Thoughts on Level Design in Resident Evil 8

I enjoyed most of the level design within RE8. Overall, I really loved the echoes of RE1 and RE4 I felt within Castle D and The Village respectively. House B was a great eerie trip that honestly I wanted more of as this game was light on horror due to some feedback on RE7. Moreau and Heisenberg's sections were the weakest of the group. The major elements that clashed and caused friction for me were the multiple points of no return within the open-world design.

Castle D is the poster-child for the game and has the strongest connection to classic RE. It gives off the feeling of being within the Spender Mansion while having a very distinct memorable layout of it's own. I think somewhere within Castle D there's a book by the architect of the Spencer Mansion which would explain within lore why they're similar. I love running around the castle even with Lady D popping up behind every turn. Each hallway and room is distinct and usually has some sort of hip-high "donut" (navigable geo circling an obstacle) which allows the player to break away from (and admire) pursuers. There was a point or two that were one-way paths that were fun for the narrative/experience but hindered the backtracking. For example, the room Ethan falls through could have a rope or other means of shortcut that can be activated after escaping the dungeon and backtracking to that room you fell from. Other than that I enjoyed how tight the spaces felt while allowing you to maneuver around your foes and the emphasis on verticality throughout.

House B was way too short lived for how awesomely atmospheric it is. The way it flows and unfolds is fun and terrifying. I only wish I could've had this experience in a larger area that's focused on exploration like Castle D. With how focused and linear/scripted it is I wonder if it'll resonate as well when I play it a year from now. I could already feel the impact of it deflated on my second playthrough whereas playing through RPD in RE2 Remake still hits in all the right places even after the 8th playthrough. That being said, even Castle D hits well on subsequent playthroughs.

Moreau's Sunken Town iirc was frantic, linear, and focused mostly on action puzzles such as shooting and timed platforming. This area, while fun, probably felt the most out of place to me within the RE series because of how one-track it is and it generally feeling scant on exploration. This is somewhat on-par with House B but doesn't make up for it by being a thrilling horror experience instead opting for an often frustrating timed switch-pulling action puzzle.

In Wolf Den we saw the donuts come back in full force! The only issue here being the obstacles were often full height as to obstruct your view of attackers/pursuers. I think this is fine in moderation. I don't think moderation was used in the Wolf Den or Human Factory. The Wolf Den is a quick, large, multi-floor area with 1 donut per central area capped off with the boss room which is a U-Shape filled with donuts that could be destroyed by the boss. The full-height donuts frustrated me because the character's turn speed isn't fast enough for me to maneuver around the obstacle without breaking my stride which felt clunky. A larger obstacle to circle around or a tighter/faster turn speed would've felt smoother.

The Human Factory over-used hallways with full height blockers. Good in moderation like with Castle D where we occasionally get stuck in a one-way with a vampire in front of us so we must turn around or confront them, but happens in half or more of the rooms here. I really enjoyed the visual journey through the factory from the middle to the top and the pits below. The combat layouts just weren't there for me. So many tight hallways with big bulky shielded enemies that block their weak-points. When the lights go out it's even more confusing (to the point of frustration) because of the lack of easy landmarks and the maze-like feeling due to having so many narrow full-height hallways.

The Village evolved in fun ways, gave me good RE4 feels, and unfolded a bit via Moreau's path and items found elsewhere. It would've been nice to get more unfolding and/or exploration in the Village since it's the connective tissue between all major areas. Most changes to the Village had to do with enemy population with a couple of moments where you open new pathways or rooms. I don't think Chris Redfield's section enhances the level design of the village. Iirc it has large spaces and donuts with plenty of enemies for high-action, high-clunk, set-piece combat.

The world map gave me the idea that RE8 would be the biggest exploration focused game with plenty of backtracking after events are complete/safe up until the very end up the campaign. This hasn't been the case for other RE games but one could hope. To see that the game actually leans heavily into the point-of-no-return nature that takes place between major areas makes sense from a series perspective, but not necessarily for this game. I would've greatly enjoyed being able to explore and complete all areas pre-Human Factory. In general I appreciate when games indicate I'm about to cross a point where I can no longer explore a place.

All this being said I appreciate the time and effort that went into each iteration of every area.