The Dreamcast's "Resident Evil 2 At Home" – Seven Mansions Ghastly Smile



sure i’ll talk about a horror game but it has to be something incredibly weird

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43 thoughts on “The Dreamcast's "Resident Evil 2 At Home" – Seven Mansions Ghastly Smile”

  1. This game, with its over-the-shoulder camera, really reminded me more of Blue Stinger than necessarily Resident Evil. Nonetheless, seeing co-op survival horror years before the "innovative" RE: Outbreak is fascinating, and I appreciate how the game isn't afraid to separate you either.

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  2. now THIS is some grade-A retro horror jank. reina actually having a romantic ending with alan made me laugh because when you originally revealed his "normal" ending state is having regressed to a childlike state, i thought "oh good, reina has someone on her level to play with now" … little did i know how right i was

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  3. Okay, I played a bit o' this before watching the video and I think your coverage is awesome. However, I also wanna point out some specific and baffling character choices I'm guessing you didn't have time for. SPOILERS INBOUND (just watch the damn video first)
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    Alan is the main villain and hates humanity, but also helps the character more than anyone in the entire game. He heals Kei's leg at the start, and gives Reina the best weapon. Why? What the fuck? Two hours later, he's tryna kill everyone. What could he stand to gain by helping the two characters who have the capacity to stop him? As we see, he crushes on Reina, so that could vaguely explain him giving her the means to defend herself, but I cannot conceive of a justification for him helping Kei. And the meta water reference seems pointless and never comes up again. Was meta water actually the toilet water? Did he suggest Kei drink it in hopes he would get sick? Was the meta water gonna turn Kei into one of the monsters or somesuch? I don't know. Did the writers have any clear intention with this? I will never know.

    We also got Tanya! One thing not mentioned in the video is that Tanya has a shattered portrait of Schneider in her room. When Kei looks at it, he comments something like "guess she's not a fan of him." But she still wants to make Reina into a Sublimiter-i.e. superperson. Why would she ever, when Schneider is clearly the leader of the Sublimiters (as shown in a video earlier in the game?) And where are the rest of said Sublimiters? It looked like there were a couple dozen of them at least. Were they supposed to be the bullshit fleshmen that you basically have to pause spam to kill??

    Maybe they were saving stuff for a hypothetical sequel, but it is stunning how underexplained and logic free this game is. Like, when Silent Hill is poorly explained, it's usually done choicefully or for the sake of keeping things scary. Ghastly Smile seems distinct in how utterly slapped together it is. Nothing about it feels coherent, and nothing about the story makes it seem like any sincere effort was put into the writing.

    It's so beautiful <3

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  4. I think tank controls and forced camera angles are what turned people away from tank controls and fixed camera angles not bad re clones. I've never played a single game improved by tank controls.

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  5. The Dreamcast covers for the American and Japanese release of Resident Evil 2 almost feel switched. American box art typically features a 3d render of the main guy doing some kinda action. It’s the Japanese box art that has more a more moody and thematically appropriate box art. Want an example? Look up the American then Japanese box art of Metal Gear Solid 4.

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  6. Not quite sure why this popped up next to a vod of Dave the diver, but I'm so glad it did. Love learning about weird oldish games so I'm excited to watch through the other videos on the channel, since this one was really well-made and fun.

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  7. played this 2 summers ago with a friend the coop mode with this game while clunky was so ahead of its time and fun. Great puzzles as well. Perfect to beat in 1 sitting as well. Highly recommend this game!

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