I sort of copy pasted this from era, thought I'd share with you guys as well. Here is my thoughts on the first and DC
I am starting with the original standard version, doing a Jill playthrough which is what I almost always do. My history with RE began on day one (or around there) and after playing it I would never be the same. My first night with RE1 is one of my favorite childhood memories and I feel it set the stage for the lover of video games that I am. I grew up with an NES like everyone did back in the day but when the 16-bit wars began you had to pick a side and my dad chose to get me a Genesis. I became a Sega nut, hating on Nintendo, having playground arguments about how Genesis does what Nintendont. Then came time for the 32/64 bit era and Sony announced they are entering the ring, HA this TV company is going to make video games, what a joke. So that Christmas, like the great Sega fan I was, I asked for a Sega Saturn. My older brother asked for Playstation, what a loser. I enjoyed my Panzer Dragoon and Virtua Fighter but I couldn't deny that Playstation had some cool games.
One day my brother came home from some store that had magazines and he said he saw a game preview for this horror game called Resident Evil, coming to the Playstation. Over time I saw many magazines cover this state of the art game. The graphics were incredible, the mature themes were so tantalizing for a 13 year old. My brother being a massive horror movie fan, made it his mission to get Resident Evil day one and I could not wait to try it. The night he bought RE I invited my best friend over for a sleep over, my brother bought both D and RE1, with the intention of starting RE1 at midnight for maximum effect. Our appetizer that night was D, we managed to beat it in two hours, a fine FMV puzzle game but nothing special. I was obsessed with the long box cover (which I still have), reading the manual, learning about Chris and Jill and the rest of the STARS team. We actually waited till midnight to start the game, finally the clock struck 12 and we started it up.
Ah AHHHHHHH BLOOD SPLAT DUN DUN DUN. RESIDENT EVIL! From the opening I was transfixed. My brother picked Chris cause he is a dude of course you pick the dude (not knowing he had no gun and was hard mode). Then the opening intro started and I could not believe I was playing a video game. Real actors, special effects and fun music, Resident Evil was the first big console cinematic game. When that cast of characters started I knew immediately that Barry was my guy and I was going to love to hate that douchebag blond dude, little did I know how legendary he would become.
My brother went first and had no idea how to control Chris. Those first few moments with the controls were hilarious, it was such an alien way to control a game. He stumbled his way into the dining room and eventually reached the first zombie. He had no clue how to use the knife so the zombie slowly ate him while we all screamed in horror. You Died!
It was my turn next and since I read the manual I knew to pick Jill. I loved Barry and Jill's back and forth instantly, Barry's lines to this day are seared into my brain. I got to the first zombie and promptly shot him dead, progress! I then proceeded to explore the mansion, these graphics, this music, this atmosphere, there was NOTHING like this. I reached a hallway that looked like the one in magazines and in the back cover, the dogs were coming. I KNEW the dogs were coming and still when they burst through the window I threw the controller into the air, all of us screaming, I desperately tried to get the controller in time but Jill was dead.
My friend went next and so on all through the night. We found new weapons, got some important keys to go deeper and deeper. We reached Yawn at one point, mindblowing boss at the time. Oh we didn't have a memory card so we had to start over after every death. Eventually my friend and I went to bed but my brother stayed up playing. In the morning he told us he found a way out of the mansion to a smaller guest house and eventually was killed by these horrible reptilian creatures, the hunters. His description blew my mind, how big was this game?! For the next month I was obsessed, I did nothing but play this game over and over. Beat it every which way possible, including unlocking the infinite launcher. It quickly became my favorite game ever up to that point.
My Saturn was left gathering dust, I had broken free of the childish bias behavior and became a fan of gaming, I got my own PS1 later than year. Resident Evil was the first game to show me what the future of video games would be, no longer just games for kids with stages and high scores. They could be full stories, with a movie-like presentation. They could elicit the same emotions the best movies could but go even further with interactivity that put you at the center of the action. At that moment I knew I would be a fan of gaming forever.
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I just finished my RE1 playthrough, beat it with Jill, best ending under 2 hours without speed running at all. The game is so easy, I know Chris is hard mode but still, its a pretty forgiving game. I still love the horrible voice acting, has such a charm that was lost in the remake. I will say I can appreciate so much of what REmake did, there seemed to be sections that were so underbaked in this original.
The music really stands out, there are some killer tracks that only play once like the mansion basement song and when Barry knocks out Wesker. The files are really interesting to read, it seems that researchers and workers were trapped in the mansion for over a month after the outbreak, while more and more slowly got infected. What a cool time period that would be to explore in a game, trapped in the mansion, get killed if you try to escape, watch your friends slowly turn. According to the note of John, Ada was on site, so there is a playable character right there. Oh and one note makes mention of White Umbrella, was there a Red Umbrella? Is Blue Umbrella a nod to that note. Fun to look back.
Next I plan to do Chris but in arrange mode on the DC. I played the GOG version for this run, I am kind of upset they removed ink ribbons. I was surprised to see the uncut intro, thats super cool.
I bought the non dual shock version of RE
C at launch mostly for the RE2 demo. Well my favorite game at the time was getting a new version and I get to play the demo of the sequel, it was the easiest decision to buy. I still have vivid memories of playing the RE2 demo for the first time, how mindblowing the Raccoon City streets were, how improved the models and their animation was. I replayed that demo a million times, RE2 quickly became my most anticipated game ever. As for the DC, I had fun with it, I don't go back to arrange mode that often but its a nice extra mode to have.
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I just finished my Chris Arrange mode playthrough, what an absolute blast. This is a run I have rarely attempted so I had almost no recollection of where things were plus the added difficulty of Chris made this feel like a first time RE1 run through and man I remember how addicting and fun this game is. There is something so charming and fun to control with this game that is lacking in REmake. Things to note, Chris' handgun, head popping machine. The Hunters were brutal, like 2x the amount in Jill's normal campaign, I died a few times as the ganged up on me and hit stunned me then insta kill. It reminded me why they are THE BEST BOW IN RE. I was in some tight situations, lacking health, needed to get through some tough enemies. I fought mamma spider on danger and survived, made it to the save room after just in time. Those are the moments that make this formula so great.
It was also the first time I have ever played the dual shock version... WTF... serious WTF is this music. Its HORRENDOUS, from start to finish. I cannot believe for a chunk of time this was the version available to people, with garbage music. The classic all time tracks that defined a series was just absent?! What? There are people who only played this version and don't know the classic music??? It's crazy to me. Even the ending credits was ruined!
Anyway DC is a ton of fun, now I want to try some of these randomizers. I am a weirdo that prefers to play the OG to REmake, this game means so much to me, I love every second of playing it. Honestly its probably the game I have beaten the most counting every version of it.
Going be 30 years since the first game. Damn. Still fondly remember going to my local game store and picking up that game on release day. It was in the Big Black Case before they switched over to the jewel cases. Played all day and will never forget getting jump scared by the dogs coming through the windows. Good times.
In 1996 Capcom would release a horror game that would become their most prestigious franchise and influence gaming forever. On March 22 1996 Resident Evil was released in Japan and a week later in America. With its stunning cinematic presentation and thrilling genre defining survival horror gameplay, Resident Evil became a massive hit and has not slowed down. There have been some ups and downs but for the most part the Resident Evil franchise has delivered great gaming experiences, its different eras all have their masterpieces. Next year marks the 30th anniversary of this legendary series, and with it comes the latest entry, Resident Evil Requiem.
I believe this would be a great time to do a full series playthrough ending with RE9. Starting now should give us what I hope is plenty of time to get through every game. This is not a timed thing, please take your time, most of us including me will be playing many other games while doing this. Go at your own pace and play the games you want to play, what constitutes a full series playthrough might be different for different people. For me it at a minimum means the mainline series, I will personally do some of the spinoffs but not all (why would I ever play Umbrella Corps again). Then there are the multitude of different versions and games with multiple ways to beat them, once again I leave it up to you to decide what a completion means to you. For me a game like RE2 is not finished until I do one full scenario A and B to get the true ending, but I don't need to do it with the characters flipped, just once is enough. If you want to go all out and beat every game to 100% more power to you! Want to speed run games, do it!
The whole point is to just enjoy playing Resident Evil games and SHARE your thoughts on them. Rank them as you play, or rank them before you play and change rankings as you go. Play a game in a way you never have before. I never have played the Wesker bonus game in RE0, I plan to do that during this playthrough. I can setup a leaderboard for speed runs if that is something some of you are interested in. We can organize co-op games here as well. The beauty of this series is how many ways there are to enjoy this franchise, let this be a celebration.
GUIDELINES
MAINLINE ENTRIES
1996
1998
1999
2000
2002
2002
2005
2009
2012
2012
2015
2017
2019
2020
2021
2024
SPIN-OFF ENTRIES
2000
2001
2001
2003
2003
2004
2007
2009
2011
2012
2016
2020 (RE:Verse has been shut down, no longer playable for this playthrough)
DLC AND OTHER VERSIONS
SERIES PLAYTHROUGH COMPLETION LIST
All who complete the mainline series playthrough will be posted here. We can have different categories for those who just do mainline and those that do more.
RECORDS AND RANKINGS
For anyone who wants to post speed runs, special playthroughs or even mercenaries scores. Post your times and scores and I can add them here.
I can evolve this first post as time goes on. If anyone would like to help with the imaging or even do some badge or something for those who complete the playthrough please let me know.