After absolutely despising Silent Hill 2, I was somewhat reluctant to play the first Resident Evil game, worried that a lot of my issues with Silent Hill 2 were reflective of the early “old school” survival horror games, especially the game that practically created the genre entirely. And while I do have…a plethora of issues with it I’m happy to report that my experience with the first Resident Evil game (well, the remake of the first one anyway) was a relatively decent one.
I absolutely adore the atmosphere and the setting, the decrepit mansion is super eerie and to my surprise the fixed camera actually works in building tension and doesn’t actually detract from the experience or become an annoyance (looking at you DMC1), since the areas you traverse through are tight and claustrophobic, the area that’s often up ahead is often obscured and it can be kind of nerve wracking not knowing what’s beyond your line of sight or around a corner knowing you can’t easily maneuver around anything. The enemies are also actually a legitimate threat, coming in great varieties and because typical zombies come back as crimsonheads, returning to areas you’ve already been can be kind of uneasy as you might come across an aggressive enemy you’ve previously downed, and you might not be in the condition nor have the resources available to contend with it. A lot of the puzzles you solve are legitimately satisfying or at worst are just kind of there, no matter what though you constantly feel like you’re actually contributing or working your way towards something instead of running around aimlessly doing meaningless busywork just to get to the end of a section…at least, most of the time…
Yeah I think it’s time to talk about the backtracking. This game makes you backtrack A LOT (yes I played as Chris, I wasn’t aware he was the “hard mode”) due to the pitiful inventory space. Oftentimes you have 3-4 key items stashed away alongside maybe like 2 weapons and you can’t even pick up a key or extra ammo because your inventory is full, you can’t even drop or swap items, you just need to haul it all the way back to an item box to make space, super tedious. Maybe this isn’t an issue to the experienced RE1 veteran but for me doing a completely blind playthrough for the very first time it was a slog. The tank controls also suck. I only stuck with them because it was the “intended way to experience the vision of the original” and while I did eventually get used to them, they never heightened tension at all, they were just an annoying hinderance, especially when you need to solve puzzles revolving pushing stuff into certain holes and trying to do it with tank controls made me want to pull my hair out in frustration. If I ever return to this game, I’m sticking with the new control scheme from now on. The boss fights also suck unfortunately. Thankfully there aren’t many in the game at all but the ones that are there are either frustrating or incredibly anticlimactic. Also good lord having to sit there and watch an FMV of a 3D door model opening every single time you entered a new area was ridiculous. Cute for a couple of minutes, obnoxious every other instance. You can’t even skip these unless I’m mistaken
Overall though while I’m mostly conflicted with this game I’m willing to put my thoughts into the more positive end of the spectrum, and I can’t wait to start playing through the rest of the series
I absolutely adore the atmosphere and the setting, the decrepit mansion is super eerie and to my surprise the fixed camera actually works in building tension and doesn’t actually detract from the experience or become an annoyance (looking at you DMC1), since the areas you traverse through are tight and claustrophobic, the area that’s often up ahead is often obscured and it can be kind of nerve wracking not knowing what’s beyond your line of sight or around a corner knowing you can’t easily maneuver around anything. The enemies are also actually a legitimate threat, coming in great varieties and because typical zombies come back as crimsonheads, returning to areas you’ve already been can be kind of uneasy as you might come across an aggressive enemy you’ve previously downed, and you might not be in the condition nor have the resources available to contend with it. A lot of the puzzles you solve are legitimately satisfying or at worst are just kind of there, no matter what though you constantly feel like you’re actually contributing or working your way towards something instead of running around aimlessly doing meaningless busywork just to get to the end of a section…at least, most of the time…
Yeah I think it’s time to talk about the backtracking. This game makes you backtrack A LOT (yes I played as Chris, I wasn’t aware he was the “hard mode”) due to the pitiful inventory space. Oftentimes you have 3-4 key items stashed away alongside maybe like 2 weapons and you can’t even pick up a key or extra ammo because your inventory is full, you can’t even drop or swap items, you just need to haul it all the way back to an item box to make space, super tedious. Maybe this isn’t an issue to the experienced RE1 veteran but for me doing a completely blind playthrough for the very first time it was a slog. The tank controls also suck. I only stuck with them because it was the “intended way to experience the vision of the original” and while I did eventually get used to them, they never heightened tension at all, they were just an annoying hinderance, especially when you need to solve puzzles revolving pushing stuff into certain holes and trying to do it with tank controls made me want to pull my hair out in frustration. If I ever return to this game, I’m sticking with the new control scheme from now on. The boss fights also suck unfortunately. Thankfully there aren’t many in the game at all but the ones that are there are either frustrating or incredibly anticlimactic. Also good lord having to sit there and watch an FMV of a 3D door model opening every single time you entered a new area was ridiculous. Cute for a couple of minutes, obnoxious every other instance. You can’t even skip these unless I’m mistaken
Overall though while I’m mostly conflicted with this game I’m willing to put my thoughts into the more positive end of the spectrum, and I can’t wait to start playing through the rest of the series
13 Comments
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I think that's a misconception about tank controls. There main purpose wasn't to make the game scary (Although I guess that was just a nice coincidence) but to allow you to navigate the constantly moving cameras more fluently. Playing with the new controls makes navigating the constantly moving cameras very awkward.
>"I was somewhat reluctant to play the first Resident Evil game"
>plays the eighth one
... really.....
>plays the eighth one
... really.....
Also, tank controls are there because of the camera system, not because of any attempt to "Heighten the scares". Traditional 3D controls don't work with fixed cameras, as shown by Silent Hill Origins.
"(yes I played as Chris, I wasn’t aware he was the “hard mode”)"
Well, you fucked up. Jill doesn't have to do as much backtracking and she gets the shotgun easier, but Chris can deal with body cremation faster. Chris should NEVER be your first RE experience, you basically ruined your own pace.
By the way, when using the new layout you make the game pancake easy.
Well, you fucked up. Jill doesn't have to do as much backtracking and she gets the shotgun easier, but Chris can deal with body cremation faster. Chris should NEVER be your first RE experience, you basically ruined your own pace.
By the way, when using the new layout you make the game pancake easy.
The actual way of playing RE1 and REmake is to play Jill, so you learn the basic mansion innards beforehand, then you tackle Chris with a better grasp of the backtracking element.
">plays the eighth one"
I meeeeean, it's an incredibly faithful remake of the first game so I don't really see any issue starting off with it especially considering it completely obliterates the original in terms of looks and atmosphere
I meeeeean, it's an incredibly faithful remake of the first game so I don't really see any issue starting off with it especially considering it completely obliterates the original in terms of looks and atmosphere
also I had like, literally no clue I wasn't supposed to pick Chris. There's no indication that his scenario would be harder right out the gate
@LoneSpeedsterDX yeah.
weirdly enough the ORIGINAL RE1 (Japan only in the case of '96 RE1) labels Jill as "EASY" and Chris as "HARD".
no idea why that wasn't in remake.
weirdly enough the ORIGINAL RE1 (Japan only in the case of '96 RE1) labels Jill as "EASY" and Chris as "HARD".
no idea why that wasn't in remake.
@LoneSpeedsterDX I wouldn't call the remake wholly faithful, considering it and the original have completely different design philosophies in how you're expected to play the game (you can tell as much from how fast the characters walk, run, and ready items, with REmake being a lot slower and RE1 being incredibly snappy (not even limitations of the hardware by the way, look no further than Silent Hill or RE2 and 3's health systems)).
And it will create issues if you ever decide to go back to the seven games that preceded REmake. I took a cursory glance at your RE2 review and you talk about how it feels like more of the same, when RE2 in fact coined a lot of mechanics REmake would later use. In fact, taking the series in production order shows REmake as several steps down from what CVX was attempting two years prior, removing the 3D backgrounds, dynamic camera angles, and various smaller mechanics.
I feel saying "graphically it blows the original out of the water" is a misnomer, as visually, the two strive for completely different ideals. RE1's striking bright colours make the mansion feel even more odd, especially when clashed against the more drab Guardhouse and Lab areas. In REmake, it's like a haunted house, lit by candles and everything. Even the in game character models show this, RE1's being colour coded; Chris-MilitaryGreen, Jill-Blue, Barry-Red, Rebecca-White, Wesker-Black. In REmake, this colour coding is toned down to make the game feel more drab, I'd honestly say the two are incomparable beyond how they play off each other.
Also, it doesn't matter who you choose first. In the original RE1, Jill is explicitly meant to help guide players through the game, whereas with REmake, the two are far more balanced (i.e., the two scenarios play identically instead of almost completely differently).
And it will create issues if you ever decide to go back to the seven games that preceded REmake. I took a cursory glance at your RE2 review and you talk about how it feels like more of the same, when RE2 in fact coined a lot of mechanics REmake would later use. In fact, taking the series in production order shows REmake as several steps down from what CVX was attempting two years prior, removing the 3D backgrounds, dynamic camera angles, and various smaller mechanics.
I feel saying "graphically it blows the original out of the water" is a misnomer, as visually, the two strive for completely different ideals. RE1's striking bright colours make the mansion feel even more odd, especially when clashed against the more drab Guardhouse and Lab areas. In REmake, it's like a haunted house, lit by candles and everything. Even the in game character models show this, RE1's being colour coded; Chris-MilitaryGreen, Jill-Blue, Barry-Red, Rebecca-White, Wesker-Black. In REmake, this colour coding is toned down to make the game feel more drab, I'd honestly say the two are incomparable beyond how they play off each other.
Also, it doesn't matter who you choose first. In the original RE1, Jill is explicitly meant to help guide players through the game, whereas with REmake, the two are far more balanced (i.e., the two scenarios play identically instead of almost completely differently).
^I disagree. I always felt Chris went slower than Jill just because of having less inventory space and using the lockpick. Offcourse you can play it minmaxing your actions, but as a first timer I did the exact same mistake of playing as Chris and felt on my ass. Jill was a wholly different scenario.
I do agree with everything else, with minor grips. I always thought REMake was more faithful to the "haunted house" theme stripped from Sweet Home, and you do get it right when talking how oddball RE1 feels in comparison. To me (and I guess I didn't reflect that in my own review) RE1 always felt strangely alien and fuzzy, while REMake was actually scary and offputting, especially when you discover crimsonheads the bad way. I feared the next encounters after the first one. They are comparable to me but just from an observant point of view, never to put one above the other. We can't argue it isn't gorgeous though, while RE1 was always a smelly grindhouse.
We can disagree on the 3D/camera downgrade thing, but you're already a well known Code Veronica fan, so we definitely aren't equal from the get go. Which is fine, don't think the contrary.
I do agree with everything else, with minor grips. I always thought REMake was more faithful to the "haunted house" theme stripped from Sweet Home, and you do get it right when talking how oddball RE1 feels in comparison. To me (and I guess I didn't reflect that in my own review) RE1 always felt strangely alien and fuzzy, while REMake was actually scary and offputting, especially when you discover crimsonheads the bad way. I feared the next encounters after the first one. They are comparable to me but just from an observant point of view, never to put one above the other. We can't argue it isn't gorgeous though, while RE1 was always a smelly grindhouse.
We can disagree on the 3D/camera downgrade thing, but you're already a well known Code Veronica fan, so we definitely aren't equal from the get go. Which is fine, don't think the contrary.
Anyway, I still think the guy fucked up when using Chris as his very first classic RE adventure.
Reddish
2 years ago