in an era defined by the demand for remasters, remakes, updates of successful works, it'd be easy to insist you leave this one to the gamefreaks and just play the impeccable REmake instead
but you'd miss out. this game has an utterly unique look and feel -- rooms lit strangely and painted in sickly yellows, browns and greens, as if the house itself has gone rotten. rooms in REmake look like, well, rooms -- incredibly lit, atmospheric rooms. rooms in resident evil don't look like any room you've ever been in outside of a dream. the zombies shuffle and pivot jerkily and make funny noises, but that doesn't stop a lucky pair from stun-locking you to an instant death if you underestimate them. the music shifts between mocking you and terrifying you, because the fact that something's a bit camp wouldn't stop it from eating you alive
the first zombie scene hits hard in this game due to inconsistent details. the zombie's face looks more like just some old guy than a monster. the half-chewed head is so strangely clean, as if willing flesh was merely sucked from it, not chewed. go watch the FMV again, look at how oddly out-of-scale the zombie is compared to the tea room. guy looks like he'd be about 9 feet tall
absolutely play resident evil. the non-dual-shock director's cut has some cool features for returning players, but the original is just fine too.
but you'd miss out. this game has an utterly unique look and feel -- rooms lit strangely and painted in sickly yellows, browns and greens, as if the house itself has gone rotten. rooms in REmake look like, well, rooms -- incredibly lit, atmospheric rooms. rooms in resident evil don't look like any room you've ever been in outside of a dream. the zombies shuffle and pivot jerkily and make funny noises, but that doesn't stop a lucky pair from stun-locking you to an instant death if you underestimate them. the music shifts between mocking you and terrifying you, because the fact that something's a bit camp wouldn't stop it from eating you alive
the first zombie scene hits hard in this game due to inconsistent details. the zombie's face looks more like just some old guy than a monster. the half-chewed head is so strangely clean, as if willing flesh was merely sucked from it, not chewed. go watch the FMV again, look at how oddly out-of-scale the zombie is compared to the tea room. guy looks like he'd be about 9 feet tall
absolutely play resident evil. the non-dual-shock director's cut has some cool features for returning players, but the original is just fine too.
Yes Barry, push random buttons on the computer connected to the bioweapon directly next to it. I'm sure that'll go great.
Resident Evil for the Playstation. While it defined an era of horror, not just in gaming but within media as a whole, it just doesn't really hold up. Between the graphics, the voice acting, and those awful tank controls, it just doesn't really hold up in the modern d - hahaHAHA just kidding, it's always been great and always will be. All of these things and more arguably do more to add to the experience, rather than take away.
The idea of survival horror wasn't really a thing at this point - hell, it was Resi here that coined the term itself to begin with. If you've seen or played Capcom's earlier Famicom game "Sweet Home", you can see some of the foundations that formed mechanics within Resi, itself originally intended as a remake of that game. Limited inventory slots, multiple playable characters with differing abilities, albeit both downplayed somewhat compared to their spiritual predecessor. I've always hated the sound of limited inventory and save items, but in practice, it's ingenious in how it establishes difficulty in this way.
For reference, I played this game through the Director's Cut, but specifically on the original mode - from what I'm aware of, this is the unchanged Japanese difficulty from the original release. The American version of the original censored certain things, as well as additional restrictions such as no auto-aim, which is probably the sole reason I hear so much complaint about the tank controls. I played both Chris and Jill's scenarios - Jill's first, as she's intended as the easy mode, but I also played on Director's Cut's own easy mode because I wasn't sold on the gameplay loop yet. Needless to say, Chris' scenario was played on Original. I'll review Director's Cut separately whenever I play the Arrange mode that it introduced.
Probably the most infamous thing about Resident Evil is the story - specifically the embarrassing voice acting and corny lines. Funnily enough, the game was to have a full Japanese dub, but the director found the performances inadequate, and figured the English ones were much better despite not understanding how they sound to native speakers. I feel like I've heard this argument before...but anyways. As silly as the lines are, it's hard to claim that they do anything but enrich the experience. I'd probably have been bored to death by the cutscenes if they were played completely straight with professional VAs, but the bad line reads give it something to remember it by. The story itself isn't necessarily bad by any means, and the way exposition is cleverly distributed via diary entries and logs found in the places you'd expect to realistically find them is a great touch. Every now and then though, a cutscene gets just a little bit too talky - moreso near the end. The live action FMVs, as few as they are, are also a treat to behold. Solid production values, particularly for a game of this era. What's lost in the cheesiness is made up for in some of the really gruesome gore.
As for the gameplay - it's fantastic. Armed with little more than a handgun, you're in a mansion full of zombies. Ammo is scarce, though not if you're good at looting and managing your inventory. You'll probably be able to find enough ammo to kill every zombie you need to, but not right away. Fortunately, zombies will tend to face the walls for a second or two while they pursue you, giving you the window you need to hold forward and dart past. The tank controls are a necessary thing here - the game uses pre-rendered backgrounds, which look fantastic, then renders the models over them almost seamlessly. Due to this, fixed camera angles are used. It can get disorientating if the angle changes at a pivotal moment, but it's rarely a game-ender. If you had traditional free movement, it would get very hard to keep control of your character as the definition of "forwards" is constantly changing.
It's also pretty damn easy to manoeuvre once you get the hang of how to "steer" with the D-pad. And because auto-aim is actually present in Director's Cut/the original Japanese version, all you need to do to shoot at an enemy is to hold ready, and blast. While you can aim your weapon up and down, I found there very little reason to do either. Supposedly aiming up at super-close range makes it easier to score an all-important headshot, but it'll typically just cause you to miss - unless your opponent is on the ceiling.
Getting grabbed by a zombie is usually cue to mash all the buttons to minimise damage, and there are plenty of healing items to find around. Some items will be important to get extra resources, or progress the plot. Of course, this is where limited inventory comes in, and it's fantastic at raising the tension. Do you bring the extra ammo, or use that slot for a healing item? Do you keep a spare slot open in case you find something important? Maybe you should leave that ammo there for now just in case...maybe you should bring this key item in case it's useful up ahead? Shit! Wrong key item! It adds this layer of strategy to the game that leaves you heading back to the item box - which mysteriously lets you access the same pool of stored items from each box, but hey I'm not complaining. If you need an item that you left in storage, you'll need to plot your path to the nearest Safe Room to grab it - and assuming you didn't take out every zombie on the way, that's another risky attempt you'll have to make at dodging them. Backtracking can still get a little tedious, but at least here it adds to a loop of tension.
I do still have some issues with the gameplay, though. Certain enemy types are just a little bit difficult to deal with, especially in larger numbers. It's one thing to have to weave among shambling undeads, but when things get faster - well, you obviously don't, so it becomes a case of "stand your ground and don't run out of ammo". This extends further to the boss encounters within the game, which I personally don't think entirely compliment the game design that it establishes. There are a fair few exceptions, but certain boss fights follow the Doom tradition of "shoot it until it dies" and while that's certainly possible, it doesn't feel especially right with the limited movement of your character. I much prefer the boss encounters that rely on you being able to utilise environmental elements to succeed, rather than just brute force, and there are a couple that are like this. Still, I'm hoping the sequel is better in that regard.
I've touched on the pre-rendered backgrounds, but the graphics in general are great. For one, I played this at the native resolution, as PS1 polygons simply don't look as good at higher resolutions. It creates a better effect when the details are more pixelated, and your brain sort of automatically fills in the detail itself. There's a surprising amount of work put into the blood and gore, such as dismemberment and the way playermodels bloody when killed. Beyond that, though, the janky animations also lend this uncanny feeling to the atmosphere already generated by the gameplay, and the sharp musical score. It's a great soundtrack, and it pains me that the Dualshock version exists as a substitute.
I didn't expect to like Resident Evil as a franchise, but just like that, the original game has immediately sold me on the series. It's goofy, it's primitive, and takes some learning to play by its rules, but the original game is still a fun and rewarding experience that I'm glad caught on the way it did.
Resident Evil for the Playstation. While it defined an era of horror, not just in gaming but within media as a whole, it just doesn't really hold up. Between the graphics, the voice acting, and those awful tank controls, it just doesn't really hold up in the modern d - hahaHAHA just kidding, it's always been great and always will be. All of these things and more arguably do more to add to the experience, rather than take away.
The idea of survival horror wasn't really a thing at this point - hell, it was Resi here that coined the term itself to begin with. If you've seen or played Capcom's earlier Famicom game "Sweet Home", you can see some of the foundations that formed mechanics within Resi, itself originally intended as a remake of that game. Limited inventory slots, multiple playable characters with differing abilities, albeit both downplayed somewhat compared to their spiritual predecessor. I've always hated the sound of limited inventory and save items, but in practice, it's ingenious in how it establishes difficulty in this way.
For reference, I played this game through the Director's Cut, but specifically on the original mode - from what I'm aware of, this is the unchanged Japanese difficulty from the original release. The American version of the original censored certain things, as well as additional restrictions such as no auto-aim, which is probably the sole reason I hear so much complaint about the tank controls. I played both Chris and Jill's scenarios - Jill's first, as she's intended as the easy mode, but I also played on Director's Cut's own easy mode because I wasn't sold on the gameplay loop yet. Needless to say, Chris' scenario was played on Original. I'll review Director's Cut separately whenever I play the Arrange mode that it introduced.
Probably the most infamous thing about Resident Evil is the story - specifically the embarrassing voice acting and corny lines. Funnily enough, the game was to have a full Japanese dub, but the director found the performances inadequate, and figured the English ones were much better despite not understanding how they sound to native speakers. I feel like I've heard this argument before...but anyways. As silly as the lines are, it's hard to claim that they do anything but enrich the experience. I'd probably have been bored to death by the cutscenes if they were played completely straight with professional VAs, but the bad line reads give it something to remember it by. The story itself isn't necessarily bad by any means, and the way exposition is cleverly distributed via diary entries and logs found in the places you'd expect to realistically find them is a great touch. Every now and then though, a cutscene gets just a little bit too talky - moreso near the end. The live action FMVs, as few as they are, are also a treat to behold. Solid production values, particularly for a game of this era. What's lost in the cheesiness is made up for in some of the really gruesome gore.
As for the gameplay - it's fantastic. Armed with little more than a handgun, you're in a mansion full of zombies. Ammo is scarce, though not if you're good at looting and managing your inventory. You'll probably be able to find enough ammo to kill every zombie you need to, but not right away. Fortunately, zombies will tend to face the walls for a second or two while they pursue you, giving you the window you need to hold forward and dart past. The tank controls are a necessary thing here - the game uses pre-rendered backgrounds, which look fantastic, then renders the models over them almost seamlessly. Due to this, fixed camera angles are used. It can get disorientating if the angle changes at a pivotal moment, but it's rarely a game-ender. If you had traditional free movement, it would get very hard to keep control of your character as the definition of "forwards" is constantly changing.
It's also pretty damn easy to manoeuvre once you get the hang of how to "steer" with the D-pad. And because auto-aim is actually present in Director's Cut/the original Japanese version, all you need to do to shoot at an enemy is to hold ready, and blast. While you can aim your weapon up and down, I found there very little reason to do either. Supposedly aiming up at super-close range makes it easier to score an all-important headshot, but it'll typically just cause you to miss - unless your opponent is on the ceiling.
Getting grabbed by a zombie is usually cue to mash all the buttons to minimise damage, and there are plenty of healing items to find around. Some items will be important to get extra resources, or progress the plot. Of course, this is where limited inventory comes in, and it's fantastic at raising the tension. Do you bring the extra ammo, or use that slot for a healing item? Do you keep a spare slot open in case you find something important? Maybe you should leave that ammo there for now just in case...maybe you should bring this key item in case it's useful up ahead? Shit! Wrong key item! It adds this layer of strategy to the game that leaves you heading back to the item box - which mysteriously lets you access the same pool of stored items from each box, but hey I'm not complaining. If you need an item that you left in storage, you'll need to plot your path to the nearest Safe Room to grab it - and assuming you didn't take out every zombie on the way, that's another risky attempt you'll have to make at dodging them. Backtracking can still get a little tedious, but at least here it adds to a loop of tension.
I do still have some issues with the gameplay, though. Certain enemy types are just a little bit difficult to deal with, especially in larger numbers. It's one thing to have to weave among shambling undeads, but when things get faster - well, you obviously don't, so it becomes a case of "stand your ground and don't run out of ammo". This extends further to the boss encounters within the game, which I personally don't think entirely compliment the game design that it establishes. There are a fair few exceptions, but certain boss fights follow the Doom tradition of "shoot it until it dies" and while that's certainly possible, it doesn't feel especially right with the limited movement of your character. I much prefer the boss encounters that rely on you being able to utilise environmental elements to succeed, rather than just brute force, and there are a couple that are like this. Still, I'm hoping the sequel is better in that regard.
I've touched on the pre-rendered backgrounds, but the graphics in general are great. For one, I played this at the native resolution, as PS1 polygons simply don't look as good at higher resolutions. It creates a better effect when the details are more pixelated, and your brain sort of automatically fills in the detail itself. There's a surprising amount of work put into the blood and gore, such as dismemberment and the way playermodels bloody when killed. Beyond that, though, the janky animations also lend this uncanny feeling to the atmosphere already generated by the gameplay, and the sharp musical score. It's a great soundtrack, and it pains me that the Dualshock version exists as a substitute.
I didn't expect to like Resident Evil as a franchise, but just like that, the original game has immediately sold me on the series. It's goofy, it's primitive, and takes some learning to play by its rules, but the original game is still a fun and rewarding experience that I'm glad caught on the way it did.
This game served its purpose at the time and revolutionized not only the survival horror genre but video games as a whole. That being said, it hasn't aged well in some areas (voice acting and soundtrack are awful lol) and the remake outclasses it in every aspect; so this game is really only worth playing for the novelty. However, today it's a decent game to playthrough.
One of the games on my brother’s Playstation classic, so I gave it a shot. Limited ammo, limited saves, limited inventory (which doesn’t differentiate between key items and otherwise), your first playthrough is a complete guessing game and if you make even one wrong decision, forget an item, use all your ammo, save too many times, the game will just say “oh well, sucks to suck” and you’ll have to start a new game, which is exactly what happened to me, I was too zealous with my ink ribbons and couldn’t save anymore, so I said “fuck this game” and watched a playthrough of the rest. It’s one of the most ruthlessly unforgiving games I’ve ever played. It’s incredibly shitty and dated in a lot of aspects, but it’s also really clever and unique and makes for a whole lot more fear and suspense than in pretty much any modern horror game. The atmosphere really sticks out to me as well, the layout and colour palate is very unorthodox and deliberate, it reminds me a bit of the Overlook hotel in the movie The Shining.
There’s also the writing and the voice acting, which is the best Neil Breen movie never made.
There’s also the writing and the voice acting, which is the best Neil Breen movie never made.
Yeah its got clunky ass tank controls, laughable voice acting, blah blah blah who cares. Its 5 stars. Lets move on.
When I first started getting into the Resident Evil games, the original RE1 is an entry I initially skipped after hearing how apparently dated it is and how the remake makes it obsolete. But, after playing RE5's Lost in Nightmares chapter, I was itching for more classic RE action, so I finally checked it out and I had a great time with it.
RE1 is a game I just couldn't stop playing (and that goes for RE2 and 3 aswell) due to the amount of decision-making that is constantly present. From deciding which weapon to carry, to what enemies are worth killing to how many healing items you should have with you, you constantly have to think about your actions and it makes for a game that's really engaging. Ink Ribbons are an especially awesome mechanic and as time goes on, and we take saving for granted more and more, I think it only makes the fact that RE essentially weaponizes saves into being another source of tension for the player more effective with time.
I like the premise too, it's very classic horror and the focus on comradery across both campaigns is neat, but any immersion one could have in the plot is nuked by the completely directionless voice-acting. It's awful, but it's hilarious too and charming in how much of a sign of the times it is.
The game is far from perfect. I'm disappointed by the way it's structured because exploring the mansion and slowly getting to grips with its layout was really enjoyable, but after you get the 4 crests the game opts for more isolated areas like the Guardhouse or the Lab which aren't nearly as fun to explore. Another issue for me would be the Hunters, if there's two of them they often can combo you to death which is infuriating when it happens and after their introduction, they make the subsequent zombie encounters feel pretty redundant. My last issue would be the bossfights, they're just really boring, design wise (big snake, big plant and big spider whoa) and gameplay wise. They have like 1 attack each and are only there to drain you of resources which regular enemies already do so the boss encounters just feel really unnecessary.
So yeah the game has flaws, and I wouldn't consider it to be very scary either, but I still enjoyed it a lot and I appreciate it for being one of the pioneers of the survival horror genre.
RE1 is a game I just couldn't stop playing (and that goes for RE2 and 3 aswell) due to the amount of decision-making that is constantly present. From deciding which weapon to carry, to what enemies are worth killing to how many healing items you should have with you, you constantly have to think about your actions and it makes for a game that's really engaging. Ink Ribbons are an especially awesome mechanic and as time goes on, and we take saving for granted more and more, I think it only makes the fact that RE essentially weaponizes saves into being another source of tension for the player more effective with time.
I like the premise too, it's very classic horror and the focus on comradery across both campaigns is neat, but any immersion one could have in the plot is nuked by the completely directionless voice-acting. It's awful, but it's hilarious too and charming in how much of a sign of the times it is.
The game is far from perfect. I'm disappointed by the way it's structured because exploring the mansion and slowly getting to grips with its layout was really enjoyable, but after you get the 4 crests the game opts for more isolated areas like the Guardhouse or the Lab which aren't nearly as fun to explore. Another issue for me would be the Hunters, if there's two of them they often can combo you to death which is infuriating when it happens and after their introduction, they make the subsequent zombie encounters feel pretty redundant. My last issue would be the bossfights, they're just really boring, design wise (big snake, big plant and big spider whoa) and gameplay wise. They have like 1 attack each and are only there to drain you of resources which regular enemies already do so the boss encounters just feel really unnecessary.
So yeah the game has flaws, and I wouldn't consider it to be very scary either, but I still enjoyed it a lot and I appreciate it for being one of the pioneers of the survival horror genre.
A perfect survival horror game, able to blend its hilarious b movie tendencies and nail biting horror into something that works. It's also one of the few games where all of its flaws somehow add to the experience rather than detracts from it.
I've always wanted to like the original Resident Evil trilogy. I've heard of these games as a kid and even got my hands on RE2 at one point, though I never got too far in it. At the time the appeal to me was that this was a game about zombies back when there were practically no other decent zombie games (at least none that I knew of). As time went by, I've played and become a fan of many games that it inspired, such as Silent Hill and Devil May Cry, as well as games that followed it, such as Resident Evil 4 and 5. Many times have I tried to go back to the roots and play through the original three games, but time and again I would abandon them without really questioning what exactly made me do so.
In my previous attempt (I think this was sometime in 2013) to play through the original RE, I remember getting very frustrated and forming quite a negative opinion of the game. So today I decided to give it the last try at my wise age of 28. Well, my opinion of the game hasn't changed much, and I don't think it's gonna change going forward.
First of all, this game is just not scary. At all. It may have been by the gaming standards of 1996, but it sure as hell isn't now. Environments are well-lit, and zombies, snakes and spiders aren't exactly nightmare fuel. A lot of people have said over the years that making the player feel vulnerable by depriving them of ammo makes the game scarier. Well, no, it doesn't, and I wish people would stop saying that. There is a clear difference between horror and survival instinct. The latter is present in virtually any game. I don't want to die playing Tekken 5 either, but that doesn't make me wake up in cold sweat in the middle of the night shouting "don't kill me, Panda!" Because I know the difference between real life and video games, plus it's not like I'm afraid of death in real life, nor do I think any adult person should be. I don't think true horror has anything to do with the loss of life. Horror is something beyond material. Beyond our understanding. Horror is the fear of the unknown. It's 2022 and there are countless games about killing zombies, in each of which you could die. Some give you more ammo than others, but that's completely irrelevant. Having less ammo just increases the difficulty. Why should I fear zombies in Resident Evil and not in, say, Left 4 Dead? One is a survival horror game and the other is an action game, but essentially they have a similar depiction of zombies. I think zombies are scary as a social phenomenon, not as a boogeyman. But it is precisely as the latter that the game treats them as.
Having an insanely small inventory and limited saves also doesn't make the game scary. It just makes it anxiety-inducing. Which is quite the opposite of what I want to feel when playing a game (any game). The backtracking you have to do because you've decided to leave a quest item in the chest and now require it to open a door is not scary either. It's also not fun. It's boring and annoying. The alternative is that you could leave some ammo or herbs in the chest only to die on your way to the door and have to replay this section of the game again, which is basically the same as backtracking. I don't necessarily mind the tank controls, but in this game they feel very clunky. In particular the aiming. You can take out most of the regular zombies easily, but when the game throws dogs or crows at you, you're likely to waste all your ammo because they're nigh-impossible to hit. I think with 2D backgrounds and the inability to move while aiming, it's just hard to maintain the coordination.
Last but not least, the story in this game is atrocious. I could maybe overcome all the flaws of the game and force myself to complete it, but what for? It's not like each cutscene makes you curious to see the next one. It's not like there's a great atmosphere or soundtrack to keep you wanna stay in the game. I don't really see any motivation to keep going forward. I suppose, if you're into puzzles, that might motivate you, but personally, I don't care about the puzzles.
Just three years later, in Silent Hill, literally all these drawbacks were fixed. The inventory had infinite space, the saves were unlimited, the backtracking was minimized (and made more fun due to the interactive map), the locations and enemies were actually scary, the controls and aiming were improved, the story, the music, the atmosphere were all amazing. I think, in a lot of ways, Silent Hill has proven that you in fact DON'T need to feel physically vulnerable to experience horror. You can play Silent Hill on the easiest difficulty, where you know the entire time that you couldn't die, and yet it's still ten times scarier than Resident Evil. It's also not frustrating or anxiety-inducing.
I honestly don't think this game is worth playing. I've not played the remake, but it seems to have fixed at least some of the issues I mentioned, though it still appears to have a small inventory and probably limited saves. I obviously recognize the influence the original RE made on the entire industry, and especially Capcom themselves, as they kept using the template of RE for years to come. But I think this game didn't age well and has been outdone by many of its competitors and successors.
In my previous attempt (I think this was sometime in 2013) to play through the original RE, I remember getting very frustrated and forming quite a negative opinion of the game. So today I decided to give it the last try at my wise age of 28. Well, my opinion of the game hasn't changed much, and I don't think it's gonna change going forward.
First of all, this game is just not scary. At all. It may have been by the gaming standards of 1996, but it sure as hell isn't now. Environments are well-lit, and zombies, snakes and spiders aren't exactly nightmare fuel. A lot of people have said over the years that making the player feel vulnerable by depriving them of ammo makes the game scarier. Well, no, it doesn't, and I wish people would stop saying that. There is a clear difference between horror and survival instinct. The latter is present in virtually any game. I don't want to die playing Tekken 5 either, but that doesn't make me wake up in cold sweat in the middle of the night shouting "don't kill me, Panda!" Because I know the difference between real life and video games, plus it's not like I'm afraid of death in real life, nor do I think any adult person should be. I don't think true horror has anything to do with the loss of life. Horror is something beyond material. Beyond our understanding. Horror is the fear of the unknown. It's 2022 and there are countless games about killing zombies, in each of which you could die. Some give you more ammo than others, but that's completely irrelevant. Having less ammo just increases the difficulty. Why should I fear zombies in Resident Evil and not in, say, Left 4 Dead? One is a survival horror game and the other is an action game, but essentially they have a similar depiction of zombies. I think zombies are scary as a social phenomenon, not as a boogeyman. But it is precisely as the latter that the game treats them as.
Having an insanely small inventory and limited saves also doesn't make the game scary. It just makes it anxiety-inducing. Which is quite the opposite of what I want to feel when playing a game (any game). The backtracking you have to do because you've decided to leave a quest item in the chest and now require it to open a door is not scary either. It's also not fun. It's boring and annoying. The alternative is that you could leave some ammo or herbs in the chest only to die on your way to the door and have to replay this section of the game again, which is basically the same as backtracking. I don't necessarily mind the tank controls, but in this game they feel very clunky. In particular the aiming. You can take out most of the regular zombies easily, but when the game throws dogs or crows at you, you're likely to waste all your ammo because they're nigh-impossible to hit. I think with 2D backgrounds and the inability to move while aiming, it's just hard to maintain the coordination.
Last but not least, the story in this game is atrocious. I could maybe overcome all the flaws of the game and force myself to complete it, but what for? It's not like each cutscene makes you curious to see the next one. It's not like there's a great atmosphere or soundtrack to keep you wanna stay in the game. I don't really see any motivation to keep going forward. I suppose, if you're into puzzles, that might motivate you, but personally, I don't care about the puzzles.
Just three years later, in Silent Hill, literally all these drawbacks were fixed. The inventory had infinite space, the saves were unlimited, the backtracking was minimized (and made more fun due to the interactive map), the locations and enemies were actually scary, the controls and aiming were improved, the story, the music, the atmosphere were all amazing. I think, in a lot of ways, Silent Hill has proven that you in fact DON'T need to feel physically vulnerable to experience horror. You can play Silent Hill on the easiest difficulty, where you know the entire time that you couldn't die, and yet it's still ten times scarier than Resident Evil. It's also not frustrating or anxiety-inducing.
I honestly don't think this game is worth playing. I've not played the remake, but it seems to have fixed at least some of the issues I mentioned, though it still appears to have a small inventory and probably limited saves. I obviously recognize the influence the original RE made on the entire industry, and especially Capcom themselves, as they kept using the template of RE for years to come. But I think this game didn't age well and has been outdone by many of its competitors and successors.
Jill Sandwich
Como disse no review do remake, joguei ambos de forma simultânea para poder analisar as nuances e modificações e é incrível como a atmosfera do clássico de fato era tão boa. Que inicio para a franquia!
Me lembro de jogar pela primeira vez no meu antigo sega saturno lá em meados de 2001, uma das unicas memorias que eu tenho da epoca. Eu jogava cheio de medo e sempre desistia quando chegava na cobra, ali era o apice pra mim kkkkk
Bom, jogando novamente eu percebi inúmeras coisas que são ruins e nem falo sobre os dubladores, a cutscene do inicio e os diálogos kkkkk isso é a pura galhofa, mas a gente já está acostumado e, de uma certa forma, é até legal de tão ruim.
Mas as partes ruins mesmo do original são em como ele consegue ser tão bom até a metade e de lá pro final começar a cair a qualidade, principalmente no que se refere a level design e sobre a gameplay na parte do combate que, contra os hunters é beeem quebrada e falha, fazendo com que eles sejam muito mais mortais do que necessariamente são.
A parte dos tubarões por exemplo é uma parada que eu hoje nunca entendi o pq existiu no original pois é simplesmente irrelevante, você consegue passar por ali sem tomar dano e cagar pra eles, chega a ser bizarramente fácil.
Não é meu Resident favorito, mas tem um lugar muito forte na minha memória. Bom jogo e um excelente começo da franquia. Obrigado por existir!
Como disse no review do remake, joguei ambos de forma simultânea para poder analisar as nuances e modificações e é incrível como a atmosfera do clássico de fato era tão boa. Que inicio para a franquia!
Me lembro de jogar pela primeira vez no meu antigo sega saturno lá em meados de 2001, uma das unicas memorias que eu tenho da epoca. Eu jogava cheio de medo e sempre desistia quando chegava na cobra, ali era o apice pra mim kkkkk
Bom, jogando novamente eu percebi inúmeras coisas que são ruins e nem falo sobre os dubladores, a cutscene do inicio e os diálogos kkkkk isso é a pura galhofa, mas a gente já está acostumado e, de uma certa forma, é até legal de tão ruim.
Mas as partes ruins mesmo do original são em como ele consegue ser tão bom até a metade e de lá pro final começar a cair a qualidade, principalmente no que se refere a level design e sobre a gameplay na parte do combate que, contra os hunters é beeem quebrada e falha, fazendo com que eles sejam muito mais mortais do que necessariamente são.
A parte dos tubarões por exemplo é uma parada que eu hoje nunca entendi o pq existiu no original pois é simplesmente irrelevante, você consegue passar por ali sem tomar dano e cagar pra eles, chega a ser bizarramente fácil.
Não é meu Resident favorito, mas tem um lugar muito forte na minha memória. Bom jogo e um excelente começo da franquia. Obrigado por existir!
Janky, silly, stupid and with laughable story and acting. This game sucks. And I really like it for that. More than I should, probably, but it does well on charm, OST and overall personality. The PS1 graphics help on setting the weird tone too. I totally get why this was a hit. 2 addendums, Jill > Chris. Also fuck them Hunter α bitch-ass monsters.
You were almost a Jill Sandwich!
Played through the regular version of the game for the first time. It's my own doing due to prior association but I kinda missed the soundtrack and altered camera angles from the dualshock version. When you get past the really messy tracks like the basement theme there's some pretty solid ones.
I forgot how ruthless some of the enemies can be in terms of stunlock and invincibility frames. The hunters and chimeras really don't play around. :(
I forgot how ruthless some of the enemies can be in terms of stunlock and invincibility frames. The hunters and chimeras really don't play around. :(
i am going to do my best to talk about this game without referring to the myriad of things i had heard about it prior. this game has a daunting reputation as a barrier of entry, but i'd rather focus this review on talking about the game than dissecting that.
it's incredibly tempting to write off early horror games as dated and fossils of the time, but that misses something integral to the development of games as a medium. resident evil is a genuinely scary game. maybe not always for the right reasons, but i feel fairly confident in saying that at some point during a first playthrough, you will get scared. again, maybe not for the content of "spoooooky zombies!! uh oh giant snake!!" but more for the gameplay side of things.
i started with chris mode first because the game defaulted with it and i frankly am fucking cool like that, and christ alive, what an ordeal that was. a good one, mind you, but i would be lying if i didn't mention my regular debates over what to kill with the little ammo i could find. enemies are all over the place, and you truly feel outnumbered on a first playthrough. i could see many people disliking the idea of saves being both limited and requiring the usage of an item, but i think it adds depth to the game. every time i found an ink ribbon on my first playthrough, i felt an immense amount of joy and relief, if only for a brief period of time, because it meant that i had more opportunities to save my progress. with enemies that can instakill you and other enemies that can stunlock you, saving is something that you'll want to do simultaneously frequently and judiciously. there's a good tug-of-war between wanting to save and not knowing when to save. should i save now that i beat this boss? or is there something worse right around the corner? should i save now that i did this big plot event? or will i run out of saves later because i was too much of a wastrel with ink ribbons? i don't necessarily think limited saves should be used in every game, but, if you're going to use them, i think RE1 makes a very strong example of how to do it.
the game isn't incredibly difficult if you know what you're doing, however. this is definitely the kind of game that rewards repeat playthroughs on top of knowing item locations and room layouts. with as interesting of a location as the spencer mansion, learning room layouts doesn't even feel like a task and, instead, is part of the fun. exploring the mansion can be simultaneously dread-inducing and fascinating. you fear what's around each corner, but you're compelled to find out. there's a great gameplay hook in that, and RE1 capitalizes on it. something i appreciate more and more now as an adult is when a game is lean and devoid of filler but still has value in replayability, and this game hits it out of the park on that front.
overall i had a great time with this game and i think it's a classic that many people should try out. i don't think much if any of this has aged that poorly, and, if anything, i think it has stood the test of time.
edit as of 1/3/2024: original rating was a 4.0/5.0. backloggd doesn't let me show that in this review, however, because i replayed it at a later date and bumped it up to a 4.0/5.0. likely no one will care about this, but, for data preservation's sake, i felt it was worth mentioning.
it's incredibly tempting to write off early horror games as dated and fossils of the time, but that misses something integral to the development of games as a medium. resident evil is a genuinely scary game. maybe not always for the right reasons, but i feel fairly confident in saying that at some point during a first playthrough, you will get scared. again, maybe not for the content of "spoooooky zombies!! uh oh giant snake!!" but more for the gameplay side of things.
i started with chris mode first because the game defaulted with it and i frankly am fucking cool like that, and christ alive, what an ordeal that was. a good one, mind you, but i would be lying if i didn't mention my regular debates over what to kill with the little ammo i could find. enemies are all over the place, and you truly feel outnumbered on a first playthrough. i could see many people disliking the idea of saves being both limited and requiring the usage of an item, but i think it adds depth to the game. every time i found an ink ribbon on my first playthrough, i felt an immense amount of joy and relief, if only for a brief period of time, because it meant that i had more opportunities to save my progress. with enemies that can instakill you and other enemies that can stunlock you, saving is something that you'll want to do simultaneously frequently and judiciously. there's a good tug-of-war between wanting to save and not knowing when to save. should i save now that i beat this boss? or is there something worse right around the corner? should i save now that i did this big plot event? or will i run out of saves later because i was too much of a wastrel with ink ribbons? i don't necessarily think limited saves should be used in every game, but, if you're going to use them, i think RE1 makes a very strong example of how to do it.
the game isn't incredibly difficult if you know what you're doing, however. this is definitely the kind of game that rewards repeat playthroughs on top of knowing item locations and room layouts. with as interesting of a location as the spencer mansion, learning room layouts doesn't even feel like a task and, instead, is part of the fun. exploring the mansion can be simultaneously dread-inducing and fascinating. you fear what's around each corner, but you're compelled to find out. there's a great gameplay hook in that, and RE1 capitalizes on it. something i appreciate more and more now as an adult is when a game is lean and devoid of filler but still has value in replayability, and this game hits it out of the park on that front.
overall i had a great time with this game and i think it's a classic that many people should try out. i don't think much if any of this has aged that poorly, and, if anything, i think it has stood the test of time.
edit as of 1/3/2024: original rating was a 4.0/5.0. backloggd doesn't let me show that in this review, however, because i replayed it at a later date and bumped it up to a 4.0/5.0. likely no one will care about this, but, for data preservation's sake, i felt it was worth mentioning.
If I hadn't been recommended this series by some friends, I'm not sure I would've stuck through this. What initially seems like a clunky PS1 with cheesy dialogue and FMVs turns into an engaging survival horror with an amazing atmosphere. The tank controls take a bit to get used to, as does the inventory management, but once you get into the swing of things, it's a good time with some genuine scares. The game scares you with both the environment itself, but also the intended limited amount of supplies you can scavenge around the mansion. You have to think on your feet about what the next best course of action is, or figure out how to proceed by looking around the environment. I'm pleasantly surprised by what initially came off as a classic, but dated PS1 game. Would recommend.
I hate horror games and I hate jumpscares, but it's a testament to how phenomenal this game is that I felt GOOD about being terrified while playing this.
Everyone mentions the zombie dog window jumpscare, or the scene where the first zombie slowly turns around to look at you, but the three scenes that still stand out to me the most all these years after my first playthrough in 2021 were:
The live action FMV with the puppeted zombie dogs. I miss when games would do this kind of stuff and the effects for the dogs still look pretty good. I'd watch the shit out of a 90's-style RE horror movie with practical effects similar to Evil Dead.
The first pre-rendered cutscene with the Hunter was super freaky. Suddenly losing control of Jill, then the erratic camera movements and the old CG visuals unnerved me and made the Hunters very memorable.
Easily my favorite memory with this game, I walked into the billiards room and a giant tarantula dropped from the ceiling and split into like a dozen smaller spiders. It scared me so bad that I genuinely had a nightmare about it after I shut the game off and went to bed. Whenever I felt a brush against my leg, I'd jump because I thought there was a spider crawling on me.
THIS is the kind of horror I want from scary games as opposed to just loud, full-screen jumpscares.
Everyone mentions the zombie dog window jumpscare, or the scene where the first zombie slowly turns around to look at you, but the three scenes that still stand out to me the most all these years after my first playthrough in 2021 were:
The live action FMV with the puppeted zombie dogs. I miss when games would do this kind of stuff and the effects for the dogs still look pretty good. I'd watch the shit out of a 90's-style RE horror movie with practical effects similar to Evil Dead.
The first pre-rendered cutscene with the Hunter was super freaky. Suddenly losing control of Jill, then the erratic camera movements and the old CG visuals unnerved me and made the Hunters very memorable.
Easily my favorite memory with this game, I walked into the billiards room and a giant tarantula dropped from the ceiling and split into like a dozen smaller spiders. It scared me so bad that I genuinely had a nightmare about it after I shut the game off and went to bed. Whenever I felt a brush against my leg, I'd jump because I thought there was a spider crawling on me.
THIS is the kind of horror I want from scary games as opposed to just loud, full-screen jumpscares.
So on my Resident Evil tier list I had put this game too low, when honestly, this is such a tightly designed little masterwork of a game I'm kind of stunned how much they got right in one go at things. We need to have a serious discussion if Shinji Mikami is the best game director of all time, as his Resident Evil games are far and away the best composed, his games outside of it are hits, and he is dashingly handsome to boot. What the fuck MORE do we need from the premiere talent in game design.
The final half of this game is pretty vicious though, I never beat it when I was a kid when the hunters were introduced because they were such an intense jump in difficulty, but honestly that's something Mikami is so good at in his RE games is escalation of difficulty and making old areas feel fresh again with new threats. This is such a good fucking game, and while I think the REmake is better, I think both are still worth playing, ESPECIALLY if you have any regard at all for gaming history or the evolution of the medium. The 2 games are about 6 years apart!! That's fucking crazy.
The voice acting though is still shocking, and I hate saying it because there is nothing more grating than a youtube retrospective of Resident Evil 1 getting some easy dunks in on the voice acting, but it genuinely takes you aback when you are playing it. You'll be navigating some really punishing hazards and some of the doofiest dialogue of all time starts playing. I fucking love it.
Also shout-out to the amazing artwork by Bill Sienkiewicz, probably the greatest comic artists alive and ever in my opinion.
The final half of this game is pretty vicious though, I never beat it when I was a kid when the hunters were introduced because they were such an intense jump in difficulty, but honestly that's something Mikami is so good at in his RE games is escalation of difficulty and making old areas feel fresh again with new threats. This is such a good fucking game, and while I think the REmake is better, I think both are still worth playing, ESPECIALLY if you have any regard at all for gaming history or the evolution of the medium. The 2 games are about 6 years apart!! That's fucking crazy.
The voice acting though is still shocking, and I hate saying it because there is nothing more grating than a youtube retrospective of Resident Evil 1 getting some easy dunks in on the voice acting, but it genuinely takes you aback when you are playing it. You'll be navigating some really punishing hazards and some of the doofiest dialogue of all time starts playing. I fucking love it.
Also shout-out to the amazing artwork by Bill Sienkiewicz, probably the greatest comic artists alive and ever in my opinion.
A true PlayStation classic. One of the pioneers of the "survival horror" genre, and sometimes credited as the inspiration for the popularity of zombies from the late 90's-2000's (according to George Romero himself).
These days, if you wanna experience the '96 iteration of this game, PLEASE aim for the Japanese version, as the US one actually removed auto-aim which makes stuff like the final boss almost impossible.
But if I were to be honest, the best way to experience PS1 Resi 1 is with the updated 1997 Director's Cut (not the Dualshock one) or the neat little DS port called "Deadly Silence" (it's overpriced online so aim for a JP copy). You might have to jump a few hurdles to play these iterations, as the Playstation Network store in the US actually has the Dualshock Edition and not the original Director's Cut (but the EU and JP stores actually have the original DC). RE1 doesn't have much of a language barrier aside from an easy puzzle so I wouldn't worry about the text being Japanese, if you have to resort to import copies.
I'll write an actual review on this game someday, I love it to bits.
9/10
These days, if you wanna experience the '96 iteration of this game, PLEASE aim for the Japanese version, as the US one actually removed auto-aim which makes stuff like the final boss almost impossible.
But if I were to be honest, the best way to experience PS1 Resi 1 is with the updated 1997 Director's Cut (not the Dualshock one) or the neat little DS port called "Deadly Silence" (it's overpriced online so aim for a JP copy). You might have to jump a few hurdles to play these iterations, as the Playstation Network store in the US actually has the Dualshock Edition and not the original Director's Cut (but the EU and JP stores actually have the original DC). RE1 doesn't have much of a language barrier aside from an easy puzzle so I wouldn't worry about the text being Japanese, if you have to resort to import copies.
I'll write an actual review on this game someday, I love it to bits.
9/10
after playing literally every single mainline resident evil apart from 5 and 6 (will get to them soon enough) I just got an enormous itch to scratch for the game that started it all on the greatest console of all time after the PlayStation 2: the PlayStation 1
i can say that in the l first 20 minutes or so I was really not in the mood to continue the game it looked kind of janky the controls are even stiffer than the latest titles on the consoles the voice acting is embarrassing and the models are soooo weird
long story short just 30 minutes after this i was totally hooked i begin to love every single aspect i shamed just now and completely got into a trance-like state and pushed throught the entirety of the game in 2 sittings its absolutely fucking incredible I don't even know what to say
my experience with the original resident evil is kinda weird as in the first exposure to the game was the DS version when I was a kid when I shat my pants when I saw the very first zombie scene and closed the game and some years ago I played the remake for the gamecube and enjoyed it a lot so I didn't actually play the original
as for the criticism I just talked about you just need to get in the groove and you'll ignore every single flaw in this game: 1) yes it does look kinda janky but that's to be expected for a game this old AND YET it all has a purpose the walls of the mansion got a disgusting hue and look decrepit the laboratory is spooky enough and the garden is dark as shit and this was all achieved with the pre rendered backgrounds THATS monumental if you ask me this has such a specific mood that I can't even explain it in words you need to play it 2) yes it plays definitely worse than the other games on the ps1 but when you get accustomed to the stiffer tank controls and how the characters move you will breeze through the game like it just came out yesterday and since the gameplay is THE classic resident evil experience you will definitely enjoy it 3) the voice acting IS kinda cringey and kinda bad but I absolutely love that campy vibe of a B horror movie with that FMV as an opening and weird ass conversations its a total vibe
the sound design and music feels really prehistoric compared to how much I enjoyed resident evil 2s score and soundscape but yknow that's also to be expected but somehow every single one of the songs are competently crafted and convey the right vibe for the scene or area or whatever so that's pretty fine
its kinda amazing how open and non linear the mansion is you can literally tackle the games flow in whatever route you desire (mostly in the beginning of the game later it clearly gets more linear but that's also necessary for the course of action) and thats a great feat for a PlayStation 1 game just as much as how many different objects and weapons you can use and so many different monsters and puzzles and wow idk I just enjoyed this too much more so for its historic relevance than as a game itself but still I don't think it aged that poorly it kinda feels just as fresh as when it was released and mind you it was fucking 1996 the most powerful ram was like 18mb or something that was a time to be alive
I chose Jill because I actually cannot play with Chris and his restricted inventory options I would get so fucking frustrated im sorry Chris youre not even that hot in this game I wouldn't even feast on your biceps in this one
the story is always the same one you get a zombie outbreak but this one is like only in a mansion lololol and then it's just puzzle puzzle puzzle and some lore in the meantime but as always the main infodumb is in the 20 minutes before the ending so that is something that was carried over for the entirety of the series whatever
umh
I dont know I don't remember what I was gonna say anyway umh good game
i can say that in the l first 20 minutes or so I was really not in the mood to continue the game it looked kind of janky the controls are even stiffer than the latest titles on the consoles the voice acting is embarrassing and the models are soooo weird
long story short just 30 minutes after this i was totally hooked i begin to love every single aspect i shamed just now and completely got into a trance-like state and pushed throught the entirety of the game in 2 sittings its absolutely fucking incredible I don't even know what to say
my experience with the original resident evil is kinda weird as in the first exposure to the game was the DS version when I was a kid when I shat my pants when I saw the very first zombie scene and closed the game and some years ago I played the remake for the gamecube and enjoyed it a lot so I didn't actually play the original
as for the criticism I just talked about you just need to get in the groove and you'll ignore every single flaw in this game: 1) yes it does look kinda janky but that's to be expected for a game this old AND YET it all has a purpose the walls of the mansion got a disgusting hue and look decrepit the laboratory is spooky enough and the garden is dark as shit and this was all achieved with the pre rendered backgrounds THATS monumental if you ask me this has such a specific mood that I can't even explain it in words you need to play it 2) yes it plays definitely worse than the other games on the ps1 but when you get accustomed to the stiffer tank controls and how the characters move you will breeze through the game like it just came out yesterday and since the gameplay is THE classic resident evil experience you will definitely enjoy it 3) the voice acting IS kinda cringey and kinda bad but I absolutely love that campy vibe of a B horror movie with that FMV as an opening and weird ass conversations its a total vibe
the sound design and music feels really prehistoric compared to how much I enjoyed resident evil 2s score and soundscape but yknow that's also to be expected but somehow every single one of the songs are competently crafted and convey the right vibe for the scene or area or whatever so that's pretty fine
its kinda amazing how open and non linear the mansion is you can literally tackle the games flow in whatever route you desire (mostly in the beginning of the game later it clearly gets more linear but that's also necessary for the course of action) and thats a great feat for a PlayStation 1 game just as much as how many different objects and weapons you can use and so many different monsters and puzzles and wow idk I just enjoyed this too much more so for its historic relevance than as a game itself but still I don't think it aged that poorly it kinda feels just as fresh as when it was released and mind you it was fucking 1996 the most powerful ram was like 18mb or something that was a time to be alive
I chose Jill because I actually cannot play with Chris and his restricted inventory options I would get so fucking frustrated im sorry Chris youre not even that hot in this game I wouldn't even feast on your biceps in this one
the story is always the same one you get a zombie outbreak but this one is like only in a mansion lololol and then it's just puzzle puzzle puzzle and some lore in the meantime but as always the main infodumb is in the 20 minutes before the ending so that is something that was carried over for the entirety of the series whatever
umh
I dont know I don't remember what I was gonna say anyway umh good game
When I first played this, it was 1997, and me and a friend didn’t know anything about it, basically got to the first zombie and ran from the room. I didn’t play it again until 2007, Resident Evil 2 was my first real RE game, but the the first has charm.
The game works as a puzzle game, everything has to be calculated. The game becomes kinda addictive after awhile. Exploring the original Spencer Mansion is frightening to explore, but it’s beautiful with the pre-rendered backgrounds.
The dialogue is laughably bad, but it’s actually funny as hell, It actually makes it like a violent comedy, almost like a Romero movie.
It’s not perfect, but it’s charming, funny, terrifying, and it’s a fun challenge.
The game works as a puzzle game, everything has to be calculated. The game becomes kinda addictive after awhile. Exploring the original Spencer Mansion is frightening to explore, but it’s beautiful with the pre-rendered backgrounds.
The dialogue is laughably bad, but it’s actually funny as hell, It actually makes it like a violent comedy, almost like a Romero movie.
It’s not perfect, but it’s charming, funny, terrifying, and it’s a fun challenge.
I think this is worth a second review since the last time I played this game was more than ten years ago. I'd loved the creepy atmosphere and the outlandish puzzles, but I have to confess to looking forward to this replay with some trepidation thanks to some of its quirks that didn't age well. In a way, those fears were justified as I spent much of this playthrough pixel-hunting, getting blindsided by enemies coming from off-camera, getting stuck on corners while trying to run away from hunters, and getting frustrated as I died on the way to a save room for what seemed like the dozenth time.
A bit of jank in an early 3D game is to be expected of course, but unlike other Good Old Games TM where the game is good in spite of the jank, the aspects of Resident Evil that would be annoying anywhere else actually elevate the game experience here! I don't know if it's by accident or by design but given how Capcom was releasing so many windmill dunks of games around this time, I'd give them the benefit of the doubt.
The production values obviously didn't age well at all: the first FMV zombie you meet looks more sheepish than scary, as if you caught it watching porn, and the voice acting is so bad that it wraps around to being good and then becomes bad again (I cackled when a guy with mortal wounds all over his body went "ouuuch"). But while its campiness made it difficult for me to take the story seriously, the game managed to impart the sense of unease and tension to me perfectly through its so-called outdated mechanics, ensuring that the heart of its gameplay experience barely shows its age at all.
Other reviewers have already analysed the intricacies of how its mechanics tie into the mood it creates and the emotions it evokes - and far better than me - but suffice it to say that this is one of the best gaming examples of "it's a feature, not a bug".
A bit of jank in an early 3D game is to be expected of course, but unlike other Good Old Games TM where the game is good in spite of the jank, the aspects of Resident Evil that would be annoying anywhere else actually elevate the game experience here! I don't know if it's by accident or by design but given how Capcom was releasing so many windmill dunks of games around this time, I'd give them the benefit of the doubt.
The production values obviously didn't age well at all: the first FMV zombie you meet looks more sheepish than scary, as if you caught it watching porn, and the voice acting is so bad that it wraps around to being good and then becomes bad again (I cackled when a guy with mortal wounds all over his body went "ouuuch"). But while its campiness made it difficult for me to take the story seriously, the game managed to impart the sense of unease and tension to me perfectly through its so-called outdated mechanics, ensuring that the heart of its gameplay experience barely shows its age at all.
Other reviewers have already analysed the intricacies of how its mechanics tie into the mood it creates and the emotions it evokes - and far better than me - but suffice it to say that this is one of the best gaming examples of "it's a feature, not a bug".
just part of my yearly or so revisiting of these games. i constantly feel like i'm in some state of playing either a Resident Evil or Silent Hill title and can't keep away from them for too long, it seems.
this is my first run since i started messing around with Retro Achievements so this was a slower and otherwise more thorough run through the game than some of my typical breeze throughs. there's tons of little variances that can happen due to decisions that are both apparent and not which makes for an impressive amount of replay value if one cares. which isn't even getting into potential challenge runs and the like.
this time i just did Jill on Standard but i intend to eventually play through again as Chris and maybe consider no healing and no save runs plus Arrange difficulty.
this is my first run since i started messing around with Retro Achievements so this was a slower and otherwise more thorough run through the game than some of my typical breeze throughs. there's tons of little variances that can happen due to decisions that are both apparent and not which makes for an impressive amount of replay value if one cares. which isn't even getting into potential challenge runs and the like.
this time i just did Jill on Standard but i intend to eventually play through again as Chris and maybe consider no healing and no save runs plus Arrange difficulty.
just sat down and played through the whole thing in one sitting. i dont know what it is about the early re games but walking through hallways and finding a key and then walking through more hallways turns my brain into mush
Still my favourite of the PS1 trilogy. While it certainly feels the most dated in terms of control and visual flair (the mansion's lookin' pretty... red?), the game features the most freewheelin' level design of the bunch. Mikami's limiting of movement and aiming remains an excellent choice, a sacrifice in favour of his greater vision of survival horror. Cap that off with the most meme-worthy voice acting and writing around, and you're left with a game oozing charm.
Whenever people ask "should I play the original Resident Evil or the REmake?" most people say the REmake is the one.
Fuck those people. Play both.
Fuck those people. Play both.
Contextualising Resident Evil with other titles released in 1996, it stands out as one of the most prolific of the year. Providing a fantastic start to the world of survival horror, Resident Evil still remains relevant 25 years later. The sheer amount of ports, remakes, and clones of this ground-breaking title should speak for itself. The challenging puzzles, chilling atmosphere, and "charming" characters define Resident Evil as a game that can be enjoyed in its clunky original state.
The original Resident Evil is almost a masterpiece in every offerable asset. For instance, the multi-layered thought process in it's puzzle design. Enemy placement is calculated, demanding the player to consider their ammunition and health resources in an encounter. Players must therefore be conservative of their supplies, or skilled in enemy manipulation and tank control movement in order to circumvent the threats throughout the mansion. Additionally, there are several multi-step puzzles that must be solved, that require thorough planning and excellent inventory management skills. Even the simplest actions like saving your game becomes a resource in Resident Evil, which adds a further layer of complexity, as there are a limited number of these in the game.
You'd think the poor quality voice acting of the original coupled with the relatively simple narrative would render these aspects of the game unenjoyable yet that isn't the case. Resident Evil manages to capture the spirit of a cheap indie B-movie horror flick, and thanks to it's confusing performances and terrible script as a result of poor translations from Japanese, the game somehow oozes charm throughout.
This stands in stark contrast with the foreboding atmosphere the game is able to create, through it's excellent environmental design, iconic soundtrack, and well crafted enemy noises. Resident Evil is a case study of visionary creativity, with every facet thoroughly considered. It is at it's strongest when the game is conveying it's story subtly through the environment and file text.
Going into this game completely blind is an incredibly challenging experience. You will undoubtedly make mistakes, lose progress, run out of healing items, fire your last bullet, but to master a game like this is incredibly rewarding. Resident Evil was designed to be replayed in a variety of ways. Firstly, there are two completely separate campaigns depending on the character you chose, which would change the story, gameplay, and difficulty significantly. Secondly, there are plenty of rewards such as alternate costumes and infinite ammo weaponry which are unlocked after completing various challenge runs, such as beating the game in under 3 hours, or achieving the best ending.
Within the realm of video games, Resident Evil is more than the inception of one of gaming's most iconic franchises, but it is a significant cultural event within the industry. It pioneered a brand new genre, and took advantage of the technology available to drag the rest of the industry forward with it. In my opinion, Resident Evil is the most impactful video game of its generation.
The original Resident Evil is almost a masterpiece in every offerable asset. For instance, the multi-layered thought process in it's puzzle design. Enemy placement is calculated, demanding the player to consider their ammunition and health resources in an encounter. Players must therefore be conservative of their supplies, or skilled in enemy manipulation and tank control movement in order to circumvent the threats throughout the mansion. Additionally, there are several multi-step puzzles that must be solved, that require thorough planning and excellent inventory management skills. Even the simplest actions like saving your game becomes a resource in Resident Evil, which adds a further layer of complexity, as there are a limited number of these in the game.
You'd think the poor quality voice acting of the original coupled with the relatively simple narrative would render these aspects of the game unenjoyable yet that isn't the case. Resident Evil manages to capture the spirit of a cheap indie B-movie horror flick, and thanks to it's confusing performances and terrible script as a result of poor translations from Japanese, the game somehow oozes charm throughout.
This stands in stark contrast with the foreboding atmosphere the game is able to create, through it's excellent environmental design, iconic soundtrack, and well crafted enemy noises. Resident Evil is a case study of visionary creativity, with every facet thoroughly considered. It is at it's strongest when the game is conveying it's story subtly through the environment and file text.
Going into this game completely blind is an incredibly challenging experience. You will undoubtedly make mistakes, lose progress, run out of healing items, fire your last bullet, but to master a game like this is incredibly rewarding. Resident Evil was designed to be replayed in a variety of ways. Firstly, there are two completely separate campaigns depending on the character you chose, which would change the story, gameplay, and difficulty significantly. Secondly, there are plenty of rewards such as alternate costumes and infinite ammo weaponry which are unlocked after completing various challenge runs, such as beating the game in under 3 hours, or achieving the best ending.
Within the realm of video games, Resident Evil is more than the inception of one of gaming's most iconic franchises, but it is a significant cultural event within the industry. It pioneered a brand new genre, and took advantage of the technology available to drag the rest of the industry forward with it. In my opinion, Resident Evil is the most impactful video game of its generation.
Probably as simple as survival horror gets, but it's still a decent amount of fun. Playing this makes me really appreciate the changes they made in the remake, but I also really like the stripped back nature of this game compared to the games that followed it. I love the mansion as a location and save states once again make the game far more bearable. The main thing I disliked though were the hunters. They literally place them in every room in the mansion and they are super annoying to fight or run past, especially when they decide to place 2 of them in the same room. I really like this game as a starting off point for the genre, but of course that makes it so it doesn't really stand out after playing the other, far more intricately designed games that expanded on this basic formula.
Oh and the voice acting is absolutely hilarious.
Oh and the voice acting is absolutely hilarious.
Did a Chris arrange mode run with no first aid sprays and saves for spooky season 2020.
Still a favorite, who knew...
I've really settled in to having my preferred method of playing this being an Arrange difficulty mode run in the dualshock version of the director's cut release. People don't shut the fuck up about the soundtrack (and for good reason to an extent) but when you get past the REALLY BAD tracks on it, there's a few gems. Also I grew up with that version and I associate the original soundtrack more with the 2002 remake so it just works.
Still a favorite, who knew...
I've really settled in to having my preferred method of playing this being an Arrange difficulty mode run in the dualshock version of the director's cut release. People don't shut the fuck up about the soundtrack (and for good reason to an extent) but when you get past the REALLY BAD tracks on it, there's a few gems. Also I grew up with that version and I associate the original soundtrack more with the 2002 remake so it just works.
𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘖𝘕𝘌 𝘛𝘏𝘈𝘛 𝘚𝘛𝘈𝘙𝘛𝘌𝘋 𝘐𝘛 𝘈𝘓𝘓
𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘔𝘠𝘛𝘏
𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘓𝘌𝘎𝘌𝘕𝘋
𝚁 𝙴 𝚂 𝙸 𝙳 𝙴 𝙽 𝚃 𝙴 𝚅 𝙸 𝙻 (1996)
𝙳𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚂𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝™️ 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚛𝚔𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚏𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚕, 𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘
𝚃 𝙷 𝙴 𝚂 𝚄 𝚁 𝚅 𝙸 𝚅 𝙰 𝙻 𝙷 𝙾 𝚁 𝚁 𝙾 𝚁
𝙾𝙿𝙴𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙸𝚅𝙴𝚂:
𝙹𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚅𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎: 𝚂.𝚃.𝙰.𝚁’𝚜 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎, 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗.
𝙲𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚜 𝚁𝚎𝚍𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚕𝚍: 𝙷𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚋𝚎 𝙸𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚡𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚍𝚢𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚌 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙰𝚕𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚝.
As rain pours and lightning strikes, our heroes inch closer and closer to the Spencer Mansion, within it’s hollowed rooms linger the living dead, the result of man playing God, a very specific, dying, fascist man for whom the mansion was named after, carrying on the pathetic legacy of his Fuhrer and comrades using any means necessary, recruiting fleeing Nazi WW2 scientists In a bid against time to fight against his very own withering mortality which leads to a hare-brained search for the myth of immortality in all it’s forms, the desire to be One and All resulting from his inability to accept death is what essentially kickstarts the entire series.
The tight progression and the gameplay flow is the strongest part of the series and is what makes it so infinitely replayable, it very much is present here in the series’s first outing and it arguably is executed a lot better than most of the later titles too! Getting more and more used to the Spencer Mansion and memorizing it’s every hallway alongside the quirks (like the ruined doorknob) is quite an enjoyable process, you’ll be dashing by every room in the blink of an eye without even knowing it!
𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘔𝘠𝘛𝘏
𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘓𝘌𝘎𝘌𝘕𝘋
𝚁 𝙴 𝚂 𝙸 𝙳 𝙴 𝙽 𝚃 𝙴 𝚅 𝙸 𝙻 (1996)
𝙳𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚂𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝™️ 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚛𝚔𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚏𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚕, 𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘
𝚃 𝙷 𝙴 𝚂 𝚄 𝚁 𝚅 𝙸 𝚅 𝙰 𝙻 𝙷 𝙾 𝚁 𝚁 𝙾 𝚁
𝙾𝙿𝙴𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙸𝚅𝙴𝚂:
𝙹𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚅𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎: 𝚂.𝚃.𝙰.𝚁’𝚜 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎, 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗.
𝙲𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚜 𝚁𝚎𝚍𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚕𝚍: 𝙷𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚋𝚎 𝙸𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚡𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚍𝚢𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚌 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙰𝚕𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚝.
As rain pours and lightning strikes, our heroes inch closer and closer to the Spencer Mansion, within it’s hollowed rooms linger the living dead, the result of man playing God, a very specific, dying, fascist man for whom the mansion was named after, carrying on the pathetic legacy of his Fuhrer and comrades using any means necessary, recruiting fleeing Nazi WW2 scientists In a bid against time to fight against his very own withering mortality which leads to a hare-brained search for the myth of immortality in all it’s forms, the desire to be One and All resulting from his inability to accept death is what essentially kickstarts the entire series.
The tight progression and the gameplay flow is the strongest part of the series and is what makes it so infinitely replayable, it very much is present here in the series’s first outing and it arguably is executed a lot better than most of the later titles too! Getting more and more used to the Spencer Mansion and memorizing it’s every hallway alongside the quirks (like the ruined doorknob) is quite an enjoyable process, you’ll be dashing by every room in the blink of an eye without even knowing it!
Meu querido companheiro... quanto mais rejogo você, mais me afasto...
Pontos positivos: Level design não-linear, com o jogador podendo abordar aonde quer ir e juntar os itens na ordem que quiser, como uma exploração de verdade, com uma boa distribuição de safe rooms e recursos no mapa.A apresentação das mecânicas básicas uma por uma é muito eficiente, esse trecho antes do primeiro zumbi é excelente pra aprender a usar os controles de tanque.A trilha sonora é a melhor da série, isso juntando com os espaços limiares que mansão apresenta, o jogo é verdadeiramente assustador.O modo extra da versão DC ajuda muito na rejogabilide, já que muitos itens trocam de local, e ângulos das câmeras nos cenários também.A sub-área do dormitório é uma mudança de cenário muito fascinante, já que possui monstros que você nem sonharia, como um tubarão e uma planta alienígena.Hunters e Zumbis são inimigos marcantes e eficientes em serem um problema.Bom gerenciando de local, e bom gerenciamento de inventário.
Pontos negativos: A dublagem é horrível, matando o carisma dos personagens.O enredo não é muito melhor também, esse jogo não tem o aprofundamento que as sequências iriam vir a ter sobre o tema das armas biológicas e os personagens não são desenvolvidos, sem verdade e mentira narrativa, o que torna a reviravolta do Wesker pífia.A navegação pela mansão é um pesadelo, os locais parecem literalmente iguais dentro da mansão, não possuindo detalhamento no background.A ausência do marcador de localização, assim como os que demonstram quais portas estão trancadas, ainda mais com a liberdade que você possui pra navegar aonde quiser, instantâneamente deixa tudo confuso, demandando esforço maior que o jogo quer que você deposite.A maioria dos puzzles é simplesmente HORRÍVEL, eles dependem da exploração, que como já disse, é muito falha! fora a quantidade ridícula de blocos pra empurrar! desde o início até o final! basicamente nenhum dos quebra cabeças exigem lógica verdadeira! O backtracking desse aqui é MUITO ruim, não acontece nada de novo nos lugares que você é obrigado a passar denovo até os Hunters aparecerem, a sessão das cavernas é a prova disso, com o jogador desavisados sendo punido por não advinhar que teria um checkpoint sem caixa de itens.Agora você imagina juntar tudo isso com dificuldade artificial... é isso que a campanha do Chris faz... Você tem que carregar um monte de chavinhas em um inventário de SEIS espaços, que não se acumulam... Pra piorar, Chris não tem a variação de armamento que incentiva o jogador a pensar sobre quais itens quer usar! não ter o lança-granadas, sendo que o lança chamas só pode ser usado em um lugar, parece uma piada de mal gosto.Isso aqui não é um "modo difícil" é um modo limitado! este tipo de configuração a qual agrava os problemas da campanha principal, cortando conteúdo, só piora a obra! Os problemas de envelhecimento técnico se destacam devido a maior quantidade de portas, em que o loading demora ainda mais pra acontecer, os controles de tanque tem sim um grau de imprecisão.Mas o momento que verdadeiramente me quebrou foi o puzzle dos medalhões... exigindo a mecânica de check pela primeira vez no FINAL DO JOGO!
Peguei pesado? poisé, mas apesar dessa quantidade de bullshit, o game ainda é eficiente minimamente em ser sobrevivência e dar medo.Além do mais, o REmake consertou no mínimo 95% deste aqui. Recomendo jogar ele só pra valorizar o a versão de 2002.
Pontos positivos: Level design não-linear, com o jogador podendo abordar aonde quer ir e juntar os itens na ordem que quiser, como uma exploração de verdade, com uma boa distribuição de safe rooms e recursos no mapa.A apresentação das mecânicas básicas uma por uma é muito eficiente, esse trecho antes do primeiro zumbi é excelente pra aprender a usar os controles de tanque.A trilha sonora é a melhor da série, isso juntando com os espaços limiares que mansão apresenta, o jogo é verdadeiramente assustador.O modo extra da versão DC ajuda muito na rejogabilide, já que muitos itens trocam de local, e ângulos das câmeras nos cenários também.A sub-área do dormitório é uma mudança de cenário muito fascinante, já que possui monstros que você nem sonharia, como um tubarão e uma planta alienígena.Hunters e Zumbis são inimigos marcantes e eficientes em serem um problema.Bom gerenciando de local, e bom gerenciamento de inventário.
Pontos negativos: A dublagem é horrível, matando o carisma dos personagens.O enredo não é muito melhor também, esse jogo não tem o aprofundamento que as sequências iriam vir a ter sobre o tema das armas biológicas e os personagens não são desenvolvidos, sem verdade e mentira narrativa, o que torna a reviravolta do Wesker pífia.A navegação pela mansão é um pesadelo, os locais parecem literalmente iguais dentro da mansão, não possuindo detalhamento no background.A ausência do marcador de localização, assim como os que demonstram quais portas estão trancadas, ainda mais com a liberdade que você possui pra navegar aonde quiser, instantâneamente deixa tudo confuso, demandando esforço maior que o jogo quer que você deposite.A maioria dos puzzles é simplesmente HORRÍVEL, eles dependem da exploração, que como já disse, é muito falha! fora a quantidade ridícula de blocos pra empurrar! desde o início até o final! basicamente nenhum dos quebra cabeças exigem lógica verdadeira! O backtracking desse aqui é MUITO ruim, não acontece nada de novo nos lugares que você é obrigado a passar denovo até os Hunters aparecerem, a sessão das cavernas é a prova disso, com o jogador desavisados sendo punido por não advinhar que teria um checkpoint sem caixa de itens.Agora você imagina juntar tudo isso com dificuldade artificial... é isso que a campanha do Chris faz... Você tem que carregar um monte de chavinhas em um inventário de SEIS espaços, que não se acumulam... Pra piorar, Chris não tem a variação de armamento que incentiva o jogador a pensar sobre quais itens quer usar! não ter o lança-granadas, sendo que o lança chamas só pode ser usado em um lugar, parece uma piada de mal gosto.Isso aqui não é um "modo difícil" é um modo limitado! este tipo de configuração a qual agrava os problemas da campanha principal, cortando conteúdo, só piora a obra! Os problemas de envelhecimento técnico se destacam devido a maior quantidade de portas, em que o loading demora ainda mais pra acontecer, os controles de tanque tem sim um grau de imprecisão.Mas o momento que verdadeiramente me quebrou foi o puzzle dos medalhões... exigindo a mecânica de check pela primeira vez no FINAL DO JOGO!
Peguei pesado? poisé, mas apesar dessa quantidade de bullshit, o game ainda é eficiente minimamente em ser sobrevivência e dar medo.Além do mais, o REmake consertou no mínimo 95% deste aqui. Recomendo jogar ele só pra valorizar o a versão de 2002.
Biohazardvania.