Board 8 > Rate the VG Story Day 487: Resident Evil: Code Veronica

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Todays game is Resident Evil: Code Veronica. How would you rate the story on a scale from 1-10?

You can still rate previous days games if you want or change your score, just post the name of the game and the score. If you want to know which games you have rated or what score you gave a game, just ask me. If you want to know what you rated a previous game just let me know. Nominations for future days are welcome.

Previous Results:
Clannad - 9.75 (4 votes)
Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers - 9.68 (11 votes)
System Shock 2 - 9.63 (4 votes)
Outer Wilds - 9.61 (22 votes)
Silent Hill 2 - 9.5 (20 votes)
Planescape: Torment - 9.5 (13 votes)
Higurashi When They Cry - 9.5 (9 votes)
Eternal Darkness: Sanitys Requiem 9.38 - (13 votes)
Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker - 9.33 (10 votes)
Judgment - 9.29 (7 votes)
428: Shibuya Scramble - 9.27 (9 votes)
Nier Automata - 9.25 (31 votes)
The Forgotten City - 9.2 (4 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC - 9.2 (20 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations - 9.19 (35 votes)
Last Window: The Secret of Cape West - 9.15 (10 votes)
Deus Ex - 9.14 (13 votes)
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - 9.13 (15 votes)
The House in Fata Morgana - 9.06 (11 votes)
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - 9.04 (8 votes)
Yakuza 0 - 9.03 (13 votes)
Red Dead Redemption 2 - 9 (8 votes)
Final Fantasy XIV (overall) - 8.98 (11 votes)
System Shock - 8.98 (4 votes)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - 8.95 (31 votes)
Steins;Gate - 8.94 (9 votes)
Lunar: Eternal Blue - 8.93 - (7 votes)
Mother 3 - 8.91 (15 votes)
Umineko When They Cry - 8.89 (14 votes)
Zero Escape: Virtues Last Reward - 8.88 (21 votes)
Return of the Obra Dinn - 8.85 (10 votes)
Silent Hill 4: The Room - 8.83 (6 votes)
Suikoden II - 8.8 (11 votes)
Persona 3 - 8.76 (22 votes)
Nier - 8.75 (18 votes)
Omori - 8.75 (8 votes)
Grim Fandango - 8.75 (14 votes)
Xenogears - 8.73 (24 votes)
Tales of Berseria - 8.71 (15 votes)
Suikoden V - 8.7 (10 votes)
Metal Gear Solid - 8.68 (28 votes)
Final Fantasy Tactics - 8.67 (27 votes)
Shadow Hearts: Covenant - 8.67 (6 votes)
Pyre - 8.64 (7 votes)
Portal 2 - 8.64 (19 votes)
Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward - 8.64 (11 votes)
Disco Elysium - 8.63 (18 votes)
Bastion - 8.63 (12 votes)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty 8.63 (32 votes)
AI: The Somnium Files - 8.59 (13 votes)
Yakuza: Like a Dragon - 8.58 (6 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask - 8.57 (28 votes)
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together - 8.56 (8 votes)
Persona 4 - 8.56 (32 votes)
Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy - 8.55 (4 votes)
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance - 8.53 (18 votes)
SOMA - 8.5 (6 votes)
The Great Ace Attorney: Resolve - 8.48 (11 votes)
Fate/Stay Night - 8.48 (12 votes)
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - 8.47 (16 votes)
Undertale - 8.45 (42 votes)
Dragon Quest V - 8.44 (16 votes)
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean - 8.44 (8 votes)
Mass Effect 2 - 8.44 (29 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd - 8.43 (12 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice - 8.42 (17 votes)
What Remains of Edith Finch - 8.41 (19 votes)
Chrono Trigger - 8.4 (41 votes)
Shadow Hearts - 8.38 (8 votes)
Blasphemous - 8.38 (4 votes)
Shenmue II - 8.38 (4 votes)
Terranigma - 8.36 (7 votes)
Snatcher - 8.33 (6 votes)
Final Fantasy X - 8.31 (56 votes)
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door - 8.31 (17 votes)
Final Fantasy VII - 8.29 (38 votes)
South Park: The Stick of Truth - 8.25 (18 votes)
Dead Space - 8.25 (8 votes)
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus - 8.23 (6 votes)
Fallout: New Vegas - 8.23 (13 votes)
Lunar: Silver Star Story - 8.22 (9 votes)
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective - 8.21 (19 votes)
Parasite Eve - 8.19 (9 votes)
Dragon Quest XI - 8.19 (17 votes)
Final Fantasy VI - 8.19 (43 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - 8.19 (43 votes)
Persona 5 Strikers - 8.17 (9 votes)
The Walking Dead Season 1 - 8.16 (22 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies - 8.15 (17 votes)
Wolfenstein: The New Order - 8.14 (7 votes)
The Last of Us - 8.13 (35 votes)
The Witcher - 8.13 (7 votes)
Fire Emblem: Three Houses - 8.12 (14 votes)
Tales From the Borderlands - 8.12 (7 votes)
Conkers Bad Fur Day - 8.11 (9 votes)
Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals - 8.11 (9 votes)
The Wolf Among Us - 8.11 (15 votes)
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - 8.11 (17 votes)
Hellblade: Senuas Sacrifice - 8.1 (5 votes)
Horizon: Zero Dawn - 8.06 (18 votes)
Lost Judgment - 8.05 (4 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - 8 (18 votes)
Batman: The Telltale Series - 8 (6 votes)
Portal - 8 (26 votes)
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna: The Golden Country - 7.98 (5 votes)
Xenoblade Chronicles - 7.98 (28 votes)
Uncharted 4: A Thiefs End - 7.97 (16 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel - 7.96 (14 votes)
Hades - 7.96 (22 votes)
Tsukihime - 7.94 (7 votes)
Inscryption - 7.93 (10 votes)
God of War (2018) - 7.93 (14 votes)
Ace Attorney Investigations 2 - 7.92 (13 votes)
Persona 5 - 7.92 (27 votes)
Life is Strange - 7.92 (32 votes)
Alan Wake - 7.91 (8 votes)
Spec Ops: The Line - 7.9 (17 votes)
Cyberpunk 2077 - 7.9 (7 votes)
Bloodborne - 7.88 (20 votes)
Kid Icarus: Uprising - 7.86 (13 votes)
Night in the Woods - 7.8 (15 votes)
Silent Hill - 7.8 (15 votes)
Psychonauts - 7.79 (7 votes)
Deadly Premonition - 7.77 (11 votes)
Killer7 - 7.77 (11 votes)
Final Fantasy IX - 7.77 (26 votes)
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn - 7.75 (14 votes)
Silent Hill 3 - 7.75 (8 votes)
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future - 7.75 (6 votes)
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain - 7.75 (4 votes)
NEO: The World Ends With You - 7.75 (4 votes)
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - 7.75 (4 votes)
Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors - 7.73 (32 votes)
Mario & Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story - 7.73 (11 votes)
The Last of Us: Left Behind - 7.73 (11 votes)
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor - 7.73 (11 votes)
Mega Man Zero - 7.71 (7 votes)
Kentucky Route Zero - 7.7 (10 votes)
The Sexy Brutale - 7.75 (6 votes)
Until Dawn - 7.68 (19 votes)
Vagrant Story - 7.67 (6 votes)
Bioshock - 7.65 (24 votes)
Skies of Arcadia - 7.63 (15 votes)
Suikoden - 7.63 (15 votes)
Paper Mario: The Origami King - 7.63 (6 votes)
Saints Row 2 - 7.63 (4 votes)
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - 7.63 (4 votes)
Radiant Historia - 7.62 (13 votes)
Doki Doki Literature Club - 7.61 (28 votes)
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - 7.6 (5 votes)
Final Fantasy VII Remake - 7.58 (20 votes)
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox - 7.57 (6 votes)
Celeste - 7.56 (26 votes)
Half-Life 2 - 7.55 (10 votes)
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake - 7.54 (12 votes)
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair - 7.51 (31 votes)
Policenauts - 7.5 (5 votes)
Erica - 7.5 (4 votes)

9

7

Pretty good with some definite high points

10/10

Glad we're finally doing this one. I've always enjoyed the storyline of Code: Veronica quite a bit. Of course, Claire being one of the main protags here is a huge plus for me, and I think she really comes into her own in this title, the true narrative sequel to Resident Evil 2. She's more brash, more bold, dials up the snark meter to max and breaks out some of the most badass moments in the entire series. At the same time, Claire shows way more vulnerability here too, clearly still feeling residual trauma from the Raccoon City incident and the desperate search for her brother taking its own mental and physical toll. She even participates in a little romance with Steve.

Oh Steve. I'll admit it - I used to be a Steve hater, but he's actually grown on me in the years since I first played this. I guess his boyish charm became amusing, and I started to see the value of having a very flawed, very young character by your side most of the game, giving Claire someone to bounce off of and relate to. Steve's wannabe badass demeanor and hormonal unselfconsciousness made for plenty of realistic feeling moments that felt true to the character and the elevated B-movie level that Resident Evil as a series operates in. In fact, I dare say Steve is a rather underrated character whose story hits all the requisite emotional beats for a compelling and ultimately tragic end.

The game also sports two of my absolute favorite villains in the franchise - Alfred and Alexia Ashford. One of my favorite themes in CV is siblinghood, and I don't know if Capcom lucked in to it or if it was purposeful, but the Redfields vs. the Ashfords relationship really brought in some interesting subtext. I like how the opposite gender siblings face off against each other (Claire against Alfred / Chris against Alexia), with Alfred almost representing a twisted version of Claire's love for her brother, pushing it to demented extremes as Alexia's fifteen year absence caused Alfred so much pain his mind fragmented and he eventually believed himself to be Alexia. Now, I'll be the first to admit Resident Evil handles mental health with the delicacy of a freight train hitting a defenseless kitten, but on a purely primal level, it offers some interesting horror distinct from the typical tone found in the gore and viscera of the zombies & BOWs.

When Alexia does make her grand return, it feels suitably bittersweet. A wounded Alfred dying in her arms just as she reawakens, as her own grief turns to quick vengeance. This happens too of course just as Claire's own brother Chris nearly finds his way to Claire's whereabouts himself, again drawing that connection between the two sibling families. Alexia mirrors Chris' suppressed regret of not always being there to protect Claire, just as Alexia could not save her own brother. I know it's not the deepest game narrative in the world, but to me there's always been something here that draws me in more so than other games in the series.

One other HUGE piece of the game is the return of Albert Wesker, now augmented with superhuman powers courtesy of his virus injection right before his death in the original RE. To me, this is pretty much the perfect iteration of Wesker - a perfect blend of the ultimate tactical mastermind and virally imbued Matrix-level badass. He's not super OP like in Resident Evil 5, just feels like a natural evolution of his original role in the first Resident Evil whilst now putting him on the same power level as the monsters in the game. His rivalry with Chris as we now know it is pretty much started here, and Wesker is just the most magnificent bastard here as he kicks the shit out of Claire just to get under Chris' skin that much more. The game honestly just makes you hate Wesker tenfold as you realize just how inhuman he has truly become, and beating up on one of the most pure-hearted and strong-willed characters in the series gets more than a little rise out of me to be sure.

All the pieces of lore and background history of Rockfort Island are great too. It's so scary reading old prisoner diaries or uncovering the depraved torture/sex dungeon belonging to Alfred (yes, this game is really fucking weird at times, in a good way) because it reminds you of the horror normal humans can inflict on each other.

Overall, Resident Evil Code: Veronica is one of my favorite entries in the series storywise. I was actively trying to think of flaws as I was writing this up and honestly I couldn't really think of anything substantial. Yeah, obviously there will be some suspension of disbelief as this is when RE cutscenes would truly start to get over-the-top ridiculous, but to me, it comes with the territory and is part of the game's charm ultimately. There's plenty to love and admire in this game's story, from its Gothic reference points to good old classic family drama, it is simply a magnificent piece of work as far as the franchise goes and a masterpiece of atmosphere, and a gripping struggle of terror against threats both human and otherwise.

Up.

9.5

Remake this one you cowards

9

Kind of the most well-realized story, combining an intriguing self-contained storyline and themes while also exploding the series lore and plot and taking it to a new level of continuity. It's not a very grounded plot relatively to RE1 or 2 but I think it escalates the ridiculousness that was already there into something that's closer to an action movie, but not nearly as far as the RE4 and beyond would take it. Good balance of action hero characters still being in a legitimately horror scenario.