Leading up to the release of Resident Evil 5 I plan to do a full series playthrough, I will play all 7 games in the main series (and maybe UC as well since its canon) in order of their release. As I play them I will just throw up whatever thoughts on the game I have. Some of them I have not played in years so I wonder what my reaction will be, maybe I forgot a certain scare, or noticed something for the first time.
So why dont you guys join me. I am doing this on another site as well so this is a copy/paste job, dont worry I will get more personal with you guys if you respond here.
RESIDENT EVIL:
I will be playing the DS version of RE mainly cause it has no load times. I will be playing the original mode obviously. I will play as Jill cause that is my primary character for RE1, I have always loved her side more than Chris, why, cause of a red bearded badass of a man named Barry Burton (I heart Barry).
So the original, no game in this series even comes close to holding such a special place in my heart. Its not my favorite RE game, but its by far the most important to me. This is the game I know by heart, I know the lines, I know every room, every enemy, every scare, everything. Its the game that changed my whole view on gaming, its the reason I am here at a site like this. If I had entered into this series at a later point I doubt I would ever have the same love for this series, its all cause of this one game that I am the fan that I am.
The night I got this game, way back in 96, is seriously one of my best childhood memories, a sleep over with my brother and a friend, we stayed up playing this mindblowing game, something we had never seen before. I will never ever forget it, none of us will forget it, we still talk about that night to this day. This game was so ahead of its time, so groundbreaking. Every time I play this game all those feelings come rushing back
Ok enough about it, time to play it. I will start tomorrow and probably end it tomorrow, I can beat this game rather quickly. I will be back with all sorts of thoughts after I play.
Time for some RE3, one of the most debated games in the series. Is it good, is it not, is it the worst? RE3 is an interesting case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. When RE3 was being shown to the press so was RE: CV. There were two RE games being worked on at the same time, so the two games are forever linked. So you are a big fan back in 1999, which game are you going to be more excited about, the one that looks just like RE2 or the one that has mind blowing crazy graphics and seems to be the furture of the series. Yeah it wasn't even fair, we all wanted Code Veronica, RE3 was like the appetizer.
So even before the game came out it already was looked at differently. I did not have that same level of anticipation with this game, it was more of a calm feeling, I was pleased to get more RE but it wasn't what I was waiting for. Plus the game didn't help itself out either, it was in many ways a step back from RE2. Now it did introduce some important aspects that the franchise still uses today and it was unique in that it had a monster chase you all over the place but it was the first time I felt let down in the series. Also there was the whole side story aspect to it, I dont care about the dumb reasoning to give this game the 3 in the title, this game was a side story, CV was the true sequel. The only important aspect of the story in this game was the destruction of Raccoon City, thats it, everything else is completely forgettable.
I am going to start now, I have not played this one in forever so I will go in rather fresh. I will elaborate on why I feel the way I do as I play and maybe I will find that I am wrong about some stuff. Who knows.
I went from RE2 on PC straight to RECV on Dreamcast, thus skipping RE3 since I didn't have a PS1 to play it on anyway. I picked up RE3 on Dreamcast a couple years later, though.
In my opinion, the best RE games are in this order:
I'm not even going to put RE0 on my list because it was complete crap. Yeah, I said it! I'm not a fan of REmake either.
My impression is that many people think REmake is the best game of the old style.
So far, out of the games pre-RE4, I have RE: DS, RE0, and Veronica X, and I must say that I liked RE0. It would have been better with item boxes liberally sprinkled around, though.
Impressions of RE3 coming but let me do this rank thing. I am actually in agreement with Beaver, I dont know REmake didn't do much for me. I think it was more that I was getting fatigued with the formula. I do see its brilliance though, it is a very well made game.
Anyway here is my list.
1. RE4
2. RE2
3. RECV
4. RE1/REmake
5. RE3
6. RE0
It definetly gets a bad rap, I am not excluding myself I usually look down on this game as well. Its maybe not as well made in terms of puzzles, the way the levels are laid out or variety in enemies/bosses but in terms of excitement and holy crap moments this is right on the top of the series. Since I have not played it in a long while I am a bit lost at times so its almost like playing a new RE game (except that I know what to expect just not where exactly, I know the game I am just fuzzy with details).
It starts off with this guy
You run out and its well a city, which makes for one of the most interesting locations in the series. Its unlike the rest, all other games always had a hub of some kind at the start, this is more of an open map, where instead of many locations being interconnected they flow from one to the other, almost like RE4. The issue is there is a lot of ground to cover so back tracking is more of a pain in this game than the rest. I have to hand it to the team that made this cause with the limited tech they had they still managed to convey the sense of an entire city being destroyed. I love how zombies pop out of everywhere, a car that is in the background suddenly bursts opens its door and a zombie comes out. A gas station gets over run, but a fire breaks out and boom, gas station is no more. Or you enter a buring newspaper office and a door blows open from a random explosion. The map is constantly getting changed, a fence that was closed one time gets ripped open by zombies the next time you pass by it. The city feels alive, a very very job well done with that.
But at the same time its that city location that lacks any sort of memorable location, it kind of all looks alike. Plus the layout is weird, alleys have doors that lead to other alleys, it doesn't make sense in the way a mansion does. Its a videogame and they had to have doors somewhere for loading so I understand why, it shows that this game was really pushing it, with today's tech can you imagine what they could do with a full city.
The action is the best part of this game, no question, clearly it was the focus and again a very job well done. The additions to the characters move set are still used to this day. 180 turn maybe the most useful addition ever, auto target at enemy used as well, dodge was taken from other games but it adds a very skill based moved for experts to master. There is the whole ammo creation system as well that almost lets you customize what weapons you want to use. Oh and there are even exploding barrels, I almost forgot about those. Every addition to the formula in this game is built around your actions and weapons to enhance the combat. The game constantly keeps you on edge not just cause of Nemesis but cause areas you once cleared out can refill with enemies at any moment. Its a constant barrage of enemies, it should be cause the whole city is against you. Its actually testing me, where RE1 and RE2 was a breeze this one has me on my toes and I love it.
Which brings us to Nemesis, I knew it, this bastard was going to kill me and he did. I died a few times trying to fight him at the start instead of running, but I eventually killed him and got the eagle parts. What a concept and what great execution. This is the closest any game has come to feeling like the first Terminator movie. In that movie they are on the run from an unstoppable machine, it goes anywhere, and it just will NOT STOP. Thats exactly what it feels like in this game. When he shows up most of the time I just run like hell. The music starts up everywhere you go, you know he is going to jump out at you or he right behind you. Its a feeling that you are never safe. Nemesis pops out of everywhere, I remember when I left the newspaper building Nemesis fell from the sky, I was holy shit! And yeah he is a bitch to bring down, that first fight with him, what a pain, that damn rocket launcher of his! Luckily Jill is built like a tank (and controls like one hahahaha...
Right now I just rode the train and it crashed. Its been like an action movie, its so exciting. I have seen so many memorable moments that i had forgotten about like a Mikhail getting off the train and gunning down a bunch of zombies and even throwing a grenade. Or in the power plant room where zombies attack the fence and you can choose to raise the power which causes the electricity to go through the fence resulting in all zombies heads to explode in a beautiful shower of blood.
Loving it so far.
Well, I didn't like REmake because it lost a lot of it's charming cheese factor. With lines in the original RE like, “...you, the master of unlocking" and “...you were almost a Jill Sandwich!” were just too awesome, but were sadly missing in REmake. I guess REmake was just too serious for me. I also hated having to burn all of those zombie bodies; it was tedious and frustrating, IMO.
I should point out that I almost always dislike remakes. That goes for both games and movies. I just don't see the point in them when I can just play/watch the originals which are usually better anyway.
THIS. I felt like that hurt the game a lot. You are going to penalize me for killing zombies, are you freaking kidding me. I am supposed to take up one of my few slots for gas and crap. Ugh. Even though I loved Crimson heads, I did not like the way the set the whole thing up. Everything in REmake felt slower than the original and it was really serious and dark, really damn dark. I know its a horror series but this is RE, its cheesy, its got loads of action, REmake lost some of that. Fantastic game but I do not think its the best of the series.