Recommending the Original Resident Evil 1

The game that is normally skipped on are games that have remakes that out play their original counterparts, like Metroid and its remake Zero Mission, and the game that I'm going to be talking about right now, the original Resident Evil 1. The remake is unquestionably one of my top favorite Resident Evil games of all time, and depending on the day I'd probably love it a little more than Resident Evil 4 and the Silent Hill trilogy in terms of picking out my favorite horror games. However, I never liked dismissing the humble beginnings of what you now see as a massive horror game franchise especially when the game is still good. It may not be as great as the remake, but it's still a completely different experience altogether. While I do think it's understandable why people skip this game, but I do think it should still be played regardless. People are willing to go through the PS1 versions of 2 and 3, and even though they're remakes of those games I know for a fact that before the remakes of 2 and 3 happened people would still skip the original anyway. But let's get started!

Why Do People Skip It?

I think it's the simple fact that people prefer the remake and would rather play it over the original, and don't see the point of playing the original. It doesn't help that the game is on the PS1, and people would rather play the newer version with quality of life additions. The cutscenes feel as if they pulled actors from a B movie, when watched on YouTube let's players and walkthroughs and people will watch this and view it as laughable and stupid. All of these arguments and comments are very valid, and understandable as to why not many people want to play the original, however it wouldn't hurt to give it a chance right? Well, people like to put time where they don't have time to experience 2 of the same game, which again that is true. Not many people have the time to play every single game in a franchise let alone the gauntlet of one such as Resident Evil. However, I want to challenge you this: if you have the time to play a game that you deem as bad or mid, why not play a game that has a historical significance, a decent game, and have that B movie experience in a video game?

Why Should You Play It?

Simple, it is a good game. Ok done problem solved we're done here.

In all seriousness, I still think that this game is good. It's not perfect, and especially after playing the remake you can see that it wasn't in Shinji Mikami's full vision. Add in to another excuse to not play the original I guess, but hear me out. It is probably one of the easier games to get through in the franchise (depending on what version you play of the game obviously), but because its not as detailed or has too much to do you can go through the game relatively fast, and start to understand what to do when you do both Jill and Chris's campaign back to back. It also encourages subsequent playthroughs because of how much simpler the game is. It may have less content than even RE2 on the PS1, but because you got through the game fast it's the kind of game where you can pick it up blank slate without having to worry about trying to finish it. While the gameplay may not be as good as its sequels I would argue that this is where the you'd start appreciating the later games more, because you start getting used to the controls and navigation of the tank controls which later applies to its sequels later down the line as they add newer mechanics.

I think the cutscenes with hilarious voice acting should be noted when talking about the game as well, because yes its bad and it sounds like a B movie but that's why you should play it. This is the kind of experience you can't really get else where, and a lot of quotes in the game are some I really do love quoting.

"STOP IT DON'T OPEN THAT DOOR"

"THAT WAS TOO CLOSE YOU WERE ALMOST A JILL SANDWICH"

It's so worth it.

I get that people are not into these types of movies where its unintentional on what the game was trying to do, but if you ask me its all part of the experience.

I found a greater appreciation towards the game itself and not only what it represents to the franchise, but my overall perspective on how I view video games in general. I've always loved playing games in release order to see how games improve over the course of the years, and RE is no exception.

Which Version to Play

Now this game has many versions:

The vanilla, director's cut, and the dualshock edition

I would 100% avoid the dualshock edition because it has one of the worst soundtrack I've heard in a video game thus far (obviously there's worse but this is from my experience). Well, while I do think the ost is very memeable and iconic for all the wrong reasons, you'll miss out on some really God bangers in the game especially Still Dawn which isn't even in the remake. Now to which version of the game I would recommend the patched versions of the Director's Cut since it fixes the music and lets you auto aim at the enemies because the vanilla version doesn't let you do that, or the Japanese version of it which is Biohazard it still pertains the voice acting in English so you'll still be able to get through the game without much of a hitch although it could hurt when you have to read text within the game. Now I get that people aren't a fan of emulation or have the time to patch this kind of game which I guess is another factor to consider which all I really have to say is get a Japanese PS1 and get Biohazard which isn't TOO bad to get off of eBay. However not many people want to buy a console for the game which in that case if you have either a PSP, PS3, or Vita nab yourself a copy of RE1 on the PSN store.

Final Thoughts

Yes I get it most people don't like playing older especially when the game has a lot of dated mechanics that make it hard to really get into. However, I would recommend it to someone who wants a more retro experience of older horror games that I think is the most accessible. Sure, you can just play the remake and be done with this game with its narrative and improvements and honestly I have to say that's fine. Personally I wanted to share my love for this game even if the game we have now it much closer to Mikami's vision and an overall improvement of the game. I also just love talking about it, and decided to get more people into it. If you're satisfied with the game you got that's on Steam, Gamecube, or any other newer console that you played this game on then by all means stick with that version, but for those who want to start RE, want a different experience, or curious about horror games at its infancy then by all means try this one out. It isn't my favorite game out there, but I do believe that there are more games out there that should be played and tried much like this one.