hours.

3. RE7's atmosphere is consistent. There are some areas that are creepier than others, but it's not super drastic. Whereas The Evil Within switches from levels that are, I guess nerve-wracking like Chapter 10, to being impossible to find scary, like Chapter 6 where you're outside in broad daylight.

4. Both have villains that mess with your mind, but in different ways. RE7 has Eveline using more psychological mind-tricks, causing hallucinations and such, and she exists in the real world, as RE7 takes place in the real world. Ruvick by contrast aside from a few taunts, seems to prefer a straight-forward, gore fest type of scaring people, and the game takes place inside of The Matrix...I mean STEM.

5. Sebastian is a veteran, homicide detective, who clearly knows how to use a variety of firearms, and is used to seeing messed up things. Ethan's exact job is never told, but he's presumably a white-collar guy, who has barely ever held a firearm. They even contrast in looks, with Sebastian being a black-haired man, with a broad build, over six feet in height, while Ethan is a blonde man, with a trim/fit build, and based on mods where you can see his character model, Ethan is actually pretty small, being dwarfed by Jack, and only a bit taller than Mia.

6. The Evil Within gets some hate for having what people call a convoluted story. RE7 by contrast has a pretty, simple story.

7. The Evil Within has a problem with death-desensitization, after dying 50 times, you stop caring about it. RE7 however manages to have that line, where the game is just challenging enough, to keep you on edge without killing you every 5 minutes.

8. It's easy to make Sebastian OP once you figure out the "tricks" in the game, like how you can trip one enemy, and set a whole group on fire. Or the fact that you can blind a group, and then stab them all to conserve ammo. Ethan can become OP but you have to work for it.

9. The Evil Within will lock you in a room, and force you to fight your way out. RE7 will give you the chance to actually run past the enemies, and to your next objective.

10. RE7 has a small variety of enemies. You're either fighting the Molded of which there are four kinds, or you face off against Jack or Marguerite. The Evil Within by contrast has tons of enemy, there are 11 different kinds of zombies (The Haunted), about 5 mini-boss type enemies, and 7 different boss enemies, unless I miscounted Ruvick then it's 8.

11. Ruvick was born to a normal family, for lack of a better word, and was just a sociopath from an early age. Eveline was born to a research company, and wasn't born evil, she became warped over a sense of wanting to be loved, and have a family.

That's all I can think of right now. I just wanted to share, and I'm happy to hear any compare/contrasts someone else comes up with too, be it from these two games, or another two games.

 

[Vars]

Well, I've never played RE7, but I did play Chronicles for the Wii and I liked it. I did play The Evil Within, and FUCK THAT GAME, everything you said is true, especially the killing you every 5 minutes thing. I don't remember the chapter, but it was one of the ones near the end where you had to fight this spider/girl thing I don't remember the name of. She was difficult on her own, but the level also had some switched you needed to switch, but didn't do a good job of telling you you needed to fucking switch them, so I got stuck in that chapter for over 3 hours once because I couldn't figure out WTF WAS HAPPENING AND WHY I COULDN'T PASS. (Also I kept dying every 5 minutes because fuck). And I was on easy mode.

I also don't like how some levels were basically "kill everything" levels, like, that's not the game I signed up for. What's wrong with just running? And the ending might've been cool if I hadn't died 500 times. But because I was so angry at dying 500x and frustrating with the gameplay toward the end, I thought the ending was stupid as hell and not worth the effort.

... That being said... I still want to play The Evil Within 2. cries


Also, while not directly related to your post, I just replayed Final Fantasy IX. FF9 was the first RPG I ever played, and I loved it a lot, and was obsessed with the main character, Zidane Tribal. Despite all this, I don't think I ever replayed the game fully. I only ever replayed pieces, and usually just to play Tetra Master (the card minigame). Well, I am now like 2 boss battles away from finishing the game for my first replay in... probably 20 years... And I can now say that.... The story doesn't hold up and I don't know why I thought this game was so awesome.
But I guess that's what being an adult does to you. It takes away the "cool" factor of everything you experienced for the first time. =/

I still like Zidane's character design, though. Or at least, his Dissidia design. Never played Dissidia, but the artwork of him looks pretty baller.

EDIT: Tetra Master totally holds up though and I wish there was a standalone game so I could just play that all the time and collect cards and stuff. When I was making my own irl version of Tetra Master (Because yeah I like it that much, sue me) I learned that not only was there a Tetra Master online game that came and went that I totally had no idea was a thing (HOW COULD I NOT KNOW?? I WOULD'VE PLAYED IT! UGHH) but they also created a rl version of it with all the cards in one package and it worked very similar to the video game's version but it was a limited run and only in Europe, so now if I wanted to buy it I'd have to pay like $200+. ... =[

I simplified the rules pretty heavily and just printed my own card deck. I guess it's for the best, since nobody wants to play it with me anyway ("too complicated" ) and the real official version of the game is even more complicated.

 

[IntrusivePenDesperateSword]

Mario Slam Basketball/Mario Hoops 3-on-3 (DS) and Mario Sports Mix (Wii) both were a collaboration between Nintendo and Square Enix, but while the latter game adds three more sports on the previous' basketball, it still feels like it has a lot less content.

The first had multiplayer, and while the second also did, Nintendo shut down WFC before I got to use it, so that's kinda bad. MSM removed a few characters (Fly Guy, Boo, Dixie Kong and Paratroopa), while it added one, Slime. It removed practice mode and the one "minigame", but added four, one for each sport. While I never really fancied any of those minigames, the one from MSB certainly was more fun.

I suppose focusing just on basketball in the former game allowed the developers to focus more on fine-tuning the dynamics. Various game mechanics and controls in MSM weren't the best. Sure, it was decent, but the prequel easily tops it.

On to the soundtracks. MSB, despite working with the strict limitations of the DS speakers, managed to provide a varied, engaging soundtrack. The sequel seemed to manage this as well, while adding another row of instruments thanks to the superior sound on the Wii.

They did share a lot of stages, though of course some changes had to be made in MSM to make the stages fit several sports. Wario's Factory, for example, went from being one single large conveyor belt with bombs on it occasionally, to in one sport being a plain stage with two small conveyors in front of the goal. Pirate/Ghost ship also went from having rolling barrels and a giant blooper to some crates with Dry Bones inside. Feels like bit of a step down.

 

[SacredWarrior]

Here's two games that people often compare with one another:

Bayonetta and Devil May Cry are often compared for many reasons:

1. They were made by the same team and Hideki Kamiya was the director of both Devil May Cry 1 and Bayonetta 1.
2. They have the same fast-paced action that defines the character action genre and made it what it is today.
3. From what Kamiya said, both franchises take place in the same universe.
4. Bayonetta and Dante have very similar personalities and references to Devil May Cry can easily be seen in both Bayonetta games.
5. Both games are known for their difficulty and replay value.

Now for the differences:
1. DMC's difficulty stems from how hard it is to control Dante and the fact that you get weaker while the enemies get stronger amongst other factors. This makes DMC's difficulty a bit unfair especially to skilled players. DMC3 is a prime example of Capcom having to change the difficulty because they screwed up. Bayonetta's difficulty is about adapting to the enemies and knowing how to deal with them. QTEs and insta-death moments aside, Bayonetta is much more fair when it comes to combat and adapting.
2. While one could argue that the stories from both franchises are bad, I disagree. DMC's story however is much easier to understand and grasp while Bayonetta's story is convoluted and requires you to memorize the damn periodic table and Kama Sutra!
3. Dante and Bayonetta's different abilities and weapons.
4. DMC's soundtrack has a rock/metal motif while Bayonetta's is more upbeat and wild with some cover songs.
5. The Bayonetta games have a bit more content and replay value than the DMC series.
6. Devil May Cry contributed heavily to the gaming industry and is arguably the reason that Bayonetta even exists.

TL;DR Bayonetta and DMC are practically siblings who have the same father but different mothers. Personally I prefer Bayonetta over Devil May Cry but I play both games equally nowadays and love them for what they are. Here's to a Bayo and DMC crossover!