The Good & Bad of Resident Evil 5: A Retrospective

 

Obviously, this video is heavily related to today's post lol. This is for the people who just want to see the gameplay without commentary. Hope you guys like it! :)))

• Word Count: 1,083 

    Before I start, I just wanted to say I’ve always been a fan of Resident Evil. Growing up, my dad bought a lot of the games: Resident Evil 0, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 2 Revelations, Resident Evil 5, and Resident Evil 7. I vividly remember being at his house and just playing around with that dramatic ass base booming on the TV when I was getting chased. Then, as I got older, I kept buying the Resident Evil games. I bought Resident Evil 3 and Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City…see, barely anybody talks about that game; it was actually fire, but I’m drifting from the point, my bad. Even though I have the games, I’ve never actually completed any of them. They either got too difficult for me or a level made me chicken out. Either way, it never got done. I usually watched gameplays until recently. 

    I started playing Resident Evil 5 with my brother a few weeks ago. I made him play Sheva since I wanted to play Chris. A few years ago, I tried to play Resident Evil 5 by myself, but there was a certain level that made me chicken out, so I stopped playing. My brother and I were talking, and I don’t know how it came up in the conversation, but I convinced him to play co-op with me…and then we actually managed to complete the game. It was actually fucking crazy. I almost chickened out a few times, but it was hard to ditch the game when I saw how much my brother was enjoying it. So, naturally, I think I started having fun too. 

    Looking back, I also realized Resident Evil 5 wasn’t as scary as I remembered. A few of the bosses creeped me out, but I wasn’t alone, which made it better. Not to mention, I just love the game itself. I loved the story and all of the bosses, as creepy as they were. Additionally, I think Chris and Sheva are cool as shit. However, as much as I like the game, I perfectly understand why it gets backlash. To be completely honest, I don’t like the way Resident Evil 5 portrays Black people. At all. I actually think it’s tone deaf, and I don’t give a fuck when the game was made. It’s not the setting that makes me upset. There’s nothing wrong with making a game that takes place (anywhere) in Africa; it’s whether or not the culture is respected, and I think it falls flat. Portraying African people in this savage-like state when they’re infected, it rubs me the wrong way. Before any of you say anything, it’s actually confirmed that the Las Plagas parasite made the villagers revert to their ancestral practices. Now, I understand why other Black gamers aren’t offended. I understand both sides, but if people are expressing their discomfort over things like that, you can’t just dismiss it. People are uncomfortable for a reason. Also, before any of you come to me to talk about Resident Evil 4 or Resident Evil 6, I’m not here to talk about those games, as I cannot speak for the communities portrayed. I can only speak as a Black gamer, and other people of color should be allowed to express their discomfort if they have any. 

The following picture shows a journal entry from the game that proves my statements. 

    Anyway, this is why I think Capcom should fix a few things when - not if - they remake Resident Evil 5. One of the main things they should have is captions and translations for what the villagers are saying throughout the game. As you play the game, you can hear locals speaking in another language, which isn’t the problem. The problem is the player having a lack of understanding, which can often lead to a lack of respect. Because you are displaying a culture that isn’t often visible in the media, the very least you are responsible for is presenting things as respectfully as possible. Showing little things like that, it gives people an insight into the community and lets the player have curiosity. It gives them room to ask shit like…

• “What language are they speaking?” 
• “Which country in Africa is this based on?” 

You know, shit like that! I also want the game to humanize the people a bit more, and before y’all say anything, Resident Evil is actually good at humanizing background characters. I could easily remind you guys of the journal pages you can read in any of the games, reading about people slowly becoming undead and losing hope for the world around them. We both know there are several examples of shit like this. I also propose this idea because there are people who genuinely think the background characters are speaking gibberish, and I read that they’re actually speaking Swahili. Again, uneducated people often disrespect or dismiss what they don’t understand, whether it’s intentional or not. So, to prevent those talking points, captions and translations are needed…and honestly, that was my only critique. Of course, there’s bugs and shit, but the game is old as hell. Also, I’m not the type to talk about the technical parts of the game anyway.

    Criticism aside, Resident Evil 5 is not a bad game. Actually, I want to go even further and say it’s one of the more fun Resident Evil games. I meant it when I said it felt like an arcade story game. It’s one of the shorter ones, too, so it’s a bit easier to play; plus, I can see myself replaying it a few years from now. It’s a good time regardless of how you play it (by yourself or with a friend). I also want to say that beating Resident Evil 5 gave me the confidence to try and beat other games in the franchise. Right now, I’m playing the first Resident Evil. The fixed camera angles threw me off a bit, but it was easy for me to get used to them. I found a bundle of it and Resident Evil 0 on sale, so it was just good timing. Speaking of which, I also want to play the Revelations games and finish them. As I said before, I was already a fan, but beating Resident Evil 5 made me fall in love with the franchise. I’m happy to be a fan, and I’m happy I got to gush about it. Thanks for listening!

- P.S. Stay the absolute FUCK away from the fandom! If you’ve ever interacted with it, you know exactly why. LMAOOOO

- CD ★

☆ SOURCES ☆

- Click for more info!

• Use of Swahili in Resident Evil 5 | Fandom Wiki Page 

☆ BONUS MATERIAL (FOR FUN :) ☆

I wanted to show you guys the screenshots I took of the figurines in Resident Evil 5. I think I would be a good-ass photographer LMAO. Hope you guys like them, and thanks for reading! 

<(￣︶￣)>

Chapter 2: Customizing & Tailoring

 

Poster was made on Canva! 

(None of these photos are mine)

    For a while, I was thinking of what I wanted chapter two to be about. At first, I wanted to write about baggy clothes and how comfort can definitely elevate style…and honestly, we can still talk about that. I might do that for the next chapter since it’s still in the drafts, but as I was writing that, I was experimenting with something else. For a long time, I wanted to try upcycling/tailoring my shirts. When I was 18, I bought a stiff shirt from the thrift store; it was teal and had a little cat design on it. I tried cutting the shirt without a tutorial (I wanted something off the shoulder); it turned out terrible, and I didn’t try it again. Then, fast-forward to me at 20, and I came across a few videos of people cutting their shirts. I saw how nice the fashion girls looked, and at THAT point, I decided to try again. I cut a more stretchy shirt; I had better resources, and guess what? My shit came out FABULOUS lmao. So, when I got good results, I just kept doing it and cutting more shirts. Mannnn, when I tell you my shirts came out so cute, I felt cute too. Which is saying a lot because I never felt that cute in my life, but I’m rambling a lot right now. Look, the point is you don’t always have to spend money on new clothes; sometimes you can just look in your closet. 

Also, you’d be amazed by how many tutorials are online for anything fashion-related. I saw videos of people making shit off the shoulder, putting pictures and logos on shirts; I even saw a video of someone making capris by just cutting a pair of skinny jeans. From spying on the fashion and alternative sides of the internet, I learned a lot of people are just tailoring their clothes. Most of the clothes you see people wear? They’re cute, and they probably weren’t expensive. This is why I get sad when people say they don’t have enough money for their style. Not everyone starts off super stylish. A lot of people you see on the internet have experimented and practiced until they found what they liked. So try giving yourself that same grace! 

Another thing I wanted to talk about is customizing your character lol. Okay, hear me out; you know how you can make your own character in (some) video games? In my opinion, that is exactly how we should treat ourselves. Everything about us is customizable. You want to change how long or short your hair is? You can do it. You want to get some dope ass piercings? Well, you can. You want to try a new makeup look? You definitely can. You want to do some funky shit with your eyebrows? Go do that shit. And some of y’all think doing little things like that doesn’t make a difference, but it does. Making subtle changes to your “character” not only makes you stand out, but it gives you the chance to experiment and figure out what you like. Additionally, I don’t think we use our free will enough. Like me, for example; randomly throughout the year, I’ll remember I like to cut my eyebrows, so I’ll do eyebrow slits sometimes. I think some people are just scared to fuck around and find out. It’s our bodies, and we should feel comfortable enough to change our appearances as we see fit…but that’s just me, though! LMAO 

Now, the last thing I wanted to talk about is something I want to try: designing my own clothes. When I was looking at people cutting up their clothes, I came across videos of people bleaching and painting their clothes too, and that’s one of the things I can see myself trying. Now, I can’t lie…I get a little nervous about bleaching anything. I don’t know, bleach is such a powerful ass chemical. I just get anxious…so I might try painting first! Dude, I see people on Pinterest do these cool paintings on their jeans; I just HAVE to do something like that, and when I do it, I’ll get back to y’all!

Anyway, I think I made this entry to tell y’all to experiment a little bit. The most stylish people you know probably took the time to find themselves out, and I think we should do the same. Since my last journal entry about watches, I’ve been fucking around and finding out. I’ve been tailoring all of my old shirts in my closet, and it’s encouraged me to accessorize more. I feel nice about it too. You know how people say when you look good, you feel good? It’s kind of like that. Anyway, I’m done rambling for the day. Thanks for reading! I’m going to go tweak some more clothes now! 

- CD ★

I think I like disturbing the peace actually...

 

Yes, this is the song I thought of when writing this lol

Also, for legal reasons, this article is a joke. :')

    This might sound insane coming from an introvert, but I like to be disruptive as hell. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going around causing hell on purpose…but when I’m in my car? Everyone is hearing my shit. I love to blast music in my car, and before y’all hop on me, I was already hard of hearing YEARS before I started driving. I’ve already accepted that it’ll get worse; I might as well enjoy myself. I play all kinds of shit too: hip-hop, R&B, nu-metal, and I recently started blasting pop. In my opinion, it’s a fun thing to do as long as you’re not doing it every day. 

Not to mention, disturbing the peace has weirdly benefitted me? Don’t worry, I’ll explain myself. I get different reactions depending on what genre I blast. Dude, I was blasting Full Nelson by Limp Bizkit one time, and I was yelling the lyrics, right? I’m driving, and I look to my right, and there’s this white dude in a truck jamming with me. I was laughing hard as hell when I realized. That wasn’t even the first time that’s happened to me. Literally a whole year before, I was blasting a Doechii song in my car, and this kid was looking at me and dancing with his dad. Now obviously, I don’t always get the best reactions when I blast music. Some people look at me like I disgust them; some people laugh; shit, I had a cop look me dead in my face when I was blasting DJ Quik. I love it because I’m living. It’s one of those little - and dumbass - things that remind me I’m alive. I know it pisses some people off, but I genuinely do not care. I’m not disturbing neighborhoods at midnight, so shut the fuck up. Most of the people that you drive by, you rarely see them twice. As a matter of fact, I need more people to stop giving a fuck. Obviously, still be considerate when needed, but stop being scared of what people think of you. Just start disturbing shit. LMAO

- CD ★

Maybe I daydream too much: a journal entry (4)

 

This song is kind of related to the post? I was listening to this song when I was making this journal entry. Hope you guys like it. :)))

    I gotta be honest, ever since I started my blog, it seems like I've unlocked something in myself. I think I know why too; this is the first time I've given myself space. I gave myself a chance to see what I wanted to do, how I see myself outside of what people want from me. I know I said this before, but I was a traditional and digital artist before I started all of this shit. Don't get me wrong, I was decent with it. I was good at replicating, drawing what I saw, but I wasn't actually making anything I liked. When I started writing and putting my feelings into words, it felt like I learned something new about myself. Actually, it feels like I'm reintroducing the idea of who and what I am. As much as I reflect, this is why I say I don't regret anything that's led me up to here. Doing all this shit made me realize how many ideas I actually had and just never went through with any of them. Before I was blogging, I daydreamed so many things I could do as an artist. I can't even describe them all, but I would just sit with the idea in my mind, and it never left my head. I think by giving myself the space to do what I want, it makes me more confident and eager...? Every idea I have, I can throw it out confidently now. Do I still question myself? Yes, but it's nothing like before. The best way I can describe my artistry is hunger. I want more; I always have. I knew since I was little that I wanted to do more and I wanted more out of my life. I was never comfortable with doing just one thing. I genuinely want to do everything. Ever since I let myself be, I have so many ideas come to my head; eventually, I'm going to get to a point where I can't ignore them anymore. I'm sick of letting things sit in my head...and I'm fucking hungry. I want to get better at what I do. I want to be acknowledged. I want to be heard; and with all the ideas in my head, I know something is going to stick. Maybe that's too confident, but I don't think I care anymore. It's not like I have anything else to do LMAO.  

- CD ★

I'm meant to be something: a journal entry (3)

This is unrelated to the post lol. I just really love this song. Shout out to my friend for introducing me to it! :)))

    For those who don’t know, I reflect on a lot of things. Ever since I got out of school, I haven’t done anything but reflect. I keep rewinding my life, thinking of everything that has brought me to the point I’m at right now. I always think of the things I should’ve done, could’ve been, and so on. No matter how much I reflect and look back, I can’t deny that everything - both good and bad - has led me up to here. Considering I reflect a lot, that applies to my artistry as well. 

    I look at everything I create with overly critical eyes. Up until a certain point, I felt like everything had to be perfect. I realize that growing up, I’ve always been placed inside a box. As much as I love my parents, I can’t deny how dismissive they were when it came to me having certain ideas or wanting to do my own things. Any time I did something that didn’t fit this mold, it felt like I wasn’t worth listening to. As an adult, I don’t remember the exact moment, but I eventually gave myself space to figure myself out. I had to see what I wanted outside of other people’s expectations, and I found out I like creating. I love the idea of making something I can be proud of. I hate to bring the mood down, but I wasn’t fully proud of myself before. I didn’t feel like I had a lot going on in my life; a part of me still thinks that, but I believe I was put on this Earth to create. I don’t know; it’s the only thing I get actual enjoyment from. It doesn’t even matter what I’m making anymore. And ever since I realized my art doesn’t have to be perfect, I’ve been more comfortable with the idea of making it. It feels nice to let go of expectations and just live. Everything else, I can figure out later. 

- CD ★