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Surprise! Resident Evil: Revelations 2 is going to be a weekly episodic mystery

Resident Evil: Revelations 2

I was extremely excited when Capcom announced Resident Evil: Revelations 2, the sequel to the best Resident Evil game since the fourth one. It really is. It’s great. And it’s even – amazingly – brilliant on the 3DS, though the PC version is the one you should really play. But the publisher has now released a launch schedule and pricing model that has replaced the initial excitement with just a wee bit of confusion.

Resident Evil: Revelations 2 will be an episodic game, split into four parts across a single month. And it will cost you more to buy them all together. What. 

First off, we’ve got the decision to make the game episodic over the space of a month, which is a surprise, but not necessarily a bad one. Typically, episodic games exist because each episode funds the development of the next. That’s what we saw with Broken Age and Broken Sword, though maybe it’s a theme restricted to games with “Broken” in the title.

I think it’s safe to assume, though, that each episode of Resident Evil: Revelations 2 won’t take a week to make. However, it looks like Capcom is making Revelations 2 a mystery, so the week between releases could be used to increase tension and to get people swapping theories. Its a lot more like a TV show, which is what episodic games have been trying – and often failing – to ape for years now.

What makes less sense, though, is the pricing model. Each episode will cost a reasonable $5.99. But like most episodic games, you’ll be able to buy them all together in a season pass. Here’s where it gets properly confusing: the season pass will cost $24.99. If you’re struggling with the sums, $24.99 is not $5.99 x 4. It will actually be more expensive to buy the season pass.

There will be bonus content if you buy the season pass or the even more expensive physical version, but that just creates more disparity with three different pricing models. And Capcom hasn’t explained what that bonus content will actually be.

Nothing is ever simple. But the difference is only a dollar, which is unlikely to strain the old wallet.