"You have once again entered the world of survival horror… good luck!”
Horror has never been my forte. As someone who grew up with heavy restrictions on what media I could access, horror content has always been a roadblock for me. The gore, the heavy themes it may cover, or the general anxiety trip it may give a viewer, it always turned me away. That being said, over the years I had always heard about the fabled “Resident Evil”... a revolutionary survival horror franchise that has shaped the medium many times. Despite my fears and anxieties, something about those first four games drew my attention. In 2021 I booted up my DS emulator to play Resident Evil: Deadly Silence, an amazing port of the 1996 classic. It won me over.
The gist of the game is this: You’re an elite police squad tasked with finding survivors of a rumored incident in the Arklay Mountains. However, you and your team are tracked down by terrible dog-like creatures and driven into an abandoned mansion. Your mission? Find the whereabouts of the B.R.A.V.O team, and most importantly, survive. The rest of the story is rather subtly told through optional documents you can find scattered throughout the mansion, adding hints and context to what exactly happened in this place. It adds an uneasy atmosphere as you put the pieces of the puzzle together. Occasionally, you’ll have a cutscene interacting with one of your teammates (either Rebecca or Barry depending on who you play as). I really like this story. It’s very simple across the board, but the way it’s all connected gives so much intrigue to the average player. What are these creatures? Where do they come from? What exactly is happening in this mansion? These questions fill your head as you reluctantly open another door in the mansion, pursuing a way out of this hellish place.
Resident Evil, while a game that visually doesn’t hold up, still manages to keep an amazing atmosphere by making the player uncomfortable. The dated and low budget graphics give an uncanny feel to the visuals, always making me feel uneasy even on repeat playthroughs. There’s something about the barrenness, the lack of detail, the fear of the unknown that makes me feel this way. It’s something only enhanced by it’s inherent datedness. The save rooms have an immaculate atmosphere to them. The relaxing yet melancholy tune rings in the background while you sort out your inventory and plan out where and how you want to approach your next destination. The sequel to this game, Resident Evil 2 is one of my favorite video games of all time from a visual standpoint, but Resident Evil’s lack of production value in terms of presentation is why I love its graphics so much.
This is mixed with the unbearably awful voice acting. I don’t think I even have to elaborate on this, but yes, Resident Evil’s voice acting is atrocious. The script was already bad enough but the deliveries of LITERALLY every line feels awkward or wooden in some capacity, it’s hilarious. But in a way, it really fits the b-movie horror kind of vibe the game has. There’s the anxiety of the horror and action mixed with the inherent campiness of the writing and performances. I could go on for hours on why I love this garbage so much honestly.
And of course, there’s the gameplay. At the time of this writing I am on my SIXTH playthrough of this game, the first four times on DS, a fifth on PS1 (True Director’s Cut), and my unfinished sixth playthrough also on PS1. Resident Evil isn’t a very long game, nor a hard one… after your first playthrough. The first time I played the game I performed so poorly and took FOREVER to finish it, but I did a revisit playthrough the following October and it was so, so fun. Once you start to learn item/enemy placement, optimal routing, puzzle solutions, etc you get to absolutely DASH through the game which I find so fun. I even did a no ink ribbon playthrough as Jill under three hours which gave me the infinite rocket launcher just for the heck of it LMAO. Finding that ammo you so desperately needed, a herb to refill your health, clearing out a room of enemies normally tricky to maneuver, it gives me a similar feeling to Symphony of The Night where it’s just so satisfying.
I get that the gameplay isn’t for everyone, and that’s ok. Survival Horror is a genre with very limited appeal, it just so happened to captivate me out of the gate. But I implore you, if you have interest in this game or series? Try it. Please. I put aside my initial skepticism and anxieties aside to experience this, and now it’s one of my favorite games of all time. I know this is probably a really incoherent or weird review, and that’s fine. I replayed this game twice because it’s October lol, and I plan to do so every succeeding year.
Reddish /06/ True Director's Cut