What it is then if not reivention of the wheel? I mean it's not the same as reinvention of the genre, but it's different enough from all other games in similar genre etc. Changing something in the tried and true formula of any genre is to reinvent/change something about it to make it feel fresh., which is exactly what SDS did in TCP.
But it's not a survival horror game, there's barely any traditional survival horror elements in the game and it's at no point scary at all imho. It's far more like an action space thriller the main focus of which is to built as much tension as possible and put you in stressful situations, which again - not scary. Also, you blast through everything by shooting and killing lots of enemies at close range using melee or from a far. There is horror elements in the game, but they're used in so very select and few instances to show you something, that it feels like they're barely there and not the main focus of the game. Also, when you have to knife the same enemy that looks like a head with a long neck like dozens of times, it's not scary, it's annoying and boring.
I mean, even backtracking to previous areas to take something from the ground or a box is at no point risk for you in any way, unlike in true RE games (for example) or Signalis where you have to deal with enemies and you literally don't have many resources for that if any at all. In TCP you just kill everything (which is not hard) and them free to roam around and not worry about anything or anyone to try and stop you. And yeah, there's no way do deal with multiple enemies - try and kill dozens of enemies on a moving platform without using GRP (which is the best and at the same time the most boring thing you can do here), you'll be killed in like 10-20 sec. There's no force puch attack which you clearly see being used by Ferris when you first encounter him, it could've helped you to stun multiple enemies and give you some time to breath and kill a few of them, there no AOE attack of any kind to clear an area around you to prevent being surrounded, all you can do is with the GRP is grab and throw and it sucks., cuz GRP had a lot more potential which is simply not being used or no one thought about it.
Repetitive? Yeah, it sure is, but that's not my problem with it tbh cuz combat loop even as it is now in the game is pretty cool and satisfying. The main problem with the combat is that it is in no way as interesting as what Dead Space has, even considering that Dead Space didn't had melee combat. You can easily bast limbs like you did in Dead Space, so it much harder to slow enemoes down and put them in a weaker state which could give you some tactical advantage. Combat in TCP has potential to be something better, but it wasn't fully realized and it might not be at all cuz sequel is not a given. What's repetitive, boring and awful though, is 4 exact same boss fights (if you can even call them that) cuz you deal with them in pretty much exact same way as with regular enemies with just one difference - you can't kill them using melee attacks and one boss requires you to destroy the shield.
Oh my, you think I had problems with the combat and that's why I complain about it? No, that's not true, melee combat is easy to understand, not difficult at all and pretty simple... way too simple and very limited, if I'm being honest, that's what I don't like about it - all you have to do is hold left stick left or right, read enemies well and that's it. I understood how it all works right from the start and it's not rocket science.
