A bit of backstory: I grew up watching an older childhood friend play through the classic Resident Evil games and I eventually picked up RE1 Remake, which I still have yet to beat after many false starts and failed attempts. At the time, I found the controls frustrating and the difficulty overly punishing. Despite this, I adored the story and watched through the cutscenes on YouTube, and also read the amazing novelization by S.D. Perry many times in my youth.
Like many fans these days, I didn’t actually finish a RE game until RE2 Remake, which I found much more accessible. The puzzles were fun and frantic, and while there was a lot of backtracking, I didn’t notice it because the police department was relatively small and you could carry more stuff per trip.
Since then, I’ve gotten into most of the RE games with modern controls, and demystified overhead tank control games thanks to the classic Silent Hill games, Onimusha, Parasite Eve 2, and Crow Country, all of which I love.
Despite all that, I’ve attempted to go back to RE1 Remake a few times and have had a really bad time. I love the atmosphere, but even with the controls figured out, the game feels more like a chore than RE2 Remake, which feels much more tightly paced. The mansion feels a lot bigger and is more confusing to navigate than RCPD, plus you have fewer item slots as Jill than as Leon/Claire. And then there’s the time-wasting mechanics like how you have to set zombies on fire to keep them from coming back to life, how damage calculation/headshots are RNG and not based on player skill, or how you can’t take the shorter paths through certain doors without the lock breaking, forcing you to take longer to get to the first major item box, which you have to trek to and from constantly every time your inventory fills up.
About six months ago, I finally made it out of the mansion and to the courtyard (which took me 15 hours of playtime lol), but then I got so burned out I quit, and after trying to start up again recently, I don’t remember at all what I need to do next. (There’s like, pool tables and giant spiders and stuff?)
I’m definitely an casual RE player, but I’m kind of just holding out hope for another remake so it’s not as much of a slog. But there’s no confirmation that will ever happen beyond leaks and RE1 has been a big unclosed book in my gaming life. On the other hand, I might be forcing myself to play a game I don’t like because it’s widely considered a classic.
Update: I think I’m going to skip RE1, and if Capcom ever flat-out says they have no plans to do another remake, I might try it again, but I have the novelization and honestly enjoy that more. I appreciate all the advice!
I’ll give you the same advice that I give myself whenever I feel this way: There are already more genuinely good video games in the world than you will be able to finish before you die. If there’s a “classic” that you feel the need to experience, but you give it a solid chance and it’s just not “clicking” for you, put it down and move on to something else. You’ve tried it, that’s enough. Between all the games that exist, and trying to live a somewhat rounded life that has more than only games in it, you simply can’t get around to all of them.
im gonna finish ff IX damn
you!! meAbsolutely agree with this philosophy even though I find it hard to stick to. Maybe it was growing up with access to only a couple of games making me feel the need to eke out every second of value, but I do now need to tell myself if you’ve given it a proper go and aren’t really enjoying it then just move on, you have an ever growing backlog of other things to try out. It’s especially difficult with the live service fomo dark patterns that try to keep you coming back without you realising that you’ve just formed a habit rather than are really enjoying them!
This is the way. ⊹╰(⌣ʟ⌣)╯⊹
I used to think I needed to get around to playing the original Silent Hill at some point, but within the last few years, I realized I really don’t. I am not a fan of horror games and even if I just count emulation and ROM hacking, I have enough content to last me several lifetiimes, I’m good without playing a game that I only thought I needed to play because everyone says it’s a classic.
(There’s a lot more to add to this conversation but I’ll cut myself short to not have a wall of text.)