Blasted through chapter 1-3 last night and 2-1 a few minutes ago.

1-3:

After shooting down every blue medallion, I snatched the Punisher from the merchant. I also upgraded some of my weapons, especially the shotgun. I bought myself a TMP, since I noticed I had found bullets for it.

I almost died near the swamp, one bastard decided to throw a dynamite, and I was unprepared for it. Tried to make a run for it, but the explosive went kaboom and I got hit. My life was hanging by a thread, but fortunately I made it.

I think the gigantic fish was spoiled by the cutscene. I would've appreciated if the monster had appeared out of blue, it would've made it more suspenseful. Wasted opportunity, in my opinion.

I died once during the fight, but the second time I nailed that ugly goldfish. Angela, you mentioned that if your health is low, it's almost impossible to outrun it. I was basically half-dead already, but got away pretty easily.

Stats:

Hit ratio: 74%/72%
Enemies killed: 51/124
Number of times killed: 1/2

2-1:

Capcom sure decided to rely on suspense than straight action in this chapter, as there were very few villagers. But for some reason it didn't affect me, and I found it to be a rather boring chapter overall. The gutshead villagers (you know, those who take drastic measures when you land a succesful headshot) posed a bigger challenge, because they proved to be resilient to my previous tactic (shoot, kick, knife), specifically the knifing part.

The gargantuan beast was actually quite problem-free. It was easily avoidable, and I killed him only with two strikes in the back.

The dogs near the church took me by a surprise, though. After encountering such a friendly dog back then, I decided to get closer to the dog for "inspection" when he assaulted me, and the other dogs leaped out as well. I ended their miserable life with 2-3 bullets from the shotgun.

One thing that puzzles me is that why can't Ashley just climb the damn ladder? Why do I have to play a cushion for her?

2-1 stats:

Hit ratio: 68%/72%
Enemies killed: 14/138
Number of times killed: 0/2

Damn. Have no time to play last night and now EVERYONE is ahead of me! I'd better do some serious catching up today... maybe get up to 2-2.

Yes, this fact is made even more bizarre in 2-2, when she jumps from atop a huge gate to unlock it from the other side for you...I mean, WHAT THE HELL? Clearly, she can jump down like Leon...

So yeah, my sentiments for that aspect...

You can also check those out after the boss battle, which saves time during the fight and keeps you out of danger in that respect.

If you wait until after the battle is over, some of them will be gone.

So get them all while you still can.

As promised, the fun continues... with 1-3! I started this chapter with 25 handgun and 19 shotgun rounds. Not exactly inspiring much confidence. We'll see where it goes.

The road back to the village had a few challenges. I used up most of the shotgun rounds on chainsaw boy. I also got to try out a grenade on a group of villagers because there were too many to take out with the handgun. I now have a grenade fetish.

I got spanked pretty hard in the village. Died twice. I was so concerned with conserving my ammo (a clear obsession of mine) that I let them overwhelm me. The third time around, I was less forgiving. Licking my wounds, I went into the farm area to collect some chicken eggs before moving on. I also took out a cow with my knife. I'm pretty sure that's not appropriate behavior.

At the merchant, I tuned up my handgun and shotgun, sold all the things I felt were worth ditching... and still had 52,900 PTAs left over. I don't have room for any other weapons at the moment so I'm holding off. The two weapons I have currently have served me well so far.

Creepy moment at the cemetary: A zombie started running towards me, I shot nervously at its head and it exploded... but the sucker continued to run right into me!

Having collected all the medallions, I got the Punisher. I don't know if the gun is more useful than the standard 9mm I already have... but it comes with 10 bullets so I'm not complaining.

I'll admit that I kinda rushed my way through the swamp area. It's an ammo waster and there's no need to kill all the enemies there (although in the end, I probably ended up wasting most of them).

The baddie in the lake is more an irritant than an actual threat. I lost most of my life (into the red) in the first ten seconds of the battle. After that, I got my equilibrium back and started throwing spears like crazy. He went down quickly.

Hit ratio: 87% (87% total)
Enemies Killed: 50 (139 total)
Number of times killed: 2 (6 total)

And moving right into 2-1...

As others have pointed out, this segment is wonderfully atmospheric. The graphics are generally ass on the HDTV but in this case, art design easily trumps the dated technology. Unfortunately, another downside of the dark is that it's much harder to see the enemy. And it's scarier. I think I preferred day time. Just saying.

Unfortunately, my first encounter with the Las Plagas ended... badly. I probably would have been okay if it wasn't for the other baddie rushing towards me. I got distracted. Even my tuned-up handgun (didn't forget the merchant across the lake!) didn't save me. Hysterically, the second time around, I killed the bastard in one hit.

Unfortunately, I've gotten to the point where I'm out of case space. Even ditching the extra fishes hasn't helped much. Just too many grenades and weapons. I guess I'll have to start using more of the former.

I remember this next waterfall area being a pain in the ass. A big ambush or something. As expected, I was right... but this time, I used my brains. I backed up across the ledges, let the enemy jump on them and then I took them out. They fall into their watery graves. I didn't get their items... but I probably saved whatever ammo I would have gotten from them.

Alas, they have a CAVE TROLL!!! This guy wasn't so bad, especially once I took Angie's advice to use the flash grenades. Fortunately, I had my wolf friend to help me get the items and after two climbs onto the back, he was finished.

The dogs in the cemetery really smacked me around. For some reason, I was expecting to be home-free once I got here...

I've always been a big fan of the color puzzle in the church. It's not terribly complicated but it's a great concept. ... and now I'm stuck with protecting Ashley. I really hate escorting missions.

Hit ratio: 84% (86% total)
Enemies killed: 14 (153 total)
Number of times killed: 1 (7 total)

Playtime this session: 2 hours, 16 minutes.

In the Wii version, they can still grab you, too.

I used to love the Punisher a lot, until i realized that the programmers forgot to make holes appear in the wooden shields when shooting through them.

That looks really stupid to me, so I refuse to use that gun anymore..

Huh, news to me.  Are we talking about your health being dangerously low?  Like in the flashing red, down-to-your-last-sliver low?  I am like the QUEEN of button mashing, and I've never been able to successfully make it back to that boat in time.

One of the unlockable costumes plays up a cute little visual joke with the ladder catching.  Maybe you'd want to consider it a minor spoiler, but Ashley can later earn a...... fully-decked out suit of armor to wear.  When you catch her, Leon clutches his back in pain, due to the weight. :P 

Yeah, it ain't..... but that's okay, because I'm sure we've all done it.  *_*  Funny, you can take down cows and chickens, but you can't touch that dog running around in the Farm area. (I've always wondered; is that the same dog that was in the bear trap?)

Well, let's just say you won't be seeing daylight again for a long, long time.  When I think about it, the time period for when the game takes place feels chronically sound.  You start in the early morning at the very beginning, and end your journey the following morning.  In other words, Leon has one hell of a night ahead of him. ;)

That's right, though I'm certain they can do that in all versions of the game.  Let's hear it for neurons!

lol!  The first time I went up against this beast I was kicked and punched into the ground within 30 seconds.  Hardly FBI material.  The second time, I broke out the mini machine gun and wasted pretty much all of that ammo that I had been saving up.  Just kept running around and eventually took him down.  Thanks again to "Hey, it's that dog!"

Oh yeah, and that huge swamp-iguana took me down the first time fighting it.  I was trying to figure out a strategy in between being knocked off my boat (the first one seems kind of unfair.  I was run into some floating debris and couldn't avoid it, or could I? Anyone?) and vehemently shaking the wii-mote to swim back.  Eventually I just started chucking harpoons and it fell.  AAAUGHHHH cut the rope cut the rope cut the rope!!!

I actually like the waterfall part.  It was the first "real" puzzle that didn't seem contrived or out-of-place.  Also, the horde of zombies (can I call them zombies, or is there a better term?) was taken down fairly easily with my trusty shotgun.  Definitely feeling the sting of scarce ammo. 

On the way back to the church I was doing fine and then HOLY CRAP KILLER DOGS!  Those things were vicious!  And then when that virus/zombie/alien thing broke out of the top of them, I freaked!  I figure we'll fine out exactly what those things are later in the game, eh?

Definitely growing on me more and more.  I went from 1-3 through 2-2 last night in a single sitting!  As a first time player, the treasure map is a nice (read: necessary) addition.  Is it just me, or does anyone else have more money than they need?  I'd like to upgrade my pistol some more, but it's not available.  I figure the future upgrades are unlocked in new chapters.

Total times dying: 7
Hours played: I think somewhere around 3:30

I think that once we all reach chapter 3 (for me, it'll be sometime this weekend) we should stop and let everyone else catch up.  Chapter 3 will begin on Monday.

You totally can. You have limited steering over the boat, so when the Del Lago fight starts you can hold right on the control stick and you'll avoid the debris in the water. The fight's real manageable when you're not getting tossed everywhere.

Good! I'm glad you're enjoying it, man.

I have a bunch of money saved up, but the upgrades cost a lot of money if you want to get the most bang for your buck - literally. For example, to fully upgrade your Handgun, Shotgun and Rifle (default weapons), it would cost a combined total of 799,000 Pesetas. And those are just the default weapons! The Red9 costs 335,000 to fully upgrade (including the scope), and my favorite shotgun takes 392,000 to upgrade. That's... mucho dinero, hombre. Luckily, the treasures increase in value as the game goes on, and you can pitch old stuff for 1/2 the price (as opposed to 1/10th the price in RE5!).

Ganado!  Definitely NOT a zombie!

Yep, it does get revealed in bits and pieces, a la the documents and memos lying about.  I trust you're taking the time out to read them?

You can never have enough money in this game.  As Zane states, upgrades are a costly affair; some of them can't even be reached on a single playthrough.  There's also super-specialized weapons that become unlocked as you play through the game's modes -- but even those have to be purchased.  One such weapon costs a whopping 1,000,000 pesetas, something I couldn't claim until well into my third playthrough.

Sounds good.  I'll likely take on Chapter 2-3 tonight, but now Zane has instilled me to check out Professional Mode again.  Maybe I'll do some cross-filing. :)

Finally started this after getting back home, playing PS2 version, Normal difficulty and without any earlier saves.

Chapter 1-1 "Long way from home, cowboy"

Hunnigan is still lovely. Also, failed with jumping out of the second floor and getting sliced with an axe. Clearly a bit rusty. That shows especially when shooting down crows, thankfully got one down which dropped grenade. Rescued the wolf.

Ah, the famous village, this one was so much fun on the first playthrough, and it still is, running to get the shotgun and having a blast. Run out of shotgun shells and herbs, but thankfully the bell didn't rang to me.

After Leon's attempts to crack a joke, it was time to loot the village. Which did give few pesetas, R+G+Y herb combination and some shotgun shells. Clearly more than enough for the next part.

And this area did let me have my first laughs, thanks to Ganado getting head blown off and doing a backflip over a cow (or through one). After a round of target practising and looting, it was time to go on. Thou, funnily my ammunination wasn't in a good shape after all, only 48 bullets and 16 shells. And no green herbs except for that RGY combination.

One thing I really hate in this game, is those bloody reaction tests, especially on certain part which is still a long way to go. But thankfully didn't die on the boulder one yet. But onwards I go, shooting the spinels down.

Also, mobs with dynamite = not fun. Especially with my aiming. But then, now I managed to kill two dynamite throwers by shooting the dynamites, go me. Got again hit by an axe wielder, again my own fault not remembering that the first house had 3 guys inside. Oh well, eggs are made to be eaten. And then I went and got myself captured, not the best way to end things.

Hit Ratio 68% (Total of 68%)
Enemies Killed 38 (Total of 38)
Number of Times Killed 0 (Total of 0)

Saves 1
Time 48:05

Onwards to next chapter, later today.

I see what you did there.

Well, sweet Jesus. After having a pretty good time I got my ass utterly handed to me this afternoon. Surprisingly, it wasn't where I expected it to be - but it took me over two hours to make it from the end of 2-2 through 2-3, which is not a lot of ground game-wise.

2-2: Nothing notable until I made it to the farm again, where I was able to take dudes down one by one and then found a spot right near the upper level where I could pick off the Ganados up there without having them come down and was also out of reach from their crazy slashing Plaga attacks (I figure people have made it to 2-1, so I'm not marking the P word as a spoiler). The cabin fight(!!!) went remarkably smoothly. I took some damage and took the opportunity to use some G/R/Y herbs to extend my life bar so I could then take more damage (in theory). This ended a lot quicker than anticipated, and the only times I did (three times) was when a Plaga lashed out at me after I was reeling from another attack. No biggie.

2-3: HERE is where the real challenge started. After getting owned by fire-breathing Ganados, knife-throwing Ganados and straight up Douchebag Ganados, I ended up restarting several times. And by several I mean about twelve. The Bella Sisters gave me no issues at all, although one time I did die by the hand of my own cockiness - I went to knife one of them and then, oops, no stun, no chance to kick, and there goes my head. I also had one playthrough when FOUR Ganados busted into Plaga hosts and I was like, you know what? F this. RESTART. I eventually made it through and got all the goodies, but decided to run away from that huge group at the end instead of fighting through. No reason to, since I planned on taking the right path. I ended up running through that side really quickly, shot off all the chains in record time and blew right by El Gigante like a motherfucker! I gathered my bearings, went back in and then took the sumbitch down with a powered up Red9 and a few handy knife slashes.

I was having a lot of trouble with Mendez, but I found a super awesome glitch to exploit the shit out of to make the fight more manageable, because, let's face it - when the second form can almost kill you in ONE HIT, something has to be done. Anyway, to exploit the damage-range glitch like I did, beat Mendez up until he sheds his legs and becomes the rafter swinger. If you look toward the back of the room, you'll see an area with a ladder leading up, a green herb in the left corner, and a red barrel near that. First I shot the red barrel when he came close to do some damage and knock him down. Then I was standing right in the corner near the herb basically freaking out because he had beaten me a handful of times by this point and I couldn't get my shit together when he hung on the low rafter, tried to hit me and... missed? The sweet spot I found is near that green herb in the corner and is between his two "hang" points. You'll know it when he looks slightly far away and tries to hit you anyway. After a good 25-35 shots from my Red9 that creep went kaput. AND THEN I STOLE HIS EYE!

I snuck into 3-1 a little bit to sell some treasures, buy the Large Attache Case and upgrade my Red9 and Rifle. I messed up earlier when I said the Bolt-Action Rifle was available in 3-1. That is a different non-rifle weapon. Whoops! So I bought the Rifle, upgraded it a bit and am ready to use it in the "Cold Water" room.

F. That is going to be painful.

I only had time for 2-2 yesterday, but that cabin fight was a royal pain in the rear end.
This is probably one of the biggest bottle necks in the game for me and I did get my ass handed to me twice because those damn Plagas are EVERYWHERE, but positioning yourself at the top of the stairs really helps for the first part.
As soon as they come breaking through the second floor though, all you can do is panic and just throw everything you've got at them.

And scream like a girl.
My throat is still sore....

Anyhoo, only 2-3 left to do, and I am contemplating right now which road I should take.
I tend to go right pretty much every time, so I'm kinda considering doing the left road for a change.

Stats: Accuracy 91%, 58 kills (total 213), 2 deaths (total 4)

PS2 analog stick can't be helping with that.

Also, FINE I started the game up again just to be seeing what you guys are seeing and to refresh my memory.  Due to a decided lack of free time and not wanting to take away much from working on my backlog, I'm doing it with both of the unlockable weapons and the second costume for Ashley.  Makes working through the game extraordinarily quick.  I knocked out the first two chapters in one night in about an hour and a half.  My highest hit percent was 2-1 with a whopping 34% and the lowest was 1-1 with 14%.  The village took about 30 seconds to finish, though (and I never even saw the chainsaw guy).  No deaths yet, and I don't expect any.  Playing through this way is... interesting, to say the least!

I did start chapter 3... great stuff, too, though on replays chapter 3 is where I suddenly realize just how freaking long this game really is when I think about how much there is to come.

And that's 2-3 done with. I think it took me about 4 hours to get this far.

I did end up taking the left route at the beginning, just to see what it was like again. Out of the maybe 5 times I've played this game, I only chose the left route the first time, so my memory of it was a bit rusty.
And surely enough, I got killed 4 times. Damn Chainsaw freaks.
Also, I spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out how to get the treasure. Man, that is one SMALL window.
I do believe that this is the only place where you can get that particular treasure, and you'll never be able to finish that tiara/crown thingy without it.

This time, I had the missus looking over my shoulder, amazed apparently at the fact that there is a Resi game for the Wii, and slightly freaked out by all the chainsaw massacring and parasites popping out of peoples' heads. I'm playing the Japanese version by the way, where most of the graphic death scenes were removed, so it's not even nearly as bad as it could be
As an outsider, she had 2 astute observations:

- Why can't Ashley climb down a friggin' LADDER!? Why does Leon have to catch her EVERY SINGLE TIME!?
- Why does the merchant keep saying the same things over and over and over and over? It gets on the nerves.

I have no answer to these questions. The Ashley thing has always baffled me, and the merchant thing is just something that you get used to when playing video games I guess. Developers should really move away from using the same one voice sample for a given situation, because it makes everything sound extremely repetitive.

Also, on the subject of the merchant, can the guy teleport or something? Or is there more than one guy? How the HELL can he hold up shop both near the top of the gondola AND near the bottom without passing me on the way up/down!?
HOW DOES HE DO THAT!?

The gondola ride was a breeze though. I managed to pick all but one Ganado clean off from a distance without getting hurt (I suffered one sickle to the brain by the aforementioned Ganado) which is probably a new record for me.

Then came the big boss battle, which went kinda messy the first time, so I got killed, but only once.
The second time was much easier. I had a decent collection of grenades with me, and it turns out they work REALLY well, especially on the second form. The second form tends to move about a lot but a strategically placed grenade will knock him to the ground (even flash grenades!) whereupon you can pump him full of lead, so he went down quite quickly.

I love the bit with the truck storming down the hill. It's a really frantic, panicky moment, and it feels SO good to take out the driver in time
I plain ignored the set of Ganados that appear from behind though.

So I'm at the castle, and the fun is REALLY going to start now.

2-3 stats: Acc 88%, 51 kills (total 264), 5 deaths (total 9)

I also took the liberty of visiting the merchant right at the start of 3-1 (I mean, he's RIGHT there, and he's got a TON of new stuff), bought the Riot Gun and Semiautomatic Rifle, and fully upgraded their fire power, as well as the Large Attache Case and Treasure Map.

Bring it on!

Started 2-2 with the usual Resident evil scenario... Low on bullets, low on bullets, and low on bullets. The good news is that I have a whole bunch of healing items... so much, in fact that I'm out of room in my case for more!

Left Ashley behind near the entrance to the church and took care of the nasties that were in the area. One of them exploded into a Plaga which put up a bit of a fight but I prevailed. Once I decided the area was clear, I had Ashley run after me. This will likely be SOP as long as she's with me. Pain in the ass!

Once I made it to the Merchant, I quickly decided I wanted that new handgun... but I didn't have enough room in my case for it! Uh oh! And I didn't want to sell the Punisher because it had ten valuable bullets in it. I made the quick decision to continue on and use up those bullets before returning to the Merchant for the new weapon.

Entered the village, decided that I hate the dark even more when the enemies can creep up on you... and used more than ten bullets trying to subdue a Plaga. Not cool. At least I was able to go back to the Merchant, sell the Punisher and pick up that awesome-looking Red9. I did all the upgrades on it I could (certainly had the money) and moved on.

Despite the enemies there, I'm glad I took the time to explore the village (again) because I found some much-needed ammo. This is just after I ran out of ammo for the Red9 and had to switch to the other handgun.

The farm was just a matter of luring the enemy out. Nothing too bad, although I found the area much creepier in the dark.

As for the cabin, I died pretty quickly the first time around. I told myself this would be a great time to use all the grenades taking up space... but there's honestly not much room to throw them, and the enemies crowd quickly. Preparing for the second round, I sold the handgun and bought the TMP as I had 200 rounds for it and I figured the more ammo, the better off I was.

I was a little better off the second time... but they forced me upstairs and even with the TMP (which didn't last as long as I'd hoped), I was finished off.

The third time was the charm. I upgraded the TMP as far as it would go, which helped me in the first part of the battle. After I was forced upstairs, I grabbed the shotgun and started to take out enemies left and right, occasionally stopping to kick the ladders down. It was an incredibly tense battle but I eventually prevailed.

Hit ratio: 64% (77% total)
Enemies killed: 63 (216 total)
Number of times killed: 2 (9 total)

Total time played this session: 1 hour, 17 minutes.

Chapter 2-3
Ah, the double-doorway decision.  When I first started, I always took the left path, the way of the mob.  Frankly, I thought I did terrible when I first took on...... El Gigante, and the thought of having to face another so soon (AND with Ashley as a tag-along) terrified me.  I felt I was getting moderately good at crowd control at that point anyway to have a better fighting chance -- little did I know about the.... chainsaw-wielding Bella Sisters awaiting me.  >_<;  These days I take on both paths, simply because the Flash Grenade method works so well on.... El Gigante.  You don't even need to do the mad dash and door-breaking routine; you can take him down right then and there at the first entrance.  Doing so is ideal, as you'll preserve the sheds along the way that hold a gaggle of item goodies.  Don't forget to grab the hidden Purple Gem for the Elegant Mask along the way, too.

Not much to say about the mob battle, other than to get the hell out of that gladiator ring as soon as the fight begins.  Hopefully you too have gotten moderately good at crowd control at this point to know what you're doing.  Do your best to take down both sisters; one of them has a precious Ruby treasure to sell off.  Also, if you take the mob's way, it is of course advised to keep Ashley stowed away until you've gotten past the final group past the Camp Key door.  Me, I like jumping down in that one house's basement tunnel, and blasting them all as they leap down themselves.

The fight on the Gondola is made ridiculously easy on the Wii version, thanks to the pinpoint aiming.  You can take out every single Ganado with the Handgun alone, even when they're at speck-looking distance.  Don't forget about the Yellow Catseye, the final piece for the Beerstein! 

Zane, I recall having a load of trouble with the Mendez fight on Professional, so I'm looking forward to trying out your glitch exploit.  I mean, a single hit from his second form on NORMAL is about enough to do you in.  So the best advice, of course, is don't get hit at all. 

Yet again, nailing that truck driver is easy as pie with the Wiimote.  It's times like this I sort of wish RE5 was on Wii -- especially with that similar sequence with that truck barreling down the highway.  That one took me freaken six or seven tries before getting.

Can't wait to start Chapter 3; the castle is indeed one memorable set piece after another.  Bring it! 

Hit Ratio: 94%
Enemies Killed: 61
Deaths: 0

Yeah, that part in RE5 took me several tries as well.
It actually really helps if you don't try to shoot the driver directly, but just hit one of the exploding barrels on the side of the road.

Sadly, castle feels bit too long for my taste and after that the game felt like it was spreaded bit too much.

Anyways, long post warning, finished few chapters yesterday / today (also warning for humor attempts)~

Chapter 1-2

After a quick reaction test, it's time visit the best thing in this game: The merchant and the best voice ever for a npc in any game. Sold few spinels, bought map + case and  tuned shotgun to give some more power, if I happen to need it. Won't be upgrading handgun at all, that shall wait until Red9.

So, I decided to go onwards, to an another massacre. Hopefully getting some more pesetas, because clearly I can't use my MasterCard to tune up. Things went pretty nice, even if I did run out of bullets in the midst of regular Michael Bay-fest. But then, thanks to progressive difficulty, Ganoda's decided to give part of the bullets I shot at them back. God bless those bumpkins.

On the next area, I decided to use one RGY mix to get more max health after getting hit few times. Place went without a hitch except for me jumping into a beartrap, but hey, nothing that kills you, makes you stronger. Also decided to 'fish' small black bass and a large one, with a knife, fun fun.

After a quick puzzle, it was time to meet my old friend from the end of Chapter 1-1, who was angry for some reason, maybe it was I visiting his bedroom and looting it from everything valuabe, who knows. Anyways, that was end of that chapter.

Hit Ratio 72% (Total 70%)
Enemies Killed 47 (Total 85)
Number of Times Killed 0 (Total 0)

Decided to save and continue onto next chapter, so I'll manage to catch you guys up. Save count before Chapter 1-3 is 2 and playtime is 1:20:46.

Chapter 1-3

Chapter starting with Hunnigan can't be bad. Right? There's just something with women with glasses, even if they're from media like videogames.

Anyways, decided to go back and say sorry to my friend, but no, some bitch in red dress disturbed our friendly wrestling. Pff I say.

Apparently this nice house has only one bathroom and it was occupied, but nothing few slices with knife and a swift kick in the back won't fix. Also, I decided to snitch my friends meal for the day, I sure have more use for chicken eggs than that huge gargantuan bumpkin. I need my protein to keep up with this crazy village.

And that egg would have been used already if I wouldn't have had my stock of herbs to make me stronger, bloody hell, headless guy running onto me like it was a prom of '86. There did go another mixture of RGY. Thankfully Mr. Chainsaw didn't cause any trouble, except shortage of shells, but I have a feeling that I'll get some more. Soon.

Too bad that the welcoming party next to gate didn't give anything good, except a small moment of warmth, probably because of that grenade I gave to them.

And now I was back in the village, the starting point of Ganado Massacre. I really do wonder where they all live, knowing that I've already killed people for two villages. Sadly, the new inhabitants didn't bring any more loot for me. Oh well, still in somewhat good shape ammunination wise, I continued the search of President's daughter. Who hopefully still is in one piece.

Found the merchant again in the cave, and I still wonder how he manages to outrun me. Gotta know some backroutes, I hope he'll tell them to me also. Oh well, decided to again sell some spinels plus those TMP-50 bullets I won't be using.

Ah, graveyards, thankfully there's no T-Virus in here, otherwise I would be in problem. Shot few crows and got bitten by a female, clearly thanks to the good looks I have. Finished target practice and another regular RE-puzzle for Green Catseye.

At the next area, saw a nice group of little crows, just a good place to practice my throwing arm. Which was a good call, lots of money and my grenade back. And my map told me that merchant was again close to me, so I decided to go show my markmanship for him to get my present. Which was a nice Punisher, now I can sell my old handgun away. Also decided to upgrade shotgun a bit, to get more capacity.

Well, that's for tonight, saved at the merchant. (3rd save).

And after a few days rest, we start by running from a boulder. Good morning sprint keeps Ganado's away. Swamp went almost without a trouble, few Ganado's decided to get a taste of me so had to eat the large black bass, and waste few shells to keep the crowd in control.

Decided not to save before Del Lago, usually it hasn't caused me any major trouble and but it decided to give some now, thanks to it hitting me to deep red at first attack, after that it waas just easy fishing. And then it was a small part of ze plot and end of the chapter.

Hit Ratio 73% (Total 71%)
Enemies Killed 52 (Total 137)
Number of times killed 0 (Total 0)

4 saves and playtime of 2:20:07

Chapter 2-1 "Night of the living dead"
Went back to boat and visited the otherside of the lake to get some goodies. And upgraded shotgun to have more blast and capacity.

Dam part was again nice and easy, but probably one of the best places in the game, mood-wise. Then it was time to get ready for El Gigante, which is always fun. But to be safe, decided to save. (5th save)

The battle with the Cave Troll went nicely, got hit once to deep red which let me use RGY mixture, and for the first time I did see the dog help me also.

Church puzzle got me stumbled for a time, but then it was finally time to see the President's (useless) daughter and end the chapter after few small discussion with the baddie.

Hit Ratio 87% (Total 73%)
Enemies Killed 11 (Total 148)
Number of times killed 0 (Total 0)

6 saves and playtime of 2:59:27. More today, so I can catch up with you guys.

Edit, couldn't actually much let go of the game so more of today's action:

Chapter 2-2

Ah, now the 'fun' starts with Ashley. Thankfully most of the "Welcome Ashley to our Village"-committee got crushed by the flaming wagon. Oh the joy of misplaced explosives.

Thankfully the weapons salesman did have something new for me, a nice Red9, which I will be using as my main handgun for now, updating it also. Bought the stock also for it to help my journey to the depths of this game.

Found my way back to village again, shot some bumpkins, had fun healing Ash back to full health twice. Bloody hell with her. Which left me with one First Aid Spray and RG mixture.

And I do hate Las Plagas a lot, especially when I miss the headshots so often, thanks to that, Farm part went really shitty.

Next merchant sold me First Aid Spray, which makes things bit easier in the future shootout at the small house. But Luis cracking jokes about Ashley's figure is golden. The shootout was pretty hectic, got little triggerhappy with shotgun so lost lots of shells. Oh well, worse ways to end a chapter.

Hit Ratio 73% (Total 73%)
Enemies Killed 63 (Total 211)
Number of times killed 0 (Total 0)

7th save and playtime was around 3:38:51 when I saved. Onto the next one.

Chapter 2-3

Decided to go with El Gigante way, to get rid of few Flash Grenades. Well, few did mean all of the six I had, but atleast I didn't have much trouble with it now.

Also decided not to buy a rifle for the upcoming Gondola-shootout, which ended up being a good call, one shot missed only. Now, the upcoming battle with Mendez could be problematic, me only having 18 shells and 92 bullets at the moment. And only 2 first aid spray, though the place does give few herbs, but I do wonder if I should just cave-in and buy a Rocket Launcher, I do have around 100k pesetas to use. But I'll let you guys decide if I should just bear it or just wimp my way out (planning doing that atleast on two bosses, depending on my situtation). Anyways, good place to take a break so~

8th save and playtime is 4:05:30.

(Also, this is probably the largest post I've ever made, but then what I can do when I happen to manage to write stuff.)

See, if I had remembered that the Red9 existed, I wouldn't have bothered to upgrade the handgun so much.

2-3 and onwards is all new for me. That's scary. At least with 1-1 to 2-2, there was the comfort of knowledge...

Well, atleast you get part of the money you used to upgrade handgun back when you sell it, also. And in my first playthrough I did do lots of upgrading even with handgun, and other stupid stuff, like buying TMP-50 and Broken Butterfly, even when you get one for free >.<.

But now that I'll play and now what to do, I'm pretty much having too much money, haven't much sold the treasures yet, but pretty sure that few upgrades will eat my pesetas fast.

After coming back from Long Island, I had to finish up Chapter 2-3, so let's recap, shall we? To make a long story short, chapter 2-3 deaths > all deaths in chapters 1-1 to 2-2 combined.

So, I begin the chapter and decide to go down the right path. Knowing I was ill-equipped to handle El Gigante, my plan was to run.

Attempt 1: Ashley the Idiot points out the boulder. I shoot it, it hits in the head, but she fails to run, gets snatched up, and is destroyed.

Attempt 2: This time, I try to take on the foe, but am snatched up, and easily destroyed.

Attempt 3: Trying to escape, Ashley gets caught and dies (didn't have the key...)

Attempt 4: Find the key, ESCAPE (YAY!), but noticed a treasure hanging from a bucket. Trying to get it, Ashley gets snatched up, and boom, game over...

Attempt 5: From the escape point, I go back, shoot the bucket with a rifle, get the treasure, and escape! Success and since it was a purple gem, my efforts were rewarded...

However, curiosity got the better of me, so I ran back to the beginning and took the left path.

This path was SO much easier. The major opposition here, the lovely sisters, were taken down easily as the both managed to follow the same path as I went back on the walkway. To make a long story short, no deaths! I immediately thought to myself...why didn't I take this the first time?

So I make it to the Gondola, but for some reason, I can't aim for crap with the rifle and 3 sickles to the head later, both I and Ashley die...

Attempt 2: Someone managed to get on the gondola. We fall to our dooms.

Got passed the gondola, found the catseye treasure, meaning both the Beerstein and Elegant Mask are complete.

Got to the barn...

Attempt 1: I died the first time thanks to some lovely mismanagement of bullets...

Attempt 2: Reload ALL weapons before entering barn. Missed the dodge prompt...DEATH

Attempt 3: Survival! SUCCESS! but I used all my herbs save for my first aid spray...

Go back to the gate, take down the truck, and Ashley proceeds to become a burn victim...I swear...I hate her SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much.

And with that, the chapter ends:

Chapter 2-3 Stats

Hit Ratio: 75%
Enemies Killed: 60
Deaths: 9

Cumulative Stats

Hit Ratio: 75%
Enemies Killed: 279
Deaths: 16

A few questions, as I did what most did and upgraded the case...

1. I have the Red9...worth it to get the Blacktail?
2. Is it worth selling my upgraded shotgun to replace with the Riot Gun?
3. Is the Broken Butterfly worth buying? The fact that is a magnum is pretty tempting...
4. Should I replace my rifle with the semi automatic rifle?

1. Absolutely not, unless you're concerned about inventory space. The Red9 and stock takes up 11 spaces, and the Blacktail is what, 6? Overall it's a weaker gun and is way less badass than the Red9 (which I have become a fervent fan of, btw).
2. Your call. I'd recommend (minor future weapon spoilers ahead) keeping your original shotgun and skipping over the Riot Gun because the weapon after that trumps the Riot Gun in every way possible. You'd save money this way, too. If I were you, I would keep the original shotgun, upgrade it sporadically if you feel that you need more power/capacity, but hold off for the next one.
3. I'd hold off if I were you.
4. Your call, again. The rifle has much more power, but the semi-auto is faster and (I think) can hold more bullets. I like the regular rifle - it makes firefights tense since Leon has to reload after every shot!

Sorry that I haven't posted even though I signed up for the club.  I didn't have much of a chance to play during the week, although I managed to catch up this weekend with a few marathon sessions.  Even on my second playthrough, the set pieces still manage to impress.  I think I actually appreciate RE4 more this time than when I played the story mode last, more than four years ago.

I didn't recall this moment from my first playthrough, but for some reason I felt totally calm when the truck came barreling towards me.  I just pulled out my rifle with scope attachment and sniped the driver.  But then I freaked when I realized that even with the driver dead, the truck was still coming my way.

How are you supposed to take the driver out if you don't have the rifle?  Trying to take him out at a distance with another weapon on the GC or PS2 version of the game would be pretty difficult.

I recommend upgrading to the semi-automatic rifle.  The bolt-action rifle is pretty useless except for long-range targets because of the long time between shots.  The semi-automatic has a high enough firing rate for it to be usable in closer quarters.  I find it particularly useful when those alien-y things burst out of a Ganado's head.  When that happens, it stops trying to evade your shots, so it's pretty easy to get a bead on the "head" with the rifle scope.

Taking him out with the handgun is pretty easy on the Wii you know?

So, we are ready to start Chapter 3 proper, yes?

Chapter 3-1
Naturally, it should go without saying, but like everyone else, I took the time to upgrade to the larger attaché case.  Finally picked up the Semi-Auto Rifle, then stupidly purchased the optional scope for the regular rifle, forgetting it's not compatabile with the Semi.  I too recommend holding off on buying the Riot Gun, since the next one up is pretty much superior in just about every way.  Its exclusive attribute is worth attaining as well, so you really should make it your main "shotty" for future playthroughs.  Myself, I haven't upgraded my Shotgun AT ALL, so enemies can definitely take a beating before going down.  Luckily, I rely more on a balance of the highest upgraded Red9 and the Semi-Auto Rifle.

Damn the catapults.  Still manages to catch me off-guard, especially at the center quad where the cannon is located.   The new enemies that you meet, the cultists..... their voices and their laughter are creepy as f---.  I find the best way to take down the shield-wielding ones is an estimated shot with the sniper Rifle.  Try to imagine where their heads are behind the shields, and you'll break both their protection and their noggins.  Oh, and the cultists' plagas are a lot easier to deal with. These don't lash out, which gives you a bit more distance to take 'em down before they get close enough.  Just don't be standing RIGHT next to them.... if so, it's bye-bye head.

I love Salazar; he is by far the most colorful character in the game.  I remember being blown away at his graphic animation.... specifically the way he wiggles his fingers during his delightfully evil speeches. :)  And how can you not dig his outfit, especially the hat?

Taking on the..... Garrador in the prison room is always a thrill.  The counter-intuitive nature of the fight is what makes it awesome, to..... walk, don't run.  Again, well placed shots from the Rifle to his backside is the way to go.  This one's relatively easy, but wait till you get to some of the close-quarters encounters with this guy.

Ah, the hall of water skirmish.  One of the more gorgeously rendered environments in the game, in my opinion.  It'd be more enjoyable without the swarms of cultists you need to contend with, of course  This one can be tough, since you can't stow Ashley away.  The safest method would likely be to fight your way to the back-most room with the twin standing switches, and funnel them all in there.  You do need to go back out eventually after hitting the twin switches, since I've found the next wave of enemies won't come to you -- you have to go to them. 

Having a sniping rifle is pretty much essential to protecting Ashley while she's on the upper levels - although for those playing the Wii version, a handgun would totally suffice. (We Wii owners have it easy at times, don't we?  ^_^)  On principle, though, I do use the sniper rifle here - the way this section is meant to be played. 

Oh, as I recall, there's a free Rocket Launcher coming up very soon -- in the next chapter, if I'm not mistaken (or perhaps the next), so you'll want to make sure you have room in your attaché case.  Even if you don't plan on using it, you can sell it off immediately for your monies.  But, you can't take it unless you initially have room in the case, so just a heads-up on item management.

Hit Ratio: 79%  (I know, I was playing this chapter under the heavy influence of cold and flu medication.  Being doped up and drowsy does not a steady hand make.)
Enemies Killed: 72
Deaths: 2

I won't lie, I put off playing this for days because 1-1 was the tallest damn mountain I'd seen in ages. So imagine my surprise when I not only started 1-2 off well this evening, but cracked off a 6-hour playsession, which ended just 15 minutes ago, to the end of 2-3. I've got the hang of it now, things'll be just fine. Quick shots now, a more coherent post tomorrow night.

- I've bought and upgraded everything handed to me thus far save the rifle (always been a lousy sniper) and rocket launcher (where the hell would I put it?!), and my MVP so far is the Punisher. One-shots and shot-kick-headshot chains abound (but the first random head-snake made short work of me when I tried grabbing a drop).

- 1-3 boss was awesome, but I didn't know you could avoid obstacles and stay on the boat. I thought those parts were scripted. And just to confirm, Angela, you can swim back in time even near death, as long as you start hammering/wagging when they give you the first-person-view shot of the dinghy.

- My favorite unintended-humor moment? Dropping in behind the Merchant's counter, grabbing rifle shells off his shelf and selling them to him on the spot. Leon's a bold sumbitch.

- El Gigante? Mi Perra, more likeGot him on the first try without needing to heal (well OK, I had to heal afterward, but still, I'm proud of that).

- Outside of one incident (wherein she walked in front of me and got herself grabbed by Gigante), Ashley's been no trouble at all. I wouldn't mind her moving FASTER, mind you, but if I blow it, it has yet to be because of her.

- Cabin fight wasn't as bad (at least on Normal) as some of you made it sound. I died twice, mainly not from covering my flank, but the third time, poking them with the TMP 'til death, went smooth as silk.

- Everytime I picked a villager off the gondola[/white], Ashley pumped her fist. Bloodthirsty little girl.

- I like how the Merchant runs out of health Sprays as soon as you have two. Also if you use one right in front of him he suddenly restocks.

- 2-3 boss was a pill, partly because [color=white]I didn't think I had to blow his legs off before I scampered up the ladder, and he kept yanking me down easily. He went down on the second try, but not before costing me 2 eggs. Jerk.

*whew* OK, bedtime.

There's actually a known method where you can actually use Ashley as a distraction of sorts.  It entails commanding her to 'Wait' for...... El Gigante to grab her, and just before he starts squeezing, you shoot him quick enough for him to drop her.  You should then be able to repeat the process.  Unfortunately, I never could pull off this trick; he always got his squeezes in before I could fire off the proper number of shots.

Ah right, I forgot about that neat little tidbit.  I believe she does the same thing during one other on-rails skirmish later on.

Yeah, it's the game's way of capping you off so you don't abuse the item.  Imagine my surprise when I found you can buy as many health sprays as you'd like in RE5.  It kind of broke the game as a result.

In regards to the first aid spray in RE4...I can only carry one at a time...he is always sold out if I have one in my inventory...bizarre...

Just cleared 3-1 (what's the limit for this week btw?) and I just remember why I hate this damn chapter so much.

SO.

MUCH.

First of all, the rifle becomes an absolute necessity from now on. I tend to save it for boss encounters, but you're going to have to use it on the regular baddies now as well, if you want to stand a chance.
Picking them off from a distance is great fun of course.

The Vega clone posed no problems whatsoever. I tend to prefer the shotgun over the rifle, as the bells on the side give you plenty of room to distract him and attack him from behind. Didn't even scrape me.

I got through the rest of the chapter largely unharmed too, save for two instances where I was hit by one of them flying rocks (thought I had them all cleared out, but there was one guy left, what do you know), and one instance where I thought to outsmart an Illuminados with a stick of dynamite by blowing it out of his hands, but instead outSTUPIDing myself by being WAY too close for comfort.
Ouch. Might as well KNIFE it out of his hands dammit.

Ashley however, died on me THRICE, in that Water Room thingy. I don't care how "gorgeously rendered" it is (that award goes to the Fire Room btw), it's a bloody pain in the arse EVERY SINGLE TIME.
THANKS MS. GRAHAM!
This is probably one of the worst chapters when it comes to having to protect her though.
Doesn't help that there's dozens and dozens of enemies either.
It also doesn't help if your aim is off and you snipe her through the brain.
Felt kinda good though

I also tend to use the same tactic Angie did, that is to run straight to the small room in the back, which should give you some advantage, especially since you can kick the door open to stun them, but some really freaky stuff started happening. For one thing, some Illuminados would suddenly just randomly run OUT of the room for no reason whatsoever.
Much fun was head when I decapitated one guy, only to sprout one of those nasty bugs, upon which it IMMEDIATELY ran out of the room. Random.
Also, and this was less funny, at several points I would suddenly hear Ashley screaming behind me, and find that somehow, out of literally nowhere, an Illuminados had popped into existence and was shuffling towards her.
Seriously, this happened several times, as I was looking at the door CONSTANTLY. nothing could possibly have escaped my vigilance, and then BAM, this guy suddenly pops up from behind.
Does anyone know if the Wii port is more buggy than the other ones?

Pet peeve: Why, every time you have to use a key/key item on a door, does the menu open automatically, with the cursor set to the correct item, only for you to select "use"? What's the point? Why not just use the correct item automatically!? That's what the older games did (in case of keys at least), right?

Stats: Acc 91% (I'm very consistent), 73 kills (total 337), 3 deaths (all Ashley, for a total of 12)

Oh shit, the same exact thing happened to me.  Pretty much had a bead on that room's door at all times, when suddenly one of the cultists with the mace materialized out of nowhere and took a swing at me.  Definitely an odd glitch, which I can only attribute to the really large area and the amount of enemies being loaded into memory at once.  Question: did you happen to activate the twin switches before taking down very many of the first wave of enemies?  I did, and I can only guess that triggering the second wave may have done some sort of weird buffer overflow to the game's programming.  I can't recall if the same thing happened in the GC or PS2 versions, though I believe they still ran out of the door randomly in both versions. 

I think so, but it's not really a big deal.  At least it's all set nicely to default that one can just mash on the confirmation button.  If you want to talk about a related pet peeve, though; a couple of playthroughs I would take the double paths in 2-3.  I would beat El Gigante, and then head back to the Camp area to take on the mob -- but I never actually opened the El Gigante door to that path's exit.  As a result, I had the Old Key in my possession for the entire game, which wouldn't allow me to just automatically press through the confirmation button for future key doors anymore.  A minor irritant more than anything else, but I now make a conscious to use that Old Key to unlock the door, and THEN head back to the Camp.

Dang Razakin!  Way to do a marathon play!

I figured since we're all on Ch. 3 now, no need for spoilers up to this point.

Finished 2-3 and El Gigante has become my bane.  Couldn't take him our for anything, but apparently you're not supposed to?  Herrkotowski just escaped... my gut prohibits me from doing anything else. :-(  Yeah, Ashley was pretty much annoying on the right path.  At one point I shot the boulder down, but El Gigante was in the process of picking up Ashley and it did nothing to him.  Another time I tossed a grenade and accidentally killed Ashley.  AARRRGH.  After about 3 or 4 deaths I reloaded and went with the left path.

Those chainsaw sisters took me down about 6 or 7 times but overall it was more fun to play.  Still creepy to hear that chainsaw rev up in the background and not know where it's coming from!!

The gondola was decent, as the wii really does make for pinpoint accuracy. 

The boss fight was EPIC!!  So on the wii, you're prompted to waggle the remote to escape his grasp when he's reaching at you.  I did this the first two times just fine (while dying fightin the scorpion/monster/beard later).  The third time it prompted me to push A/B which I totally wasn't prepared for!  Needless to say I died.   A few flash grenades and some shotgun blasts straight to the spinal column did it for me. 

Ashley's voice sounds really familiar.  Like she was from a cartoon or something.  Anyone?

I'm 4:33 in and in the castle.  The game has gotten quite fun.  Is the next part one of the best in the game?

Likewise. Makes things interesting! Although, I have a method for getting the most bang for my buck with my un-upgraded Shotgun - run toward a Ganado so he attacks you, then walk backwards so his lunge misses. Then while he is recovering from his animation run up, aim your Shotgun right at his mouth (Leon's character model should be practically touching the Ganado's at this point) and pull the trigger. This gets a headshot about 75% of the time! It takes some skill, but it's better than pumping 4-5 shells into each enemy.

That's not true on Professional. I hit the switches and then hung in the room. Not only did the Ganados come in through the door, but a handful also dropped down from the ceiling. Some carefully placed Red9 shots, knife stabs and the occasional shotgun shell made quick work of these dudes, though.

3-1: Now here is where things ramp up a bit. After an hour or two in the Castle, the Village area will seem like a cakewalk! Where you'd have a lot of room to evade Ganados out in the open, some of the Castle areas are more confined and force you to think a little differently. This was definitely an experience for me, considering that my usual way to beat this area is to simply run around and shoot everything that doesn't have a huge rack stuffed in an ugly J. Crew sweater.

The catapult area was a piece of cake, although I did restart once because of poor positioning. I made my way through and picked dudes off one by one, although when I made it to the top level I had Ashley wait right near the open window in that little hut... which was about an inch away from the masked Ganado's scythe. She didn't die, but she took major damage and that was enough for me to restart the area. I made quick work of the Gold/Platinum Sword room - so fast that I didn't even spawn the red-robed Ganado at the base of the stairs! No issues with any of the next areas, although I mostly used my Red9 on the Garrador since I have a ton of ammo for it (thankfully).

The Cold Water area was... interesting. I did not die at all, but I found out something that made it ridiculously easy, especially the beginning part. I went in to start fighting dudes and made my way around the right side of the right pool. I took out a couple of the Ganados using the Shotgun-to-the-mouth method I just outlined, but a bunch of them were gaining on me. I panicked and ran out of the room to gather myself and reload, expecting to have to fight everyone again and get some practice so I could get my rhythm down and restart so I could beat the room proper. Although, when I went back in... everyone I killed was gone and the Ganados' positions had reset. You better believe I exploited the hell out of this! I'd take down a Ganado or two, then run back out (causing the area to re-load), gather myself, reload all my guns, and then go back in for another bout. I did this until I had to hit the two switches in the basement, and then I just hung out in that room and took down the next wave of dudes as previously mentioned.

The sniping part in the main hall is one of my favorite parts of the game (due to the many, many headshots you can get), but I took a more conservative angle this time. I sniped the first guy near Ashley at the beginning of the segment, then kept my rifle pointed toward the main door (back down the stairs) so I could take out any Ganados that would infringe on my position since I got WRECKED the first time I attempted this. I would only snipe the Ganados on the top floor if Ashley called out while covering my own ass. This served two purposes: first, I saved ammo by not popping every Ganado's dome that walked out (I only took out three or four guys up top), and secondly, it seemed that less enemies came to attack Leon if I kept my sights toward the door - I'm willing to bet that less dudes spawn if you keep a hawkeye on that back area since the camera is focused there. I was really nervous about this part of the game, but thanks to the little nuances/glitches I picked up on it was much easier than I expected.

After that, I made my way to the Shooting Range and let off some steam for a while and collected all six bottlecaps that were available, as well as a whopping 15k! I recommend that everyone (especially first timers who need the cash) take the time to get all the prizes available at the Range. It can get a little tedious at times (TMP with no stock = worst shit ever), but it's totally, totally worth the detour.

I was thinking now that most people are getting to or are already at the Castle, maybe we should space out the chapters to one every couple of days or so once everyone gets to the general 4-1 area. What does everyone else think about that ? If I recall correctly, the chapters get longer and more intricate from that point on, and the extra time may give people more of a chance to relax and enjoy the game instead of feeling like they need to play through quickly just to keep up. I know I will be in that group - I need some time to really plan these routes out (and enjoy my personal life!).