The Resident Evil series is no stranger to Nintendo consoles with roots dating back as far as 2000’s Resident Evil 2 release on the Nintendo 64. Resident Evil Revelations was originally released for the 3DS and then upscaled to port to other consoles.

Visually the game stacks up to its console counterparts as nothing has really been changed or added to the game, except the addition of motion controls. In a game where saving animation is key to survival, every shot fired counts. Another great use of the joycons is use of the SL buttons allowing for use of switching out weapons. Using the SL buttons on the side to change weapons certainly works out well as it does not result in having take your thumb of the analog stopping you from moving.

Handheld mode also allows for the use of motion controls. They were still helpful but not as useful as well playing with the joycons. Being able to take the game with you always has it’s perks, and playing in handheld mode I did not notice any major issues with it.

Single player mode is broken into episodes of defeating enemies and solving puzzles along the way. The game follows Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield who are trying to stop a group of bio-terrorist from infecting the Earth’s oceans with a virus. Having not played a Resident Evil game since Resident evil 2, I was happy to see that characters I remember are still part of the series. The story line is stand alone enough from the series that it did not feel too overwhelming. In Fact the game did a great job introducing and reintroducing characters into the story.

In multiplayer mode, players make their way through a slightly changed areas from single player mode. Using Battle points for weapon upgrades, I did not get to experience too much of multiplayer mode, but the small bit I played ran smoothly.

There is a pretty decent weapon upgrade system. Through exploring the game players can find customization kits that contain gun parts, that allow for you to upgrade guns abilities such as fire rate, maximum damage. Weapons can also be unlocked by completing certain tasks in the game.

The game had a “previously” before the beginning of each episode, at first this seemed ridiculous. As the game continued and the story became more complex I found it to be very helpful and wished other games would do the same.

One of the things that has always bothered me about the series is when a door is locked from the other side, what is keeping them from kicking it in? Whereas at another point in the game Jill has no problems with shooting the padlock off the door. Another thing, Jill can apparently rewire an elevator to get it in working order, but she can’t rewire an electrical clamp to release a shotgun or hot-wire the engine to a lift? I understand from a game-play standpoint allowing these actions would allow for the game to be too easy and skip some key moments from the game. I just wish they would have better reasoning behind why certain things cannot be done.

Resident Evil allows for use of Amiibo, which in turn give you Battle Points that can be used in co-op mode to buy upgrades. Use of Amiibo is a nice touch to the game, it just would have been cool to see them do more such as some kind of help for single player mode.

In the end, Resident Evil Revelations is a fun play through. Nothing is really added aside from motion controls and the ability to once again play on the go. Players who have previously played the game may want to skip the game. Long time fans of the series or players who have not had the chance to play can certainly enjoy the game.