Thread for the frustruated with the "survive the werewolf attack" moment in the beginning of the game

[Luke Puke]

If you personally had no problems or even enjoyed the titular moment, I am very happy for you. This thread is not to argue your experience is in any way "wrong". This thread is for those unfortunate souls who had miserable time getting through the first werewolf attack sequence and seek emotional companionship with the ones who share their misery. The thread is purposed for people to let off some steam, complain, share advice, and simply realize they are not alone with their trouble regarding this moment in the game.

I would like to share my experience. I had read complains about this game being too easy on "Standard" difficulty setting. Consequently, as someone who enjoys challenging games, I chose "Hardcore". Being familiar with the first four games from the series, I anticipated more of the same from the high difficulty: monsters are stronger, you have to think faster, manage resources better, be aware of your surrounding. However, I did not anticipate an arena with an invisible timer which counts down towards a random chance of a cutscene appearing!

Hardcore leaves 2-3 hits until death. It takes about 10 pistol bullets to kill a werewolf. Werewolves are faster than the player. These are not very good prerequisites for a narrow arena with endless waves of werewolves against the player who has a pistol with about 15 bullets. Especially when the player is constantly outnumbered and told nothing but "SURVIVE THE ATTACK!". I was super confused and had no idea what to do. Apparently, one has to survive for 6 minutes and then a cutscene activates. Randomly. Great.

This moment could have worked by the end of the game, when the player has resources, weapons, knowlegde, and experience to stand off for six minutes, having fun using guns and game mechanics. But in the beginning of the game? Did anyone really have fun running laps around narrow corridors without any idea what to do until a cutscene appeared out of nowhere? Certainly not the people who chose hardcore for the first playthrough and died millions of times.

Some may say: "Well, you chose hardcore, what did you expect?" I can answer: I expected a survival game with clear cut mechanics which I would have to learn in order to be successful in the game. I expected to rely on myself rather than "a magical cutscene where all my enemies suddenly run away and a new path opens up" to solve my problems. I expected to use my skill and wits instead of relying on a chance. I expected to have a fair challenge where outcome is clearly decided by my actions, not obscurely hidden behind a vague task, invisible timer, and hidden triggers. That's what I expected and that's why I had chosen "hardcore" before playing for the first time. Maybe I was naive, please excuse me for that.

For those who are stuck on this moment, I say - do not despair. Some may argue, but for me it was the hardest moment in the game. Think carefully if you make a decision between trying to pass on hardcore and switching to standard. It might worth it to go through it. As an advice, I would like to point out that werewolves cannot harm you while you are on a ladder , you need to survive for about 6 minutes , and that after 6 minutes all you have to do is run around and hope for the best .

Do you have experience you would like to share about the moment?

[Sindex]

Honestly this is why I always just play on Easy, devs just don't know how to balance things in a fun way. It's either too easy or you have to abuse the game mechanics like the ladder in order to survive.

[Luke Puke]

Originally posted by Sindex:

Honestly this is why I always just play on Easy, devs just don't know how to balance things in a fun way. It's either too easy or you have to abuse the game mechanics like the ladder in order to survive.

Honestly, I was considering to put the game on "easy" at this moment. But the fact I cannot change the difficulty mid-game and will have to play the beginning again and then have experience which is too easy persuaded me not to...

It's WAY OUT OF BALANCE to the point of frustruation.

[devil dick]

Yeah that first scene sucks ass on hardcore lol. You can hide it out in the basement for a solid 2 minutes or until Uriaș shows up then run up to the house with the ladder AND then back to the house with the basement.

[Luke Puke]

Originally posted by therealdealjoe:

Yeah that first scene sucks ass on hardcore lol. You can hide it out in the basement for a solid 2 minutes or until Uriaș shows up then run up to the house with the ladder AND then back to the house with the basement.

True! Hidding in the basement of the shotgun house does buy a lot of time until monsters come visit. Good hint, thank you!

[Prince-Nyan]

It's just a poorly designed section trying to hone in on Re4 nostalgia which has the same scenario. Differences is Re4 section would end after x kills or time with more space, more options, where's here you need to trigger two separate phases (also time gated) as well as survive a set time in a terrible 1 viable kiting route layout with enemies who move fast enough that they can meet you at the end of the kiting path because the area is so small.

Only died the first time, where I noticed the section was beginning to over stay it's welcome and absolutely nothing was changing and i assumed it was bugged and suicided. The census I've seen is nobody liked it.

[Infected Shogun]

I'm more frustrated with that fence of text! /joke

[Luke Puke]

Originally posted by Prince-Nyan:

It's just a poorly designed section trying to hone in on Re4 nostalgia which has the same scenario. Differences is Re4 section would end after x kills or time with more space, more options, where's here you need to trigger two separate phases (also time gated) as well as survive a set time in a terrible 1 viable kiting route layout with enemies who move fast enough that they can meet you at the end of the kiting path because the area is so small.

I have some memories of the similiar section in RE4. I remember it being full of tension and super scary. I died there a couple of times because of the chainsaw guy cutting off Leon's head! Nevertheless, it was super fun. As much as I remember, there was a whole village with open houses, ladders, and different paths to go around. RE4 villagers were slow, but still intimidating. When the church bell rang, I felt genuinely happy and relieved.

You are right, in RE8 enemies are TOO FAST for such little, narrow space. I felt like even if I run enemies still manage to hit me in the back. When health is low, the character even slows down, which is amazing considering enemies are super fast...

[Luke Puke]

Originally posted by Infected Shogun:

I'm more frustrated with that fence of text! /joke

I wish I did not have so much to write about one single moment in the game. Yet, I feel I didn't even touch the surface of how absurd and unfriendly it is!

[Sindex]

Originally posted by Luke Puke:

Originally posted by Infected Shogun:

I'm more frustrated with that fence of text! /joke

I wish I did not have so much to write about one single moment in the game. Yet, I feel I didn't even touch the surface of how absurd and unfriendly it is!

Also don't you just love how you can be inside a house, but a werewolf just magically shows up behind you and throws you outside... through multiple walls? /s

[Luke Puke]

Also don't you just love how you can be inside a house, but a werewolf just magically shows up behind you and throws you outside... through multiple walls?

I actually do love it as long as it gives me the escape from this terrible situation! Thank God the game does not force to be in a specific place for the cutscene to activate. That would be beyond ridiculous!

On the other hand, my position is more of a stockholm syndrome than a reasonable opinion :D I only wish this moment weren't there and the player could just open the damn red gates and go straight to the Luiza's house... Wouldn't that be much more climatic?

[Sindex]

Originally posted by Luke Puke:

Also don't you just love how you can be inside a house, but a werewolf just magically shows up behind you and throws you outside... through multiple walls?

I actually do love it as long as it gives me the escape from this terrible situation! Thank God the game does not force to be in a specific place for the cutscene to activate. That would be beyond ridiculous!

On the other hand, my position is more of a stockholm syndrome than a reasonable opinion :D I only wish this moment weren't there and the player could just open the damn red gates and go straight to the Luiza's house... Wouldn't that be much more climatic?

I mean they could have just made the screen go dark for a second, not just make you phase through 4 walls in clear view haha
I thought this was a bug at first.

[Luke Puke]

Originally posted by Sindex:

Originally posted by Luke Puke:

I actually do love it as long as it gives me the escape from this terrible situation! Thank God the game does not force to be in a specific place for the cutscene to activate. That would be beyond ridiculous!

On the other hand, my position is more of a stockholm syndrome than a reasonable opinion :D I only wish this moment weren't there and the player could just open the damn red gates and go straight to the Luiza's house... Wouldn't that be much more climatic?

I mean they could have just made the screen go dark for a second, not just make you phase through 4 walls in clear view haha
I thought this was a bug at first.

True! The way the werewolf throws the player through dimension in order for the specific cutscene to play out as developers had intended just goes to show how shoehorned it is! They indeed could have made it so Ethan gets "hit from behind and passes out" only to find himself surrounded. Instead, he gets shot by an arrow (which results into NOTHING, not even limping) and then thrown through the whole map to the specific position.

The more I think about it, the more it makes me unreasonably angry :D

[Sindex]

Originally posted by Luke Puke:

True! The way the werewolf throws the player through dimension in order for the specific cutscene to play out as developers had intended just goes to show how shoehorned it is! They indeed could have made it so Ethan gets "hit from behind and passes out" only to find himself surrounded. Instead, he gets shot by an arrow (which results into NOTHING, not even limping) and then thrown through the whole map to the specific position.

The more I think about it, the more it makes me unreasonably angry :D

Maybe they didn't want to do the "Welcome to the family" bit again? Honestly the whole segment is just poorly done compared to the same thing in RE4, even with RE4's asinine (by today's standards) controls that encounter worked a lot better.

[JohnTravoltage]

Originally posted by Prince-Nyan:

It's just a poorly designed section trying to hone in on Re4 nostalgia which has the same scenario. Differences is Re4 section would end after x kills or time with more space, more options, where's here you need to trigger two separate phases (also time gated) as well as survive a set time in a terrible 1 viable kiting route layout with enemies who move fast enough that they can meet you at the end of the kiting path because the area is so small.

Only died the first time, where I noticed the section was beginning to over stay it's welcome and absolutely nothing was changing and i assumed it was bugged and suicided. The census I've seen is nobody liked it.

The re4 version also has a lot more risk/reward on all the difficulties. You can more reliably combat enemies in an ammo efficient way to get more rewards without risking health (I can't think of any way to fight lycans in a more ammo efficient safe way as knifing them is barely an option in a group or even single reliably with the insane 360 degree insta grabs they can do). re4 version also actually gives you the means to seriously defend yourself against the group, especially with teh shotgun actually blasting everyone to the floor and not just 1 or maybe 2 (does the shotgun even go through people in this game??).

[Luke Puke]

Originally posted by Tommy Wiseau:

Its literally the easiest survival part in the history of games. You leave the house, run around a couple laps around the buildings wait for the hammer guy, get shot with an arrow, i just did of VOS which was kinda tougher because enemies were fast and agressive, but still cakewalk.

Very happy for you! You must have an in-depth underestanding of videogames of this sort, great cognitive abilities to assess such situations, and good reaction time to navigate yourself around narrow maps and block quick attacks just in time!

Unfortunately, not everyone is as good as you are. We, the mere mortals, struggle on Hardcore, while you succeed on VOS. Maybe you can write a guide or share some advice to help us out? We'd be all beyond thankful.