Resident Evil: Revelations 2 and Reviewing Episodic Video Games

I realize that the concept of this article is about seven years too late, but that is just how we work here at Stage Select Start.  Rarely will you find us covering the new and biggest AAA release.  We like to look back as a way of looking forward (an attempt at being prophetic?).  This article will exist because, as you might have gathered over the last seven years, I enjoy talking about video games and this is an attempt at my thought process, in the case of episodic games, to break down my thought process in writing about them.

I recently started playing Resident Evil: Revelations 2 on the Nintendo Switch, and after reaching the end of Episode 1: Penal Colony, I was reminded in the most straight forward way possible, that the game plays in episodes, similar to a lot of titles from the now defunct Telltale Games Studio.  Which then got me thinking about how I wanted to write about RE:R2, since there will be no more Telltale Games (although their library was purchased by LCG Entertainment, with Skybound Entertainment having already purchased the rights to The Walking Dead titles), although now that I think about it, I personally have not seen as many episodic games in the last year or so; or they are just not on my radar.

As of the moment, my plan is to write and post a First Impressions article for each of the four chapters/episodes in the game, then write a Game EXP article that looks back at the game as a whole experience.  I think what entices me about this format is that it allows for bite-sized chunks of words to be written, rather than one larger piece that covers 8+ hours of gaming; I am told that each chapter takes about two hours.  I may even cover the Mercenaries-type Raid mode, and I will definitely cover the shorter released side stories, "Little Miss," and "The Strugge," except now I have to decide if I want to play the side stories where they fit chronologically in the story, or after the story concludes in Chapter 4: Metamorphosis.  At the moment, I am leaning heavily on playing them now since I finished Chapter 1: Penal Colony and those side stories fit in between when Claire/Moira's story ends during Chapter 1 and Barry/Natalia's story begins.  Also, depending on the length of each of these side stories, I may include them in one article or split them into two.*

Agghhh!

All this writing about the Resident Evil series really cements how much I love these games, despite being frustrated with where the series has gone since the release of Resident Evil 4 back in 2005.  It also makes me want to replay the series from the beginning and having games 0 - 4 (including Code Veronica: X) on the Game Cube only drives this desire; I do have Resident Evil HD on Steam, so that is an option too, but I would also like to find a way to play the games that I have not played like Resident Evil: Survivor, Resident Evil Gaiden, Resident Evil: Dead Aim, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, and Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles.  I would also need to repair my 3DS to play Resident Evil: Revelations or purchase it (again) on either the Switch or on Steam.  I digress however.

So look forward this Friday to a post about my experience playing Resident Evil: Revelations 2 on Nintendo Switch.  Now if I could find the soundtrack to the first Resident Evil: Revelations, I think I might have an entry for Wednesday's MIDI Week Single.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

[song]


*P.S.*  
For other episodic games, I think this will be my preferred format.  Posting a First Impressions article for each chapter followed by a Game EXP once the entire game is finished.  Yeah, let's do that.