>>126961
I played BoF 3 and 4 nigger.
BoF 3 was a fun romp with uneven tone, but great spritework and fine characters with personality. Trainers were OK but the system was aids to engage in for anyone but number-crunchers. Plot was neat but bit on the standart side besides some characters being great.
BoF 4 had amazing spritework when it tried, but it instead traded it on occasion for relatively unimpressive 3D models and the Dragon system was dumbed down to shit. Story and tone were major improvements however. It's cast was both and wasn't tighter than 3, if only for the final party member and the samurai dog guy.
Fou-Lu did nothing wrong. Besides some shit being unexplained the plot and the relevant characters are great.
BoF5 was the team wanting to make something new and succeeding on nearly on all fronts by making one of the tightest and most focused experiences that rewards paying attention, analyzing of maps and risk management. Limited resources complement the cramped and closed down setting and is the most atmospheric of the whole lot for it. It's a bit too linear even for me, but that is it's design so that the new routes can be gone through easily.
>>126967
>D Meter
If I had to choose over the more generic application of dragon forms from 4 or this I'd pick it easily. It ties narrative well together with gameplay by giving you urgency and putting you in the same temptation to use it.
The Dragon form is a game changer that has to be treated with respect and the game is difficult enough to make the Dragon form and rush something you can pop to get out of a bind conserve D-meter overall.
>SOL memory
The optional cutscenes aren't actually important for the plot, but if you enjoyed the game enough to revisit and learn it you're given a lot more insight to characters, their motivations and plans. With that intent in mind I appreciate it.
They are understandable reasons for you to dislike it, but it's not a bad game for it. It's a breed of its own in comparison to the rest of BoF, because it was not trying to be besides some of the vaguest story elements that tie the series together.
However that RE comparison is apt, at least with REmake and RE3 taken into account and that's not a comparison I have heard before.
>>126970
Only complaint I had for XB2 was the voice direction being crap until the very last moment, at least for the main game. The stand-DLC was much better on that front, along with being a better game overall.