Resident Evil 4, Remake and 0 heading to Switch.

[Hero-of-Time]

Yeah, try to avoid fights where you can. If you do happen to kill a zombie and leave its corpse things will get a lot harder for you later on down the road. If it's a corridor you think you'll be using a lot then it's best to burn the body.

The knife is a great way to conserve ammo early on but it can be a bit fiddly to use. You could always deck a zombie and then run up to it with a knife to finish it off. Problem with this is that you will be carrying a knife around with you which wastes an item slot. Given that you've picked Chris, this will mean you are already low on inventory slots.

As for the lack of tutorials, remember that the game was released at a time when games actually came with manuals. Button layouts and gameplay mechanics were in those.

I will say that I think the game is pretty difficult for someone new to the older entries. The remake is probably more difficult than the actual original version of the game. This being the case, don't be afraid of experimenting with different areas and reloading your save. Again, planning your routes and conserving ammo are key things in making progress in this.

There's a reason why this (at least the original) made survival horror games a big thing back in the day. Prepare to die and repeat sections a lot. Of course, there are plenty of guides out there now to help you navigate sections but I wouldn't recommend it. The whole point of the early R Evil games was about inventory management and learning your surroundings. 

[Beast]

13 hours ago, Sméagol said:

I only played for a short while, as Monday evening is radio time for me (and I doubt playing RE with Disco and Deephouse music on is the experience I'm craving).

First of all: I can finally confirm the controls and camera angles are archaic and shit. I mean, I would have expected it, but actually experiencing it is another matter. But I wanted to finally see where it all started, so i'll try to work with it.It is what it is. Though I won't be touching any of the other pre-RE4 games in their (mostly) original versions. the remakes however..

Anyway, yeah first zombie. I died, because I tried knifing it.. And this didn't seem to work. Feel like I've hit it at least 15 times.

Second death..i opened the front door, and Leon (I chose Leon first) just let the zombie dog through like an idiot. I was unable to aim at the dog so I died. Luckily I saved right before (I was thinking "should I save this ribbon?" but I didn't).

Haven't explored much yet. Another archaic thing that annoyed me is the lack of tutorial pop-ups. There are a few, but none really helpful yet. I've looked at a guide for general combat tips, and while I noticed the lighter in the inventory screen, I didn't think any of it yet. Seems I should burn bodies, but I left that first zombie after I got my revenge on it. I'll go check it out when I return. I also learned I should ignore zombies if I can. I wasted ammo shooting at shiny stuff like I'm used in RE4 and 5. Didn't work. Opened up a crypt in the cemetary, but wasn't sure what to do there, Not sure where to go next. That's when I used my last of 3 ribbons. Feels like I've wasted them and ammo, but I'm not using the knife again. Does the knife have any use? Would appreciate some other general (combat) tips!

 

Run. There's nothing wrong or shameful in not fighting but run and save your ammo for bigger fights. Resident Evil isn't solely about killing zombies, it's about surviving and you need to be sure you have enough ammo and enough herbs spare for boss fights and tougher ecnounters. You don't always have to kill them. I always leave the dogs until I get a handgun anyway.

Zombies are pretty easy to avoid so only kill them when absolutely necessary, such as in narrow corridors or when you're cornered. Dogs and faster creatures would need to be put down as soon as possible.

Personally, I'd have picked Jill for my first go as she has more inventory space and, if I recall correctly, she comes across ink ribbons more than Chris does (but I think I may have imagined that).

Stick with the controls and the camera angles. I can imagine them being a little dated now but this series honestly defined survival horror for me. Its characters and story was brilliant and the replayability is great too. I must've completed it so many times throughout my life from the age of 8 or 9 onwards. It's a series I hold to my heart just as much as Kingdom Hearts. 

[darksnowman]

*reloads thread from most recent save*

There has been a decent eShop sale so I went ahead and got Resident Evil the other weekend as the default price is eyewatering. I wanted to dig into it immediately but had to wait overnight as the validation check kept failing after the download completed. No doubt they botched something during the Mario Strikers trials that were happening. So after getting up to date with Stranger Things 4 Vol I the next day, I was into Resi... and it was a nice continuation of the theme. 

Died before making a save.  That got me my first achievement. Found it funny that there wasn't even a basic auto-save after the opening cutscene so I had to restart from scratch.

I got grabbed by a zombie and wasted a knife in my panicked escape. I wanted a dodge move. I wanted to go first person to peek around corners. I wanted to lock on and strafe. I wanted Jill to have a tighter turning circle. I wanted I wanted I wanted. But this wasn't like my previous brushes with Resident Evil; it wasn't a borrow that I could just give back and mark the game down as not for me. I was a paying customer this time.

I pulled up the map. I had access to some halls and rooms. I knew there were items to get and puzzles to solve so I started to check the immediate area for hints, comments, any morsel of information and plotted a route around the available rooms which I methodically checked as well. Bit by bit things fell into place--the zombies almost (but not always!) became secondary in the Metroidvania x point-and-click adventure rhythm I was getting lost in, with an easy-does-it Etrian Odyssey approach to exploration thrown in.

When I played Resident Evil before, my goal was to clear out every zombie I came across. This time around, my goal was to clear out rooms of all pickups and squirrel everything away in the item crate for later scrutiny and use.

Just wish that when I got a new key, newly openable doors would have been highlighted on the map.

More game-overs came. The dog whistle brought on an attack. Dogs leapt in through the front door. Dogs were still getting me later in the game. The only time they didn't was when they eventually came through the windows as I'd been braced for it every time I passed that way with sweaty palms. Barry leaving items around for me was one of the highlights of the game, imo. Seemed like he knew just when I'd be in need.

Then zombies started running and coming through doors and flopping in through windows. Some guy Richard sent me for serum which I never found a use for. It wasn't until late into the game that @Hero-of-Time had a word with me about what to do with the wooden mount, so there were definitely some things that passed me by despite how thorough I thought I was. At one point I did a run around checking doors only to realise I wasn't carrying the key. So I reset to the previous save as all I'd achieved was to get myself on death's door with nothing to show for it. There was another time or two I reset to the previous save when the progress to items/ammo used ratio didn't seem right. It was at times like this I felt like I was playing Resi the way it wanted to be played.

Later, when I thought I was getting down to the business end of things, I found myself outside and the game expanded in scope. A cabin, gravestones, a residence and underground aqua ring. Thankfully, never made it to The Valley of Destruction, Cave of Hatred, Summit of Madness or Path of Revenge. 

After all that and getting back to the mansion I got properly stuck for the first and only time. Out in the residence I thought I understood the pool balls + lamps puzzle though I reckon I ultimately fluked it. This time I had nowhere (obvious) to go and a list of items whose examination yielded nothing. I resorted to combining items just in case... and low and behold it worked. I'm not too chuffed about brute-forcing that as I'd like to know where I missed the ingame hint.

Spoiler

jewellery box requiring a 4cm "key"

 

So that lead me to a battery and I was off and running again. Things fell into place (there was at least one more death to the dogs in the courtyard...) and I came to Enrico who wasn't wearing his standard-issue bulletproof vest. In the final area, I kept jumping at my own shadow on the entry staircase. I was so glad there was a save room back in the residence, and it was a massive relief that there was a second save room in the final area.

Job done after a Castlevania 64-style task near the end.  It felt longer than 13 hours (not in a bad way). Maybe the timer doesn't count menu/ map time or door sequences?

I got squished to death in two different ways during this playthrough yet no Jill sandwich comment?
Was it a schoolyard myth that you could retrieve daggers from zombie heads? Might have to ask.

I've spent all these years thinking Resident Evil is unpenetrable due to the controls and obtuse puzzles, however that one time I was totally stuck aside, this was an overall positive experience. Sure, it was terrifying at times (mostly when I could hear stuff gurgling and squelching offscreen), and frustrating in moments when I was fighting the controls rather than working with them. But positive nonetheless. I even unlocked 17/44 achievements. Who'd have thought I'd be playing a game with achievements eh? Go me.  

[Hero-of-Time]

Your daily updates have been both hilarious and great to read. I expect the same when you get around to starting your next Resident Evil game.  

[darksnowman]

Took longer to unearth this thread than bumble through a puzzle in the Spencer mansion. Must remember remake for next time.

Got a couple of seasonal games lined up (I'm expecting some virtual kudos from @Helmsly should I get to one in particular) and been considering slotting in a third play-through of Resi to see if there are any achievements I can realistically go for--did a Chris file in the interim since the above Jill post). I've come to enjoy/love/appreciate the game now* I've opened myself to the metroidvania-point-and-click-adventure amalgam of it despite only liking two thirds of that equation.** Ended up opting for the novelisation which was an extremely underwhelming read with some questionable backstory (I assume) however, now knowing the game, it was actually a decent retelling of the events and puzzles!

 

* I'm a paying customer
** vania + point-and-click

Edited October 10, 2023 by darksnowman
jill sarnie