Topic: The Resident Evil Discussion Thread

I know that there are threads for RE2 Remake and RE8 but I think it'd be nice to have a more general discussion thread for the series as a whole since there are tons of games in this franchise.

So I've been playing through the series in order since the beginning of the year. We played through REmake on Game Club last year and that enticed me to check out the first Resident Evil on PS1. I've been playing the PS1 games on Vita and it's been an absolute blast to experience them for the first time. I've always been reluctant in checking out the older RE titles mostly due to tank controls. However, I somehow managed to get used to them in RE1 and now I don't mind them at all! I've written my thoughts for the RE games on Pure Xbox so I'm just going to paste them here:

"Just finished Resident Evil: Director's Cut (PS1) on Vita. What a great game! It was so cool to play this version after having played REmake first and you can tell that they spent a lot of time on making REmake the perfect version of this game. However, there were some differences that I honestly preferred in the PS1 version compared to REmake. For starters, there's no steep learning curve like in REmake. Sure there are fewer areas in the original but it's always clear where you need to go. In REmake, you could easily get lost and this would be an issue since you really need to find a safe room as soon as possible when starting a new game just to get access to an item box. Not to mention how annoying the Crimson Heads were in REmake, I'm so glad they weren't in the original. So yeah, I actually prefer the simplicity of the PS1 version, but it also made the game a lot shorter. I managed to beat it in 6.5 hours, while REmake took me almost 19 hours, more than twice that amount!"

Shortly thereafter I decided to check out RE2 on PS1 and I played through Leon's campaign scenario A:

"This was my first time ever experiencing RE2 and I can definitely say that I enjoyed this game more than RE1. I could notice right away the increase in variety and just the various improvements since the first game. You encounter a new enemy type very early on, you can find parts to upgrade your weapons, there is an increased emphasis on story-telling and characters, there are more boss fights, the game had more jump scares and was overall more scary and so on. It just felt more engrossing than RE1 since there was always something new and different to encounter. I also really liked the plot, I think the dynamic between Leon and Ada was more interesting than Jill and Barry. Not to mention that the voice acting was actually pretty good this time around and not as cheesy as in RE1, which made the cut scenes more enjoyable to watch. Lastly, the diaries in this game felt more interesting to read than in the previous game."

After that I took at break from the series until earlier this month when I finished Claire's campaign scenario B:

"I finally decided to play through Claire B now and it was definitely worth playing through. At first I was skeptical since it seemed like the same game again but with minor differences. However, there are enough differences here to make it worth going through. New areas, new characters, new puzzles and most importantly for me, you finally get to see Mr. X, lol. When I played through Leon A I was confused as to why Mr. X hadn't shown up for me as everyone mentions this guy whenever RE2 is brought up, especially when RE2 remake came out a couple of years ago. So when I finally saw him in Claire B I was surprisingly very glad lol. His inclusion truly made the game much scarier."

Now I'm playing through the original RE3 and having a blast with it even though I'm encountering some difficulty spikes. Anyway, I want to ask what you guys' opinion is on the original PS1 trilogy. I've heard some people say that the original RE1 doesn't hold up well while RE2 is still a masterpiece. I don't understand this comparison as I've played through both games back-to-back and they play pretty much the same. Both games have tank controls, inventory management, puzzle-solving etc. and so I just don't get why people would say that RE1 doesn't hold up well but RE2 does. I agree that RE2 is better than RE1, but saying that RE1 doesn't hold up compared to RE2 is so weird to me, I don't get that at all.

Further, there's this conception that RE3 is action-oriented and once again, I don't understand that either. Unless you're playing on Easy where you start with a bunch of weapons already, but if you're playing on Hard (which is the Normal difficulty of the RE games) then the experience will be just as much "survival horror" as the previous two games. It's definitely not heavier on action than RE2 was. I mean, one of Claire's main weapons in RE2 is a grenade launcher and she gets tons of ammo for that weapon throughout her playthrough. There's also a submachine gun, flamethrower, sparkshot and so on in RE2. So again, I don't get why people are saying that RE3 is more action-oriented.

Maybe others will have different opinions regarding this that will help enlighten me! Either way, I'm really starting to get into this series. It's just so much fun and the story as well as lore are just so engrossing.

@LtSarge I intend to play through all these myself, though it'll be a while until I even get started tbh. The only one I'm yet to buy is RE6 (I even have Revelations 1 & 2) though I've heard its awful.

I've only ever played RE: Code Veronica on Dreamcast and RE2 Remake but looking forward to getting right into the series once I get the time... really looking forward to 7 and Village.

@colonelkilgore It took me a long time as well before I started playing through these games. I think that was mostly because I didn't like horror games in general before, but also because it's hard to find a good entry point in this franchise. Playing the very first RE game is hard if you're not willing to get used to the tank controls, REmake has a very steep learning curve, Zero is one of the hardest RE games, and so on. Not to mention that there's more than a dozen RE games now and I feel like most people would not feel great about starting with 7 or 8. Once you do get into this series and the first game clicks with you, it's just such a great feeling. The classic RE titles especially are so much fun to play today due to their simplicity and high replay-value. I'm already contemplating which RE game I should play next after RE3 because these games are just so good.

I'm actually impressed that you've played through Code Veronica because I've read that it's one of the hardest RE games due to unfair traps. I personally would want to get it and Zero over with before moving on with the "better" games like RE4, but at the same time I don't want CV and 0 to sour my experience of this series in case it turns out they are really that hard.

But yeah, I also own all the mainline games (except for 8), both Revelations titles as well as the two Chronicles games on Wii. Oh and I can't forget the lovely military shooter Operation Raccoon City on PS3, lol.

@colonelkilgore @LtSarge I had to abandon Code Veronica because I saved myself into a death loop. The minute I leave the save room I’m on low health and I get killed by a dog plus there’s no health nearby. I think it might be genuinely impossible for me to get past it 😂

@LtSarge I remember very little of CV... apart from the fact I felt it lived up to all the praise I had heard about the series back then. Just remembered, I did play some 4 on the wii too... never got around to finishing that one though.

@nessisonett that's the nightmare right there. Rule number 3 of Fight Club... always keep multiple saves where possible 😅

@nessisonett Yeah stuff like that really sucks. That's why I don't really like using much of my health items/ammo in RE games because I don't know if I'll need them later on or not. Like the second Nemesis fight in RE3 had me using all my ammo for the grenade launcher and another weapon. Before the fight, I only brought with me like a fraction of the ammo that I beat him with because I had no idea that he had so much health. I'd rather die and restart then use up too much of my ammo/health items, you know?

@colonelkilgore I also played a bit of RE4 on Wii when I was very little but I never got that far in it. I'm still deciding though if I should keep playing it on Wii or play the PS4 version. The controls in the Wii version are apparently superb, but the graphics are so muddy compared to the clear PS4 version.

But yeah, CV is a tough one. Don't know when I'll play it but I do want to experience it at some point. Even if it's hard, I've heard people praise it as one of the most underrated RE games ever.

So I just finished Resident Evil 3 (PS1) on Vita and this was an excellent RE game! It felt very different compared to RE2 since you were running through the streets of Raccoon City instead of exploring interior places. It sure made for a more refreshing experience as you got to see the city from a different perspective with Jill compared to Leon and Claire. Despite what people say about Code Veronica technically being the third game in the series, it still felt like RE3 wrapped up the trilogy nicely with its ending, which was really cool.

In terms of the new game mechanics, I really enjoyed crafting ammo. Although I have to mention that it took me until right before the end of the game to finally realise how to craft the third gun powder. I didn't know you had to mix the other two types and then get the third one, I just thought you'd find the third one normally just like with the other two, lol. So throughout the entire game, I didn't realise that I could already get the third gun powder and therefore craft different elemental grenade rounds, which would've been useful in the Nemesis battles. So I guess it was my fault for not realising it sooner, otherwise the second Nemesis fight that I thought was way too difficult probably could've been much easier if I'd only known how to craft ammo that Nemesis is weak to.

All in all though, this was a great RE title and my second favourite game in the series after RE2. I still can't believe though that I've actually finished the PS1 trilogy, I would've never believed that I would one day do that considering how much I disliked horror games as well as tank controls. So this is a pretty big personal achievement of mine if I'm being honest, not to mention that I've been wanting to get into the RE series and considering I've played the first three games now, I can say that I've now experienced what RE is all about.

The question now is which game to play next. I'm kinda tired of the classic games now so I don't know if I want to play Code Veronica next. RE4 still seems like a bit too soon since there are a few others RE titles I should play before then. For example, Resident Evil 0 seems like a good candidate since it's a more modern RE title compared to Code Veronica and it looks and plays as REmake. So that honestly feels like a great place to continue the series. Not to mention that if I finish 0, I can finally start up Umbrella Chronicles as that game is based on RE 0, 1 and 3. I really want to play something on my Wii and UC could be an appropriate game to play after 0.

I remember how adamant you were in regards to tank controls so it's nice to hear you've got used to them @LtSarge!

I definitely agree about the second being miles better then the first title too. The Police station turn museum is easily my favourite location in the series and still truly memorable (Unlike mansions which pop up rather frequently throughout).

I quite liked 3 and Nemesis as well. The ammo tool and gunpowders were a fun mechanic from what I remember (It has been a LONG while since I played it though)

Good luck with Resident Evil 0 if you're playing that next! Easily the worst game I've played of the series. The inventory management is an absolute nightmare... And the story is rather pants and completely stupid as well

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy You know, I was actually going to tag you and ask for more information about RE0 since I recall you talking about that game when we were playing REmake on Game Club last year. Wasn't sure though if you ever played through it but now I know! And yeah, I haven't heard much praise for RE0 from people who have played it. I'm definitely glad that I didn't start out with it considering it's chronologically the first game in the series. I remember watching a person on YouTube buying the Origins collection on PS4 and actually starting with RE0 as their first game instead of REmake. No one should ever play RE0 as their first RE game, lol. But considering I've played through four RE games now, I think I'm at least more versed with the franchise now than before. So it feels like a good time to tackle this game and finally be done with the Origins collection.

Have you played through Resident Evil 4 perchance? I actually started up the PS4 version just now because I was interested in how it controlled compared to the Wii version, which controls perfectly but has absolutely poor graphics. The controls are pretty decent overall and I can see myself playing the PS4 version. When I started up the game though, the intro referenced something about mountains and I think it's a reference to Code Veronica, which made me feel like I should really play that game before RE4. Although I don't know if it's such a good idea to play the two hardest RE games back-to-back, lol.

Yeah despite you having two characters at any one time in Resident Evil 0... A lot of items take up two slots @LtSarge (The shotguns, grenade launcher and an absolutely useless (but mandatory for progression) hookshot that's used only 3 times) so you end up honestly have to juggle items around more often then the other titles in the series.

Plus the drop anywhere mechanic isn't that helpful compared to the nice and organised reality warping storage box

Plus there's one section where the pair are split apart that can really mess your day up if you left all the good stuff with the one character. Doesn't help that Rebecca has the health of a wet noodle too that makes exploration a chore...

It's a game I'll honestly never go back to. It's that dire to me. Good Luck

As for Resident Evil 4... I've funnily enough actually only played the Wii version of it 😅

It was a long time ago though.

I've been meaning to actually get the PS4 version at some point and play through it again. I can't offer much more then that unfortunately beyond really liking the motion controls in the Wii version from what I remember and finding it a joy to play through controller wise compared to 5 on PS3 at the time that took a little getting used to.

If there's a reference to mountains in the opening to 4 I'm pretty sure that's meant to be the Arklay mountains (Which is where Resi 1 takes place)

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Yeah I've read that Rebecca doesn't have a lot of health (remember reading a guy making a joke that every time she slips and falls, she gets "caution" health, lol) and there were some people who suggested that one should use Billy as often as possible since he has more health and deals a lot more damage while leaving Rebecca in a safe room. So they basically said to play the game as Billy as much as you can and let Rebecca carry important items and health items. Does this sound like a reasonable strategy?

Ohhh okay, for some reason I thought those mountains were referring to Code Veronica. Don't know where I got that idea from, maybe that game also references mountains and that's why I thought about it. But it's good to know then that RE4 doesn't seem to rely heavily on you knowing what happened in CV. I think playing through RE0 first, then Umbrella Chronicles and finally RE4 would be the best way for me to progress through this series. I'll leave CV for another time!

I'd honestly forgotten Billy's name @LtSarge hence why I didn't mention it

I recall doing the exact same thing to be honest when I played it and used him to explore whilst leaving Rebecca behind aside from when I had to bring her along (Though leaving does make inventory management even worse)

Code Veronica mostly takes place in a prison complex called ... Rockfort Island if I remember right? Well there's also Antarctica later on .

I quite like the villains and story in that one to be honest and some of the enemies/bosses were interesting. The John Woo like opening is rather silly though, the second half slows the game down to a crawl and Steve is terribly written and voice acted.

The abridged version of Code Veronica in Darkside Chronicles was also pretty enjoyable too I recall 😁

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy That's good to hear, so I think I'll be using that strategy when I play through RE0, lol. Poor Rebecca.

Oh I didn't know that Code Veronica is brought up in Darkside Chronicles. I've probably already mentioned this but another reason why I want to play RE0 next is because I want to play Umbrella Chronicles and that game is based on RE 0, 1 and 3. Darkside Chronicles is based on RE2 and apparently also CV, so I'll have to play that game eventually before I start up DC. I've been wanting to play the Wii Resi games for so long but I hadn't played any other RE games at the time so I couldn't, lol. Very close to fulfilling that wish now though!

I played a bit of Resident Evil 0 on PS4 today and decided to play on Easy difficulty. Which I'm really glad that I did because it's honestly quite annoying when the two characters are separated and there's no way to share items between each other. So it's nice to have a lot of items such as ammo available so each character has plenty of it. I want this game to be a more "relaxing" RE experience for me after having played the first three games and that's why I think it's good that I'm playing it on Easy. I just don't want to get frustrated by the character switch mechanic, lol.

But yeah, so far I'm actually really enjoying this game since it's nice to be playing with normal controls instead of tank controls. Not to mention better graphics and this game in particular seems to have a lot of cutscenes, which is good when you want to take a breather. I'm also interested in finding out more about the events that happened before the Spencer Mansion incident in RE1.

Just finished Resident Evil 0 on PS4. Overall I think it was a great game. It definitely felt refreshing to play after having gone through the first three Resi titles on PS1 due to the better graphics and normal controls. Moreover, it felt very similar to REmake, which is a good thing because REmake is a phenomenal game. At first I didn't like switching between the characters but over time I started to like it, especially when you have to cooperate in order to solve puzzles. It definitely didn't feel shoehorned it, the developers implemented this feature very well. The main gripe I have is just the lack of item boxes. Having to constantly drop items and then backtrack so far to bring with you essential stuff is very annoying. I genuinely don't understand why they had to remove them from this game, it sure wasted a lot of my time.

In terms of the story, this is probably the weakest one I've experienced so far, which shouldn't come as a surprise since it's prequel and they had to be careful in order for the plot to make sense. But there's just not a lot of story here. Considering this is a 10-15 hour game, it's extremely lacking in story moments. You definitely don't need to play this game at all if you want to understand the story in the series thus far. It does have quite a few nods to previous games, such as Resident Evil 2, which was really cool to see.

Despite the weak story and lack of item boxes, I thought it was a great game and well worth playing if you're a Resi fan.

And now that I've finished RE0, I can finally play Umbrella Chronicles! I'm planning on starting it up today, although I need to first decide whether to play it on Wii or PS3 since I realised yesterday that I had bought the Chronicles games on PS3 as well. It probably doesn't work that great with the DualShock 3 so I'll most likely just play the Wii version with the Wii remote. Anyway, I can't believe that I've finished my fifth RE game now. I really love this franchise now and it's slowly becoming my favourite horror series of all time.

@LtSarge cool, RE0 will actually be my starting point when I finally get around to properly playing through the series. I’ve never really heard much chat about it as all of the RE fans out there just seem to gush about 1 & 2… so it’s good to know it ‘just about’ holds its own in terms of its contemporaries. The whole item box thing does seem a bit annoying though!

@colonelkilgore Yeah I mean, it's far from being a bad RE game despite all these changes because it's still a classic RE experience. If you enjoy the classic formula, then you're going to like this game because it still has all the features of a typical RE game. Puzzle-solving, inventory management, resource scavenging and so on. It just doesn't do anything different I guess, especially if you're like me who's already played a good amount of RE games before this and have gotten used to the formula.

Which is why I'm not going to be playing Code Veronica next because I think it's time for me to move forward with the series. I just started playing Umbrella Chronicles on the Wii and it's so much fun thus far. It's a short game though, so I'll have to start up another RE game soon and I think it'll finally be RE4, which I'm super stoked for. Not only is this considered the best game in the series, but it's considered one of the best games of all time and I think it's awesome that I'll finally be able to experience this masterpiece soon!

@LtSarge
Oh I was playing RE4 last night, very close to the finish now. Once you get used to the controls it still holds up as good as I remember. Genuinely tense gameplay moments and relief at surviving to the next save point, then dismay at realising how little ammo you have left.
I had seemingly forgotten how laughably simplistic the 'puzzle' elements were but had correctly remembered how annoying and frustrating some of the sections with Ashley could be, at one point I shouted 'stupid b***h' at the tv after I had failed to protect her again! (I don't normally get worked up or shout at the TV so that in itself was amusing).

Also love the voice acting on the merchant "What are ya buying/selling" - you will hear it a lot.
Hope you enjoy when you get around to it.

@LtSarge I'm not overly familiar... only having played 2 Remake, a bit of 4 and CV (though it was around 20 years ago)... but it felt strangly familiar when I played 2 Remake when I played it last year.

What's the gist of Umbrella Chronicles anyway?