Resident Evil HD Remaster

I know the original Resident Evil video game came out in 1996 and had a remake in 2002 six years later, but the version I fully played was the video game Resident Evil HD Remaster that came out thirteen years later after the remake in 2015; so, this is just going to be my thoughts on only this version since I have not played the other two versions, and because this version is just the original game just with HD graphics. The video game Resident Evil HD Remaster (2015) was a fun, difficult, and engaging game that has good enough characters, an interesting enough story, and good enough high-definition graphics that makes the game easy to look at while playing; the only thing that can be issues is that occasionally the camera work can make moving around the mansion difficult when maneuvering past zombies and through the many rooms and areas in and around the mansion.

You can choose to play as either Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine, though I chose to play as Chris Redfield, both Chris and Jill are likable with good voice acting making them good enough as playable characters, and you are learning certain secrets about the Umbrella Corporation or other characters the same time as them making you invested in the game. Though there are other characters like Albert Wesker or Rebecca Chambers, they are not in the game that much other than in cutscenes, and they will show up when it comes to having the story move forward; I will not go into any spoilers for those who have not played this game, but I will say there are certain reveals and revelations I found interesting and surprising while playing, leading to me running around the entire mansion to solve well-done puzzles, find cool looking rooms, and weird/strange zombies in lots of rooms and occasionally around every hallway.

The gameplay mechanics can be simple, but it can also be difficult, once you play the game for a certain amount of time you get the hang of it and know how use stuff like your weapons, inventory, or any items you come across; what can make it hard to move around in the mansion is mostly because of the fixed camera angles in each hallway or room making it hard to see where things are, like things to pick up or zombies around the corner. The high-definition graphics look good and gives the mansion a nice creepy feel to it with there being a lot of zombies or any monsters that happen to come after you once you notice them; I will also add that the cutscenes are well-done and I was invested from beginning to end with the story, characters, and the many difficult or just hard to figure out puzzles throughout the mansion making you run around and memorize the map of the place so you can get through the game quickly once you know what to do and where to go.

I know the Resident Evil games or just the first game has a bunch of fans, and playing the first game has made me a fan and will play the rest of the games, which is why I highly recommend giving the video game Resident Evil HD Remaster from 2015 or the original from 1996 a playthrough if you have not already; this game was a fun and creepy zombie survival horror video game that is worth playing. Plus, I know people have nostalgia for the original 1996 version of the first game, but as someone who had not played the original 1996 version and only now started and finished playing the remastered 2015 version, I had fun with it; I am glad that I played this video game, and I will play the other Resident Evil games whenever I am given the chance or the time to.

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Resident Evil HD Remaster" (2015) is probably the best remake I've ever played. Because i have played the original like 3 times, i did remember many of things, alto ugh last time I've played the original was back in 1997, so it was like 19 years ago. Still, the locations felt so familiar because it kinda have imprinted in my memory. I beat this 2015 version in like 3 days, but i'm pretty sure i will return to it one day to beat it with a different character - it is that good.

Overall, the only minor complain about the game itself it related to controls. I played with alternative controls (not classical "tank" system), and sometimes (many, many times to be honest) i was stumble around the corners, or moved into the wrong direction - many times. Nevertheless this game is soooo good, that even kinda awkward controls didn't left to me not wanting to more - to visit each and every room. Amazing game on all accounts.

Games get it right when it comes to remakes (or at least most of them do). Hollywood could use a few lessons when it comes to video games in many ways.

While the original 1996 version was an amazing game, and my first foray into the Survival Horror Genre, this game is far superior in many ways. The graphics are much better, and still hold up to this day considering this is a 2002 Gamecube Port. Of course graphics have gotten a lot better than this since, but unlike the original it does hold up greatly. The gameplay is a lot better than the original, and just as frustrating but in that good kind of way if you know what I mean.

The story is expanded upon and more things are added it while keeping most of the original work, although it does change up quite a few things which is nice because you expect something to happen because it did in the original game but instead something entirely different takes place, keeping it new and fresh for us longtime fans.

The soundtrack is amazing from music to ambience. There's nothing like running down a dark hallway after being scared out of your mind from a zombie to jumping at the sound of thunder in the distance. There are a few new enemies to contend with, as well as all the original ones. The Crimson Heads are quite intense, which reminds me make sure to burn all the zombie corpses in places that you will frequent often (you can thank me later).

The game still has that B Horror quality about it, but sadly the original did a much better job in that department. While this one still has that feel, the acting isn't as bad which is what made the original so loveable. Now don't get me wrong the acting in this game isn't Academy Award Winning and at many times is pretty bad, it just doesn't have that original feel.

All in all this was a great experience and it was fun to jump back into the world that opened my eyes to horror gaming. If you're fan of the original or a newcomer this is an amazing game for you to explore. However, I do recommend playing the original (if you haven't already). I will be playing this game again very soon. I have only done the Jill storyline, but I am sure the Chris story is just as engaging.

I played this on the PS4.

The game is overall fine. I've never been a fan of fixed camera games so I knew I'd struggle with that but the game does not scale well on modern (2024) technology and that was frustrating. Good romp overall but I don't think I'll pick it up again.

I enjoyed a lot of the lore and it's fun to see where the whole series began but inventory, fixed angle, and resolution issues out of the box make it not super fun at the moment. It is definitely overdue for a remake and I hope they make it less frustrating to slog through by making the inventory more manageable. That alone would help a lot and save time running back and forth.

2024 Review played on the PS5:

I came into Resident Evil 1 fresh after recently completing the remake of Resident Evil 2 & 3 earlier this year, i have never played this game before but felt it essential in order to complete the series. I was aware that this game was based of a 2002 GameCube remake of the 1996 game so would not be on par quality wise with the newer remakes. I had concerns how i would get on with the tank style controls and non-third person over the shoulder view point.

First impressions upon loading the game was that the intro cutscene was very low resolution, it appears to be 480p at best. As the game loads you are presented with lots of loading % scrollbars which is rather old fashioned especially when run on a modern PS5 where you should have superfast load times (But dont in this game). The in game cutscenes appear to be better quality and at 1080p, the voice acting is dated but functional with some story elements needing to be read via text notes which is fine.

During the game i quickly adapted to the tank controls, it did however cause disorientation in some areas where the scene angle would change very quickly causing me to get lost. The graphics on the background scenes are fine and still hold up in 2024. Like Resident Evil 2 i enjoyed solving most of the puzzles in the game however some of the later game ones did require me to Google a few hints as the level of complexity increased quite a bit over earlier puzzles. This game also causes you to be frugal with your use of saves due to the limited quantity of ribbons and access to safe rooms. Throughout the game there are occasions where its highly critical that you save before attempting them otherwise the risk of loosing a lot of progress is incredibly high or it will cause you to re-watch non-skippable cutscenes. The story is enjoyable for the most part but i did always find it amusing how Barry always leaves the hard graft to you and manages to make it through to the most complex areas of the game without needing access to the inventory items you did to get there.

Now for some of the frustrating bits. I found a couple of areas of the game would lead to you dying and despite optimizing your save point it lead to you having to re-watch multiple non-skippable cutscenes before you could return back to the boss battle for another attempt. The amount of backtracking in this game is insane and is far worse then Resident Evil 2/3, the lack of inventory slots and broken doors often causes you to re-walk entire sections of the mansion just to get back to the area where you need to be stretching the game out. The door opening animations whilst charming in the first few hours soon become a frustration as they slow down the pacing. During the final boss battle i also encountered a bug that prevented me consuming health items past a certain cutscene leading to a more difficult final battle. Finally the load times of the game are very slow for something running on a PS5 and there is no automatic 'Continue' to reload your most recent save.

Overall i enjoyed Resident Evil 1 and completed the game in 21hrs 45mins (I explored a lot) so it was quite a long game however by that point i was really wishing for it to end. The mechanics of this game are now very dated but its worth a go if you are a hardcore Resident Evil fan, otherwise id wait for another future remake to get released before revisiting.