Review Updated:
Warning: Capcom is adding unfamiliar DRM to their back catalogue of games. This corp has repeatedly shown their stance towards mods in their games as well and seem to be taking action. I would caution you against purchasing any capcom product that contains this DRM as it’s unfamiliar, and untrustworthy. For now, if you really want this game, or any capcom game, I would stress that you watch and observe to see what happens in the near-ish future.
Please note that there is a lot of misinfo circulating about with regards to this situation. Please do your due diligence and research everything and even fact check myself before making a final judgement. I am doing the best I can to sift through the false info and properly inform myself and will update this review accordingly.
DRM is not always a bad thing, if used correctly, it protects initial sales. Then good publishers will remove it later on allowing for better experiences. I am upset when DRM harms performance, which it often does (like Jedi Survivor). I find that inexcusable, poor performance that screws over the paying customer should always be frowned upon. Recently, denuvo was removed from RE8, which is good. But, when it was first added the game suffered many problems which modders had to remedy until its removal. Enigma seems to be capcom’s replacement for denuvo.
Earlier this month, RE Rev was updated and performance was harmed. Shortly after, capcom reversed the update. This is concerning because REV was released almost 11 years ago and the game’s already been cracked (both the pc and 3ds version), as with most older games. This update to add DRM to an old game is incredibly fishy, especially with how it came with no announcement from the publishers themselves. Almost as if somebody was trying to hide it.
Denuvo a very good DRM, since there’s few who know how to crack it, even then it’s tough. Denuvo itself costs ~$5,000 per month for the license, ~$60,000 a year. A game’s sales can’t keep up with the fee forever, and the DRM has to be removed/replaced to salvage income.
Enigma is $59,920 cheaper. It costs about $400 for initial purchase, and $80 annually for upkeep. Enigma was checked with a virus scanner, and got 34 positive flags, ~%50 of what Virus Total checks for. Scanners can have false positives. The REV .exe will show 1 positive flag (at least for me). This one is easily written off as a false positive. Generally low single digits are fine. When you are getting into double digits, there’s problem. The dev for Enigma has been purported to have a fake address in the US, and the domain name’s been alleged to be bought through a Moscow front (fact check me). This DRM is incredibly sneaky, and according to others, is capable of quietly worming its way through your PC. These factors, even if partially false, are concerning, keep this away from your pc.
On October 25 of 2023, there was a capcom R&D presentation.
“RE:2023 Anti-cheat and Anti-Piracy Measures in PC Games Recommendations for In-House Production”
14:00 – 16:00 ish. The pres states that all mods, unless officially supported, are no different than cheating. Yes, with regards to DRM, all foreign code is considered tampering. But, they go further, and say that mods tarnish the product’s (and corp’s) image as they may be mistaken for legitimate parts of said product. Earlier last July, a tournament competitor in a SF6 match forgot to disable his Chun-Li n*de mod. This is likely what capcom is referencing. But, they’ve taken things further.
Capcom is no newb to “nuking” youtube creators’ channels. They’ve removed content and channels for discussing info that the corp themselves leaked. Capcom has taken action against MH creators, most notably speedrunners. This was because their videos featured mods, some as harmless as to simply aid with running or slightly modify the experience (skins/costumes/fov). Capcom has tried to take down modders’ work as well. Yes, these modders were making n*de mods, but never the less they came after a modder, who’s to stop them from taking things further and coming for everyone else?
Considering the corp’s past and recent actions and statements, it’s safe to say that they are/will be coming after modders. People like to add that Enigma was added to RE5 last year and that no one has had any problems. Even so, ghost updates are sketchy, since there’s no point in copy protecting a long-cracked game. For now, I advise customers to watch, listen, and wait to see what the corp does. We can choose to make it apparent to them that mods are an inevitable factor of PC gaming. I know where my stance is, if I can’t make Chris into tofu, then I’ll happily take my money elsewhere.
Thank you if you read this far, I’d be happy if you had any info (legit that is) or comments you’d like to share.
Warning: Pseudo-rant ahead
I have one more speculation (not an allegation or accusation, simply a theory coming straight outa my rear end). I think that modders are beginning to pose a business threat to companies like capcom.
This corp is known to have a lot of stinker dlcs.
Example:
REV has dlc, 2 fun characters, and 4 more that suck. There’s 2 shoddy weapon reskins and 2 parts packs that boost damage. All of these things are already in the purchased game. This leads to my theory, capcom is scared of modders. We can simply repaint the base G18 and make it look like jessica’s, and have a better gun too. The same goes for parker’s gun dlc. Whip out CE and give yourself the gun parts. For one customer, the corp has lost out of possibly $4. Apply that to a large portion of the consumer base, even more money lost out.
Another, Street Fighter 6. Its dlc has one year character pass costs $30. You get 4 characters..and character colors. Not outfits, colors; and in game currency…which you can earn for free. The same goes for the $50 ultimate dlc, it just adds 2 backgrounds (stages) and some costume colors with a little extra in game currency. You can get so much more for this amount, just look at the steam reviews.
We also see modders making far better outfits for free. The recent Yor update was bad too, just a worthless reskin. So, modders will fix it and make it look better. Both of these scenarios DO harm the their image, it just shows that some dudes in blender can do so much better than a multi-billion dollar corp.
Their claims about “public order”, I believe, are total bs. I believe this corp recognizes that it churns out dumpster fire (ignoring the rare cases like Separate Ways, which is only $10) and are too afraid to admit that they want money. At least EA is obvious abt it.
The same goes for so many other capcom dlcs.
I love these games, I am a big fan of RE, DD, MH and more. Yes, your writers often suck, but I still love the stories in these games. I love to play them, I have so many happy memories of these wonderful little gems from my childhood. I WANT to support the talented, skillful, and passionate people behind these pieces of digital-art. No not the suits, I mean the programmers, artists, musicians, voice actors, mocap dudes, sound guys etc. But, unfortunately, these people work for a corp who is rapidly growing greedier, and at a scary pace. Soon, they’ll be just another EA, a money vacuum that cares about microtransactions more than making a great experience that keeps people comin back to that game and for more in the future.
Whoever is currently in charge (in my opinion) is out of touch with what customers actually want and will support. I have blacklisted this corp from my steam page, and it will be sometime, if ever, I consider purchasing their products ever again given their recent statements, actions, practices, and routine behavior.
End of Review.
Btw capcom employee who reads this, this is all one ginormous opinion, not an allegation or accusation, just a giant word vomit from my unintelligent ignoramus brain.