Your first experience with a genre or a franchise should be something memorable and something that makes a good impression, and surprisingly this game has left a very good impression on me. Sure, Resident Evil may be a bit of a clunky game, but I think even with that I've been able to appreciate the good things this game has going for it.
First of all, the atmosphere is eminent and without a doubt the game's strongest point. Exploring a lonely mansion with a bunch of strange and gloomy rooms and places is something that somehow evokes comfort, but at the same time a certain unsettling feeling because of the fact that there can or could always be a zombie or a monster lurking around, or because there are nasty things scattered around. Somehow it manages to become a very familiar place that invites you to explore it and unravel the mystery that engulfs it.
Doing puzzles and collecting items is something you'll do quite often, and I like how the mansion opens up little by little and how it makes you revisit previous locations in order to make your way to new paths or because you simply forgot where you were going. Certainly in the long run it becomes a bit tedious, because the progression is a bit slow, especially considering that many doors are locked by keys and that the space in our inventory is very limited and you have to choose carefully what objects you want to carry, because although in the save points you can access a chest that can store virtually all objects, Our character can only carry 6 at a time and maybe some of them could be useful, or on the other hand, carrying too many objects could be counterproductive because you will not be able to carry with you all the new objects that you discover, so sometimes you will have to go back and turn around a lot. Also the fact that the amount of times you can save game is limited is a bit irritating, as you never know when it's the right time or when you're using this precious resource in vain. Anyway, as clunky and annoying as all of the above may seem, it turns out to be something that enhances the experience, as everything is designed this way on purpose to create tension, and that combined with the atmosphere, makes Resident Evil able to suck you in and transport you into its world in an extraordinary way.
The music gives a depressing and gloomy tone to the lifeless rooms that could have been the tomb of an unfortunate scientist. This game features prerendered scenarios, and the camera angles contribute a lot to that feeling of uncertainty. The files contain interesting information that although sometimes have a bit of a "goofy" tone they still give a bit of depth to everything that is going on and makes you more interested in their universe and what is really going on. Even though the story can be a bit of a joke because of those voice performances, in a way it also has its charm and for the time it was a type of plot that had possibly been seen very few times in a video game.
Conclusion
Resident Evil is very rudimentary and arguably unpolished and unrefined, but it is one of those experiences that you should play at least once in your life because of how unique and different they are and to understand why they were important. It is not a pleasant game to play, but I think that's what makes it special, it is that kind of cases where the game may not be relatively good today for its gameplay, but that is why as an experience it is able to stay in your mind as a good pleasant memory, which in my case, I do not regret having played.
Additional comments regarding the review:
- I played this game with a restoration patch that removes the censorship from the cinematics and replaces the soundtrack with the original.
- I played this game only in Chris mode.
First of all, the atmosphere is eminent and without a doubt the game's strongest point. Exploring a lonely mansion with a bunch of strange and gloomy rooms and places is something that somehow evokes comfort, but at the same time a certain unsettling feeling because of the fact that there can or could always be a zombie or a monster lurking around, or because there are nasty things scattered around. Somehow it manages to become a very familiar place that invites you to explore it and unravel the mystery that engulfs it.
Doing puzzles and collecting items is something you'll do quite often, and I like how the mansion opens up little by little and how it makes you revisit previous locations in order to make your way to new paths or because you simply forgot where you were going. Certainly in the long run it becomes a bit tedious, because the progression is a bit slow, especially considering that many doors are locked by keys and that the space in our inventory is very limited and you have to choose carefully what objects you want to carry, because although in the save points you can access a chest that can store virtually all objects, Our character can only carry 6 at a time and maybe some of them could be useful, or on the other hand, carrying too many objects could be counterproductive because you will not be able to carry with you all the new objects that you discover, so sometimes you will have to go back and turn around a lot. Also the fact that the amount of times you can save game is limited is a bit irritating, as you never know when it's the right time or when you're using this precious resource in vain. Anyway, as clunky and annoying as all of the above may seem, it turns out to be something that enhances the experience, as everything is designed this way on purpose to create tension, and that combined with the atmosphere, makes Resident Evil able to suck you in and transport you into its world in an extraordinary way.
The music gives a depressing and gloomy tone to the lifeless rooms that could have been the tomb of an unfortunate scientist. This game features prerendered scenarios, and the camera angles contribute a lot to that feeling of uncertainty. The files contain interesting information that although sometimes have a bit of a "goofy" tone they still give a bit of depth to everything that is going on and makes you more interested in their universe and what is really going on. Even though the story can be a bit of a joke because of those voice performances, in a way it also has its charm and for the time it was a type of plot that had possibly been seen very few times in a video game.
Conclusion
Resident Evil is very rudimentary and arguably unpolished and unrefined, but it is one of those experiences that you should play at least once in your life because of how unique and different they are and to understand why they were important. It is not a pleasant game to play, but I think that's what makes it special, it is that kind of cases where the game may not be relatively good today for its gameplay, but that is why as an experience it is able to stay in your mind as a good pleasant memory, which in my case, I do not regret having played.
Additional comments regarding the review:
- I played this game with a restoration patch that removes the censorship from the cinematics and replaces the soundtrack with the original.
- I played this game only in Chris mode.
6 Comments
This comment was deleted
@Spinnerweb - I grew up playing this and going back to it I know it so well now including it's amazing remake that speed running it is indeed super fun.
Maurith - Great review, I've been reading through a lot of yours this morning and you put real effort into them. It's always great to see someone coming into the original game fresh, I think you'll like RE2 a bit more than the original but if you do play it you need to play through it twice as both Leon and Claire :)
Maurith - Great review, I've been reading through a lot of yours this morning and you put real effort into them. It's always great to see someone coming into the original game fresh, I think you'll like RE2 a bit more than the original but if you do play it you need to play through it twice as both Leon and Claire :)
Hey, thanks a lot @FallenGrace, sure, I plan to play RE2 through its 2 routes, despite the fact that in my review I seem somewhat dismissive of the game, the truth is that it's a game I really enjoyed and think about constantly to such an extent that I'm very interested in discovering the rest of the franchise. However, at the moment I find myself playing other games, so it will take me a while to get to that point.
I really appreciate you taking the time to read some of my reviews, you've made my day.
I really appreciate you taking the time to read some of my reviews, you've made my day.
@spinnerweb actually true, I enjoyed re1 remake more when I replayed it right after my first playthrough just cuz i knew what to do
Your comments make it tempting to revisit this game, although to tell the truth, the feeling of being lost and not knowing what awaits in the next room also contributes to the magic of the game
I totally understand. There are so many games I always intend to get to in the backlog but never do.
Spinnerweb
8 months ago
Shame I can't experience them for the first time again, as that's a proper long-form experience on its own, never to be replicated. And as we grow old, there are fewer games we are inclined to play through again when there are so many new ones.