Reggie Fils-Aimé famously said “if it’s not fun, why bother” during Nintendo’s E3 2017 showcase. For some, these have become words to die by. An easy phrase to parrot when the individual faces a system they can't come to terms with. Some see it as a harmless way of saying they don't enjoy what they're playing, but I have never appreciated its implications.
If your definition of “fun” equates to anything you like, this quote probably resonates with you. But I've rarely seen the word used that way, and instead, this obsession with fun’s necessity in games seems more damaging than anything.
“Fun” is fast, approachable, and easy to control. An immediate stoking of the attention span, constant engagement, or a light enjoyment lessened in friction. Some see Dark Souls as unfun due to its slow, heavy movement and methodical combat. Dark Souls 3 is “fun” because it's quicker and lighter; you can roll faster, further, and more often. Nothing is wrong with either approach, yet one is sometimes dismissed.
Not everyone defines the term this way, but I’ve seen it used to debase games with an unconventional design. Traditionally “unfun” foundations have a harder time finding their place in communities who won’t acknowledge its worth unless it’s immediately satisfying. I remember this phrase being used during Death Stranding. It was picked apart, labeled as “unfun” because it’s a package delivery walking simulator. Who wants to be a delivery man, right? Even “walking sim” has become dismissive, used to label things as lesser.
Regardless of Reggie’s intention in the full quote, which specifically emphasizes that games are also a journey, even inviting the player to “open their mind,” that snippet has shifted into a rallying cry for people to do anything but. If something must be “fun” to be worthwhile, and that definition of “fun” is remotely limited, it denies ideas that don't fit under a narrow bracket. It is a quote accompanied by frustrating ignorance.
Not everything needs to be fun. Other artforms aren't seen this way, so why are games different? Is it because they're interactive? Is interactivity meaningless without fun? Art is feeling, and there’s no single feeling a work has to evoke to be successful.
Playing Resident Evil reminded me of my stance on this.
It isn't fun. It's claustrophobic, stressful, and frustrating. No encounter, room, boss, or weapon is traditionally “fun.” It's an unforgiving, labyrinthian puzzle; a constant check of resources where memorizing rooms and locations is vital. Even saving the game is limited to a resource, one I often found myself without and had to make huge stretches of progress knowing one mistake could send me back an hour.
Bosses are a cold, calculated check of your mindfulness towards collecting and preserving as much ammo as possible. You enter a boss room, move only a little, and fire everything you have. They die and you move on. You wasted ammo, and that made progressing more difficult. No part of this balance between figuring out the path forward while wasting as few resources as possible was fun, alongside trying to figure out at what point the player should save.
Yet Resident Evil is enormously good and I’m enamored. I've reversed my tune on the Ink Ribbon system after years of avoiding it in other titles in the franchise. The fear that arises from knowing one mistake can ripple; your decision to not save means you're risking everything, or being too frugal by going nearly an hour without a save, brings rise to an unmatched tension.
Games don’t have to be fun to be worthwhile, successful, or good. Art is too complex, and limiting any medium in this way sucks. It’s not something to be afraid of, either. Fun absolutely rules, but I’m tired of people treating it as a necessity. I’m tired of being seen as lesser when expressing love for old, unconventional, or mechanically complex experiences. I’m tired of new things being inherently better because they’re faster, more fluid, and easier to control. No feeling is worthless and games can accomplish anything. Just keep an open mind, experience it, and vibe. Fun isn’t everything.
If you support that quote and think “that's not what fun is, it's just whether or not you like something,” then that's fine. We can disagree. But I’ve seen people use the requirement of “fun” to shit on non-traditional systems before. People shouldn’t be afraid to say something isn’t fun yet still love it. There's so much more to feel :)
If your definition of “fun” equates to anything you like, this quote probably resonates with you. But I've rarely seen the word used that way, and instead, this obsession with fun’s necessity in games seems more damaging than anything.
“Fun” is fast, approachable, and easy to control. An immediate stoking of the attention span, constant engagement, or a light enjoyment lessened in friction. Some see Dark Souls as unfun due to its slow, heavy movement and methodical combat. Dark Souls 3 is “fun” because it's quicker and lighter; you can roll faster, further, and more often. Nothing is wrong with either approach, yet one is sometimes dismissed.
Not everyone defines the term this way, but I’ve seen it used to debase games with an unconventional design. Traditionally “unfun” foundations have a harder time finding their place in communities who won’t acknowledge its worth unless it’s immediately satisfying. I remember this phrase being used during Death Stranding. It was picked apart, labeled as “unfun” because it’s a package delivery walking simulator. Who wants to be a delivery man, right? Even “walking sim” has become dismissive, used to label things as lesser.
Regardless of Reggie’s intention in the full quote, which specifically emphasizes that games are also a journey, even inviting the player to “open their mind,” that snippet has shifted into a rallying cry for people to do anything but. If something must be “fun” to be worthwhile, and that definition of “fun” is remotely limited, it denies ideas that don't fit under a narrow bracket. It is a quote accompanied by frustrating ignorance.
Not everything needs to be fun. Other artforms aren't seen this way, so why are games different? Is it because they're interactive? Is interactivity meaningless without fun? Art is feeling, and there’s no single feeling a work has to evoke to be successful.
Playing Resident Evil reminded me of my stance on this.
It isn't fun. It's claustrophobic, stressful, and frustrating. No encounter, room, boss, or weapon is traditionally “fun.” It's an unforgiving, labyrinthian puzzle; a constant check of resources where memorizing rooms and locations is vital. Even saving the game is limited to a resource, one I often found myself without and had to make huge stretches of progress knowing one mistake could send me back an hour.
Bosses are a cold, calculated check of your mindfulness towards collecting and preserving as much ammo as possible. You enter a boss room, move only a little, and fire everything you have. They die and you move on. You wasted ammo, and that made progressing more difficult. No part of this balance between figuring out the path forward while wasting as few resources as possible was fun, alongside trying to figure out at what point the player should save.
Yet Resident Evil is enormously good and I’m enamored. I've reversed my tune on the Ink Ribbon system after years of avoiding it in other titles in the franchise. The fear that arises from knowing one mistake can ripple; your decision to not save means you're risking everything, or being too frugal by going nearly an hour without a save, brings rise to an unmatched tension.
Games don’t have to be fun to be worthwhile, successful, or good. Art is too complex, and limiting any medium in this way sucks. It’s not something to be afraid of, either. Fun absolutely rules, but I’m tired of people treating it as a necessity. I’m tired of being seen as lesser when expressing love for old, unconventional, or mechanically complex experiences. I’m tired of new things being inherently better because they’re faster, more fluid, and easier to control. No feeling is worthless and games can accomplish anything. Just keep an open mind, experience it, and vibe. Fun isn’t everything.
If you support that quote and think “that's not what fun is, it's just whether or not you like something,” then that's fine. We can disagree. But I’ve seen people use the requirement of “fun” to shit on non-traditional systems before. People shouldn’t be afraid to say something isn’t fun yet still love it. There's so much more to feel :)
I'm a huge fan of Resident Evil '96. I've played it beginning to end at least 6 times at this point, and I don't plan on leaving it behind anytime soon. That being said, I actually never properly sat down to fully complete a run through of it's 2002 remake. If you're familiar with me, you know I have…. choice words about the implications of a remake and how they influence the games industry, but REmake 1 in particular always looked like the one to break the mold of issues MOST remakes have. And I'm glad to say that after playing it, it pretty much did everything I wanted out of the experience and more.
I need to start things off by saying how fucking BEAUTIFUL this game looks. This is a game that looked a generation ahead when it first came out and visually speaking it's still one of the best games out there. The backgrounds are all pre-rendered images, meaning that the game can run higher quality character models over them compared to fully 3D games at the time and it is drop dead gorgeous. The best looking classic RE by a mile, not to discredit the fantastic backgrounds of RE2 or 3 though.
Every single area has been greatly expanded, tons of new puzzles, items, etc. The first mansion visit is still the meatiest and nonlinear part of the game, just like the original, but I do think that the succeeding areas are still given a good upgrade. Pretty underwhelming segments from the original like the shark arena, or the caves for example are a significant improvement here. Also worth mentioning that the new puzzles are probably some of the trickiest in the classic entries, and some are extremely tense too!
The biggest new addition adds to the increased tensity of this remake, that being the crimson heads, transforming one of the weakest enemy types from the original game, the zombie, into a ticking time bomb that is ready to strike once more after you've "killed" it. Would you rather let it rise once more, or waste your precious kerosene to permanently be rid of one…? REmake is a genuinely scary game, the amount of new jumpscares and door opening enemies makes truly any room feel unsafe, you can't always have a breather area anymore. I felt tense my entire playthrough, even shaking a bit in some areas like the caves.
But what is without a doubt the most genius aspect of this game to me, is how it works as a REMAKE. Unlike plenty of other remakes across the years, this one does not fall into any of the common traps that they usually do. It's a full realization of the original artistic vision, it preserves all the prior content while adding ONTO what was there originally to such a natural degree it's hard to believe it wasn't there to begin with. All of the changed puzzles, item placements, and scares also makes this an astounding HORROR game remake, because even veterans of the original game have no idea what to expect, it's like actually so crazy how well this remake really works.
Alongside the 1996 original, REmake has easily placed itself among one of my favorite games of all time. Please play this game, and if you can, play the original too! Because all it does is elevate an already fantastic survival horror experience. It's among Capcom's finest and easily one of the best games I've ever played.
I need to start things off by saying how fucking BEAUTIFUL this game looks. This is a game that looked a generation ahead when it first came out and visually speaking it's still one of the best games out there. The backgrounds are all pre-rendered images, meaning that the game can run higher quality character models over them compared to fully 3D games at the time and it is drop dead gorgeous. The best looking classic RE by a mile, not to discredit the fantastic backgrounds of RE2 or 3 though.
Every single area has been greatly expanded, tons of new puzzles, items, etc. The first mansion visit is still the meatiest and nonlinear part of the game, just like the original, but I do think that the succeeding areas are still given a good upgrade. Pretty underwhelming segments from the original like the shark arena, or the caves for example are a significant improvement here. Also worth mentioning that the new puzzles are probably some of the trickiest in the classic entries, and some are extremely tense too!
The biggest new addition adds to the increased tensity of this remake, that being the crimson heads, transforming one of the weakest enemy types from the original game, the zombie, into a ticking time bomb that is ready to strike once more after you've "killed" it. Would you rather let it rise once more, or waste your precious kerosene to permanently be rid of one…? REmake is a genuinely scary game, the amount of new jumpscares and door opening enemies makes truly any room feel unsafe, you can't always have a breather area anymore. I felt tense my entire playthrough, even shaking a bit in some areas like the caves.
But what is without a doubt the most genius aspect of this game to me, is how it works as a REMAKE. Unlike plenty of other remakes across the years, this one does not fall into any of the common traps that they usually do. It's a full realization of the original artistic vision, it preserves all the prior content while adding ONTO what was there originally to such a natural degree it's hard to believe it wasn't there to begin with. All of the changed puzzles, item placements, and scares also makes this an astounding HORROR game remake, because even veterans of the original game have no idea what to expect, it's like actually so crazy how well this remake really works.
Alongside the 1996 original, REmake has easily placed itself among one of my favorite games of all time. Please play this game, and if you can, play the original too! Because all it does is elevate an already fantastic survival horror experience. It's among Capcom's finest and easily one of the best games I've ever played.
Never before has a game been so thoroughly blown out of the fucking room by its remake than Resident Evil 96. It's kind of a unique case-study on it too.
Resident Evil 2 Remake feels more like a companion piece to RE2, so i'd still recommend someone play both. Metroid 1 wasn't exactly "fun" and felt so prototypical that Zero Mission might as well be an entirely new game. This is the only remake where I'd say, "you don't need to play Resident Evil 96, you just need to play REmake." The clincher? Resident Evil 96 is still REALLY fucking good! That game is easily a 4 1/2 star game!! They took the foundation of a totally kickass game and made it fucking perfect!
Resident Evil 2 Remake feels more like a companion piece to RE2, so i'd still recommend someone play both. Metroid 1 wasn't exactly "fun" and felt so prototypical that Zero Mission might as well be an entirely new game. This is the only remake where I'd say, "you don't need to play Resident Evil 96, you just need to play REmake." The clincher? Resident Evil 96 is still REALLY fucking good! That game is easily a 4 1/2 star game!! They took the foundation of a totally kickass game and made it fucking perfect!
Resident Evil is the most interesting math problem you've ever solved
in Resident Evil not shooting a freak is as interesting a thing to do as shooting a freak, this is what makes it uniquely successful as a survival horror game, despite being about as scary as a Halloween yard ornament
in Resident Evil not shooting a freak is as interesting a thing to do as shooting a freak, this is what makes it uniquely successful as a survival horror game, despite being about as scary as a Halloween yard ornament
About as perfect as a game has any right to be. It takes what made the original amazing and improves every aspect of it. The introduction of Crimson Head zombies makes every room in the mansion scary throughout the entire game. Having expert modes like Invisible Enemy mode is something other survival horror games should have borrowed in the future, it rewards the player for perfecting their strategy to a point of knowing where enemies will be in rooms before they enter. One of the best games ever made, and the best survival horror game ever.
The original Resident Evil is a great game, but it is a little rough around the edges. Although it has aged rather well, a remake was warranted. However, how does one remake Resident Evil, especially after a relatively short period? You hire Shinji Mikami as director, of course. After all, who would know more about Resident Evil than the original's director? Capcom intended for REmake to be a darker, scarier, and overall more realistic interpretation of the original, and I'd say they leaped above and beyond expectations, creating what I'd argue is the best survival horror game of all time.
The plot, originally written by Kenichi Iwao and Yasuyuki Saga, is relatively unchanged, so I won't be going into specific details. If you've played the original, you know what to expect here. The original game had quite a good story, but it was marred by haphazard execution. Said execution is mostly improved here. Plot reveals are set up much better and character motivations are explored in more detail. There is a genuinely interesting mystery here and if you're not familiar with the original you'll find yourself invested. Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield are still somewhat flat protagonists, but it's more than made up for by the supporting cast. Barry Burton, Rebecca Chambers (my favorite), and Albert Wesker are all great additions to the cast and remain memorable over two decades later. The only outright new plot element is Lisa Trevor, and while I will not spoil the mystery surrounding her, she adds to the story's emotional core in an effective way.
While the central narrative involving the STARS members is certainly good, I found the environmental storytelling much more interesting. The bottles of alcohol lining a scientist's bedroom. The swaying zombie corpse hung from the banister. The letter to a lover, pleading her to forgive him. It feels like you've stepped into a world where you don't belong, that you're intruding on the personal lives of everyone who used to be here. It feels like this whole area used to be filled with people, but they all just up and left. It helps to flesh out the world in a masterful way.
Capcom was not simply content with remaking Resident Evil with better graphics and narrative tweaks. Instead, the entire game has been redesigned from a gameplay perspective, forming the ultimate survival horror experience. Not only do you have to struggle with limited health and ammunition, but also kerosene. In REmake, zombies do not die. When defeated, their corpses will reanimate later on as a crimson head, which is faster and stronger than the average shambling husk. To prevent this, the player must burn the corpses using kerosene. However, there isn't much of it, and not every corpse can be burned. In addition to carefully planning which zombies are worth killing, one now has to consider the potential dangers of doing so, which adds yet another layer of strategy to a game already so mechanically complex. The game is also incredibly difficult but in a way that comes off as ridiculously satisfying. When I died, it is because I had poorly planned a run rather than Capcom pulling out some unperceivable trick. You can't take very much damage, and enemies deal a lot, which helps make every encounter terrifying as even the lowliest zombie can end potentially 20 minutes of progress. If you play your cards right, and properly plan for any potential encounters, you will eventually become a survival machine that can handle any encounter, though the game does not lose its difficulty even then. Puzzles are also moderately improved. While they may not be particularly challenging they are creative and are satisfying to complete. They add to the sense that you are not just exploring the Spencer Mansion but slowly unwrapping its layers.
Another thing I enjoy is the playable characters. Unlike most games, where choosing a protagonist tends to only affect the story, there is an inherent gameplay difference between Jill and Chris. Jill may be more of a glass cannon, but she has two extra inventory slots, which goes a long way. Chris on the other hand is a bit tankier, but he is missing two slots and this makes backtracking to safe rooms a more frequent endeavor. Jill also has a lockpick which can be used to open simple locks throughout the mansion. Instead, Chris has to locate a limited number of old keys to open these doors, putting additional strain on your resource management. Chris, needless to say, is the game's hard mode and should be reserved for second playthroughs. Nevertheless, I still find his campaign particularly rewarding and I enjoy how Capcom went out of their way to make sure each character played differently.
REmake is a visual masterpiece. From the art direction down to the technical elements, every single visual element of this game works perfectly within intention. The dark, cobwebbed corridors of the mansion are beautifully rendered via pre-rendered backgrounds, providing significantly more detail than the GameCube's hardware could ever hope to provide in real-time. The backgrounds are impressively dynamic and layered, too. Dynamic lighting bounces off the walls and 3D models pass beneath pre-rendered elements. Even when rendered at 1440p, the effect remains convincing. Character models are detailed and while facial animation isn't mindblowing it's better than a lot of games at the time. Monsters are realized with disgusting fidelity and remain disturbing even today. REmake is probably the best-looking game on the GameCube and reaches levels of realism unparalleled by even other 6th generation visual masterworks like Silent Hill 3.
The soundtrack, rearranged by Shusaku Uchiyama, features the same songs from the original game redone to better fit the tone. Although I don't exactly know if I'd say they're better than the originals, they're more fitting for Mikami's differing vision. It adds to the more realistic atmosphere while still keeping the musical themes that made the original's score so iconic. Which one is overall better will be up to personal taste, but I find REmake's score to be at least on par and a perfect complement to the visuals.
The original game's voice acting is infamous for being hilariously bad, ruining a lot of the tension in cutscenes. Naturally, REmake being a more realistic interpretation of RE1, redubbed the voice lines to be more natural. The voice acting in REmake is still not great, though it is an improvement. There is not a single line of dialog that is nearly as bad as the original's, but it can still be spotty at points. Joe Whyte, Ed Smaron, and Hope Levy do a decent job with their roles despite occasional iffy line delivery. I found that Heidi Anderson-Swan, Jill's actress, was the least convincing with her performance. I wouldn't call her bad necessarily but she could have been cast better. Peter Jessop gives the game's best performance, portraying Wesker as a truly manipulative and evil man. Overall, not bad, but not fantastic either.
The only major criticism I have isn't of the game itself, but rather, the PC port of the HD Remaster. It's a bit of a mess. Firstly, the port is unnecessarily demanding on lower to mid-end hardware, leading to an inconsistent framerate on those machines. Secondly, despite supporting 120 FPS, the game forces your monitor to output in 60 hertz in fullscreen mode, causing screen-tearing. The game also has no borderless fullscreen mode, meaning that when alt-tabbing, the game has to not only defocus the game but also change the refresh rate back to your monitor's default. This is incredibly inconvenient. Some music tracks even play faster than they're supposed to. These issues can all be fixed with relative ease, but shouldn't exist in the first place. Nevertheless, the PC port is the only way you can currently experience this game in 60 FPS or greater, so it's worth it if you're willing to spend 20 minutes downloading some fixes.
Shinji Mikami's Resident Evil Remake is a survival horror masterpiece. Everything that matters in this game is done perfectly. From the atmosphere to game design, to horror, to visuals, it accomplishes it all. It even expands on the story in a meaningful way, which I greatly appreciate. Insanely difficult, incredibly terrifying, and unfathomably gorgeous, REmake is a game everyone needs to play.
The plot, originally written by Kenichi Iwao and Yasuyuki Saga, is relatively unchanged, so I won't be going into specific details. If you've played the original, you know what to expect here. The original game had quite a good story, but it was marred by haphazard execution. Said execution is mostly improved here. Plot reveals are set up much better and character motivations are explored in more detail. There is a genuinely interesting mystery here and if you're not familiar with the original you'll find yourself invested. Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield are still somewhat flat protagonists, but it's more than made up for by the supporting cast. Barry Burton, Rebecca Chambers (my favorite), and Albert Wesker are all great additions to the cast and remain memorable over two decades later. The only outright new plot element is Lisa Trevor, and while I will not spoil the mystery surrounding her, she adds to the story's emotional core in an effective way.
While the central narrative involving the STARS members is certainly good, I found the environmental storytelling much more interesting. The bottles of alcohol lining a scientist's bedroom. The swaying zombie corpse hung from the banister. The letter to a lover, pleading her to forgive him. It feels like you've stepped into a world where you don't belong, that you're intruding on the personal lives of everyone who used to be here. It feels like this whole area used to be filled with people, but they all just up and left. It helps to flesh out the world in a masterful way.
Capcom was not simply content with remaking Resident Evil with better graphics and narrative tweaks. Instead, the entire game has been redesigned from a gameplay perspective, forming the ultimate survival horror experience. Not only do you have to struggle with limited health and ammunition, but also kerosene. In REmake, zombies do not die. When defeated, their corpses will reanimate later on as a crimson head, which is faster and stronger than the average shambling husk. To prevent this, the player must burn the corpses using kerosene. However, there isn't much of it, and not every corpse can be burned. In addition to carefully planning which zombies are worth killing, one now has to consider the potential dangers of doing so, which adds yet another layer of strategy to a game already so mechanically complex. The game is also incredibly difficult but in a way that comes off as ridiculously satisfying. When I died, it is because I had poorly planned a run rather than Capcom pulling out some unperceivable trick. You can't take very much damage, and enemies deal a lot, which helps make every encounter terrifying as even the lowliest zombie can end potentially 20 minutes of progress. If you play your cards right, and properly plan for any potential encounters, you will eventually become a survival machine that can handle any encounter, though the game does not lose its difficulty even then. Puzzles are also moderately improved. While they may not be particularly challenging they are creative and are satisfying to complete. They add to the sense that you are not just exploring the Spencer Mansion but slowly unwrapping its layers.
Another thing I enjoy is the playable characters. Unlike most games, where choosing a protagonist tends to only affect the story, there is an inherent gameplay difference between Jill and Chris. Jill may be more of a glass cannon, but she has two extra inventory slots, which goes a long way. Chris on the other hand is a bit tankier, but he is missing two slots and this makes backtracking to safe rooms a more frequent endeavor. Jill also has a lockpick which can be used to open simple locks throughout the mansion. Instead, Chris has to locate a limited number of old keys to open these doors, putting additional strain on your resource management. Chris, needless to say, is the game's hard mode and should be reserved for second playthroughs. Nevertheless, I still find his campaign particularly rewarding and I enjoy how Capcom went out of their way to make sure each character played differently.
REmake is a visual masterpiece. From the art direction down to the technical elements, every single visual element of this game works perfectly within intention. The dark, cobwebbed corridors of the mansion are beautifully rendered via pre-rendered backgrounds, providing significantly more detail than the GameCube's hardware could ever hope to provide in real-time. The backgrounds are impressively dynamic and layered, too. Dynamic lighting bounces off the walls and 3D models pass beneath pre-rendered elements. Even when rendered at 1440p, the effect remains convincing. Character models are detailed and while facial animation isn't mindblowing it's better than a lot of games at the time. Monsters are realized with disgusting fidelity and remain disturbing even today. REmake is probably the best-looking game on the GameCube and reaches levels of realism unparalleled by even other 6th generation visual masterworks like Silent Hill 3.
The soundtrack, rearranged by Shusaku Uchiyama, features the same songs from the original game redone to better fit the tone. Although I don't exactly know if I'd say they're better than the originals, they're more fitting for Mikami's differing vision. It adds to the more realistic atmosphere while still keeping the musical themes that made the original's score so iconic. Which one is overall better will be up to personal taste, but I find REmake's score to be at least on par and a perfect complement to the visuals.
The original game's voice acting is infamous for being hilariously bad, ruining a lot of the tension in cutscenes. Naturally, REmake being a more realistic interpretation of RE1, redubbed the voice lines to be more natural. The voice acting in REmake is still not great, though it is an improvement. There is not a single line of dialog that is nearly as bad as the original's, but it can still be spotty at points. Joe Whyte, Ed Smaron, and Hope Levy do a decent job with their roles despite occasional iffy line delivery. I found that Heidi Anderson-Swan, Jill's actress, was the least convincing with her performance. I wouldn't call her bad necessarily but she could have been cast better. Peter Jessop gives the game's best performance, portraying Wesker as a truly manipulative and evil man. Overall, not bad, but not fantastic either.
The only major criticism I have isn't of the game itself, but rather, the PC port of the HD Remaster. It's a bit of a mess. Firstly, the port is unnecessarily demanding on lower to mid-end hardware, leading to an inconsistent framerate on those machines. Secondly, despite supporting 120 FPS, the game forces your monitor to output in 60 hertz in fullscreen mode, causing screen-tearing. The game also has no borderless fullscreen mode, meaning that when alt-tabbing, the game has to not only defocus the game but also change the refresh rate back to your monitor's default. This is incredibly inconvenient. Some music tracks even play faster than they're supposed to. These issues can all be fixed with relative ease, but shouldn't exist in the first place. Nevertheless, the PC port is the only way you can currently experience this game in 60 FPS or greater, so it's worth it if you're willing to spend 20 minutes downloading some fixes.
Shinji Mikami's Resident Evil Remake is a survival horror masterpiece. Everything that matters in this game is done perfectly. From the atmosphere to game design, to horror, to visuals, it accomplishes it all. It even expands on the story in a meaningful way, which I greatly appreciate. Insanely difficult, incredibly terrifying, and unfathomably gorgeous, REmake is a game everyone needs to play.
The best remake in existence!
Everything has been updated and improved. The visuals are stunning even today. The Spencer Mansion looks more dilapidated and foreboding than in the previous game. The lighting is beautiful.
The game plays the exact same way, but they have not only remade the game but expanded upon the original design, which works perfectly. Crimson heads still scare me to death.
If you’re unsure where to begin with Resident Evil, I’d always recommend this one first. It’s a good way to ease yourself into the originals.
Everything has been updated and improved. The visuals are stunning even today. The Spencer Mansion looks more dilapidated and foreboding than in the previous game. The lighting is beautiful.
The game plays the exact same way, but they have not only remade the game but expanded upon the original design, which works perfectly. Crimson heads still scare me to death.
If you’re unsure where to begin with Resident Evil, I’d always recommend this one first. It’s a good way to ease yourself into the originals.
horrible backtracking because of too little inventory spaces but I love the atmosphere and progression
also Jill is bad af!
also Jill is bad af!
This is my favorite Resident Evil game by a lot and that's saying a lot because (Classic) Resident Evil is also my favorite series. The graphical and gameplay updates went really far to make what was once a campy game into a genuine horror game with excellent gameplay.
The game that started it all came back, and better then ever.
So here we are, the GameCube remake of Resident Evil. In case you didn't realize, this game is a remake of the 1996 Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn hit, which includes more elaborate graphics, a host of extra locations, and most importantly, a new challenge for even the veterans of the original.
The story is actually a pretty big part of Resident Evil. Strange murders have happened recently near the outskirts of Raccoon City. A special police force called S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics and Rescue Service) Bravo Team is dispatched to investigate, but communications are lost. The Alpha team is sent in as a secondary measure. You play as either Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine from Alpha team as you try figure out what's going on, and eventually escape.
There are some interesting new additions over the original game gameplay wise. Firstly is the addition of defense items (namely a dagger, a stun gun and a flash grenade) that can be used when a zombie grabs your character. They’re extremely useful and add variety to an old-age formula. Secondly, are new puzzles and areas. The new locations and enemies also fit in perfectly, it's an absolute credit to Capcom that so much new content could be included in the game yet blend so seamlessly like it should always have been there.
On the presentation front this game still looks outstanding, even in 2021. Shiny reflective floors, incredibly detailed rooms/environments, very nice animation, and well crafted character models. Now what made the original's audio so memorable was the amount of horrid voice acting. Aside from a couple moments, the newly recorded lines and dialogue are a huge improvement over the original.
The game has a fair amount of content with extras to unlock. You can play through the game as both Chris and Jill which play quite differently, so you'll want to do that to see how their stories differ. There are plenty of unlockables, like cool outfits, new weapons and a few new difficulty modes.
Overall my final thoughts are that Resident Evil has left it's mark on the world with films, series, books and numerous games but to me, this is the best one and every horror fan should have played it.
+ Stunning atmosphere.
+ New content blends perfectly with the original games core.
+ Good replay value.
So here we are, the GameCube remake of Resident Evil. In case you didn't realize, this game is a remake of the 1996 Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn hit, which includes more elaborate graphics, a host of extra locations, and most importantly, a new challenge for even the veterans of the original.
The story is actually a pretty big part of Resident Evil. Strange murders have happened recently near the outskirts of Raccoon City. A special police force called S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics and Rescue Service) Bravo Team is dispatched to investigate, but communications are lost. The Alpha team is sent in as a secondary measure. You play as either Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine from Alpha team as you try figure out what's going on, and eventually escape.
There are some interesting new additions over the original game gameplay wise. Firstly is the addition of defense items (namely a dagger, a stun gun and a flash grenade) that can be used when a zombie grabs your character. They’re extremely useful and add variety to an old-age formula. Secondly, are new puzzles and areas. The new locations and enemies also fit in perfectly, it's an absolute credit to Capcom that so much new content could be included in the game yet blend so seamlessly like it should always have been there.
On the presentation front this game still looks outstanding, even in 2021. Shiny reflective floors, incredibly detailed rooms/environments, very nice animation, and well crafted character models. Now what made the original's audio so memorable was the amount of horrid voice acting. Aside from a couple moments, the newly recorded lines and dialogue are a huge improvement over the original.
The game has a fair amount of content with extras to unlock. You can play through the game as both Chris and Jill which play quite differently, so you'll want to do that to see how their stories differ. There are plenty of unlockables, like cool outfits, new weapons and a few new difficulty modes.
Overall my final thoughts are that Resident Evil has left it's mark on the world with films, series, books and numerous games but to me, this is the best one and every horror fan should have played it.
+ Stunning atmosphere.
+ New content blends perfectly with the original games core.
+ Good replay value.
When I first played RE1 Remake it didn't do much for me. Maybe it was because it wasn't what I expected after RE4, maybe it's the fact that I was unknowingly playing it on easy mode which made the game not as tense as it should've been, but as a whole my first playthrough didn't leave much of an impression on me. But now that I played it with the OG RE1 still fresh in my mind, I think I love this game now.
For the most part, everything I liked about the OG, I like here even more. For starters, the game is more tense than ever thanks to the addition of the Crimson Heads. So, whereas in the original, when you cleared an area of zombies, you were completely safe to go through it, in this game, downed zombies stay there and if they weren't burned or headshotted, then they eventually come back as a Crimson Head. This addition alone makes this the scariest RE game I've played so far since the amount of tension it puts on the player as they walk past downed zombies, never knowing when they'll spring back up is really unnerving. It also adds another welcome layer of decision-making in having to decide which zombies are most worth burning with the finite amount of kerosene at your disposal.
The game changes a lot of things but for the most part, they're all good additions. The puzzles are slightly more interesting here, examining items plays a much bigger role here which is cool since it was underutilized in the OG and zombies can now burst through certain doors which really caught me off guard the first time it happened. Another new addition would be the defensive items like daggers or flash grenades that can help to avoid damage and offer another way of dealing with enemies if you want to conserve ammo. One nitpick I have with them though is that by the endgame, enemies like Crimson Heads and Hunters mostly just swipe at you, instead of grabbing you, so the items just become somewhat useless by the end. Getting them is also way too easy since areas that aren't fully explored are now marked as red on the map and by the endgame, I had about 9 of them saved up in total. My favourite change though, would be to the game's structure. In the OG, after you got the 4 Crests the game basically became a linear set of levels and the areas felt much more isolated. REmake rectifies that since after you clear the guardhouse, the second mansion visit is slightly more non-linear which makes going through it way more fun for me.
Visually the game looks stunning and holds up today, not just graphically, but the cinematography has also seen a big boost. For example, I love the use of canted angles when descending down a flight of stairs, or how in one hallway, you can see the shadows of zombies banging on the windows before they break in. It's minor stuff, but as a film nerd, I can't help but appreciate things like that. The voice-acting is also much better (not that it could've been worse), it's a little wooden and lacks the campy charm of the original but it doesn't murder the atmosphere like in the OG.
My only real problems with the game would be that the bosses still suck and feel unnecessary and I wish Chris' campaign didn't still feel like a worse version of Jill's. He has the lighter on by default now atleast but he still only has 6 item slots and has to use small keys to open drawers so playing as him can often feel tedious with the amount of backtracking that's required. With RE2, 3 and CV all giving characters 8 or more slots I think it would've been better if they did the same for Chris here. Neither of these issues are a huge deal though, the bosses are over in a few seconds and I can always just play as Jill instead of Chris.
But yeah, this is basically everything I could ever want out of a remake and out of a survival horror game and I'm glad it clicked with me on a second playthrough.
For the most part, everything I liked about the OG, I like here even more. For starters, the game is more tense than ever thanks to the addition of the Crimson Heads. So, whereas in the original, when you cleared an area of zombies, you were completely safe to go through it, in this game, downed zombies stay there and if they weren't burned or headshotted, then they eventually come back as a Crimson Head. This addition alone makes this the scariest RE game I've played so far since the amount of tension it puts on the player as they walk past downed zombies, never knowing when they'll spring back up is really unnerving. It also adds another welcome layer of decision-making in having to decide which zombies are most worth burning with the finite amount of kerosene at your disposal.
The game changes a lot of things but for the most part, they're all good additions. The puzzles are slightly more interesting here, examining items plays a much bigger role here which is cool since it was underutilized in the OG and zombies can now burst through certain doors which really caught me off guard the first time it happened. Another new addition would be the defensive items like daggers or flash grenades that can help to avoid damage and offer another way of dealing with enemies if you want to conserve ammo. One nitpick I have with them though is that by the endgame, enemies like Crimson Heads and Hunters mostly just swipe at you, instead of grabbing you, so the items just become somewhat useless by the end. Getting them is also way too easy since areas that aren't fully explored are now marked as red on the map and by the endgame, I had about 9 of them saved up in total. My favourite change though, would be to the game's structure. In the OG, after you got the 4 Crests the game basically became a linear set of levels and the areas felt much more isolated. REmake rectifies that since after you clear the guardhouse, the second mansion visit is slightly more non-linear which makes going through it way more fun for me.
Visually the game looks stunning and holds up today, not just graphically, but the cinematography has also seen a big boost. For example, I love the use of canted angles when descending down a flight of stairs, or how in one hallway, you can see the shadows of zombies banging on the windows before they break in. It's minor stuff, but as a film nerd, I can't help but appreciate things like that. The voice-acting is also much better (not that it could've been worse), it's a little wooden and lacks the campy charm of the original but it doesn't murder the atmosphere like in the OG.
My only real problems with the game would be that the bosses still suck and feel unnecessary and I wish Chris' campaign didn't still feel like a worse version of Jill's. He has the lighter on by default now atleast but he still only has 6 item slots and has to use small keys to open drawers so playing as him can often feel tedious with the amount of backtracking that's required. With RE2, 3 and CV all giving characters 8 or more slots I think it would've been better if they did the same for Chris here. Neither of these issues are a huge deal though, the bosses are over in a few seconds and I can always just play as Jill instead of Chris.
But yeah, this is basically everything I could ever want out of a remake and out of a survival horror game and I'm glad it clicked with me on a second playthrough.
Enter the survival horror. After nearly 20 years, the remake of 1996's Resident Evil is still the finest way to experience the horror classic. The controls are improved, but the gameplay retains that classic, brutal level of punishment at the slightest error.
This is one of the most stressful games ever made, in which one inventory slot can make a difference for an entire playthrough. I can safely say that although some aspects have not aged as brightly as the horror and gameplay, I'm willing to overlook these flaws due to how incredible this experience is.
This is one of the best remakes of all time and still holds up as one of horror's greatest achievements. Can't wait to return to this game in a year's time to be terrorized by my stupid wasting of ammo and scares that are still effective, 20 years later.
This is one of the most stressful games ever made, in which one inventory slot can make a difference for an entire playthrough. I can safely say that although some aspects have not aged as brightly as the horror and gameplay, I'm willing to overlook these flaws due to how incredible this experience is.
This is one of the best remakes of all time and still holds up as one of horror's greatest achievements. Can't wait to return to this game in a year's time to be terrorized by my stupid wasting of ammo and scares that are still effective, 20 years later.
An absolute masterpiece. Every detail, whether through design, gameplay, or story, is so clearly well thought out, it comes together to create the perfect horror game. Resident Evil flourishes on its scary environment without ever relying on the cheapness of jump scares to enforce these vibes. It takes the best aspects of storytelling and gameplay and perfects them to create an absolutely brilliant survival horror game.
The entire game is designed around boosting every element of a video game to best fit the scary environment. It knows that as a horror game you'll be wanting to save as often as you're able, allowing yourself the extra security while walking around the murderous environment. Thus they add in the element of save ribbons; something simple that seems tedious at first but adds incredible thrill as you continue to play. You play the game faster as you're not saving as often in order to save ribbons, in fact it does the unimaginable and gets the player comfortable in not saving. The puzzles throughout are simply perfect. They're simple enough to not cause frustration, but not so braindead they bore the player. Walking the hallways even are a puzzle within themselves, knowing which zombies are more important to focus on burning and avoiding in order to conserve bullets. Every moment of the game involves thinking about your next step, keeping you on your tiptoes from the horror aspect, while also keeping players excited for the next clue in solving the mystery of the mansion. Keeping track of inventory spaces even, becomes a part of the puzzle of your eventual escape.
Talking about the game can't go without mentioning how beautiful it looks. The fact this remaster is on the GameCube looking as gorgeous as it does is shocking. Tank controls allow the camera to cut in cinematic ways, as well as giving the player breathing time between rooms with great shots of the doors in-between, each one personalized to the story. I disagree with complaints of them, as I feel it creates an incredibly artistic atmosphere of mixing both film horror techniques and classic first-person video game ambience.
Overall, Resident Evil is a breathtaking game. An absolute must-play. A classic of video game history.
And most important of all, it looked freaking great on my princess TV.
The entire game is designed around boosting every element of a video game to best fit the scary environment. It knows that as a horror game you'll be wanting to save as often as you're able, allowing yourself the extra security while walking around the murderous environment. Thus they add in the element of save ribbons; something simple that seems tedious at first but adds incredible thrill as you continue to play. You play the game faster as you're not saving as often in order to save ribbons, in fact it does the unimaginable and gets the player comfortable in not saving. The puzzles throughout are simply perfect. They're simple enough to not cause frustration, but not so braindead they bore the player. Walking the hallways even are a puzzle within themselves, knowing which zombies are more important to focus on burning and avoiding in order to conserve bullets. Every moment of the game involves thinking about your next step, keeping you on your tiptoes from the horror aspect, while also keeping players excited for the next clue in solving the mystery of the mansion. Keeping track of inventory spaces even, becomes a part of the puzzle of your eventual escape.
Talking about the game can't go without mentioning how beautiful it looks. The fact this remaster is on the GameCube looking as gorgeous as it does is shocking. Tank controls allow the camera to cut in cinematic ways, as well as giving the player breathing time between rooms with great shots of the doors in-between, each one personalized to the story. I disagree with complaints of them, as I feel it creates an incredibly artistic atmosphere of mixing both film horror techniques and classic first-person video game ambience.
Overall, Resident Evil is a breathtaking game. An absolute must-play. A classic of video game history.
And most important of all, it looked freaking great on my princess TV.
I didn't really know what to expect from my first taste of survival horror, but something that certainly took me by surprise was how strong the throughlines are between this game and Demon's Souls, and by extension the entire Soulslike genre. Resident Evil's limited saves, combined with very finite resources that must be consumed to move throughout the space, produce a play pattern that clearly presages the progress from one bonfire to the next.
In both cases, a save represents a fixed set of resources with which you must try (often repeatedly) to push forward to the next save. RE gives you somewhat more control over when "the next save" comes, but you still have to weigh the risk of getting murked by a zombie against the value of completing one more task and saving your precious ribbons. This risk/reward calculus echoes through every Soulslike where you find yourself running low on estus, carefully determining whether to forge ahead down a new path to find the next bonfire or turn back and try for a better run after you rest up.
In both cases, a save represents a fixed set of resources with which you must try (often repeatedly) to push forward to the next save. RE gives you somewhat more control over when "the next save" comes, but you still have to weigh the risk of getting murked by a zombie against the value of completing one more task and saving your precious ribbons. This risk/reward calculus echoes through every Soulslike where you find yourself running low on estus, carefully determining whether to forge ahead down a new path to find the next bonfire or turn back and try for a better run after you rest up.
I might be the only person around that feels this way but I highly prefer the gamecube release of this game to the HD rereleases because the camera angles are actually static on gamecube, but for the HD rereleased, they zoomed in on the backgrounds and had the camera pan across them as the player moves through them as an approach to widescreen conversion.
Giving the player visual priority in the movement of the frame makes the visual dynamics completely different and changes the whole atmosphere of the game.
When the camera is not panning to match the players movement, the player feels the world and reality around them is not built for them, is outside them, and that they are fighting against a system and world that is hostile to them. When it tracks and pans to their whim, they have more implicit visual agency which severely detracts from that sense of dreamlike isolation, stillness, alienation, and horror.
Also the game just looks fucking amazing on gamecube, easily the best looking game of that generation. I wish there were more prerendered games like this, not even in the horror genre but just more static, cinematic walking-through-frames kinds of games.
Giving the player visual priority in the movement of the frame makes the visual dynamics completely different and changes the whole atmosphere of the game.
When the camera is not panning to match the players movement, the player feels the world and reality around them is not built for them, is outside them, and that they are fighting against a system and world that is hostile to them. When it tracks and pans to their whim, they have more implicit visual agency which severely detracts from that sense of dreamlike isolation, stillness, alienation, and horror.
Also the game just looks fucking amazing on gamecube, easily the best looking game of that generation. I wish there were more prerendered games like this, not even in the horror genre but just more static, cinematic walking-through-frames kinds of games.
re4 is good enough to deserve the rep it got but this deserves it a little more. planning and executing your trajectory through the orbits of the two save rooms is so stressful that it should qualify you for coordinating moon missions
For me, this is the game. The game that changed the way I thought about games, the one that got me writing all these reviews and critiques in the first place. The reason why is because Resident Evil may have the most cohesive design of any game I’ve ever played, with every element focused on creating a compelling survival-horror experience. So, instead of just writing a personally fulfilling, yet ultimately useless love letter, this review is going to be an attempt at laying out the chain of design details that form the core of Resident Evil’s elegance.
The best place to start is probably the movement, with the infamous tank controls being the first hurdle players will have to jump over. Most third person games center their movement on the perspective of the camera, rather than the player character itself, so players don’t have to think about their facing direction and just move where they want. However, this benefit presupposes that the camera position is dynamic rather than fixed, and Resident Evil’s fixed camera is as legendary as the controls themselves. In the tight, claustrophobic halls of the mansion, the viewpoint flips between establishing shots of each area, balancing interesting perspectives with the ability to see hazards clearly. Since the camera can snap to different angles, camera-relative controls would lead to players awkwardly changing direction as they move around each room, something many players were confronted with when the HD version added this sort of control scheme. While there is the occasional awkward camera angle, the enemy design and placement are balanced around the player’s restrictions. Zombies groan to signal their presence, stand still until you’re in view, move slowly, and hold their arms out to indicate attacking range. Not only is this danger zone explicitly defined, but every lunge has an obvious cooldown time that allows for players to step back or run past, communicating to the player that they have the option of circumnavigating zombies instead of taking them on.
It’s not just “run or kill” that is going through players’ heads when they encounter a zombie though, there’s a deceptive amount of decision making that factors into this simple scenario. Players can’t shoot and move at the same time, so as soon as you see an enemy, a mental calculation has to occur on whether it’s safe to engage. Miscalculations could mean having to swap from abundant pistol ammunition to the rarer shotgun shells, or just taking damage. Even a successful kill isn’t the end of the decision making, with zombies turning into ferocious Crimson Heads shortly after being killed, unless they are decapitated or subsequently burned up. This means players have to factor in their proximity to an item box to retrieve the kerosene and lighter, assuming they didn’t already decide to use the shotgun for a headshot. Running back to the item box could lead to more encounters, so a route has to be chosen carefully, and the amount of kerosene itself is limited. Retrieving these items also takes up inventory space, so a judgement call needs to be made on the balance of healing, fighting, and collecting new items. Deciding to just sneak past an enemy has its own perils, carrying a high risk of taking damage in exchange for maintaining your supply cache. This risk only compounds with each traversal through the room, so encountering an enemy might even lead to opening up the map to analyze alternate routes. If you do mess up and get grabbed, you have the choice to use a rare defensive item to prevent the damage, or hold onto it in case of an emergency. If you don’t use it and eat the damage, you have to decide if you even want to heal yourself afterwards, either waiting to get the most value out of a full heal, or being slightly inefficient in exchange for safety and a free item slot. With supplies and key items scattered evenly across the map, having free inventory slots is a key element of strategy in itself, pushing players to take risks with fewer items on hand for the rewards of efficient play. Sometimes the best option is to carry no healing items or no extra ammo, putting you on a nervous edge entirely free from the artificiality of narrative stakes or a subjective sense of atmosphere.
Really though, it’s not just exploring without many items to defend yourself that gives you that nervous edge, it’s everything I’ve listed. Remember, those two whole blocks of detail resulted from explaining why the movement functions the way that it does; every system is so elegantly linked to the others that nothing can be analyzed on its own. All the supply management, the decision making required for each enemy, the tight corridors and cinematic angles, every single part of the game has been tuned to build up a comprehensive horror experience. This perfect design cohesion set on a backdrop of visual polish generations ahead of its time (thanks in part to the prerendering that static camera angles allow for) gives it a level of timelessness few games ever achieve. Even twenty years later, it stands as an achievement in survival horror game design, atmosphere, and how remakes should be handled in general. This is where I feel the temptation to transition into the love letter I was avoiding earlier, so this is probably the best place to wrap up. Everyone should play this to experience what I consider to be a textbook on effective game design. It’s required reading for understanding what makes games great.
The best place to start is probably the movement, with the infamous tank controls being the first hurdle players will have to jump over. Most third person games center their movement on the perspective of the camera, rather than the player character itself, so players don’t have to think about their facing direction and just move where they want. However, this benefit presupposes that the camera position is dynamic rather than fixed, and Resident Evil’s fixed camera is as legendary as the controls themselves. In the tight, claustrophobic halls of the mansion, the viewpoint flips between establishing shots of each area, balancing interesting perspectives with the ability to see hazards clearly. Since the camera can snap to different angles, camera-relative controls would lead to players awkwardly changing direction as they move around each room, something many players were confronted with when the HD version added this sort of control scheme. While there is the occasional awkward camera angle, the enemy design and placement are balanced around the player’s restrictions. Zombies groan to signal their presence, stand still until you’re in view, move slowly, and hold their arms out to indicate attacking range. Not only is this danger zone explicitly defined, but every lunge has an obvious cooldown time that allows for players to step back or run past, communicating to the player that they have the option of circumnavigating zombies instead of taking them on.
It’s not just “run or kill” that is going through players’ heads when they encounter a zombie though, there’s a deceptive amount of decision making that factors into this simple scenario. Players can’t shoot and move at the same time, so as soon as you see an enemy, a mental calculation has to occur on whether it’s safe to engage. Miscalculations could mean having to swap from abundant pistol ammunition to the rarer shotgun shells, or just taking damage. Even a successful kill isn’t the end of the decision making, with zombies turning into ferocious Crimson Heads shortly after being killed, unless they are decapitated or subsequently burned up. This means players have to factor in their proximity to an item box to retrieve the kerosene and lighter, assuming they didn’t already decide to use the shotgun for a headshot. Running back to the item box could lead to more encounters, so a route has to be chosen carefully, and the amount of kerosene itself is limited. Retrieving these items also takes up inventory space, so a judgement call needs to be made on the balance of healing, fighting, and collecting new items. Deciding to just sneak past an enemy has its own perils, carrying a high risk of taking damage in exchange for maintaining your supply cache. This risk only compounds with each traversal through the room, so encountering an enemy might even lead to opening up the map to analyze alternate routes. If you do mess up and get grabbed, you have the choice to use a rare defensive item to prevent the damage, or hold onto it in case of an emergency. If you don’t use it and eat the damage, you have to decide if you even want to heal yourself afterwards, either waiting to get the most value out of a full heal, or being slightly inefficient in exchange for safety and a free item slot. With supplies and key items scattered evenly across the map, having free inventory slots is a key element of strategy in itself, pushing players to take risks with fewer items on hand for the rewards of efficient play. Sometimes the best option is to carry no healing items or no extra ammo, putting you on a nervous edge entirely free from the artificiality of narrative stakes or a subjective sense of atmosphere.
Really though, it’s not just exploring without many items to defend yourself that gives you that nervous edge, it’s everything I’ve listed. Remember, those two whole blocks of detail resulted from explaining why the movement functions the way that it does; every system is so elegantly linked to the others that nothing can be analyzed on its own. All the supply management, the decision making required for each enemy, the tight corridors and cinematic angles, every single part of the game has been tuned to build up a comprehensive horror experience. This perfect design cohesion set on a backdrop of visual polish generations ahead of its time (thanks in part to the prerendering that static camera angles allow for) gives it a level of timelessness few games ever achieve. Even twenty years later, it stands as an achievement in survival horror game design, atmosphere, and how remakes should be handled in general. This is where I feel the temptation to transition into the love letter I was avoiding earlier, so this is probably the best place to wrap up. Everyone should play this to experience what I consider to be a textbook on effective game design. It’s required reading for understanding what makes games great.
The rare and truly, truly special occasion where each and every element works perfectly in tandem to fully realize a game's potential. The gratifyingly punishing mechanics, the terrific sound design, art direction, and camera angles, the grounded yet still interesting puzzles, the ingenious map design leading to a healthy amount of very purposeful backtracking, the slow drip of story clues, and yes, even the control scheme all come together to create not only the pinnacle of survival horror, but perhaps the pinnacle of video games altogether. Every second spent playing Resident Evil (2002) is a second of decision-making, a second of rapidly building anticipation and curiosity, and a second of experiencing an unmatched atmosphere. It's a game that everyone who's at all interested in the medium needs to play, for real.
I am currently listening to the hit Danish song "Move Your Feet" by Junior Senior. Love that song. Did you know that Senior was gay? Good for him. anyway this is basically the greatest horror game ever made
What can be said about REmake that hasn't already been said? This is the pinnacle of classic survival horror. Lush visuals, unmatched atmosphere, and challenging but fair gameplay. Every room, pre-rendered background, and camera angle is expertly crafted to suit the mood and needs of the scene, whether that is building suspense, drawing your eye to a specific location, or offering a reprieve from the horror.
I played the Steam remaster using Jill on the Normal difficulty, with tank controls. I appreciate the option for newer players to go with modern controls, but as far as I am concerned there is no option, tank controls are the way to go.
This is the fifth classic RE game I have played, having previously enjoyed 1, 2, 3, and Code Veronica. At first I was surprised at some of the changes compared to Code Veronica. Jill is a lot heavier and slower than I was used to my main character being. An individual zombie is a legitimate threat, able to take you down in 3-4 bites. If you are grabbed, you will receive a bite, unless you use one of the new defense items. The pistol no longer has any knockback on zombies, meaning you have less room to operate in while taking them down. Once I adjusted to the changes, I came to appreciate them for making this experience feel truly unique among the series. The first RE doesn't actually have that many zombies in it, mostly due to technical limitations at the time. REmake is faithful to the enemy count but has incorporated it into the gameplay design by making each encounter more important and memorable.
The Spencer Mansion is still the greatest setting the series has seen. The story is fun, with the new twists involving Lisa Trevor doing a great job at shaking things up and subverting expectations. The voice acting isn't as cheesy as the original, but it has plenty of charm.
The game has plenty of replayability. The protagonist selection, along with numerous small choices along the way, the multiple endings, the unlockable difficulty settings, costumes, and weapons. It is a complete package. I just finished the game but I am already looking forward to eventually replaying as Chris one day. I am sure this is a game I will come back to many times in my life.
In short, REmake is a masterpiece, and a must play for everyone.
I played the Steam remaster using Jill on the Normal difficulty, with tank controls. I appreciate the option for newer players to go with modern controls, but as far as I am concerned there is no option, tank controls are the way to go.
This is the fifth classic RE game I have played, having previously enjoyed 1, 2, 3, and Code Veronica. At first I was surprised at some of the changes compared to Code Veronica. Jill is a lot heavier and slower than I was used to my main character being. An individual zombie is a legitimate threat, able to take you down in 3-4 bites. If you are grabbed, you will receive a bite, unless you use one of the new defense items. The pistol no longer has any knockback on zombies, meaning you have less room to operate in while taking them down. Once I adjusted to the changes, I came to appreciate them for making this experience feel truly unique among the series. The first RE doesn't actually have that many zombies in it, mostly due to technical limitations at the time. REmake is faithful to the enemy count but has incorporated it into the gameplay design by making each encounter more important and memorable.
The Spencer Mansion is still the greatest setting the series has seen. The story is fun, with the new twists involving Lisa Trevor doing a great job at shaking things up and subverting expectations. The voice acting isn't as cheesy as the original, but it has plenty of charm.
The game has plenty of replayability. The protagonist selection, along with numerous small choices along the way, the multiple endings, the unlockable difficulty settings, costumes, and weapons. It is a complete package. I just finished the game but I am already looking forward to eventually replaying as Chris one day. I am sure this is a game I will come back to many times in my life.
In short, REmake is a masterpiece, and a must play for everyone.
the level design is so fucking fantastic like it is legitimately so tight and amazing idk what else to say about it. the tension, the atmosphere, the b movie but entertaining dialogue and story make for a hell of an experience. the puzzles were also amazing, literally could complete pretty much all of them with enough thought and only had to google a puzzle ONCE. my friend told me that the game was so cryptic and confusing that its frustrating but it was cryptic and confusing in a way where i loved solving the puzzles in a mysterious mansion because the atmosphere compelled me and i felt so smart for solving the puzzles
This is in my opinion the Pinnacle of survival horror.
Excellent remake of arguably the founding father of the genre, perfecting its visuals and presentation and cementing it timeless. REmake thrives on its immaculate level design, top tier atmosphere and interesting mysterious story.
Despite the simple nature of its plot, it still manages to keep the player interested by having: Good cast of characters, great environmental storytelling and mysterious tone of the game.
This is easily the best Remake of all time.
Excellent remake of arguably the founding father of the genre, perfecting its visuals and presentation and cementing it timeless. REmake thrives on its immaculate level design, top tier atmosphere and interesting mysterious story.
Despite the simple nature of its plot, it still manages to keep the player interested by having: Good cast of characters, great environmental storytelling and mysterious tone of the game.
This is easily the best Remake of all time.
I have been on such a survival horror kick lately and after Signalis I think its obvious why I wanted to play this one right after. I kinda played it like a dumbass I think but I still had a way better time with this one than I was expecting to. Hunters are the worst.
This game's visuals hold up incredibly well for a 2002 title. Static camera angles and tank controls are still good; I don't care what anyone says.
"no game is perfect" lmao anyway
It's not even funny how much of a "greatest of all time" material this game is. It is pretty much the perfect survival horror game, and a phenomenal example of how to remake a game.
It expands upon Resident Evil's game design enough to be considered its own thing, rather than just being the original but better, with tons of new paths, details, puzzles, areas, and so much more. It doesn't have the hilarious and absurd B-movie campiness of the original but that's pretty much the point of this remake. The dialogue is still admittedly corny but the cheesiness is kept to a minimum so the developers can focus on what they want to accomplish with this game: a chilling, creepy, hauntingly atmospheric and true survival horror experience.
Visually, my god, it might actually be the most beautiful looking game in the series in my opinion. Seriously, the gorgeous and dynamically crafted pre-rendered backgrounds with fantastic use of lighting really add to the dark and twisted ambience of this mansion, and to the memorability of its design as a whole. Just like in the original, every corner of this mansion is purposeful, every enemy placement is purposeful, every puzzle is purposeful, and the progression can be done in numerous different ways making for an infinitely replayable experience.
Literally what else can I say about this game? It's just one of the greatest video games ever created. Resident Evil 4 might be the definitive best game in the series, but Resident Evil Remake is the definitive survival horror experience. Truly phenomenal stuff!
It expands upon Resident Evil's game design enough to be considered its own thing, rather than just being the original but better, with tons of new paths, details, puzzles, areas, and so much more. It doesn't have the hilarious and absurd B-movie campiness of the original but that's pretty much the point of this remake. The dialogue is still admittedly corny but the cheesiness is kept to a minimum so the developers can focus on what they want to accomplish with this game: a chilling, creepy, hauntingly atmospheric and true survival horror experience.
Visually, my god, it might actually be the most beautiful looking game in the series in my opinion. Seriously, the gorgeous and dynamically crafted pre-rendered backgrounds with fantastic use of lighting really add to the dark and twisted ambience of this mansion, and to the memorability of its design as a whole. Just like in the original, every corner of this mansion is purposeful, every enemy placement is purposeful, every puzzle is purposeful, and the progression can be done in numerous different ways making for an infinitely replayable experience.
Literally what else can I say about this game? It's just one of the greatest video games ever created. Resident Evil 4 might be the definitive best game in the series, but Resident Evil Remake is the definitive survival horror experience. Truly phenomenal stuff!
I played this for the first time on Christmas 2003, and it is just as good now as it was then. An absolute triumph of survival horror.
The pinnacle of survival horror and one of the greatest games ever made. It's been over 20 years and I still love it just as much if not more.
Survival horror gameplay is so satisfying, especially in Resident Evil Remake. When you start out you feel like a mouse trapped in a violent maze. Then you start to learn the map, figure things out, get better and make your way through. Then the replays begin. You go from fumbling your way through to attempting things like harder difficulties, speed runs, no save runs, no hit runs, etc. It is so enjoyable, rewarding and fun. If there was any game I could forget and experience all over again it would probably be this.
Every enemy encounter is meaningful because they don’t go down quickly and you have to consider the risk, limited resources, item management and backtracking. When you approach a zombie or hear one around the corner you need to stop and make a decision. Do I take it out or try to run past? Is there another way to go? How much health and/or ammo do I have? How much health and ammo is back in the item box? When am I going back to the item box? How often am I going to come back here? If I put it down will I come back and burn it so it doesn’t get back up? What do I do if I get hit? Do I have any self defence items? How much progress will I lose if I die? The game allows you to screw yourself and never holds your hand but this makes overcoming it so much sweeter. It is utterly fantastic.
Then on top of this there is enjoyable exploration through creepy, atmospheric environments that you slowly unlock your way further into. With tense action against tough, scary enemies that forces you to stand your ground or run. The weapons hit hard and can produce graphic headshots and you can die just as horrifically. And the puzzles that are just right. Nasty traps, horror, gore and jump scares. This game recipe is f**king exquisite.
The presentation is stellar. The fixed camera angles allow the developers to perfectly frame the whole game to increase the atmosphere, horror and player discomfort, and to highlight or hide things for the player. The visuals and art direction are excellent. The environments are gorgeous and detailed or dirty and gruesome when needed. The mansion is stunning and has so much atmosphere. It is my favourite video game location ever, it’s that good. The character and enemy models are great. The game is getting old now but still looks so good. Of course the audio is top notch too. The music, sound effects and ambient noises are so well done but they also knew when to have restraint and it’s all such a big part of the game's unnerving atmosphere.
I love the characters, story, lore and dialogue too. The history of the mansion, Umbrella and the experiments is fun to dive into and all the notes/diaries/documents are worth reading. Jill, Chris, Barry, Rebecca, Wesker, even poor Richard, I love them all. The famous dialogue is a joy as is the B horror movie vibe.
The only thing I can think of that is wrong is that I wish there was more of it and that we still got games like this regularly. A little bit longer, more options, more unlockables, more variety on further playthroughs. But I’m probably just being greedy, this game is near perfect. The only other issue is that the cave and laboratory areas are not as memorable as the mansion and residence for me.
It improves on everything from the original while staying true to that vision. It doesn’t really throw anything away or remix stuff too much. It just makes it better and the new additions fit in so well it’s like they were always meant to be there.
Go play this now if you've never tried it. I’m serious, I don’t care what your plans are. If you’ve never played Resident Evil Remake, fix that as soon as possible. I’m jealous that you get to experience this for the first time and wish I could again. Give it some time, you will get used to the older gameplay style and find it really works for this type of game. I hope as many people as possible enjoy this. Resident Evil Remake is how remakes should be done and how well games in general should be done.
9.7/10
Survival horror gameplay is so satisfying, especially in Resident Evil Remake. When you start out you feel like a mouse trapped in a violent maze. Then you start to learn the map, figure things out, get better and make your way through. Then the replays begin. You go from fumbling your way through to attempting things like harder difficulties, speed runs, no save runs, no hit runs, etc. It is so enjoyable, rewarding and fun. If there was any game I could forget and experience all over again it would probably be this.
Every enemy encounter is meaningful because they don’t go down quickly and you have to consider the risk, limited resources, item management and backtracking. When you approach a zombie or hear one around the corner you need to stop and make a decision. Do I take it out or try to run past? Is there another way to go? How much health and/or ammo do I have? How much health and ammo is back in the item box? When am I going back to the item box? How often am I going to come back here? If I put it down will I come back and burn it so it doesn’t get back up? What do I do if I get hit? Do I have any self defence items? How much progress will I lose if I die? The game allows you to screw yourself and never holds your hand but this makes overcoming it so much sweeter. It is utterly fantastic.
Then on top of this there is enjoyable exploration through creepy, atmospheric environments that you slowly unlock your way further into. With tense action against tough, scary enemies that forces you to stand your ground or run. The weapons hit hard and can produce graphic headshots and you can die just as horrifically. And the puzzles that are just right. Nasty traps, horror, gore and jump scares. This game recipe is f**king exquisite.
The presentation is stellar. The fixed camera angles allow the developers to perfectly frame the whole game to increase the atmosphere, horror and player discomfort, and to highlight or hide things for the player. The visuals and art direction are excellent. The environments are gorgeous and detailed or dirty and gruesome when needed. The mansion is stunning and has so much atmosphere. It is my favourite video game location ever, it’s that good. The character and enemy models are great. The game is getting old now but still looks so good. Of course the audio is top notch too. The music, sound effects and ambient noises are so well done but they also knew when to have restraint and it’s all such a big part of the game's unnerving atmosphere.
I love the characters, story, lore and dialogue too. The history of the mansion, Umbrella and the experiments is fun to dive into and all the notes/diaries/documents are worth reading. Jill, Chris, Barry, Rebecca, Wesker, even poor Richard, I love them all. The famous dialogue is a joy as is the B horror movie vibe.
The only thing I can think of that is wrong is that I wish there was more of it and that we still got games like this regularly. A little bit longer, more options, more unlockables, more variety on further playthroughs. But I’m probably just being greedy, this game is near perfect. The only other issue is that the cave and laboratory areas are not as memorable as the mansion and residence for me.
It improves on everything from the original while staying true to that vision. It doesn’t really throw anything away or remix stuff too much. It just makes it better and the new additions fit in so well it’s like they were always meant to be there.
Go play this now if you've never tried it. I’m serious, I don’t care what your plans are. If you’ve never played Resident Evil Remake, fix that as soon as possible. I’m jealous that you get to experience this for the first time and wish I could again. Give it some time, you will get used to the older gameplay style and find it really works for this type of game. I hope as many people as possible enjoy this. Resident Evil Remake is how remakes should be done and how well games in general should be done.
9.7/10
I’ve considered myself a fan of the Resident Evil franchise for a few years now and to say that I was ecstatic to have finally played the seminal classic that started it all would be a seismic understatement. Put bluntly? This remake fucking rules. It completely executes everything that it sets out to accomplish and it does so with aplomb, creating an incredibly immersive, deep, atmospheric survival horror experience that had me thoroughly enthralled from beginning to end. Couple that with a solid story that presents you with just enough intrigue to keep you engaged and gameplay that honestly hasn’t aged all that much. If anything i’d argue that the tank controls and the fixed camera system are only a boon to the tone that this game is going for rather than detrimental flaws that detract from it. From the expertly crafted and intrinsically connected level design, the deeply rewarding exploration loop, the puzzles that are simple, well designed, and immensely satisfying to solve, to the beautifully haunting soundtrack from the musical genius Masami Ueda which adds a ton of emotional resonance to the game. It’s all so deftly handled. Add to that the tight inventory mechanics, the resource and item management, coupled with the punishingly limited checkpoints, the frequent sprinkling of frantic combat encounters and set pieces, and you’ve got yourself one hell of a scorching powder keg, making for moment to moment gameplay scenarios that are both palpably intense and positively thrilling. The only aspect of this game that I’m not totally crazy about are the frequent door loading screens. They are incredibly archaic and they have a tendency to bring down the game’s otherwise flawless pacing to a languid halt at points. I also found the boss fights to be somewhat lacking (the final one is especially disappointing when you consider the build up prior to it) despite them being consistently enjoyable to play through. Otherwise though? Resident Evil is pretty much pitch perfect and it’s every bit the unassailable masterpiece that it has been hyped up to be.