There was no drama bullshit in Dead Space 1 at all. Isaac didn't even talk in Dead Space 1, jackass. It's not even remotely comparable to the nonsense love triangle garbage that happened in Dead Space 3. Dead Space 3's story and dialogue is some of the most atrocious shit I've ever sat through and that's including all the terrible Japanese games I've played.
I won't say the dialogue is great or anything - but the basis of it was not any more pointless than his dialogue in two. And the basis of his obsession over the women he loves being a common thread between all three.
He went batshit because of Nicole (and all the backstory/hallucinations only reinforce it - even when he's not talking to her [Hint: Storywise that's internal dialogue, since she doesn't exist])
I will agree them segregating it to just Carver was bad mojo - and I would've liked to see more of it - but how in the progression of the game after Isaac literally fought the marker out of his mind would it make sense for him to be batshit but playable - either he'd have to be a) relegated to NPC status because he'd be SOOOOO fucked up or b) pretty much hunky-dory like he was in DS3. The minute I saw Isaac was going to continue as the lead character, I knew he was going to have his shit together this time, that's basic characterization.
As for the pacing being "bad" honestly being that I just replatted the first two in the weeks leading up to DS3, the pacing doesn't feel any different to me besides the initial long stretch before there's some bosses - and never, even in my first playthrough of 1 and 2 did I ever get a jump or scare - and only a few "holy crap what the hell is going on here" moments, which DS3 did have a few of. (Like the desperation involved in eating the necromorphs to create the one new variant, and the logs about Serrano getting his idea blackballed when it was valid)
I'd personally say the first two were "Generic Action Sci-Fi Kill Fests" for the most part as well - with a better than average mythos dreamed up for the backdrop, they never felt survival horror to me - even playing through DS2 on Hardcore. (Which starting on DS3 hardcore and hearing about the backup options and Co-Op nonsense with them - I will say that's disappointingly tamed down, but based on PSNProfiles.com only 8.5% beat Hardcore for DS2, so I can't imagine that's a huge draw for people to bother with - and that would mind it being easier)
And Classic Mode changes a bunch - kills coop, changes the weapon choices to entirely DS2 models (besides the early buyer free DLC stuff - which I've been avoiding because IMO they're too good and not "Classic") some of which have alt modes not normally available, and most importantly IMO changes the targeting to be the old slightly askew version.
But hell, for it being a "Survival Horror" series in the first place - Dark Souls made me jump more often than the first two. And I'm someone who jumps five feet when the wife taps me on the shoulder unexpectedly.
[PS - I'd personally give it 8/10 or so - it's the best new game I've played in a while, but by no stretch is it an all-star [9's for DS1/DS2 in comparison - yes, it backslid - but it's not trash] - just the best game after a sea of mediocrity for months (Although to be fair, not started playing Ni No Kuni which is sitting waiting for me to finish platting DS3 - I do expect that to bump it from goofing with the demo feels 8.5-9/10 from the demo)]
Wanting a Survival Horror experience from a Survival Horror Series instead of a Generic Action ShooterKill Festis having my expectations too high? Fuck you.
And again, as stated just keeping your quote to reinforce it - I didn't consider it a horror series personally - just like I never considered Alien/Aliens or Event Horizon to be horror either. Sci Fi/Horror often drifts for large swathes into Sci Fi mode over Horror mode to the point where Horror is basically nonexistant. (Really, I've seen a breakdown of "Horror" for Alien being something like 5% of the film length in one critical analysis - to be surprised that a game in the Sci-Fi/Horror genre has few horror moments [or none in all 3 as I'd say] isn't shocking)
Don't get me wrong, I think striving for a return to RE1-2 type Survival Horror days is admirable, but the closest I've seen anything come in years - Dead Space 1-2 included - was the RE: Revelations on 3DS.
PSS - I do think the Co-op should've been avoided completely, I would've preferred seeing the Co-op elements been included as mandatory character switches between. I really do not like the Co-op element, it feels tedious in some parts and trivializing in others.
PSSS - Additionally, I do think part of my enjoyment has come from intentionally not doing overpowered stuff (i.e. heavy splash weapons w/ splash guard and shotguns) for my weapons on the bench - I did, for coop (at a partner's "demand") switch to those and really did not play very "fun" or "tactically" since I could just belly shot everything rather than trying to remove limbs - in my single player however which is 99% of how I've been playing it since trophying the co-op stuff however I stick to weapons that require dissection for ideal kill rates.
PSSSS - Maybe 7-7.5/10 would be more accurate looking at some of my additional criticisms - still best in a while game wise - probably since AC3 would be more accurate though. There was a dry spell before AC3 however.
