Resident Evil Revelations Collection review for Nintendo Switch

Do you remember when the 3DS was just a brand new system and nobody knew what it was capable of? Well I do! Times sure were dark back then, like most console launches. But us Nintendo fans know how to hibernate with little morsels of games like Resident Evil: The Merceneries 3D. But that’s not what we’re here to talk about today, since on the Mercenaries 3D cart there was a demo for something even better!

Yep, we got our first taste of Resident Evil: Revelations almost half a year before it came out. If you’re not jealous now, you should be. I remember being so excited to have Resident Evil on the go that I even ran out to buy the Circle Pad Pro add-on that I never used again. Do you know where your Circle Pad Pro is?

Anyway, since then we’ve seen several ports of Resident Evil Revelations both part 1 and 2, and each time it’s always a good deal. It’s no different on the Switch here, with a game that runs in HD, uses both of the analog sticks, and of course returns all the way back to Revelations roots. It’s Resident Evil on-the go! Again!

If you haven’t played the series, part one starts with Jill Valentine and some fat guy named Parker who are investigating a scary cruise ship. What they uncover are a new mutation of enemies called BOW’s. They’re biological horrors who I always thought looked kind of funny. Or maybe they sound funny. They definitely don’t scare me as much as normal zombies, but that doesn’t mean they can’t hurt you.

You’re also looking into a terrorist organization called Veltro, but I can’t help thinking of velcro and just can’t take them seriously. I like this one a lot, and one of the new additions is the ability to scan your environment for hidden items and secrets. This reminds me of Metroid Prime and that’s always a good thing.

Part two has you starting out as Claire Redfield who is kidnapped from a great party and dropped into prison with a friend! This one was released in episodes and feels much more modernized than Revelations 1. You can tell the difference right away with characters who are super self aware and controls that I think are more complex than they need to be. It’s also a lot scarier, reminding me of really scary stuff like The Evil Within.

Yeah you can still choose a control scheme that’s like Resident Evil 4, but the game has all kinds of stuff that feels just like what everyone else was doing in 2015. They replace the scanning in Revelations 1 by adding a partner who you or another person in co-op can control. Now this hip girl who hangs out with Claire is the one who primarily discovers stuff. This means you’re constantly switching back and forth between two characters and it feels totally unnecessary.

Anyway both games are a good time. Revelations 2 is a much prettier game by default since it was released as an episodic game to consoles at the time, and then ported later. Revelations 1 started out on the 3DS but still holds up on the big screen.

I don’t have much to add about the quality of the ports that other versions wouldn’t tell you. Capcom gave us codes for both part 1 and 2, and from what I played it’s the same deal here as on their other console versions. There are some options that use HD rumble and amiibo functionality, but everything else seems pretty standard. The only standout issue is that Revelations 2 has much longer load times probably due to the visuals. The real prize is having them available on the Switch, which of course means the games always feel ready to play wherever you are.

If you’re like me and just enjoy having games on the Switch over a different platform, then this is the best version of Resident Evil Revelations part 1 and 2 to have. Revelations 1 is broken up into chapters like a good portable game, and Revelations 2 is similar with its episodic structure that games from 2015 loved to release. Both are a great fit for this device. What I’m really looking forward to is more support from Capcom on the Switch, and hopefully this is a sign of future ports and original games to come.