Resident Evil (2002)

Gameplay - cameras are constantly against you, but but otherwise it's....fine? Lol

Graphics - pretty solid for the time. I have a lot of respect for all those door designs.

Setting - there are different buildings, with the mansion being huge. Being able to use the map as a way to see if all the items in a room was picked up.

Story - story doesn't kick in to the end for Chris' story but the notes with tidbits here and there are cool.

Horror - with the random enemies and zoms reviving is nice for people to appreciate horror.

8/10 for something of it's time (might change after another playthrough)

So... I did start this three months ago. I got to the first zombie encounter, and got all frantic and panicky, unable to think straight or do anything except smash every button on the controller. (As I said in my previous status update, I'm BAD at horror games.) My boyfriend tried to help me by giving me instructions, but as I wasn't familiar with the controls that just made it worse, and I ended up having a massive fucking panic attack. Not fun.

Today we decided to give it another try, but this time we'd utilize the magic of teamwork. So basically he kills the zombies and I get to do what's fun for me, exploration, puzzles, enjoying the atmosphere (and the scares, but at a comfortable distance). I know this isn't "the real way" to experience this game. The killing and the intense scares are the meat of the horror dish after all. However this is the only way I can actually experience the game at all right now, and I'm actually enjoying it a whole lot! Maybe I'll even do a zombo murder by the end of the game! Maybe.

Trying on the medium "riding a bike" difficulty. This is my first experience with this original Resident Evil. Everything about this game feels like I'm just beating two rocks together. Zombies are impossible to kill. The 6 item inventory is absolutely crippling. Simply walking around is terrible, with the random camera angles. Only 3 ink ribbons for saves? Come on!

Am I just doing it all wrong? Giving it a third try on easy mode this time. Having a hard time liking this game at. all. without any nostalgia to prop it up. Hopefully the RE2 Remake I just bought is better.

Played during free trial of xbox pass. I missed this game as a kid, RE2 was the first I played back in the day, so it has been at the top of my wishlist and was thus one of the first games I played for my free trial of xbox pass. I drew a paper map of the mansion with the locations of zombies that I had not slain so I could best decide where to go. It also came in handy for keeping track of which keys unlock which doors, which the in game map sadly does not.

There were a few enemies that I left alive when I judged I did not need to kill them. I killed most though, and tried to conserve ammo by using the knife often. Melee combat in these old games is terrible and I did not want to invest the time in learning the trick in how to do it, so I just shot zombies until they fell down and then ran up to finish them with the knife. This worked most of the time though sometimes I ended up taking damage. I remember one time where doing the knife animation caused the scene to change and that delay was enough that I could not kill the zombie before it stood up.

The more modern controls are much better than the old tank controls and made the game more enjoyable. The star aspect of this game is the terrifying atmosphere and tension. There were so many times that I was on edge thinking something was going to jump out at me, even if I had been through that area several times already. This game is an amazing classic. Its flaws are mostly in terms of user friendliness, like the aforementioned lack of map detail. I think the most annoying part of the game is the severely limited inventory, which creates a lot of unnecessary backtracking if you want to horde all the supplies.

Playing this for the first time on the Game Cube and having a blast!

If you've never played it and are planning to, I urge you that you use the original tank controls. You get used to them quickly and they make the game way more fun! They make it harder to avoid zombies thus making everything more tense and scary, the way a Resi game should be 3:)

I also think that the 3:4 format works better with the game. Mannn are those pre rendered backgrounds gorgeous! If you're into cinema or photography they really are a treat, and should be appreciated without cuts to make them fit a 16:9 screen :)