Resident Evil Code: Veronica (2000)

This RE entry is a standout in the series, blending classic survival horror with a deeper narrative and improved 3D graphics over its predecessors. The MC is Claire Redfield and later Chris, exploring eerie environments filled with puzzles, limited resources, and terrifying creatures. The game’s atmosphere is tense and immersive, and its cinematic cutscenes add emotional depth. While the controls and camera angles feel dated by modern standards, the compelling story and challenging gameplay make it a memorable experience for fans of the genre.

This is one of my favorite RE titles, it is the perfect evolution of the formula of the PlayStation 1 era, while at the same time, it is very close to what the games did back then. Not that it needed much improvement at the time, but the visuals made the experience much more enjoyable, not to mention that having better visuals helps a lot inn the horror genre. This is definitely one of the best games of the PlayStation 2 platform, and a must-play for RE fans.

One of the strongest aspects of this entry is its ambitious storytelling, which pushes the series forward in meaningful ways. The game delves deeper into the Redfield siblings’ backstory and expands the overarching Umbrella narrative, introducing memorable antagonists and more personal stakes than earlier entries. Its tone is darker and more dramatic, with themes of obsession, family, and loss that linger well beyond the credits. This narrative focus helps the game stand out not just as a horror title, but as a key chapter in the Resident Evil timeline.

As for the gameplay, this game retains the methodical pacing that defines classic survival horror, rewarding careful exploration and smart resource management. There is no real big changes from the previous PlayStation 1 entries on this regard. The puzzles are more involved and often require attention to detail, encouraging you to truly engage with the environments rather than rush through them. Although some design choices can feel punishing, they also reinforce the constant tension and sense of vulnerability. Overall, the game represents a high point of classic RE design, bridging the gap between the old-school formula and the series’ future evolution.

You ever just love a game everyone else seems to hate? Well if the five stars above and that opening line aren't enough of a clue, Resident Evil: Code Veronica is one of mine. This is one of my favorite entries in the series, and despite playing it many times—going well beyond getting 100% of the trophies—I enjoy every return trip to it. That said, my love for the game can't ignore its flaws entirely. There are plenty of valid criticisms out there: the backtracking often feels like padding and the shoddy voice-acting undercuts some of the game's most emotional moments. But for all its faults, I think this entry does some things better than a lot of its series siblings and that's kept me coming back many times over the years.

This was (I believe) the first game in the series to use fully 3D rendered backgrounds rather than the iconic pre-rendered backgrounds of its predecessors. While this shift was inevitable, it came at a cost. The 3D rendering allows for the game's welcome dynamic camera, but the need to design every object seems to have forced some lazier art that results in a step back from the rather beautiful backdrops of prior games. It still feels like a step up graphically in some sense, but the overall scenery is less evocative and artistic, which from a holistic perspective is a bigger problem. Further, things often feel just a little too dark. This is likely in part to stress the importance of the new lighter mechanic, but it still feels excessive and doesn't help the drab aesthetics. Ironically, these visuals leave this game—one of the last in the series of this style—feeling like the most aged when compared to its predecessors, which have maintained their visual charm decades later.

That said, the game still manages solid atmosphere. Rockfort Island offers a variety of grim environments that exemplify the series' claustrophobic tension. Further, the settings change things up beyond the thoroughly tread mansion and city settings of prior games. Not only do we briefly go to a gothic castle, we—as random as it is—get to explore a bit of Antarctica. Despite the issues with some of the visuals, the music also works as well as it always does in these early games in the series with a good mixture of unsettling ambient scores and bumping old school video game tunes. Even if some of the story beats are delivered awkwardly, the exploration in Code Veronica at all times feels tense and full of the danger such a game should present.

I really like the combat and gameplay in this one a lot, though I realize this is a common point of friction for most people. This is one of the more difficult games in the series and unlike some of its predecessors, it's much easier to soft lock yourself. Even aside from soft locks, the game is simply quite punishing in its general difficulty. Aside from a couple things that do feel pretty bad to me (ie the moth hallway, the end boss), I kind of appreciate this as someone coming to the game as a series veteran. Even playing it as many times as I have, I still feel like I have to really be on my toes with this one in a way that most of the series no longer makes me. It can be frustrating and punishing, but also quite rewarding to overcome the uneven odds. Separate from the challenge though, I also appreciate the wide variety of weapons and approaches the game offers and the difficulty is a good way to push you toward experimenting and exploring to find what might work better at different parts. For a first time player, I do think easier modes are warranted, but at least from my own perspective, which is the only one I can really speak from, I really like how it all feels.

Exploration-wise, while the backtracking can be excessive, it also helped to reinforce the layout for me, requiring me to form a mental map to complement the game's in-menu map, which isn't always user friendly. The puzzles are on par with the series to this point, though it's a touch harder at times, which is another source of difficulty I don't mind. Item puzzles in the other games often feel fairly trivial and obvious with most key items being for somewhat obvious uses within a confined area. This entry however makes you really think where in this set of several maps might this go? Even after all the times I've played it, I still have to think for a bit about where to go at times.

This may be a controversial take, but I think Code Veronica has a great story, one of the best in the series in some ways. I confess some bias here—Claire is my favorite character in the series and gets much of the spotlight. But even aside from that, Code Veronica is much more character-driven than most of the earlier games attempted to be, and pulls it off better than a lot of the later games that attempt the style.

The game follows Claire as she's captured while trying to find Chris, taking her to a dangerous island prison where she is confronted with yet another survival horror nightmare. Along the way, Claire meets Steve Burnside, an often-hated character I think is actually pretty well-written once you get past his hilarious voice-acting and the forced romance angle that crops up within the few hours they've known each other (to be fair, can we blame a teenage boy rescued by Claire Redfield?). Confronting our duo is a new sociopathic villain on par with the series' previous ones: Alfred Ashford, an eccentric man clearly obsessed with his dead (or maybe not?) sister. Halfway through, we get to play as Chris going after Claire (who yes, was going after him in the first place) and see a different side to the story with Wesker, tying more into the series' overarching story.

What makes Code: Veronica special is its thematic exploration. This game is less bogged down by its well-trodden tropes of corporate conspiracies and espionage—though that's there some too. Instead, the story explores familial bonds through three distinct foils, each taking their relationships in wildly different directions, especially in response to grief. This perspective is refreshingly personal, emphasizing character dynamics over grander sci-fi horror tropes. It’s a rare Resident Evil game that actually takes the time to examine its protagonists as people rather than just action heroes, something that even the more grounded remakes have struggled with. I think its biggest issue is mostly that in execution—especially with the goofy voice-acting—the scenes often feel a little too silly and over-the-top, making it harder to take seriously, despite the much more cinematic cutscenes.

To close out where I started, I don't really blame people for disliking this game—though in truth, I usually hear it called more "meh" than "bad." Despite my love for it, it is a flawed game to the point I'm not sure I'd strongly recommend it to too many people, especially if you aren't a fan of the older-style games in the series. And despite my praise above, I'd still put it on the lower end of the original tank controls games. After all, the series lore starts to really lean toward the ridiculous and supernatural with the introduction of Wesker's superhuman abilities and the primary villain's essentially magic powers supposedly granted by a virus. But for me, even if it doesn't surpass its predecessors on balance, Code Veronica remains a gem for its ability to deliver a challenging and immersive version of this gameplay that manages to have a compelling story once you give it a chance.

My other Resident Evil reviews:

• Resident Evil (1996) - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil 2 (1998) - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil 3 (1999) - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil: Survivor - ★★★
• Resident Evil: Survivor 2 – Code Veronica - ★★
• Resident Evil Remake - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil Gaiden - ★★
• Resident Evil 0 - ★★★
• Resident Evil Dead Aim - ★★★
• Resident Evil: Outbreak - ★★★
• Resident Evil 4 - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 - ★★★
• Resident Evil Deadly Silence - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles - ★★★
• Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles - ★★★
• Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D - ★★
• Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City - ★★
• Resident Evil Revelations - ★★★
• Resident Evil Revelations 2 - ★★★★
• Umbrella Corps - ★
• Resident Evil 2 Remake - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil 3 Remake - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil 4 VR - ★★★★★
• Resident Evil 4 Remake - ★★★★★

I'll be honest, I don't understand how can someone finish this without some sort of guide. The first 3 hours I played without one were miserable but because I didn't want to drop another game, walkthrough it was! And like magic it fixed my main issue with the OG RE: all this infuriating loading! Cutting the backtracking in half was amazing

Glad I sticked with it tho cause I didn't expect the story to be actually fun, I really liked. I'm not play it ever again, of course, but still. From now on, this, and not Nemesis, will be my RE3. Its just a perfect sequel to OG RE2, Sony sucks so much... Shame really, it definitely has the more interesting story, by far.

Now I really wish Code Veronica was the one to get the remake instead of Nemesis

Well then, onto Revelations 2 ! Still 4 mores games to go... RE series sure is long

Just did a CVX replay and I realllly love this one. It does some things that other Resident evils fail at…

1 - it’s super interconnected, the whole game feels more like one large map rather than seperate “biomes”. There’s lots of back and forth which I really enjoy.

2 - the game doesn’t suddenly suck at the end. It stays pretty consistent throughout unlike 90% of the series.

I love the villains, the puzzles, secrets and exploration. It has great environments and the overall would probably be in my top 4 or 5 for the series. I definitely wish the mansion type environments were larger rather than just a couple of rooms though.

At last, Code: Veronica is done! Now I feel a little more confident saying I've played all the "mainline" RE games. This one is so interesting because it represents what I see as a key story beat between Resident Evil and Resident Evil 5 for Chris and Wesker while also following up on Claire's story from Resident Evil 2. I wish I had played it immediately following my playthrough of Resident Evil 2 Remake, to be honest.

Despite being the upgraded version of the game, Code: Veronica X on the PS2 still feels totally ancient. The inventory menu and map screen feel clunky, weirdly colorful (though not necessarily in a bad way), and in the case of the map in particular, sparse on detail which would be useful for navigating back and forth across the game's areas, which you need to do a lot. The way said areas look outside of the map doesn't help either. The charming prerendered backgrounds I loved in REmake and RE Zero are gone. Instead the game has environments built out of actual 3D objects. Of course this means much less detail and also that it just doesn't age quite as well. It's clear they wanted to stay closer to the Dreamcast's original visuals but still disappointing nonetheless.

The way the game plays also feels kind of dated compared to the rest of the catalogue. This is largely due to how brutally "Survival Horror" it is. This game doesn't give a fuck if you want to complete it. Rationing your equipment to the extent possible is a must in this game. Moreso than in any of the other RE games I've played. If you don't, it's very easy to find yourself totally and hopelessly stuck. This happened to me early on in my playthrough on Normal difficulty and I thankfully had a backup save not too far back to use. I "only" lost around half an hour to an hour, but otherwise I would have had to restart entirely. From that point forward I began holding onto individual save slots more than I ever have. I have a habit of only really using like 1 or 2 save slots for my game playthroughs at most, but I managed to get up to over 10 separate occupied slots by the end of the game, just in case I hit another wall and needed to use another backup (overkill, I know).

I enjoy some tension in my survival horror, but for Normal difficulty, needing to constantly worry about being soft locked was too much. It made the game more frustrating than enjoyable, and I found myself turning to a guide fairly often after the halfway point of the game to get an idea of what equipment to keep on hand for the coming challenges. I wish I could somehow trade some of the ink ribbons I kept getting for more herbs or ammo. All else I can say is if you want some more bite to your Resident Evil experience without bumping up to a harder difficulty, this is the game for you!

Here's my game stats screen. Pls dunt bully me, I know I suck, lmao. Who even knew you could get an E ranking...

But lets put my gripes aside for now and focus on some highlights! To start with, this game is another meaty helping of that delicious OG Resident Evil camp. The voice actors for Steve, Alfred, and Alexia totally steal the show with how over the top and silly their deliveries are, whether it was intentional or not. Every cutscene was a total hoot to watch as a result. I actually still have to play the original version of Resident Evil, but so far this seems the closest to nailing that absurd dialogue delivery the early RE games are known for.

The story is a little bit of a hot mess, especially the beginning because I still don't really know how Claire got thrown in prison, but the overall ramifications of the plot are significant enough for me to consider it required playing for any fan of the series. Also more Claire is always nice. She's possibly my second favorite protag of the franchise, behind Leon. Her relationship with Steve feels kind of forced here, but I really enjoyed seeing her interact with Chris. This was sorely missing from RE2, imo. They're very cute. Alexia was wrong to call them "genetically inferior siblings."

Prior to playing the game I wasn't all that crazy about the idea of it getting a remake but I'm totally down for it now. In fact I really hope this gets a remake over any of the others I've played. The existing remake of the first game is good enough as is. There's some good potential here with the environments and I think it'd make a fantastic companion game to the remake of RE2.

This game is kicking my ass. ;-;

I would have been straight up softlocked like 2-3 hours in because of the lack of herbs being around if I hadn't made a backup save just in case. I still lost around half an hour of progress but at least I don't need to restart. Meanwhile I have more ammo than I'll ever need. I wish I could trade some of it for herbs, lol.

Code: Veronica is effectively the true Resident Evil 3, bringing together the Redfield siblings after their introductions in RE1 and 2 and feeling like the natural next chapter in the series’ story. After exploring the Spencer Mansion and Raccoon City, it only makes sense C:V would go global, with players hopping from an Umbrella Corp. island to Antarctica, each with plenty of underground laboratories to explore. Fans of the series to this point will eat up the way C:V heightens the stakes and introduces wild new characters like the Ashfords, all while paying off plotlines from the preceding games.

C:V’s story and presentation are the real stars of the show and are the most likely reasons anyone is playing it in 2024. The gameplay, however, is much less distinguished. Tank controls are the only option and are sans any of the new features (such as Dodge) introduced in RE3. The lack of other control and even difficulty options make the HD remaster lackluster in terms of updating an older game, seemingly confirming C:V’s status as the sidelined/forgotten mainline RE game. And while the controls create tension and force resource conservation, they do so in ways that feel frustratingly cheap, especially when your health is being eaten away by flying bats or crawling bugs you can’t easily shoot given the imprecise controls.

C:V ultimately feels like a new can of paint on the same classic RE gameplay, making it hard to feel blown away even when its story is going in fun new directions. It is best approached as the true RE3 and the actual RE3 as a fun side tangent. C:V is an enjoyable enough final chapter in the original generation of RE games that underlines how desperately the series needed a reinvention with RE4. A remake is badly needed to finally reach its potential and expose RE fans to this essential entry.

Not sure if this game is poorly designed or so perfectly designed that I constantly feel one attack away from death. Much better design than Zero, but suffers from trying to have it all: you’re constantly running between warehouses and a creepy mansion and corporate labs rather than existing in a single location with evil perhaps lurking behind any corner. Makes for a suitably stressful experience so far but not a very scary one.

P.S.- I cannot wait to be done playing RE games with tank controls.

Yes, it feels extremely stiff and archaic at spots, but it's still playable despite the re-learning curve, is still one of the best games that came from the four original RE titles. Resident Evil Code: Veronica X is a must-have game, but only if you fall under certain requirements. You have to be fine with more puzzles and obscure item hunts than combat. There must be a comfort level with the various odd camera angles that the game seems to love.

The fact that some of the dialogue is off and that some of the voices are laughable shouldn't pose much of a problem to you. You also have to be fine with the graphical improvements being good but not mind-blowing. If you can live with all of this, then you'll certainly enjoy this classic entry in the series because of the story and action. If any of the aforementioned aspects bother you, then stick with the franchise games from Resident Evil 4 onward.

Developed at the same time as Resident Evil 3, here we can see what happened to Claire after the events of the second game. She has to escape two Umbrella Facilities in the middle of nowhere with Steve, her totally necessary love interest.

The gameplay is similar to RE2/RE3, although there isn't a dodging mechanic like in the third game, and the main difference is the level design. You aren't stuck in the same building, and there are many places to explore, like a Palace, a Prison, a Military Facility, etc. But unlike in Nemesis, you don't explore them in order, but at the same time.

For example, you explore some rooms in the Military Facility and get an item that you need to use in the Palace to unlock more rooms and get another item to go further in the Prison. At first, this seems interesting, but you quickly realize that this increases the backtracking a lot, even more than in previous entries. This wouldn't be a problem if the game didn't have rooms with enemies that respawn every time you enter them. Even worse, they are usually hallways with multiple doors that you will need to visit multiple times, so you will have to suffer lots of damage just to progress unless you want to waste ammo in enemies that will appear again after 30 seconds.

There are also some moments where you can get soft-locked if you aren't prepared, like a boss battle where you can't escape and can be impossible to win if you didn't amass enough ammo or an escape sequence with unavoidable damage that can be impossible to win if you are low in health and don't have any healing items. You can also miss the magnum if you forget to bring a key item that you use at the very start of the plot and becomes irrelevant until the last minutes of the playthrough, which is a bizarre choice that screams bad game design.

This is a huge downgrade from the excellent level design of RE1 and RE2, where the mansion and RPD were a delight to explore and never felt repetitive or unfair. They also looked way more interesting and charming than anything you visit in Code Veronica, possibly because the pre-render backgrounds were replaced with fairly generic 3D objects that lack the complex details that you could find in most of the previous entries, like the welcome party at the Information Office, or the greenhouse of the first entry. Instead, you have smaller and more generic versions of scenarios that feel kind of stale at this point of the franchise, like an underground lab, a mansion, and a palace that even repeats some rooms with the mansion (which is explained in one of the files, but still feels lazy).

Finishing my complaints, the story is easily the worst yet. The main villain is an aristocrat with an obvious incestuous relationship with his twin sister and an awful representation of Dissociative identity disorder, Wesker goes full Matrix mode, with slow-mo and superpowers included, and Steve has the worst voice acting of the franchise, which is so bad that you can't take seriously any scene he's in or the unnecessary romantic tension between him and Claire. But many of the events that happened here, along with the files you can find, are important for the lore, so you need to experience them if you care about the narrative of Resident Evil and Umbrella Corporation.

However, not everything is bad. Some scenarios, like the execution yard in the prison, are creepy and memorable, it's nice playing as Claire again and her relationship with Chris is pretty cute, and I'd love it if the story were both of them together from the start, instead of Chris appearing at the final arc, exploring the same places you already explored with Claire in a game that is already longer than both routes of RE2 combined.

You get enough ammo to blast through most enemies without worrying about being out of resources (you should save the special ammo for the bosses and bandersnatches though), and the cutscenes looked amazing in the original version, even more so in the HD, so I can understand why some people love Code Veronica, even with all its flaws.

In conclusion, this is the perfect example of how the Resident Evil formula can fail if the level design isn't masterfully crafted, but the gameplay is as good as the previous entries, and you can enjoy your time with the game you don't mind the lackluster story and the flaws that, while plenty, don't make the whole experience unplayable.

I can't believe I finally finished this game! I'd left the final boss unfinished after a rage-filled evening probably nearing on a year ago now, and having recently gotten back onto grouvee and been playing more games I thought I'd see if I could go back and finish this one to stop it forever weighing on me. And about five tries in tonight, I did it. I'm honestly quite surprised.

Surprised also because I really did enjoy a lot of the challenge and puzzles in this game, and I think it had some intriguing environments and enemies, but after the final boss stumped me a few times I just gave it up. I didn't have a great tactic, and became impatient as I could sense the end (of course, rookie mistake). And the couple times I did get to the point where only ONE linear launcher shot is needed, I didn't realise the importance of just shooting around Alexia until it hits her, rather than trying to get the shot just right.

And I can remember quite a few images from this game, but I wish I was writing this review sooner after I played the most of it, because I'd be able to be more specific about why I liked this game. For now I just have some jumbled memories of enjoyment, and a post-game thrill having actually finished it this time.

And not to forget, a great joy now I can move onto RE0 without having this cliffhanger behind me...

Pretty fun classic resident evil. I appreciated that the Chris' portion was a continuation of the story instead of overlapping like RE1 and 2 did. Really could have done without the transphobic joke, that was a bummer. I miss the pre-rendered backgrounds but the dynamic camera angles were cool! This story got a little too sci-fi for me.

I mostly avoided the inventory issues with changing characters because I had read some reviews about the game prior to playing it, but still got hung up on them. I beat the last boss with my final bullet after about 10 attempts.

Glad I played this! Probably won't go back to it though.

note: I played the US Dreamcast release, which isn't on the list.

Continuing my Resident Evil marathon... Code Veronica, on the Dreamcast (but with X content patched in).

Positives:

• game controls fine, plays smoothly, looks nice (you know, keeping in mind its era + genre, this is a "tank controls" survival horror -- but now in full 3D, instead of pre-rendered backgrounds)
• nice to get resolution (well, to some degree) for Claire's and Chris's story -- Wesker is a hoot

Negatives:

• a very long, padded, and honestly pretty dull game that isn't that scary but is often quite frustrating -- lots and lots of backtracking across large areas chock-full of zombies, which all seem to take way too many bullets to down
• some serious roadblocks that, if you don't have the right tools and haven't used multiple save files properly, will screw you over enough to force a complete restart of the game
• just nothing in the game that really grabbed me, no particularly cool bosses or monster designs or events
• story feels about as pointless as Resident Evil Zero -- Steve is VERY cringe -- didn't care for villains Alfred or Alexia either -- overall presentation and line delivery just feels bad, but not bad in an entertaining way like in OG Resident Evil

All in all a mediocre-bad entry for the franchise, reminded me very much of RE Zero for the experience as a whole. A full-blown modern remake (like with 2 and 3) would be interesting to see, but I think Capcom wants us to forget this one.

Looking forward to playing RE4 for the first time next, which by all accounts gave the series the proper shakeup it needed.

Really love how Code Veronica tries to go for what, on paper, is honestly way cooler than the A/B story of RE2, but instead of being super cool it punishes you for not knowing what to do in advance. You get to gather ammo for guns you don't and will never have because you geared up for what felt like a final boss fight, and the game never told you "hey you're going to play as Chris in a few, put EVERYTHING in the Box if you want you use it as him." Love that.

I think I'm done with this game and it's uninspired locations, boring fetch quest puzzles, annoying level design, stupid story, and god awful voice acting. I'm just gonna watch the cutscenes on YouTube and subject myself to only two of these bullet points. It makes RE3 look like a masterpiece and I thought that one was the weakest of the original trilogy. If I ever feel the need to play this again, I will either consult a guide every step or emulate it so I can save state like a mofo.

As it stands now, 2>1>>3>>>>CV. At the very least the next game is REmake so I know I'll at least have a good one.

Still making my way through Code Veronica... Alfred's voice actor sounds completely out of genre. Like did you travel into the future to grab this guy from a crappy Skyrim mod or what, Capcom? Honestly the acting overall, so far, is a huge step down from RE2 and 3. A step uh... Sideways from RE1. Bad but not enjoyably so, like the pure camp of 1.

The game overall isn't doing anything spectacular and even gameplay wise is a step down from 3. You have to press a button to walk up stairs again and the dodge feature, jank as it was, is sorely missed. At least quick turns still exist. I don't think any locations are really popping to me like they did in 1 and 2, but that may just be because the game is so DARK. I literally can't see anything and there's no brightness setting.

Overall it's fine. Not terrible. Camera transitions are smoother than previous games and the knife is finally useful. Broken even.

It seems like this game has garnered a very polarizing cult following. I, unfortunately, landed on the end that didn't really care for it, but I admit that I can see why some people would love it.

First, I found that the plot didn't add much at all to the stories we had been getting in the previous three games. Those previous ones revealed more and more about Umbrella's plot and the governmental conspiracy, but in this one, all we learned was that there was a strange family with Umbrella connections living on an island trying to do something similar. It didn't connect with the other games other than a couple of character reunions. On top of that, the absurdity reached by characters like Wesker and Steve really did not work for me (and I typically love that type of thing in a video game).

The gameplay itself always felt like you were fighting the mechanics. Even though getting used to the controls happens quickly, it doesn't make up for the fact that they just aren't good. There are also far too many moments in the game where you can screw yourself over and then there is no going back. Finally, the boss design was just unimaginative. They were either easy and boring, or difficult only due to some cheap mechanic.

I do see why some people may not mind those controls, and I do see why the plot and hilarious voice acting may be appealing to people as well, but for me, other than a couple of good moments, I just couldn't get into it. I can't really recommend it, but I can't recommend against it either as you may be one of those people who loves it.

2.50.5.00

Full Review: https://watchreadgame.com/resident-evil-code-veronica-review/

I took me 15 years to beat this game. I have copies for PS2, PS3 and PS4. I always wanted to finish this game, but I guess I was too young to understand extremely careful item management and multiple save files. This is what you need to beat this game... And resilience...

I love this game. The story got me hooked from the very beginning. I enjoyed the characters, the controls were much improved from previous games, and the maps were expansive (for an old Resident Evil game). I never got bored or tired of the game in terms of length. It was longer than older games, but not too long either. The atmosphere and music were on point. I admit that I really enjoyed it.

But... Holly shit... It was very unfair! And there was no need for that. When I say this, I do not mean that it was hard skill wise. No, it was just unfair in terms of the game purposely wanting to make you restart at different points, mostly because you missed key items, or you left them with the other character. I have no idea how many times I had to go to older save files either because I ran out of ammo, forgot to bring a stupid item, or because I left all my weapons with another character. Just unfair. It didn't add any challenge, just annoyance.

If you are planning to play this game, I recommend using a guide so you don't waste your time. Unless you are are very patient and don't mind going back and forth your save files.

Even though all its MANY flaws, I think this game is at my top three favorite resident evil games.

Play at your own risk.

Almost everything I’ve loved about the RE series is on full display in this over-the-top classic-style entry. It has some bad elements, but is still a really fun B-movie horror-themed adventure that I had trouble putting down. If you’re like me, you might need to pull out a walkthrough to keep the pace moving at some parts, but hey, this is a no judgement zone (right? lol)

The gameplay here does generally feel a little stiff, and also struggles during a couple highly questionable first-person aiming sections. It’s not that the controls are particularly hard to adapt to—they’re really not as bad as you’d think besides some kinda tough aiming. It’s still fun, and the game almost never overwhelms you with enemies like in RE4-6, so the slower, more deliberate action fits well, and rarely felt frustrating.

This game’s usage of polygonal backgrounds might have been cool at the time, but I miss the elaborate pre-rendered ones I saw in RE1 Remake. Voice acting ranges from entertaining to entertaining-ly amateurish, but hey—I was entertained. Fortunately, the game still features solid cinematic cutscenes, some really cool area designs, and great music to offset the dated qualities.

Rather than replaying a shorter scenario to get the full story like in RE1 and 2, CV asks you to swap characters at a small handful of key moments in a longer story. This results in interesting dynamics, like puzzles that reveal themselves hours before they meet their conclusion, locations with walls blown up on your second pass through to create new paths, and risk-reward decisions about which character should have which item.

It’s gratifying to see a stockpile of heavy ammo or a key puzzle item like the military proofs come in handy again in a completely different context in the second half of the game. You get the satisfying feeling of knowing where things are like you’ve played it before, but instead of actually repeating content, you’re getting totally new stuff.

Though there is some fun to be had with the story, even through the horrible voice acting common to older games in this series, some parts of it definitely aged... questionably. No surprise it was skipped over for a remake up until now. It's not so awful to ruin the experience for me, but it's something that may need to be looked past to enjoy it.

Like RE1, this game is an excellent exercise in player restraint, tough decisions about resources and loadouts, getting the most out of its few areas, and giving some complex adventure-style progression puzzle solving. It feels less tense, probably because I’ve already dealt with this kind of game before, but it is very entertaining. Anyone who is new to the series should probably save it for later like I did. But anyone who already loves classic-style RE but skipped this one, definitely grab a copy, pull up a guide if you think you need it, and have fun.

Thanks to some excellent modernized remakes, I was able to play 9 RE games this year without once having to deal with the dreaded combo of fixed camera angles and tank controls, and only once having my saves limited by ink ribbons. Well, my luck ran out, as the next game on my list was the oldest one yet, Code Veronica X. Except after 5 hours or so, I’m actually feeling the opposite of unlucky, since despite being rough around the edges, this is looking like one of the better entries.

I am really surprised to have not encountered any boss fights yet or even died, I was pretty worried since like RE4 there was no difficulty selection, but it’s been fine. I just finished getting both king and queen ant jewel things and am about to go back to the villains’ extremely cool house where I distinctly remember a bug shaped imprint in the bedroom — if that gives any fans an idea of where I’m at. The setting is so good, enjoying the story a lot despite terrible voice acting, and the puzzles and things have really been hitting that RE1 and RE7 feeling that I loved while feeling totally distinct from the other games.

Gonna try to finish this one up this weekend!

Trying to place RE: Code: Veronica on a scale where it can stand out as either better or worse than the previous "classic"-styled RE games seems unintuitive. Everything that was in those previous games is here and there isn't too much new that you can immediately appreciate or imagine on the back of a box in a features list. A better way to think relatively about Code Veronica is not quality but quantity: this is the classic RE that has much more than any other.

I heard someone once say that Code Veronica is the "Resident Evil for Resident Evil fans," and I generally dislike this somewhat empty phrase but I think it applies here because you simply shouldn't play Code Veronica if you ever finished one of these games and thought even briefly you may have gotten your fill. This is not the FFXV of Resident Evil--for fans of the genre and first-timers-- it's only for the fans. A food analogy: if you cleared your plate of RE1-3, this is what you'd get if you asked for more, it goes down with as much struggle as a second meal on a full belly might.

What's here is a longer, harder (to a casual player), fan-servicey and simultaneously uniquely insane in a way that's totally RE, as well as more obtuse and complex. Zombies have the most health, I think, than ever and this game is full of bastard B.O.W. super monsters to get slapped by. There are seemingly more puzzle items than ever, fewer save rooms, more enemies to poison you, admittedly more pistol ammo, and a decent amount of optional content. Really, as a long-time RE player, all of this is only appealing sounding. But it is definitely a chore, a struggle, exhausting.

Forever this has been my least favorite and most loathed Resident Evil game. I realized that my reaction to it, which had its origins in first playing it as a kid when it was released, was far too emotional to be fair and so I went in to play it again. This was my "third time finishing Code Veronica," the previous "two" being a completion in 2015 and the other a "completion" where I ran out of ammo and any possibility of survival and success at the very last boss in 2010. My playthrough this time was to exercise all my animosity for this game and to try and understand it, and maybe find a way to love it. I did come away loving it. It's not my favorite Resident Evil (which is RE3), but it really is great and I am glad to no longer have to reconcile the fact that what was my most hated RE game was simultaneously my most played RE game.

Old punching-bag, friend I never could admit I loved, Code Veronica: our relationship was too complex and rife with frustration for younger me to ever see that what we had was an intimacy games and players rarely build together! You're a decent dame, but I've had enough of ya!