The 2002 remake of Resident Evil was my introduction to the series and the survival horror genre. Incredible game, one of those special titles that the moment you finish it you know you want more, so you start looking into other games in the series just to keep the high going. I didn't have a Playstation or PS2 at the time, and Resident Evil 2 and *3 wouldn't get ported to the Gamecube for a couple years, so my options were pretty limited. I did, however, have a Dreamcast...

This game has taken me almost 20 years to beat.

My first experience with Code Veronica wasn't a great one. While I had REmake under my belt, I was still not used to all the series idiosyncrasies yet. Comparatively, it is a much harder game, one where you can more easily back yourself into a corner with poor resource management. I botched two runs before putting the disc away. I had lost the high.

Years later, I gave the game another shot using the NullDC emulator. I was more experienced with the series and pretty confident I could actually beat it this time, and as I was mopping the floor with the final boss of disc 1, I found that for the first time I was actually having fun with Code Veronica. Of course, anyone who has tried to play this game on NullDC already knows how this story ends: a fun little bug prevents you from loading the second disc. With several hours of progress effectively meaning nothing, I stepped away from the game for a second time.

A few years ago I decided to make one final attempt at playing this game, this bastard, this white whale. And this time it was going to be different. This time I was using Dolphin and emulating the Gamecube version, god damnit. I ran through disc 1 no problem. Disc 2 was all uncharted territory, but I pushed ahead, inching closer and closer to that final battle against Wesker that had been teased well over a decade ago. And then, finally, I did it. The credits rolled and I was able to check Code Veronica off my list.

Aaaand... it's s'alright.

As far as "classic Resident Evil" goes, it's probably the weakest. Code Veronica is very by-the-numbers, both capable of satisfying that survival horror itch in a pinch but being so uninspired that I'm a lot less likely to revisit it compared to 2 or Nemesis. The story is a culmination of several plot threads woven through previous games, but it just feels tired. Claire spends much of her story babysitting manbaby and perennial whiner Steve Burnside and trying to escape Alfred Ashford's zombie infested island. These are easily two of the worst characters this series has ever produced. Alfred is a whole can of worms I don't want to get into, and while I have a certain affection for bad voice acting in video games, William Houston's portrayal of Steve is downright rancid. Things at least pick up in the second disc once Chris and Wesker arrive, but by that point a little fanservice is like finding an oasis in the desert.

Code Veronica is at its best when you're just focusing on solving its many puzzles and shooting zombies, and even then it's nowhere near as tight of an experience as REmake, which didn't come out that long after. Progression sometimes feels sloppy, even a little archaic, but it's fine for what it is. It's just MORE Resident Evil*, and I enjoy that, but it's also the series equivalent of running the last mile of a marathon, exhausted and desperate to be done.

Was this game worth spending almost 20 years trying to beat? No, probably not.

I have no follow up to that statement.