Random thoughts

I did my first full playthrough of Resident Evil Requiem when it launched on the Switch 2, in classic RE mode – the mode that only allows you to save the game when you find a typewriter in the game AND have an ink ribbon to use it. So, you only have limited saves. And enemies are out to get you.

There were a few sections in the game where you could see that they had to compromise on the graphical fidelity to make it run on the 20 watts TDP console. You could also feel an occasional performance drop here and there.

But: None of it was game-breaking, the experience still felt great the whole time. This game was at home on the Switch 2 and CAPCOM did an outstanding job with that port.

Now I finally spent several hours with the Xbox Series X version of the game – enough time to reach the ARK where the final showdown takes place.

And I am astonished to say: The game does not look that much better on the Series X as one should expect from a console that has over (!) ten (!) times (!) the TDP of the Switch 2. This became especially visible at the church/chapel level where you play Leon and provide sniper cover for Grace. This was visually the worst part of the Switch 2 version of the game. And it’s also the worst part of the Xbox Series X version.

Another big difference is when you play on the Switch 2 in docked mode with the Pro Controller 2 and compare it to the Series X controller. The Switch 2 controller has the Xbox controller for breakfast. Seriously, once you have played with Nintendo’s Pro Controller 2, you don’t want to use any other controller anymore. The thing feels extremely great in your hand and is a serious improvement over the Pro Controller for the Switch 1.

All in all, the Xbox Series X/S version of RE Requiem of course is technically a great port. But like all other Resident Evil games, the game simply feels better and more at home on the Switch 2. And I’m saying this as a die-hard Xbox fan.

But nowadays, Nintendo and CAPCOM are the only big companies left in the gaming industry that still know what they’re doing, and they really make a great team together.

To give it a fair chance, I have forced myself to play this game for more than six hours. Which basically is same amount of time an entire Resident Evil 3 Remake playthrough takes when you’re not rushing it.

Elden Ring has the worst controls I have seen since the original Resident Evil tank controls.

At least from a technical perspective it runs well (enough) on the Switch 2. But that is about the only good thing I have to say about it.

Elden Ring’s only design goal is to frustrate the player.

You can take your “git gud” comments and put them where the sun doesn’t shine: Of course did I get past that guard at the end of the video. Jumping and hitting him while in the air worked miracles.

Only to find an empty and piss-boring world afterwards where everybody wordlessly tries to kill each other and nobody knows why.

Only one out of a hundred NPCs actually talks in this game, and naturally, they only talk in obnoxious riddles to pretend that there is some deeper meaning behind it all.

The NPC AI is among the worst I have ever seen in a game – only the zombie AI in Dying Light 2 is equally bad; enemies only get triggered when the player gets near to them. They don’t care if they stumble across the body of a fallen comrade of theirs. They don’t care if you are fighting one of their comrades unless you are within their personal trigger range. But they see and hit you even when you’re trying a stealth approach – because stealth simply does not work in this game.

The world feels empty and meaningless.

Exploration is boring and offers no rewards.

The game is bland, depressing and has no heart or soul.

Elden Ring gives you absolutely no reason to play it, because there literally is nothing in this world that was designed to make the player care about.