Retro Wildlands #61 - Resident Evil (Re-Explored)

[00:00:21] Greetings fellow travelers, vagrants, explorers, wildlanders, and welcome to episode 61 of The Retro Wildlands.

[00:00:31] My name is Nomad and this is my gaming podcast where I like to share my thoughts and experiences with a video game that I've discovered or rediscovered while roaming the gaming wildlands.

[00:00:42] Thank you very much for tuning in to the show today.

[00:00:45] Whether this is your first time venturing into the Retro Wildlands or you're an expedition veteran at this point, I'm really glad you decided to take some time and join us.

[00:00:55] Dee Dee, our canine expedition leader, will be around momentarily to welcome you, but he's been pretty busy as of late.

[00:01:03] Dee Dee and Dexter, who is Dee Dee's brother from another dog mother, have been working really hard to make sure we have plenty of wood for the fire and the drink cooler is stocked.

[00:01:12] I still don't know how they do it all without any thumbs, but I'm thankful that they're around to give me a hand.

[00:01:19] Or should I say paw. Especially for all of their hard work today.

[00:01:24] It's a momentous occasion today as our expedition is set to re-explore some familiar ground now that we have a few years under our belts and arguably a little bit more experience.

[00:01:35] It's also the perfect time as the weather around here is getting colder, the days are getting shorter, and we can hear the moans of something being carried by the wind.

[00:01:46] On today's episode, we're doing something slightly different.

[00:01:51] The video game that we're going to be talking about today is one that we've already covered.

[00:01:56] In fact, this game was featured on the very first episode of the show.

[00:02:01] It's a game that not only kicked off the retro wild lands, but it's the game that kick started my journey as a gamer.

[00:02:09] I had the privilege of replaying this game recently on a live stream and I fell right back in love with the game all over again.

[00:02:18] And it was fun talking to those who decided to show up live and I had a blast recalling the memories I had with this game.

[00:02:25] After the stream was over, I started to think about what an episode of the show would be like if I covered the game today,

[00:02:31] now that I've more or less found my format and I'm much more in tune with script writing and editing.

[00:02:37] So, at some point I locked it in and today we're going to be revisiting Resident Evil on the original PlayStation.

[00:02:48] The first few episodes of the show are probably the ones that I dislike the most.

[00:02:52] And that's to be expected. Most content creators don't care for their earlier projects because they're still learning and figuring out how to do things.

[00:03:01] While the first episode of the show was fun and I got a lot of praise for it,

[00:03:05] I always felt like it was just a little too incomplete for me.

[00:03:10] So, I decided I wanted to give it another go and make the episode I've always wanted.

[00:03:16] Resident Evil was one of the best games to come out in 1996.

[00:03:20] Second only to Super Mario 64 in my opinion.

[00:03:25] It helped define the survival horror genre of video games, but for me,

[00:03:29] it was the very first video game that made me feel things I didn't know a video game could.

[00:03:36] I remember feeling anxious as I explored the long dark hallways of the Spencer Mansion.

[00:03:41] I felt my heart race when I saw the game's first zombie.

[00:03:45] And I felt genuine excitement as I faced my fears by slowly wiping out the monsters that hunted me.

[00:03:51] And while the original is better experienced today by partaking in the remake that was dropped on the GameCube and eventually modern consoles,

[00:04:01] there's just something about the original that will always remain special to me.

[00:04:05] Maybe it's the extreme blood and gore, the creepy music, or the stellar voice acting.

[00:04:11] Or maybe it's just because I had a lot of memories with this game.

[00:04:16] Regardless, you can't deny that this game is one of the greats,

[00:04:20] and while I do agree it has not aged particularly well in the grand scheme,

[00:04:24] I think it has aged like a fine wine,

[00:04:27] and I'm very excited to tell you all about it and share with you some of my favorite childhood gaming memories.

[00:04:35] Now, if you're new to the show, I like to kick things off a little bit first by chatting it up with you all

[00:04:41] and give you all a peek behind the scenes here in the retro wildlands before we head out on our adventure.

[00:04:47] Depending on what's on my mind, I'll usually talk about what's going on with the show,

[00:04:51] what's happening in my personal life, what games I might be playing,

[00:04:55] or whatever else I feel like moaning like a zombie into this here microphone.

[00:05:00] I'll also take some time to read and respond to any comments I received about Resident Evil

[00:05:04] from our Wildlands community on our social media pages,

[00:05:08] so those who had some thoughts or memories they wanted to share can do that there.

[00:05:13] Now, if none of this interests you and you're just here for the Resident Evil experience,

[00:05:18] no worries, just skip ahead about 15 or so minutes and you'll get into the game talk.

[00:05:24] I'll also leave some timestamps in the show notes so you know exactly where you need to go

[00:05:28] and you don't have to find the right mansion key to get there.

[00:05:32] But I would love it if you did decide to stick around.

[00:05:35] We'll talk a little bit of gaming and you'll get to hear some of your fellow wildlanders sound off their thoughts,

[00:05:41] and I can't think of a better way to get this journey underway.

[00:05:45] So, without further ado, let's get into our opening segment that I like to call...

[00:05:51] Campfire Catch-Up.

[00:06:09] So the one thing that's been on my mind lately has been my backlog of games.

[00:06:14] One of the most wonderful things about the world we live in today is that there is no shortage of video games to play.

[00:06:20] The interesting thing, though, is I'm finding myself less and less excited about new game releases.

[00:06:27] There's certainly some games that I'm interested in checking out, like I'm absolutely going to be picking up the Silent Hill 2 remake,

[00:06:34] and I'm excited for the new Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater.

[00:06:38] I recently grabbed a copy of the new Legend of Zelda Echoes of Wisdom on the Switch, too.

[00:06:44] But it's funny, two of the three games I'm dying to play are remakes of older games,

[00:06:50] and while you can make an argument that there's a few too many remakes floating around the last couple years,

[00:06:56] I am all for it if done right.

[00:06:59] But the one thing newer AAA studios seem to want to do more and more lately is create these humongous games that seemingly go on forever.

[00:07:08] Games that are so vast that you get overwhelmed just by looking at them.

[00:07:13] Final Fantasy Rebirth was that game for me this year.

[00:07:17] I put a few hours into it, and when it was clear to me how the game was going to be structured, I walked away.

[00:07:24] Now, I am absolutely going to play this game, mark my words.

[00:07:28] I love Final Fantasy 7, and I cannot wait to experience this game.

[00:07:32] But 47 hours just to focus on the story, and 100 hours to do that and the mass majority of side content?

[00:07:41] I just can't.

[00:07:43] I mean, how many games on my backlog can I finish in 100 hours?

[00:07:48] I know some people would say just play what makes you happy, and I do, trust me.

[00:07:53] But man, games are just too damn big lately.

[00:07:57] Which is why, while I am sampling and playing old retro games for the show, I am starting to gravitate back towards indie games.

[00:08:05] And even though adding it to my collection just makes the backlog grow, I have recently added one indie game I am very excited to play.

[00:08:13] And I have already started, too.

[00:08:16] Developed and published by Retroware, Iron Meat is scratching an itch for me that I had no idea I had.

[00:08:24] This run-and-gun shooter is more or less contra on the NES.

[00:08:29] The game controls mostly the same, has similar power-ups, and has the brutal NES difficulty.

[00:08:35] The graphics are simply amazing, and what sealed the deal for me was the amazing metal-inspired soundtrack.

[00:08:43] Which you can switch out for a retro-sounding one.

[00:08:47] Like, who does that?

[00:08:49] Who goes through all the effort?

[00:08:52] Retroware does, that's who.

[00:08:54] I absolutely think you should check this game out if you like run-and-gun shooters.

[00:08:59] It has a difficulty toggle, so it's not completely balls to the wall if you don't want to go that hard.

[00:09:04] But one of the other selling points to this game is the couch co-op.

[00:09:09] I haven't played this game with anyone yet, but I mean to ask my stepson and see if he'll throw down with me and try and defeat the meat.

[00:09:18] Plus, it takes maybe two hours to finish the game and there's optional replayability in the form of achievements and character skins to unlock.

[00:09:26] Perfect for my busy life.

[00:09:29] I absolutely want to do a video review on this game as soon as I'm finished, so I'll be working on that one as time goes on.

[00:09:37] Speaking of video reviews, I'm in the middle of putting a new one together right now.

[00:09:42] I have over 250 physical PlayStation Portable games at the time of this recording, and I've been wanting to try more of the games I haven't played on the system.

[00:09:52] I played through one last year that I never got around to writing anything up for, but I finally written and recorded everything I need for a bonafide video review.

[00:10:02] I just have to sit and edit it.

[00:10:05] So, depending on when that happens, it'll either be up by the time this show goes live, or it'll be just about done.

[00:10:13] Be sure to check out our Retro Wildlands YouTube channel if you're at all interested in some of the side content I'm making.

[00:10:19] No pressure, but if you find yourself in that neck of the woods, know that the Expedition is out there as well.

[00:10:26] And before we move off the backlog, I am proud to say I finally finished Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Reunion on the PlayStation 5, and I have the coveted Platinum Trophy I feel like I've been going after for far too long.

[00:10:42] I feel like I've talked about this game ad nauseam over several campfire catch-ups now, but I just wanted to say it is done, and I finally have a weight off my shoulders.

[00:10:52] This game was fun, and while I consider the original on the PlayStation Portable one of my favorite games of all time, I just wanted this experience to be done.

[00:11:02] I've played through this game to absolute completion on the PSP at least four times in my life, and after starting my Platinum Trophy run on the PlayStation 5, I just had to see it through.

[00:11:13] I have a very hard time leaving games unfinished, especially if a goal I have in mind is attainable.

[00:11:22] Regardless of all of that, it is finished and I now have an open slot to fit a new game into.

[00:11:28] I honestly think I'll still prefer the original, even though the new Crisis Core has a bunch of quality of life improvements.

[00:11:34] Oh, and if you're interested in my thoughts on the original Crisis Core, check out episode 20 of The Retro Wildlands where I took a dive into the game and attempted to recap the story at the end of the show.

[00:11:46] But with the modern version done, what modern game is next for me?

[00:11:51] I honestly don't know.

[00:11:53] I was pretty committed to starting The Legend of Zelda Echoes of Wisdom, but we'll see what happens.

[00:11:59] There's a lot of podcasting and content creation I want to catch up on and focus on, so gaming may take a backseat for a little bit.

[00:12:07] So, speaking of podcasting, this is just a reminder to all of you.

[00:12:11] If you're at all interested in the things that I have going on, such as what's coming up on the podcast, what new YouTube videos may be dropping, or you just want to spice up your socials with a little retro gaming spice, check out The Retro Wildlands on social media.

[00:12:27] I'm on all the major networks, but if you head on over to our link tree at linktr.ee forward slash retro wildlands, you'll find yourself in our one-stop shop.

[00:12:38] It'd be really cool if you dropped us a follow on your preferred social platform.

[00:12:42] More than anything, I've always had a good time talking to people through comments on our post, so if that's something that interests you, you are more than welcome to join us.

[00:12:52] Beyond all that, I don't really think I have much else that I want to mention this episode.

[00:12:58] I'm very eager to get into the meat of the episode with all of you today.

[00:13:02] I've often thought about how I would do our first ever episode over now that I've landed on a show format that I like, and I'm getting better at editing audio into something mildly entertaining.

[00:13:14] So, I think it's time we get into it, my friends.

[00:13:17] Let's get into the reason that you're all here today.

[00:13:21] Let's talk about Resident Evil on the original Sony PlayStation.

[00:13:27] The cool thing about re-exploring Resident Evil is that now people in the Retro Wildlands community can sound off their thoughts about the game, and I can't think of a better way to get things moving.

[00:13:38] We had a couple comments come in when I put a call out for them on our social media pages, and one that came in through the SuperPod Lounge, the Discord server for the SuperPod Network, where you can find me and a lot of other awesome people if you're interested in joining up.

[00:13:54] Our first comment came from TheTurboForce1984 over on our Instagram page.

[00:14:01] And, I have to say really quick, 1984 is one hell of a year, my friend.

[00:14:06] Regarding Resident Evil, they said,

[00:14:09] One of the best survival horror games.

[00:14:12] Right to the point, which I appreciate.

[00:14:15] Resident Evil can absolutely be considered one of the best survival horror games, and I'd like to think it's universally agreed upon.

[00:14:22] Now, it's no secret that there are better games out there in the genre.

[00:14:26] Resident Evil 2 improved upon the original in practically every way, and the Resident Evil remake that originally came out on the Nintendo GameCube is far and away the definitive way to play the original.

[00:14:38] But, if you look past the clunky controls, terrible voice acting, and graphical presentation that didn't really reach its full potential, you have a decently competent survival horror game.

[00:14:49] The tank control scheme will probably alienate anyone who doesn't like them or anyone who has a hard time learning them, but I encourage anyone who hasn't played this game before to at least give it a chance.

[00:15:01] It's a great way to see where some of the greats originated from.

[00:15:06] Next up, we got a comment from RezzyClaireRedfield, who chimed in over on our Twitter slash X page under the handle at Nostalgia underscore R-E-B-H.

[00:15:18] When asked to drop their comments, thoughts, or memories about Resident Evil on our socials, they said,

[00:15:24] If I tell you, I won't be able to stop talking about Resident Evil.

[00:15:29] And you know what, Claire? That is fair.

[00:15:31] I've gotten a chance to talk to you a bit during some of our Resident Evil livestreams that I've done,

[00:15:36] and after seeing the content that you put up on your Facebook page and everywhere else,

[00:15:41] you do seem like the type that could go on forever.

[00:15:44] I feel like I'm the same way a lot of the time.

[00:15:47] This franchise has really evolved into something grand, and it all started with this very first game.

[00:15:53] Even though I'm a borderline Resident Evil fanboy, I acknowledge that not every game is a banger.

[00:16:00] But they are still fun to talk about.

[00:16:03] From the unique characters to the story that just gets more and more convoluted as you go,

[00:16:07] there's a lot to love here, and I share your passion, my friend.

[00:16:12] It all started somewhere, and it's always fun talking about where it all began,

[00:16:16] with the original Resident Evil on the Sony PlayStation.

[00:16:21] Finally, our last comment came in from Aaron,

[00:16:24] who is one of the hosts of the Superpod Saga,

[00:16:27] another awesome podcast part of the Superpod Network.

[00:16:32] Aaron said,

[00:16:55] What a dick.

[00:16:58] Man, that hurts my heart just reading that.

[00:17:02] I think my stepdad traded in our original copy, or he probably sold it,

[00:17:06] but it's something else to lose it to someone that you trust.

[00:17:10] Copies of this game aren't exactly cheap anymore either.

[00:17:14] But at least it sounds like you have some solid memories,

[00:17:17] even if they happen to be of you getting the shit scared out of you.

[00:17:21] That first zombie will forever be one of the best moments in all of gaming,

[00:17:26] and even though the graphics aren't really all that great nowadays,

[00:17:29] what they had back then was more than enough to get the job done.

[00:17:34] I'll talk about how mine and my stepdad's first encounter went with that zombie during the show.

[00:17:40] Once you see it though, you never forget that cold dead eye staring at you,

[00:17:45] and how the game just dumps you right back into the gameplay,

[00:17:48] and it's up to you to make the next move.

[00:17:51] Classic moment in gaming right there.

[00:17:54] A huge thank you to everyone who took a moment to write into the show for this episode,

[00:17:59] and if you're looking to get in on the action when I drop future episodes,

[00:18:03] follow the Retro Wildlands on our social media pages,

[00:18:05] or hop into the Super Pod Lounge over on Discord.

[00:18:10] I'll put a call out when I start writing the next episode,

[00:18:13] and that'll be your chance to join your fellow Wildlanders and sound off.

[00:18:19] Originally released on the Sony PlayStation in 1996,

[00:18:23] Resident Evil marked the beginning of the survival horror genre of video games.

[00:18:28] Developed and published by Capcom with director Shinji Mikami at the helm,

[00:18:32] this game would go on to be considered one of the most influential video games of all time.

[00:18:38] It was one of the first video games ever made that took video games in a more cinematic direction.

[00:18:44] You could argue that the narrative-driven first-person experiences that we have today

[00:18:48] have Resident Evil to thank.

[00:18:50] But while I argue most of us know of Resident Evil for its legacy,

[00:18:55] the actual game itself tends to get lost in discussion.

[00:18:58] It was the very first Resident Evil game and therefore unpolished in a lot of areas.

[00:19:04] Plus, it was remade on the GameCube in 2002 in such a way that the remake became the definitive way

[00:19:11] to experience the original tale, leaving the PlayStation original behind.

[00:19:15] For myself, Resident Evil marked a turning point for me as a gamer.

[00:19:20] This was the very first gaming experience I ever had that showed me what video games could really be one day,

[00:19:27] and I was 100% committed to seeing it happen.

[00:19:31] Between the clunky tank-style controls, terrible voice acting, and B-movie horror story,

[00:19:37] there's a lot to love here, and it's time we go back to where it all began.

[00:19:42] So let's gear up, Wildlanders.

[00:19:44] Grab your handgun, a few magazines of ammo, and maybe grab a lockpick if you think you are the master of unlocking.

[00:19:52] The Star's Bravo Team has gone missing in the Arklay Mountains,

[00:19:55] and as a member of Alpha Team, it's up to us to find them and solve the grisly murders that keep happening in the area.

[00:20:02] After finding Bravo Team's downed helicopter, we're eventually led, or should I say chased, to a secluded mansion in the middle of the woods.

[00:20:12] Alpha Team has escaped into the mansion, where they thought it was safe.

[00:20:17] Yet.

[00:21:04] When I look back on my life, the one thing I'm most thankful for is the fact that, at pretty much every major point in my life, video games were available to me.

[00:21:14] I'm very thankful, and I acknowledge that I'm incredibly lucky.

[00:21:19] It all started with the original Nintendo for me, and a library of maybe, I don't know, 10 games at best over a period of several years.

[00:21:27] And now, as a 40-year-old, I have multiple game systems and hundreds of physical games to play.

[00:21:34] And that's not even counting the digital ones.

[00:21:37] I've played and completed hundreds of games in my life, and when I take a moment to stop and think about them all, it's a lot to take in.

[00:21:45] I can almost guarantee there's probably some games in that pile that I've long forgotten about, too.

[00:21:51] Maybe I'll remember them if I see a screenshot of gameplay or see the game out in the wild somewhere.

[00:21:57] And I have to imagine some of you listening are in that boat, too.

[00:22:01] But what I've always found fascinating about gaming is that, no matter how many games we've played, there will always be those games that stick out.

[00:22:10] The ones that made a lasting impression.

[00:22:14] Even some that were life-changing.

[00:22:17] And while several games immediately come to mind when I think about the ones that have shaped my life in various ways,

[00:22:23] the original Resident Evil often finds a way to put itself on the top of that list.

[00:22:30] When Resident Evil was released on the PlayStation back in 96, I had no idea what to expect.

[00:22:37] Somehow, its existence was seemingly hidden from me.

[00:22:41] I don't remember seeing it in magazines, and I don't remember it being advertised on TV or anything.

[00:22:46] Resident Evil entered my life thanks to my stepdad.

[00:22:51] I've told this story a few times, but it bears repeating today, especially since it's one of my favorite gaming memories.

[00:22:58] It's also one of my favorite memories with my stepdad.

[00:23:04] One day in 1996, when I was but a 12-year-old little boy, my stepdad came home from work.

[00:23:11] He came downstairs where I was, and I could see that he had a PlayStation game in his hand.

[00:23:16] We had gotten an original PlayStation, I believe at the tail end of 1995, so the system was still pretty fresh and new.

[00:23:25] Any time a new game was brought in, either brand new from the store, rented, or borrowed from someone,

[00:23:31] I was immediately invested in whatever it was.

[00:23:34] I had grown up on the Nintendo and Super Nintendo, so the idea of polygonal 3D graphics fascinated me.

[00:23:42] But I had no idea the game my stepdad had in his hand would change everything.

[00:23:48] Hey, is that a new PlayStation game?

[00:23:51] Yeah, I borrowed it from a guy at work.

[00:23:54] My stepdad walked past me, almost as if he didn't want me to see the game.

[00:23:59] I leaned in a little, trying to catch a glimpse of the cover art.

[00:24:03] So, what is it?

[00:24:05] My stepdad stopped, looked at me right in the eyes for almost a little too long.

[00:24:10] I started to feel a little uneasy.

[00:24:13] I'm told this game is extremely violent and really scary.

[00:24:18] My stepdad showed me the game case.

[00:24:21] On the front of the jewel case was a picture of a man holding a long gun.

[00:24:26] The look on his face looked to be that of sheer terror.

[00:24:32] That or sheer pain, you know, the kind one has when they step on a Lego.

[00:24:37] I've never seen a cover like this before and I was immediately intrigued.

[00:24:41] My eyes went to the top and I read the title of the game silently to myself as my stepdad continued.

[00:24:48] It's called Resident Evil and you are not allowed to play it.

[00:24:54] As a matter of fact, you aren't allowed to even watch me play it.

[00:24:59] My heart sank.

[00:25:00] I can't play it or even watch it?

[00:25:03] Was the game that bloody, that scary?

[00:25:07] Before I could form a reply, my stepdad walked past me and made his way out of the room.

[00:25:13] I was stunned.

[00:25:14] But it didn't matter.

[00:25:16] One way or another, I would see this game and I knew I was going to find a way to play it.

[00:25:21] After all, the bigger TV in the house with the surround sound set up was downstairs and my bedroom was just off the living room.

[00:25:30] So, the next day when my stepdad decided to play it, I knew it was my chance.

[00:25:38] Before powering the game on, I was told to either go to my room or I could go upstairs.

[00:25:43] I chose my room and without a word, I went in and shut the door.

[00:25:47] I sat on my bed and just waited in silence.

[00:25:51] I don't even remember breathing.

[00:25:53] I waited to hear the PlayStation load-up chime.

[00:26:10] It was at this point I slowly made my way to my hands and knees and crawled over to the door.

[00:26:17] Why did I crawl out my hands and knees?

[00:26:19] No idea.

[00:26:21] But when I got to the door, I waited and held my breath again.

[00:26:25] After the load-up chime, there was silence for a little bit,

[00:26:29] but then I heard what I would later learn was the Capcom logo coming up on screen.

[00:26:43] But what happened next made my hair stand on end.

[00:26:47] At the time, I didn't know what was on screen.

[00:26:50] All I had heard was the audio.

[00:26:53] Those that have played this game can probably picture it though,

[00:26:56] but at the time, my imagination was running wild when I heard this.

[00:27:19] At this point, I couldn't just sit in my room and pretend.

[00:27:25] I needed to see this thing for myself.

[00:27:28] I very, very slowly placed my hand on the bedroom doorknob.

[00:27:34] Slowly, I started to turn the knob and the moment I was able to open the door, I carefully did just that.

[00:27:41] The TV was just outside my door and to the right.

[00:27:45] The nice thing was, the couch was pointing away from my room, meaning my stepdad would be facing away from me.

[00:27:52] As long as I didn't make a sound or he just happened to turn around to see me,

[00:27:57] he would have no idea that I was there.

[00:27:59] It was perfect.

[00:28:01] As I was opening the door, I was startled and almost gave away what I was doing.

[00:28:06] What exactly startled me?

[00:28:08] The now notorious title calling that signifies the start of the game.

[00:28:15] Resident Evil

[00:28:17] The voiceover sent chills down my spine, but I remained still.

[00:28:23] There was no sound for a few moments and I used that time to regain my composure.

[00:28:28] I waited to hear some sort of sound again so I could potentially mask my movements.

[00:28:34] Soon, I heard the sound of what I would later learn was my stepdad deciding what character to play as.

[00:28:43] I didn't see it in that moment, but on screen were two ID cards

[00:28:48] showing off the two main characters, and the player had to decide which one to play as.

[00:28:54] Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine.

[00:28:57] My stepdad settled on Jill, and right as I was rounding the corner and the TV came into view,

[00:29:03] he made his selection and the screen faded to white.

[00:29:15] I made it around the corner, still on my hands and knees,

[00:29:18] and I had a decent view of the TV at this point.

[00:29:20] I was content to just stay where I was at, but I wasn't content for very long.

[00:29:27] Soon, the now notorious opening movie started to play.

[00:29:32] Ominous music started to swell up, and on screen, I could see July 1998 appear.

[00:29:48] Looks like the game takes place two years from now.

[00:29:51] At the bottom of the screen, the words Raccoon Forest appeared.

[00:29:56] Our setting.

[00:29:57] On screen, I could see the forest below, and some thick clouds appeared overhead.

[00:30:03] Then, a man's voice.

[00:30:06] That alone blew me away, and even before this scene started to really open up,

[00:30:10] it felt to me like I was watching an actual movie on the PlayStation.

[00:30:16] I didn't know how right I would be as the opening movie continued.

[00:30:21] Alpha Team is flying around the forest zone, situated in northwest Raccoon City,

[00:30:25] where we're searching for the helicopter of our compatriots Bravo Team,

[00:30:29] who disappeared during the middle of our mission.

[00:30:32] No, I haven't found it.

[00:30:37] Bizarre murder cases have recently occurred in Raccoon City.

[00:30:40] There are outlandish reports of families being attacked by a group of about ten people.

[00:30:46] Victims were apparently eaten.

[00:30:49] Bravo Team went to the hideout of the group and disappeared.

[00:30:58] That was Jill's voice, and on screen, we saw another shot of the forest

[00:31:03] with a column of smoke coming up from within it.

[00:31:07] Clearly, it was the helicopter our heroes were looking for.

[00:31:11] At this point, the scene transitions to our heroes on the ground.

[00:31:16] We saw tall grass on screen,

[00:31:19] and we could hear the footsteps of our main characters trudging through it.

[00:31:22] I remember how crisp the sounds seemed to be coming out of the speakers from where I was hiding.

[00:31:29] As I watched this unfold, I don't think I blinked even once.

[00:31:34] Eventually, the footsteps stopped and the voiceover continued.

[00:31:38] As it did, we finally saw the real-life faces of our heroes.

[00:31:43] They all looked so cool,

[00:31:46] even if they came across as a motley crew of sorts.

[00:31:50] This was also the moment that I would be introduced to Jill Valentine,

[00:31:53] who would immediately join the ranks of all my other childhood crushes,

[00:31:57] which included the likes of Amy Jo Johnson, the Pink Power Ranger,

[00:32:01] and Tiffany Amber Thiessen, who played Kelly Kapowski in Save by the Bell.

[00:32:07] Anyway, the voiceover laid some things out from here.

[00:32:13] It was Bravo Team's helicopter.

[00:32:16] Nobody was in it.

[00:32:17] But strangely, most of the equipment was still there.

[00:32:21] However, we soon discovered why.

[00:32:23] I think I remember my eyes getting a little wider here.

[00:32:29] I was locked onto the TV screen at this point,

[00:32:33] still holding my breath in eager anticipation as to what the team was going to find.

[00:32:38] And then we saw the shadowy silhouette of some sort of creature,

[00:32:44] and its growls oozed from the speakers all around me.

[00:32:50] Oh boy, here we go.

[00:32:52] We saw our heroes looking through the tall grass when suddenly one of them,

[00:32:57] who I would later learn was named Joseph, called out to the team.

[00:33:06] But it was also clear that Joseph wasn't alone.

[00:33:15] Joseph reaches down and starts to pull something up from the ground.

[00:33:21] It looks to be the business end of a handgun

[00:33:26] that still has a human hand attached.

[00:33:29] And then things start to happen very quickly.

[00:33:42] The monster that's been skulking around in the shadows

[00:33:45] makes a mad dash towards Joseph and starts to rip into him.

[00:33:49] His screams pierce the night sky like a sharp knife.

[00:33:57] Jill cries out in horror,

[00:33:58] though this moment always made me tilt my head a little

[00:34:01] as Jill's mouth didn't quite line up with her voice.

[00:34:04] But never mind about that.

[00:34:06] Twelve-year-old me didn't care about that voiceover quality,

[00:34:09] and you shouldn't either.

[00:34:10] Joseph!

[00:34:12] At this point, our heroes start to fire on the creature.

[00:34:23] And then, for some reason,

[00:34:25] the helicopter that brought our heroes in

[00:34:27] takes off and leaves them all behind.

[00:34:32] We later learn that the pilot, Brad Vickers,

[00:34:36] is just a straight-up coward,

[00:34:37] and he leaves his team to fight the unknown threat.

[00:34:41] What a dick.

[00:34:44] Oh, crap, that thing is still out there.

[00:34:46] Our heroes immediately get the hell out of there

[00:34:49] and start to run through the tall grass,

[00:34:51] taking potshots at the unseen monster.

[00:34:59] Then, Chris Redfield turns around and calls out.

[00:35:08] In the middle of the woods,

[00:35:10] the team spots a huge mansion.

[00:35:12] What in the world is it doing there?

[00:35:15] Doesn't matter, though.

[00:35:17] It's seemingly the only safe haven,

[00:35:19] and that's where our heroes head.

[00:35:23] Soon, the screen fades to black.

[00:35:27] And then, we saw a fully-colored live-action movie

[00:35:32] where we're introduced to the game's main characters

[00:35:35] in one of the most badass opening cutscenes

[00:35:38] that I have ever seen.

[00:35:43] Chris Redfield,

[00:35:50] Jill Valentine,

[00:35:57] Burton,

[00:36:03] Rebecca Chambers,

[00:36:09] Albert Wesker,

[00:36:15] Resident Evil.

[00:36:17] Once the screen went black

[00:36:19] and I more or less regained my senses

[00:36:21] after experiencing how awesome that opening scene was,

[00:36:24] I realized I had slowly crawled behind the couch

[00:36:27] my stepdad was sitting on

[00:36:29] so I could get a completely unobstructed view

[00:36:31] of the television.

[00:36:33] I don't know how I am still alive today

[00:36:36] because I know for sure

[00:36:37] I was not breathing throughout that entire interaction.

[00:36:41] I was so excited for everything that I was seeing,

[00:36:44] but I also knew that if I was caught,

[00:36:46] my stepdad would be super pissed.

[00:36:49] It didn't matter, though.

[00:36:51] Whatever was going to happen next was worth the risk.

[00:36:55] The nice thing about today, though,

[00:36:57] is that we know what this became

[00:36:59] and most of us,

[00:37:00] whether you've played any of the games in the series or not,

[00:37:03] have an idea of where it all started.

[00:37:05] But really, what is this game?

[00:37:10] Resident Evil is a third-person adventure game

[00:37:13] and the very first game to be classified as survival horror.

[00:37:17] Players take control of either Jill Valentine or Chris Redfield,

[00:37:22] members of the Elite Stars Unit,

[00:37:24] a division of the Raccoon City Police Department.

[00:37:28] Think SWAT team, but more specialized.

[00:37:31] There's two star sub-teams,

[00:37:34] Alpha and Bravo team.

[00:37:36] Each member of each team brings a special skill to the mix

[00:37:39] which helps round out the team.

[00:37:42] We can play through the game as either Chris or Jill from Alpha team.

[00:37:46] Chris is 25 years old

[00:37:48] and considered Alpha team's point man,

[00:37:50] and he's also an expert marksman.

[00:37:52] He used to be in the U.S. Air Force before being kicked out,

[00:37:56] and eventually recruited into Starz by Barry Burton.

[00:38:00] Jill Valentine is listed as the mechanical device expert.

[00:38:05] She's most known for her skill with a lockpick

[00:38:07] and her passion for doing the right thing.

[00:38:10] I didn't know it at the time,

[00:38:12] but Jill Valentine would go on to be one of the most recognized

[00:38:15] female characters in all of gaming.

[00:38:18] What made her likable was the fact that she wasn't overly sexualized

[00:38:22] and she was just as skilled as her male teammates.

[00:38:26] That alone drew me to her when I was younger.

[00:38:29] She wasn't the damsel in distress,

[00:38:31] and she also wasn't an overpowered, highly skilled killing machine.

[00:38:36] She was competent, cool, and collected,

[00:38:39] but it was clear even she was uneasy and fearful

[00:38:42] as the events of the game played out.

[00:38:44] I always appreciated that in a character,

[00:38:47] regardless of their gender.

[00:38:49] Anyway, I'm getting off on a tangent.

[00:38:51] While I love Chris as a character as well,

[00:38:54] I'll always have a soft spot for Jill if that's not evident.

[00:38:58] Gameplay-wise, while both characters play and function the same,

[00:39:02] there's two big differences.

[00:39:04] First, Jill doesn't take as much damage as Chris does before dying.

[00:39:10] Makes sense, Jill is not as built up physically as Chris.

[00:39:14] But the other key difference is that Jill can carry more items at once than Chris can.

[00:39:20] Chris can carry six items while Jill can carry eight.

[00:39:24] Because of that, even though Chris is the more physically stronger character,

[00:39:29] Jill's playthrough is usually easier

[00:39:31] since you can carry more weapons and healing items at once.

[00:39:35] Whenever I play the game today, I tend to default as playing as Jill.

[00:39:40] It's not just because of her extra item capacity,

[00:39:43] but I find the events in her scenario to be more interesting.

[00:39:47] I learned later that my stepdad's work friend knew the differences ahead of time

[00:39:52] and told him to start with Jill, which is what he did.

[00:39:56] Alright, let's get back to the game.

[00:39:58] The anticipation of what's going to come next is killing my 12-year-old self.

[00:40:04] After the screen went black, a few painstaking moments went by,

[00:40:08] and then some words appeared at the bottom of the screen.

[00:40:12] They have escaped into the mansion where they thought it was safe.

[00:40:17] Yet.

[00:40:19] After a moment, the game transitions to actual gameplay,

[00:40:22] and we see three people entering the main hall of the mansion.

[00:40:27] Jill, Barry Burton, and Star's Captain Albert Wesker.

[00:40:32] Looking around, Barry and Wesker take in their surroundings.

[00:40:36] What is this?

[00:40:38] Wow, what a mansion!

[00:40:42] Jill looks around and notices their party is one member short.

[00:40:46] Captain Wesker, where's Chris?

[00:40:49] Wesker shakes his head but says nothing.

[00:40:53] Jill instinctively runs towards the front door, but Wesker puts up a hand.

[00:40:58] Stop it! Don't open that door!

[00:41:01] But Chris is...

[00:41:04] A single gunshot can be heard, and everyone stops in their tracks.

[00:41:09] What is it?

[00:41:11] Maybe it's Chris.

[00:41:14] Now Jill, can you go?

[00:41:16] I'm going with you.

[00:41:18] Chris is our old partner, you know.

[00:41:21] Okay.

[00:41:22] Let me handle this.

[00:41:26] Barry and Jill head to a pair of double doors,

[00:41:29] leading Wesker to hold down the main hall.

[00:41:32] The tension in the air was thick,

[00:41:34] and already it was hard not to get swept up in the mystery.

[00:41:38] Now, by today's standards, the voice acting you just heard is pretty terrible.

[00:41:44] Stay alert!

[00:41:45] My god, that was awful.

[00:41:48] I read once in an article,

[00:41:50] and forgive me, I can't remember where exactly,

[00:41:53] that mentioned that one reason the voice lines were so bad

[00:41:56] was the bad Japanese to English translation.

[00:42:00] The voice actors weren't even really given anything to work with

[00:42:03] as far as story or scene setup goes,

[00:42:06] so the actors would just read the lines as they saw them,

[00:42:09] which is why some lines like,

[00:42:11] Where on earth have you been?

[00:42:12] sound the way that they do.

[00:42:15] Just a fun little fact for you all.

[00:42:18] But going back to 1996,

[00:42:21] I didn't think these voice lines were cheesy or bad at all.

[00:42:23] The fact that there were voice lines in any capacity was fascinating to me,

[00:42:28] and I hung on every word.

[00:42:31] Once Jill and Barry make it to the door,

[00:42:34] the screen went black and were shown a sort of first-person view of the doors.

[00:42:39] After a moment, the doors swing open.

[00:42:44] And then we move inside the next room.

[00:42:47] On a technical level,

[00:42:49] the door opening animation was done as a way to mask the time

[00:42:52] it took for the PlayStation to load up the next room.

[00:42:55] But it also became a fantastic way for the player to still remain plugged into the game

[00:43:01] during the loading process.

[00:43:03] It was pure genius on a design level.

[00:43:07] After we passed through the doors,

[00:43:09] they shut behind us.

[00:43:12] And we find ourselves in a large room.

[00:43:15] Everything is silent,

[00:43:17] but the silence is soon pierced

[00:43:19] by the sounds of a ticking grandfather clock somewhere in the room.

[00:43:23] On screen,

[00:43:25] Jill and Barry look around.

[00:43:27] After a moment,

[00:43:28] Barry tells us where we are.

[00:43:30] A dining room.

[00:43:32] Barry walks further into the room

[00:43:34] and the camera settles back on Jill.

[00:43:37] At the top and bottom of the screen,

[00:43:39] the black bars that were present fade away,

[00:43:42] signifying that control has been given to the player.

[00:43:46] It's in this moment where Resident Evil truly begins.

[00:43:52] I feel like I remember my stepdad taking a moment to get used to the controls

[00:43:56] and what does what,

[00:43:58] so let's do the same.

[00:44:00] Controlling your character in the original Resident Evil games

[00:44:03] can be described as archaic and clunky by today's standards,

[00:44:07] but from what I remember,

[00:44:08] it didn't take my stepdad too long to figure the controls out.

[00:44:13] Pressing up on the directional pad moves Jill forward relative to the direction that she's facing.

[00:44:19] Pressing and holding left or right will pivot Jill's body in those directions.

[00:44:24] If she's standing still,

[00:44:26] it's like rotating her on a platform.

[00:44:28] Pressing down makes Jill walk backwards relative to the direction she's facing.

[00:44:33] It all sounds super clunky, right?

[00:44:36] These are what we call tank control,

[00:44:39] since you're basically moving your character on screen like a big battle tank.

[00:44:44] This control scheme would become infamous over the years,

[00:44:48] with many people developing a love or hate relationship with it.

[00:44:52] If you didn't grow up with it like my stepdad and I did,

[00:44:56] it can be very hard to jump into nowadays.

[00:44:59] But back then,

[00:45:00] I don't remember my stepdad or even myself

[00:45:03] when I got a chance to play the game

[00:45:04] having a really hard time with these controls.

[00:45:07] I mean, it's all we had to work with,

[00:45:09] and we weren't about to complain about how this game was going to control,

[00:45:13] especially as we traversed this awesome game world.

[00:45:17] Today, if there is a game that uses tank controls,

[00:45:21] I will use them 100% of the time.

[00:45:23] They are not superior by any stretch,

[00:45:27] I'm just one of those psychopaths that love tank controls,

[00:45:30] and I am not sorry about that.

[00:45:33] From here, my stepdad also discovered the item menu

[00:45:36] by pressing the start button on the PS1 controller.

[00:45:40] This pauses the gameplay and takes you to a screen

[00:45:43] that shows the items that you have in your inventory.

[00:45:46] Looking to the right,

[00:45:48] you can see that Jill has three items on her at the moment.

[00:45:51] A handgun, a combat knife,

[00:45:54] and a first aid spray.

[00:45:56] There's plenty of items to be found over the course of the game,

[00:45:59] and you'll need to make sure that you use them wisely

[00:46:01] in order to stay alive and survive.

[00:46:04] There's several weapons that you can come across too.

[00:46:07] There's also ammo and healing items,

[00:46:09] so you'll want to make sure that you explore

[00:46:11] every inch of your surroundings.

[00:46:13] You can also equip weapons that you have on you

[00:46:16] by moving over to them within the menu,

[00:46:18] selecting them,

[00:46:19] and then equipping them on the drop-down menu.

[00:46:22] This is about the time that my stepdad noticed

[00:46:24] that Jill didn't have a weapon currently equipped,

[00:46:27] so he moved the cursor over the handgun icon,

[00:46:31] opened the drop-down menu,

[00:46:33] and equipped the handgun,

[00:46:35] the Beretta M92FS.

[00:46:38] There's a small little window

[00:46:40] at the bottom center of the inventory screen

[00:46:42] that has the icon of the handgun in it now,

[00:46:45] showing that we have it equipped.

[00:46:48] We also have a combat knife in our inventory

[00:46:50] for close quarters combat,

[00:46:51] but unless we're really desperate

[00:46:53] and don't have much ammo to spare,

[00:46:55] we should probably keep this one tucked away.

[00:46:58] There are some highly skilled Resident Evil players out there

[00:47:01] who will play this game through with only a knife,

[00:47:04] and all I have to say is that my hat goes off to all of you.

[00:47:08] That's a run that I don't think

[00:47:10] I will ever be able to complete.

[00:47:13] Now, beyond the handgun and the combat knife,

[00:47:16] there's that first aid spray in our inventory.

[00:47:19] A miracle in modern healing,

[00:47:21] if you use this item,

[00:47:22] it will restore your health to 100%

[00:47:25] should you sustain too many injuries.

[00:47:28] First aid sprays are like gold,

[00:47:30] and while you might find more

[00:47:32] as you play through the game,

[00:47:33] it would be best if you save them

[00:47:35] for when you really needed them.

[00:47:37] There will be other ways for you to heal up

[00:47:39] as we go through the game.

[00:47:41] Those familiar with the series

[00:47:42] undoubtedly know of the green, red, and blue werbs

[00:47:46] that you can find around the mansion as well.

[00:47:49] Pressing the start button closes the inventory menu,

[00:47:52] but before we move on,

[00:47:53] there's one more thing

[00:47:54] that my stepdad made sure to figure out how to do,

[00:47:57] and that's how to draw your equipped weapon.

[00:48:01] Holding the R1 button on the controller

[00:48:03] will have your character draw their weapon,

[00:48:05] and all you need to do is fire it

[00:48:07] by pressing the X button.

[00:48:09] While aiming,

[00:48:11] you can pivot your body

[00:48:12] using the directional pad to adjust your aim.

[00:48:15] Holding up or down on the directional pad

[00:48:17] will have your character aim up or down respectively.

[00:48:20] And really, that's all there is to it.

[00:48:23] What makes combat in Resident Evil challenging, though,

[00:48:27] is that you're probably going to struggle

[00:48:29] lining up your sights with an enemy

[00:48:30] because, as we'll find out here shortly,

[00:48:33] the camera in this game is fixed,

[00:48:36] meaning it doesn't move around you as you move

[00:48:38] and you don't have the ability

[00:48:40] to move it around yourself either.

[00:48:43] Backgrounds in this game are pre-rendered,

[00:48:45] and while the majority of them look gorgeous,

[00:48:47] navigating around in them

[00:48:49] can be just as clunky as the controls.

[00:48:52] In any case, it's about time we get moving

[00:48:55] and experience some of these things ourselves.

[00:48:58] After my stepdad figured out how to aim Jill's weapon,

[00:49:01] he started moving through the dining room.

[00:49:04] In the center of the room

[00:49:05] was a massive dining room table lined with chairs.

[00:49:09] Moving to the right of the table,

[00:49:11] our left as we look at our TV,

[00:49:13] will move past the grandfather clock

[00:49:15] that we've been hearing.

[00:49:17] There's certainly something about it that stands out,

[00:49:20] but nothing we can do with it for now.

[00:49:22] We can examine it and other items in the environment

[00:49:25] if we press our X button,

[00:49:27] but doing so doesn't really tell us anything

[00:49:29] we don't already know.

[00:49:30] It's a clock, and it's ticking.

[00:49:34] As we move, the camera view changes

[00:49:36] and soon the view moves to Jill's backside.

[00:49:40] We can see a fireplace at the end of the room,

[00:49:43] and it's around here that Barry takes a knee.

[00:49:46] As soon as we get close to him,

[00:49:48] the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen reappear

[00:49:51] and another cutscene in real time plays out.

[00:49:55] What?

[00:49:56] What is this?

[00:49:58] What is it?

[00:50:00] Blood.

[00:50:02] Jill, see if you can find any other clues.

[00:50:05] I'll be examining this.

[00:50:08] Hope this is not Chris's blood.

[00:50:10] We're given control of Jill again,

[00:50:13] and it's up to us to move forward

[00:50:14] while Barry stares blankly at the blood on the floor.

[00:50:18] My stepdad noticed a doorway to the right of the fireplace

[00:50:21] while the cutscene was happening,

[00:50:22] so he immediately went to it,

[00:50:24] opened it up,

[00:50:25] and passed through.

[00:50:29] We find ourselves in a hallway.

[00:50:32] The walls are a dirty off-white,

[00:50:35] and the floor is wooden.

[00:50:37] There's no music playing in this area.

[00:50:39] It is completely silent.

[00:50:41] The way that the camera is positioned,

[00:50:44] we can go either up the screen or down it.

[00:50:46] My stepdad elected to go up,

[00:50:49] finding several other doors along the hall.

[00:50:52] I remember feeling very tense in this moment,

[00:50:55] and my mind raced with what we might find ahead.

[00:50:59] I was again holding my breath at this point,

[00:51:01] not just to avoid discovery as I hid behind my stepdad,

[00:51:05] but because I was genuinely locked into what was happening on screen.

[00:51:09] Without the sounds of the ticking clock,

[00:51:12] all that could be heard was Jill's combat boots walking along the hardwood floor.

[00:51:19] As my stepdad made his way back to the bottom of the screen,

[00:51:23] the camera shifted,

[00:51:24] and we could see the hallway opened up to the right-hand side.

[00:51:28] But what was over there was obstructed from view.

[00:51:32] My stepdad moved to the right,

[00:51:34] and what happened next would be seared into my memory

[00:51:38] for the rest of my life.

[00:51:41] The screen went black for just a moment,

[00:51:44] and a CGI cutscene started to play out.

[00:51:48] As if watching the scene play out from Jill's point of view,

[00:51:52] we see what looks to be a person hunched over something on the ground.

[00:51:57] The sounds of something wet could be heard,

[00:52:00] and the figure's head was bobbing up and down slightly.

[00:52:07] I squinted my eyes in order to figure out what I was seeing.

[00:52:10] The person's head was an off-white color,

[00:52:14] and it had no hair.

[00:52:16] What the hell were we looking at?

[00:52:20] Then, a snapping sound, like bone breaking.

[00:52:24] And all at once,

[00:52:26] the person turned their head,

[00:52:28] slowly looking back at us.

[00:52:31] The camera was much closer now,

[00:52:33] and even with 90s-era CGI,

[00:52:36] it was very easy to see the person's putrid skin

[00:52:39] and the blood dripping from its mouth.

[00:52:42] There was one single dead eye looking right back at us.

[00:52:47] Seemingly that eye was looking at me.

[00:52:57] Right as the scene ended,

[00:52:59] I must have squealed or made some sort of noise

[00:53:02] because my stepdad whipped around and spotted me.

[00:53:04] I think he was a little tense himself

[00:53:07] because he snapped at me real quick.

[00:53:10] Hey, what the fuck are you doing?

[00:53:12] I stared at him wide-eyed,

[00:53:14] unable to say anything.

[00:53:16] My stepdad stared at me for a moment,

[00:53:18] seemingly awaiting an answer,

[00:53:20] but my eyes went past him

[00:53:22] and to the TV screen.

[00:53:24] Normal gameplay had resumed,

[00:53:26] and the creature we saw was getting to their feet.

[00:53:28] I don't remember what I blurted out in that moment,

[00:53:32] but it was enough to get my stepdad to turn back around.

[00:53:36] The creature, which was clearly a zombie,

[00:53:38] started walking towards Jill,

[00:53:40] arms outstretched.

[00:53:44] Between the time lost looking back at me,

[00:53:47] and due to sheer hesitation,

[00:53:50] my stepdad wasn't able to react quick enough.

[00:53:52] The zombie let out a moan

[00:53:54] as it grabbed Jill,

[00:53:56] tilted her head to the side,

[00:53:57] and started to take huge chunks out of her neck.

[00:54:05] Pixelated blood gushed out

[00:54:07] and my stepdad instinctively smashed

[00:54:09] every button that he could on the controller.

[00:54:12] Eventually, Jill pushed the zombie away

[00:54:14] and it staggered back.

[00:54:16] Remembering the handgun,

[00:54:18] my stepdad drew down on the zombie

[00:54:19] and started firing.

[00:54:25] Soon, the zombie fell to the ground with a moan.

[00:54:32] I remember nothing happening for a moment

[00:54:35] as my stepdad muttered aloud,

[00:54:37] Is it dead?

[00:54:39] Almost as if on cue,

[00:54:41] a pool of red blood started to come out

[00:54:43] from under the zombie

[00:54:44] and it was decided that the creature

[00:54:46] was in fact dead.

[00:54:48] Or at least dead again.

[00:54:50] Now, my memory is a little fuzzy here,

[00:54:53] but I remember my stepdad

[00:54:54] giving me a tongue lashing

[00:54:56] for sneaking out of my room

[00:54:57] and watching him play a game

[00:54:59] he quite clearly told me

[00:55:00] I was not allowed to watch him play.

[00:55:03] I rarely tried to give my stepdad

[00:55:05] any excuses whenever I got in trouble.

[00:55:08] I learned at an early age

[00:55:09] that I was responsible for my own actions

[00:55:11] and if I found myself a deep shit,

[00:55:13] it was usually because

[00:55:14] I was the one that put myself there.

[00:55:17] But somewhere between my scolding

[00:55:19] and me apologizing,

[00:55:21] I was allowed to come around

[00:55:22] and sit on the couch with him

[00:55:24] to continue watching the game with him.

[00:55:27] I didn't know it at the time

[00:55:28] and I'm sure my stepdad

[00:55:30] doesn't really appreciate this moment

[00:55:31] like I do,

[00:55:32] but this marked the beginning

[00:55:34] of one of my favorite childhood memories.

[00:55:37] My stepdad and I would eventually go on

[00:55:39] to play several other PlayStation classics together,

[00:55:42] including the likes of

[00:55:43] Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Solid,

[00:55:45] and Silent Hill.

[00:55:47] And it all started with the original Resident Evil.

[00:55:51] Once my stepdad and I got our bearings

[00:55:54] and we got ourselves situated,

[00:55:56] he continued with the game.

[00:55:58] The first thing he did

[00:56:00] was check the inventory screen.

[00:56:02] I neglected to mention this earlier,

[00:56:04] but on the inventory screen,

[00:56:06] there is an EKG meter

[00:56:07] that acts as your health meter.

[00:56:09] You start off the game green,

[00:56:12] or fine.

[00:56:13] But as you take damage,

[00:56:14] your condition will worsen.

[00:56:16] After taking several bites to the jugular,

[00:56:19] Jill's status was showing as orange,

[00:56:21] or caution.

[00:56:23] Not wanting to take any chances,

[00:56:25] we healed up using the first aid spray.

[00:56:30] There we go.

[00:56:31] Good as new.

[00:56:32] Now that the crisis was over,

[00:56:34] we noticed what it was

[00:56:35] that the zombie was doing

[00:56:36] when we walked in on it.

[00:56:38] At our feet,

[00:56:39] there was a dead body

[00:56:40] that the zombie

[00:56:41] was clearly making a meal out of.

[00:56:44] Upon examination,

[00:56:45] we discovered

[00:56:46] that the body belonged to Kenneth,

[00:56:48] a member of Bravo Team.

[00:56:50] He had become

[00:56:51] a mere shadow

[00:56:52] of his former self.

[00:56:55] If we examine the body again,

[00:56:57] twice in fact,

[00:56:58] we'll find some ammo

[00:56:59] for our handgun on him,

[00:57:01] which will prove

[00:57:02] quite useful.

[00:57:03] We took no joy

[00:57:05] in looting our fallen comrade,

[00:57:06] but if that zombie

[00:57:07] was any indication

[00:57:08] of what lay ahead,

[00:57:09] we'll need to get

[00:57:10] all the help we can.

[00:57:12] We opened up the inventory

[00:57:14] and looked at our prize.

[00:57:15] 30 handgun bullets.

[00:57:18] Reloading your weapon

[00:57:19] in the game

[00:57:20] doesn't work on the fly.

[00:57:21] You'll reload your weapon

[00:57:23] in real time

[00:57:23] after using all of your bullets,

[00:57:25] but you can also combine bullets

[00:57:27] with the appropriate weapon

[00:57:28] in your inventory

[00:57:29] and do it that way.

[00:57:31] This is the preferred method

[00:57:32] and a great way

[00:57:33] to keep your weapon

[00:57:34] topped off.

[00:57:35] My stepdad apparently

[00:57:37] knew about this already

[00:57:38] because he immediately

[00:57:39] topped off the handgun.

[00:57:41] After this,

[00:57:42] there wasn't much else to do

[00:57:43] except head back

[00:57:44] to the dining room

[00:57:45] and report what happened to Barry.

[00:57:49] As soon as we get back

[00:57:50] into the dining room,

[00:57:51] a cutscene starts

[00:57:52] and Jill immediately

[00:57:53] runs over to Barry.

[00:57:55] Barry?

[00:57:57] Before Barry can respond,

[00:57:59] we hear the door

[00:58:00] behind us open and close.

[00:58:05] Uh-oh.

[00:58:06] What is it?

[00:58:08] Jill spins on her heels

[00:58:09] as the zombie

[00:58:10] we thought we killed

[00:58:11] walks towards her.

[00:58:13] Watch out!

[00:58:13] It's a monster!

[00:58:15] Barry raises his weapon.

[00:58:17] Let me take care of this.

[00:58:22] The zombie's head

[00:58:23] explodes with a pop

[00:58:25] and pixelated blood

[00:58:26] and gore

[00:58:27] goes everywhere.

[00:58:29] After the zombie

[00:58:30] falls to the ground,

[00:58:31] another pool of blood

[00:58:32] seeps out from underneath it.

[00:58:35] Barry stands over the body

[00:58:36] in complete disbelief.

[00:58:39] What is it?

[00:58:41] Kenneth was killed too.

[00:58:43] Maybe by this creature.

[00:58:45] Anyway,

[00:58:46] let's report this to Wesker.

[00:58:49] The game gives us back control

[00:58:50] at this point

[00:58:51] and we're off

[00:58:52] to the main hall again.

[00:58:54] I had said nothing

[00:58:55] to my stepdad

[00:58:56] during this scene

[00:58:57] and tried my best

[00:58:57] to keep my face straight,

[00:58:59] but I'm sure

[00:59:00] I was smiling.

[00:59:02] This game

[00:59:02] continued to fascinate me.

[00:59:05] What was going on?

[00:59:07] What were zombies doing

[00:59:08] in this game?

[00:59:09] How awesome

[00:59:10] was that blood and gore?

[00:59:13] As my stepdad

[00:59:14] ran back to the main hall

[00:59:15] with Barry,

[00:59:16] I took it all in.

[00:59:17] The graphics,

[00:59:19] especially for the time,

[00:59:20] were gorgeous to me.

[00:59:22] The character models

[00:59:23] looked stunning,

[00:59:24] even if they were

[00:59:25] a little bit stiff.

[00:59:26] I was used to

[00:59:27] mainly seeing 2D gameplay

[00:59:29] a la the Super Nintendo.

[00:59:32] And those games,

[00:59:33] for what they were,

[00:59:34] were very happy-go-lucky.

[00:59:36] There was the occasional

[00:59:38] quote-unquote

[00:59:39] serious game

[00:59:40] I felt we had,

[00:59:41] like Star Fox

[00:59:42] for instance,

[00:59:43] but it was all the same.

[00:59:45] Either chase a high score

[00:59:46] or get to the end

[00:59:47] of a level

[00:59:48] so you could move on

[00:59:49] to the next level.

[00:59:51] Resident Evil

[00:59:52] had changed

[00:59:53] all of that,

[00:59:54] creating a tense atmosphere

[00:59:55] in an environment

[00:59:56] that I had never seen before.

[00:59:58] This was truly

[00:59:59] the very first

[01:00:00] adult video game

[01:00:01] that I had ever experienced

[01:00:02] and I didn't feel that way

[01:00:03] because of all the blood

[01:00:04] and gore.

[01:00:06] I was feeling things

[01:00:07] that I had never felt

[01:00:08] while playing a video game before.

[01:00:10] Tension,

[01:00:11] anxiety,

[01:00:13] and maybe a little bit of fear.

[01:00:15] All of this

[01:00:17] and the game

[01:00:18] was only just beginning.

[01:00:22] When we return

[01:00:23] to the main hall,

[01:00:24] another cutscene plays out.

[01:00:26] We discover

[01:00:27] that Captain Wesker

[01:00:28] isn't in the main hall anymore

[01:00:30] and has seemingly disappeared.

[01:00:32] Barry tries calling out,

[01:00:34] and we're still going to be

[01:00:35] Wesker!

[01:00:37] But we don't get a reply.

[01:00:39] Help me look for him, Jill.

[01:00:41] And don't leave this hall

[01:00:42] for the time being.

[01:00:44] We're given control back,

[01:00:46] but after searching

[01:00:47] the main hall,

[01:00:48] we find that Wesker

[01:00:49] really isn't in the hall

[01:00:50] and has vanished.

[01:00:52] Eventually,

[01:00:53] another cutscene plays

[01:00:54] where Barry and Jill

[01:00:55] come up with a plan

[01:00:56] amidst their uneasiness.

[01:00:58] Find anything, Jill?

[01:01:00] Nothing.

[01:01:02] What is this all about?

[01:01:04] I can't figure it out at all.

[01:01:07] Beats me, too.

[01:01:09] Now it's Wesker's time

[01:01:10] to disappear.

[01:01:11] I don't know

[01:01:12] what's going on.

[01:01:13] Well,

[01:01:14] it can't be helped.

[01:01:15] Let's search for him separately.

[01:01:17] I'll check the dining room again.

[01:01:20] Okay.

[01:01:20] I'll try the door

[01:01:21] on the opposite side.

[01:01:23] This mansion is gigantic.

[01:01:26] We could get into trouble

[01:01:27] if we get lost.

[01:01:29] We should start

[01:01:30] from the first floor, okay?

[01:01:32] And...

[01:01:33] Jill,

[01:01:34] here's a lockpick.

[01:01:36] It might be handy

[01:01:37] if you,

[01:01:37] the master of unlocking,

[01:01:39] take it with you.

[01:01:41] Thanks.

[01:01:42] Maybe I'll need it.

[01:01:44] Listen.

[01:01:45] If something happens,

[01:01:47] let's meet up in this hall.

[01:01:50] This time,

[01:01:51] I'll be there.

[01:01:53] There really isn't any denying

[01:01:55] that the voice acting

[01:01:56] in this game isn't great.

[01:01:57] How corny was that

[01:01:59] master of unlocking line,

[01:02:01] you know?

[01:02:02] While that and a few other

[01:02:03] voice lines would go on

[01:02:05] to become series staples

[01:02:06] and examples of how

[01:02:07] not to voice act,

[01:02:09] I still couldn't help

[01:02:10] but be pulled into the mystery

[01:02:12] even further.

[01:02:14] Wesker is gone

[01:02:15] and we're splitting up

[01:02:16] to search for him.

[01:02:17] Who knew what dangers

[01:02:19] awaited us at this point?

[01:02:22] Once we get control back,

[01:02:24] while Jill did say

[01:02:25] that she was going to check

[01:02:26] the door opposite

[01:02:27] the dining room,

[01:02:28] we can actually go

[01:02:29] anywhere we want

[01:02:30] at this point.

[01:02:31] Well,

[01:02:32] not anywhere.

[01:02:33] There are some doors

[01:02:34] and passageways

[01:02:35] that'll be locked,

[01:02:36] but we can explore

[01:02:37] the mansion

[01:02:37] how we see fit.

[01:02:39] Now,

[01:02:40] one of my favorite things

[01:02:41] about Resident Evil

[01:02:42] that really isn't

[01:02:43] called out anywhere

[01:02:44] is how certain events

[01:02:46] will only play out

[01:02:47] if you go to specific places

[01:02:49] at specific times.

[01:02:51] The mansion has two stories

[01:02:53] and if you ignore Barry

[01:02:54] and start on the second floor

[01:02:55] and explore,

[01:02:56] certain things happen up there

[01:02:58] that may not happen at all

[01:02:59] if you don't explore

[01:03:00] downstairs first.

[01:03:02] Even though this is

[01:03:03] one of my favorite games today,

[01:03:05] I don't fully understand

[01:03:07] what triggers what events,

[01:03:08] so I find it pleasantly surprising

[01:03:10] when something happens

[01:03:11] that I wasn't expecting.

[01:03:14] As we continue our journey

[01:03:15] with this game,

[01:03:16] we'll highlight

[01:03:17] some of my favorites.

[01:03:19] There's a few

[01:03:20] that are pretty iconic

[01:03:21] for what they are

[01:03:21] and we'll explore those

[01:03:23] as we go.

[01:03:24] For our first ever playthrough,

[01:03:26] my stepdad and I

[01:03:27] opted to follow

[01:03:28] the game's direction

[01:03:29] and check out the door

[01:03:30] on the opposite end

[01:03:31] of the hall.

[01:03:33] After taking a breath,

[01:03:34] we opened the door

[01:03:35] and headed into the next room.

[01:03:43] The room we enter

[01:03:44] is one that I typically call

[01:03:46] the Blue Room.

[01:03:48] The wallpaper

[01:03:49] is an off-blue color

[01:03:50] and the marble-tiled floor

[01:03:52] has a blue tint to it as well.

[01:03:54] In the center of the room,

[01:03:56] we can see a statue

[01:03:57] of a woman drawing water

[01:03:58] into a pot of some kind.

[01:04:00] As we move about the room

[01:04:02] and the camera angles change,

[01:04:03] we can see that there's something

[01:04:05] in the pot

[01:04:06] that the woman is holding.

[01:04:07] In the room,

[01:04:08] there's a metal stepladder

[01:04:09] of sorts

[01:04:10] that we can actually push

[01:04:11] by having our character

[01:04:12] walk into it for a moment.

[01:04:15] Pushing objects

[01:04:16] is something

[01:04:16] that we'll find ourselves

[01:04:17] doing from time to time

[01:04:18] and this can be

[01:04:19] to move things out of the way

[01:04:21] or move things

[01:04:22] in such a way

[01:04:23] that we can stand on them

[01:04:24] to reach things higher up.

[01:04:26] We can use this ladder

[01:04:28] to get the item in the pot

[01:04:29] and when we retrieve it,

[01:04:31] we'll be notified

[01:04:32] that we picked up

[01:04:33] a map of the first floor.

[01:04:35] We can access the map

[01:04:36] at our inventory screen

[01:04:38] and while it's a great resource,

[01:04:39] we rarely actually

[01:04:41] needed to consult it.

[01:04:42] The mansion was pretty big,

[01:04:44] but as we move through it,

[01:04:45] we'll be doing a lot

[01:04:46] of backtracking

[01:04:47] and because of that,

[01:04:49] we found it pretty easy

[01:04:50] to commit the mansion's layout

[01:04:51] to memory.

[01:04:53] After getting the map,

[01:04:54] we noticed two doorways

[01:04:56] ahead of us.

[01:04:57] A wooden door on the right

[01:04:59] and a hallway

[01:05:00] with a red curtain

[01:05:01] surrounding it

[01:05:02] to the left.

[01:05:03] The hallway was blocked

[01:05:05] by what looked to be

[01:05:06] a brown table

[01:05:07] or a trunk of some kind.

[01:05:09] Luckily,

[01:05:10] it was something

[01:05:11] that we could push

[01:05:11] out of the way.

[01:05:12] Once we did,

[01:05:13] we opted to check out

[01:05:15] the hallway first.

[01:05:16] As we moved

[01:05:17] into the hallway,

[01:05:19] the color palette

[01:05:19] shifted harshly

[01:05:21] as we went from a blue,

[01:05:22] almost tranquil room

[01:05:23] into a hallway

[01:05:24] with red walls

[01:05:25] and hardwood floors.

[01:05:27] We followed the hallway

[01:05:29] and after rounding a corner,

[01:05:30] we stopped dead

[01:05:31] in our tracks.

[01:05:33] On the ground

[01:05:34] was a dead body.

[01:05:35] It wore a white shirt

[01:05:37] that was spattered

[01:05:38] with blood

[01:05:38] and the body's skin

[01:05:40] was a putrid mixture

[01:05:42] of red and brown.

[01:05:44] At the time,

[01:05:45] my stepdad and I assumed

[01:05:46] that it was just part

[01:05:47] of the environment,

[01:05:48] a byproduct

[01:05:49] of the horrors

[01:05:50] that we had seen.

[01:05:52] At no point

[01:05:53] did we actually think

[01:05:54] that the body

[01:05:55] on the ground

[01:05:55] posed any sort

[01:05:56] of a threat to us.

[01:05:58] Oh,

[01:05:59] how naive we were.

[01:06:01] We walked towards the body

[01:06:03] in hopes of walking past it.

[01:06:06] Almost in a flash,

[01:06:08] the body's hands

[01:06:09] reached out,

[01:06:10] grabbed one of Jill's legs,

[01:06:12] pulled it towards

[01:06:12] its gaping mouth

[01:06:13] and started to rip into it.

[01:06:19] Both of us jumped,

[01:06:20] but thankfully,

[01:06:21] my stepdad had the presence

[01:06:22] of mind to smash

[01:06:23] the buttons on the controller.

[01:06:25] Soon,

[01:06:26] Jill broke free

[01:06:27] from the zombie's grip,

[01:06:28] took a step back

[01:06:29] and then full-on

[01:06:30] kicked the zombie

[01:06:31] square in the head,

[01:06:32] apparently hard enough

[01:06:33] to send the zombie's head

[01:06:35] flying off

[01:06:35] and bouncing across the floor.

[01:06:39] As a pool of blood

[01:06:41] seeped out from under

[01:06:42] the now much deader zombie,

[01:06:44] my stepdad and I

[01:06:45] looked at each other

[01:06:45] and chuckled.

[01:06:47] You would think

[01:06:48] it was a shared moment

[01:06:49] of humor.

[01:06:50] I mean,

[01:06:50] it was pretty humorous

[01:06:51] playing kickball

[01:06:52] with a zombie head.

[01:06:54] But looking back,

[01:06:55] I think neither of us

[01:06:56] wanted to admit

[01:06:57] to the other

[01:06:57] that we were both

[01:06:58] just a little startled

[01:07:00] in that moment.

[01:07:02] Now that we could

[01:07:03] finally move past

[01:07:04] the zombie,

[01:07:04] we did,

[01:07:05] and we came across

[01:07:06] a shelf.

[01:07:07] On the shelf,

[01:07:08] we found a new item

[01:07:10] that we hadn't seen yet.

[01:07:11] An ink ribbon.

[01:07:14] Ink ribbons

[01:07:14] were interesting items.

[01:07:16] They were what you needed

[01:07:17] to save your game

[01:07:18] by using them

[01:07:19] in the several typewriters

[01:07:20] found in the mansion.

[01:07:22] You have to remember

[01:07:23] this game was done

[01:07:24] at a time

[01:07:24] where you couldn't

[01:07:25] just save

[01:07:26] wherever the hell

[01:07:26] you wanted.

[01:07:27] And it was a game

[01:07:29] that was played

[01:07:29] on the original PlayStation.

[01:07:31] You had to at least

[01:07:32] have a memory card

[01:07:33] in order to do

[01:07:34] any sort of saving.

[01:07:36] The limited number

[01:07:37] of ink ribbons

[01:07:37] meant that you could

[01:07:38] only save your game

[01:07:39] a limited amount of times.

[01:07:41] In reality,

[01:07:42] there were plenty

[01:07:43] of ink ribbons

[01:07:44] scattered around

[01:07:44] that saving your game

[01:07:45] often was possible,

[01:07:47] but the idea

[01:07:48] that this resource,

[01:07:49] along with limited ammo

[01:07:50] and healing items,

[01:07:52] just ratcheted

[01:07:53] the tension up

[01:07:53] even more so.

[01:07:55] And say what you will

[01:07:56] about it today,

[01:07:57] I love the idea.

[01:07:59] Some more modern games

[01:08:01] give you this ability

[01:08:02] now if you really

[01:08:03] want a harder challenge.

[01:08:05] Hardcore mode

[01:08:06] and Dead Space 2

[01:08:07] comes to mind

[01:08:08] where there's

[01:08:09] no checkpoint system

[01:08:10] and you can only

[01:08:11] save your game

[01:08:12] three times,

[01:08:13] period.

[01:08:15] Beyond the unique

[01:08:16] gameplay elements,

[01:08:18] Resident Evil made

[01:08:19] a name for itself

[01:08:19] thanks to its creepy

[01:08:20] and foreboding

[01:08:21] atmosphere.

[01:08:22] The music,

[01:08:24] like what you're

[01:08:24] hearing now,

[01:08:25] isn't inherently

[01:08:26] memorable per se,

[01:08:27] but it does a great

[01:08:29] job of creating

[01:08:30] a tense atmosphere.

[01:08:31] You never know

[01:08:32] what was around

[01:08:33] the corner

[01:08:34] thanks to the

[01:08:35] static camera angles

[01:08:36] and often these two

[01:08:37] elements would work

[01:08:38] together perfectly

[01:08:39] to create an environment

[01:08:40] teeming with suspense.

[01:08:42] But more so for me,

[01:08:44] it was the jump scares

[01:08:46] that really stood out.

[01:08:48] Only because I have

[01:08:50] some fun memories

[01:08:51] associated with a few.

[01:08:53] Speaking of,

[01:08:54] let's check out

[01:08:54] not only my favorite

[01:08:55] jump scare ever,

[01:08:57] but it's one that

[01:08:57] you'll never forget

[01:08:58] if you've ever

[01:08:59] experienced it before.

[01:09:02] Going back into the

[01:09:03] blue room,

[01:09:04] we head towards the

[01:09:05] door on the right side

[01:09:06] that we saw earlier

[01:09:07] and attempt to open it.

[01:09:09] Right away,

[01:09:10] we're met with a prompt

[01:09:10] that lets us know

[01:09:11] that we've unlocked

[01:09:12] the door using the

[01:09:13] lock pick that Barry

[01:09:14] gave us,

[01:09:15] and we hear the sound

[01:09:16] of the lock coming

[01:09:17] undone.

[01:09:19] Eh,

[01:09:20] we really are the

[01:09:20] master of unlocking,

[01:09:21] aren't we?

[01:09:22] With the lock disengaged,

[01:09:24] we move through the door.

[01:09:29] We make our way

[01:09:30] into another hallway,

[01:09:31] and we get to witness

[01:09:32] yet another random

[01:09:33] interior decorating scheme.

[01:09:35] This time,

[01:09:37] the walls are a dirty

[01:09:38] red and tan color

[01:09:39] to match the carpet.

[01:09:41] A few wooden display cases

[01:09:44] line the walls

[01:09:44] on Jill's left,

[01:09:46] but otherwise,

[01:09:46] the hallway is pretty basic.

[01:09:49] Jill's boots hit the carpet

[01:09:50] one by one

[01:09:51] as she walked forward,

[01:09:52] our ears tuned in

[01:09:54] for the slightest of noises.

[01:09:57] Everything seemed okay,

[01:09:59] and as we moved forward,

[01:10:00] the camera shifted behind us.

[01:10:02] Everything seemed normal

[01:10:04] as we moved through

[01:10:04] a zombie dog came crashing

[01:10:10] through the window behind us.

[01:10:11] I jumped back with a start,

[01:10:13] and then I heard a loud

[01:10:14] banging noise in front of me.

[01:10:16] It took me a second

[01:10:17] to realize what happened.

[01:10:18] My stepdad must have jumped too

[01:10:20] because the controller

[01:10:21] had fallen out of his hands,

[01:10:23] hit the coffee table,

[01:10:24] and fell to the floor.

[01:10:26] Hurry! Run!

[01:10:27] I yelled.

[01:10:29] My stepdad looked on the floor

[01:10:30] for the controller,

[01:10:31] swearing up a storm.

[01:10:33] In those moments,

[01:10:34] the zombie dog leaped at Jill

[01:10:36] and took a chunk

[01:10:37] right out of her.

[01:10:40] After taking damage

[01:10:41] from the zombie

[01:10:42] in the last room,

[01:10:43] I knew we were close to dying.

[01:10:45] Finally,

[01:10:46] my stepdad got the controller

[01:10:47] off the ground

[01:10:48] and started to move Jill

[01:10:49] away from the dog.

[01:10:50] But there was one problem.

[01:10:53] Jill was walking,

[01:10:55] and she wasn't walking

[01:10:56] very fast.

[01:10:58] Crap!

[01:10:58] We didn't know how to run!

[01:11:00] Can you...

[01:11:01] Can you run in this game?

[01:11:03] How do you run?

[01:11:04] But by the time

[01:11:05] my stepdad figured it out

[01:11:06] by holding down

[01:11:07] the square button,

[01:11:08] it was too late.

[01:11:11] The zombie dog

[01:11:12] had pounced on Jill

[01:11:13] and brought her

[01:11:14] to the ground.

[01:11:15] My stepdad smashed

[01:11:17] every button he could

[01:11:18] on the controller,

[01:11:19] but it didn't do anything.

[01:11:21] The dog bit

[01:11:22] into Jill's neck,

[01:11:23] digging deep.

[01:11:27] And all at once,

[01:11:28] the jaws of the dog

[01:11:29] ripped out Jill's throat,

[01:11:30] and a fountain of blood

[01:11:32] started spraying

[01:11:33] from the wound.

[01:11:35] Blood covered Jill,

[01:11:37] and she fell back,

[01:11:38] lifeless.

[01:11:39] The screen faded to white,

[01:11:41] and the tense music faded.

[01:11:43] On screen,

[01:11:44] we saw Jill's lifeless body,

[01:11:46] and the words,

[01:11:47] You died,

[01:11:49] appeared on screen

[01:11:50] and red,

[01:11:51] before the entire screen

[01:11:52] faded to black.

[01:11:55] My stepdad and I

[01:11:56] just stared at the TV,

[01:11:57] eyes wide

[01:11:58] with our mouths half opened.

[01:12:00] We couldn't believe

[01:12:01] what had happened.

[01:12:03] What's worse,

[01:12:04] we never did save our game,

[01:12:05] so we would have to

[01:12:06] experience the game

[01:12:07] all over

[01:12:08] from the very beginning.

[01:12:10] I remember us

[01:12:11] taking a break

[01:12:12] before we went back

[01:12:13] at it later that day,

[01:12:14] and it was a good thing

[01:12:15] we did, too.

[01:12:16] Now that we had an idea

[01:12:18] of what it was

[01:12:18] that we were up against,

[01:12:19] and the little mistakes

[01:12:20] that we did make

[01:12:21] could be corrected,

[01:12:22] we gave the game

[01:12:23] another go.

[01:12:25] We spent several days

[01:12:26] playing the game together

[01:12:28] in short bursts

[01:12:29] whenever we had time.

[01:12:30] It ended up getting

[01:12:31] to a point

[01:12:32] where my stepdad

[01:12:33] allowed me to play the game,

[01:12:34] so he and I

[01:12:35] would trade off control

[01:12:36] here and there.

[01:12:38] Ultimately,

[01:12:39] I was the one

[01:12:39] that eventually

[01:12:40] went on to beat the game,

[01:12:42] but playing through

[01:12:42] the game this way

[01:12:43] will always be one of,

[01:12:45] if not my favorite,

[01:12:46] gaming memories.

[01:12:48] Resident Evil

[01:12:49] wasn't just known

[01:12:50] for its scary atmosphere

[01:12:51] and creepy zombies.

[01:12:53] There was a mystery

[01:12:54] to solve

[01:12:54] and sometimes

[01:12:55] a few puzzles

[01:12:56] to work through.

[01:12:57] As you explored

[01:12:58] the mansion,

[01:12:59] you'd find locked doors

[01:13:00] and other passages

[01:13:01] that were walled off.

[01:13:03] It was on you

[01:13:04] to explore the environment

[01:13:05] and locate the thing

[01:13:06] you needed

[01:13:07] to move forward.

[01:13:08] Oftentimes,

[01:13:09] it would be a key,

[01:13:10] but other times,

[01:13:11] it would be a medallion

[01:13:12] or something else.

[01:13:14] Zombies and other enemies

[01:13:16] would stalk the halls,

[01:13:17] but if you could be

[01:13:18] mindful of your resources,

[01:13:19] you could either

[01:13:20] take them out

[01:13:20] and conquer parts

[01:13:21] of the mansion

[01:13:22] or you could evade them

[01:13:23] and save your resources

[01:13:24] altogether.

[01:13:26] That back and forth

[01:13:27] is what's at the core

[01:13:28] of any good

[01:13:29] survival horror game.

[01:13:31] Given how spread

[01:13:32] out things were,

[01:13:33] you'd either have

[01:13:34] just enough ammo

[01:13:35] or not enough,

[01:13:36] which just added

[01:13:37] to the tension.

[01:13:39] Going back

[01:13:39] to the concept

[01:13:40] of puzzles,

[01:13:41] none of the puzzles

[01:13:42] were all that complicated.

[01:13:44] You weren't solving

[01:13:45] complex riddles

[01:13:46] or anything

[01:13:47] a la Silent Hill,

[01:13:48] so we never really

[01:13:49] found ourselves

[01:13:50] stuck or unable

[01:13:51] to progress.

[01:13:53] The real mystery

[01:13:54] that I enjoyed solving

[01:13:55] more than anything

[01:13:56] was discovering

[01:13:57] why monsters

[01:13:58] were in the mansion

[01:13:59] in the first place

[01:14:00] and what it was

[01:14:01] that really happened

[01:14:02] to the Star's Bravo team.

[01:14:04] While there would be

[01:14:05] several conversations

[01:14:06] with characters

[01:14:06] here and there,

[01:14:07] the real meat

[01:14:08] of the story

[01:14:09] would unfold

[01:14:09] in the many documents

[01:14:11] and journals scattered

[01:14:12] around the mansion.

[01:14:14] Many RE veterans

[01:14:15] probably remember

[01:14:16] The Keeper's Diary,

[01:14:18] a journal you come across

[01:14:19] that chronicles a man

[01:14:20] who slowly turns

[01:14:21] into a zombie

[01:14:22] over a period of time.

[01:14:24] You get an idea

[01:14:25] of what happened

[01:14:26] in the mansion

[01:14:26] and how whatever

[01:14:27] was happening

[01:14:28] to the keeper

[01:14:28] slowly warped his mind

[01:14:30] and slowly

[01:14:31] putrefied his body.

[01:14:33] It's not groundbreaking

[01:14:35] writing or anything,

[01:14:36] but I always loved

[01:14:37] this diary

[01:14:38] and how dark

[01:14:38] a picture it painted.

[01:14:41] As you progress

[01:14:42] further and further

[01:14:43] into the game,

[01:14:44] sometimes enemies

[01:14:45] will become more plentiful

[01:14:46] and sometimes

[01:14:47] you'll encounter

[01:14:48] some stronger ones.

[01:14:50] Finding better weapons

[01:14:51] doesn't just help

[01:14:52] keep the fight fair,

[01:14:53] it's a source

[01:14:54] of genuine relief.

[01:14:56] But there was

[01:14:57] one instance

[01:14:58] where that feeling

[01:14:58] of relief in itself

[01:15:00] was a trap

[01:15:01] which made us

[01:15:02] question most everything

[01:15:03] from that point forward.

[01:15:06] After escaping

[01:15:07] the dog hallway,

[01:15:08] you'll come to

[01:15:09] another hallway

[01:15:09] with several doors.

[01:15:11] One of the very last ones

[01:15:13] will lead you

[01:15:13] to an empty room

[01:15:14] with another door

[01:15:15] on the opposite side.

[01:15:17] In there,

[01:15:18] you'll come across

[01:15:18] a beautiful living space

[01:15:20] which can feel

[01:15:21] almost comforting

[01:15:22] and safe

[01:15:22] given the horrors

[01:15:23] that you've experienced.

[01:15:25] There's no music here

[01:15:26] and while the absence

[01:15:27] of music in this game

[01:15:28] is great for tension building,

[01:15:30] you still feel

[01:15:31] almost safe.

[01:15:33] Especially

[01:15:34] when you discover

[01:15:35] a shotgun

[01:15:36] hanging on one

[01:15:37] of the walls

[01:15:37] of this room.

[01:15:39] When we first

[01:15:40] discovered it,

[01:15:41] my stepdad

[01:15:41] let out an audible

[01:15:43] sigh of relief.

[01:15:44] A shotgun

[01:15:45] would even

[01:15:46] the playing field

[01:15:47] and we could

[01:15:47] really start

[01:15:48] to fight back.

[01:15:49] We immediately

[01:15:50] ran over to it

[01:15:51] and added it

[01:15:52] to our inventory.

[01:15:54] But once

[01:15:55] the shotgun

[01:15:56] was gone,

[01:15:57] the hooks

[01:15:58] that the shotgun

[01:15:58] was resting on

[01:15:59] moved up.

[01:16:02] Huh,

[01:16:03] wonder what that

[01:16:03] could mean.

[01:16:04] After examining it,

[01:16:06] we're given a prompt

[01:16:07] where we can

[01:16:07] put the shotgun

[01:16:08] back.

[01:16:09] Pfft,

[01:16:10] screw that.

[01:16:11] We're sure

[01:16:12] it was nothing.

[01:16:14] But once

[01:16:15] we left the room

[01:16:16] and started

[01:16:16] to head back

[01:16:17] to the hallway,

[01:16:18] something

[01:16:18] horrible happened.

[01:16:25] The ceiling

[01:16:26] was starting

[01:16:26] to come down

[01:16:27] on us.

[01:16:28] Shit,

[01:16:29] we needed to

[01:16:29] get the hell

[01:16:29] out of here.

[01:16:30] But when we

[01:16:31] tried the door,

[01:16:33] we found

[01:16:34] that it didn't

[01:16:34] open.

[01:16:35] Okay,

[01:16:36] back the way

[01:16:36] we came then.

[01:16:39] Uh-oh,

[01:16:39] this door

[01:16:40] was also locked.

[01:16:41] All we could

[01:16:42] do was watch

[01:16:43] as the ceiling

[01:16:44] got lower

[01:16:45] and lower.

[01:16:46] Soon,

[01:16:47] a cutscene

[01:16:47] started.

[01:16:48] Hey,

[01:16:49] what's going on?

[01:16:51] Jill?

[01:16:52] Is that you,

[01:16:53] Jill?

[01:16:54] What happened?

[01:16:55] Perry?

[01:16:56] Help me,

[01:16:57] please.

[01:16:57] The door

[01:16:58] won't open.

[01:16:59] Quick!

[01:17:00] Stay away

[01:17:01] from the door,

[01:17:02] Jill.

[01:17:02] I'm gonna

[01:17:02] kick this door

[01:17:03] down.

[01:17:05] Hurry!

[01:17:05] This way!

[01:17:06] In first person,

[01:17:08] we ran through

[01:17:08] the open door

[01:17:09] just as the ceiling

[01:17:10] crushed the door

[01:17:11] and sealed the room

[01:17:12] behind us.

[01:17:13] Oh,

[01:17:14] Barry!

[01:17:15] That was too

[01:17:16] close.

[01:17:17] You were almost

[01:17:18] a Jill sandwich.

[01:17:20] You're right.

[01:17:21] Barry,

[01:17:22] thanks for saving

[01:17:23] my life.

[01:17:23] Ah-ha!

[01:17:24] There it is!

[01:17:25] The iconic

[01:17:26] Jill sandwich line.

[01:17:28] Jill sandwich.

[01:17:29] The voiceover line

[01:17:31] that lives

[01:17:32] in infamy.

[01:17:34] I had no idea

[01:17:35] really how corny

[01:17:37] this line was

[01:17:37] at the time,

[01:17:38] but man,

[01:17:39] this is another

[01:17:40] iconic moment

[01:17:41] in gaming.

[01:17:42] And this line

[01:17:43] right here

[01:17:43] is what made

[01:17:44] Barry Burton

[01:17:45] one of my favorite

[01:17:46] gaming characters

[01:17:47] and why I like

[01:17:48] playing Jill's

[01:17:48] scenario so much

[01:17:49] more than Chris's.

[01:17:51] Barry and Jill

[01:17:52] have some great

[01:17:53] interactions.

[01:17:54] Take these,

[01:17:55] for example.

[01:17:56] It's a weapon.

[01:17:58] It's really powerful,

[01:18:00] especially against

[01:18:01] living things.

[01:18:03] Better take it

[01:18:03] with you.

[01:18:04] But how about

[01:18:05] you, Barry?

[01:18:06] I have this.

[01:18:09] Thank you.

[01:18:10] I'll take this,

[01:18:11] then.

[01:18:12] But just take

[01:18:14] a look at this.

[01:18:16] It's forest.

[01:18:18] Oh,

[01:18:19] my God.

[01:18:20] It's awful.

[01:18:22] What a monster.

[01:18:25] I can't believe

[01:18:26] what the hell

[01:18:27] is this place

[01:18:28] anyway?

[01:18:29] There isn't a single

[01:18:30] moment here

[01:18:31] that isn't awesome

[01:18:32] to experience today.

[01:18:33] I love a good

[01:18:35] amount of cheese

[01:18:35] on my cheeseburgers

[01:18:36] and Resident Evil

[01:18:37] serves it up

[01:18:38] in spades.

[01:18:41] After getting

[01:18:41] a hold of the

[01:18:42] shotgun,

[01:18:43] the game became

[01:18:43] a little bit easier.

[01:18:45] Well,

[01:18:46] for a little while

[01:18:46] at least.

[01:18:48] I don't know

[01:18:48] how we discovered

[01:18:49] it for the very

[01:18:50] first time,

[01:18:50] but if you shoot

[01:18:51] a zombie

[01:18:52] at point-blank

[01:18:53] range with the

[01:18:53] shotgun

[01:18:54] or you angle

[01:18:55] the weapon up,

[01:18:56] you can blow

[01:18:57] a zombie's head

[01:18:58] off in one shot

[01:18:59] and it is a great

[01:19:00] way to not only

[01:19:01] save ammo,

[01:19:02] it's just a

[01:19:03] wonderful sight

[01:19:04] to behold.

[01:19:07] Oh,

[01:19:08] yeah,

[01:19:08] that never gets old.

[01:19:11] Like I mentioned,

[01:19:12] Resident Evil

[01:19:13] did a good job

[01:19:13] of creating a

[01:19:14] tense and

[01:19:15] suspenseful

[01:19:15] atmosphere for

[01:19:16] the player,

[01:19:17] but this especially

[01:19:18] rings true

[01:19:19] during the second

[01:19:20] half of the game.

[01:19:21] My stepdad and I

[01:19:22] got pretty good

[01:19:23] about ammo

[01:19:24] conservation,

[01:19:24] and we

[01:19:25] effectively wiped

[01:19:26] out almost all

[01:19:27] threats within the

[01:19:27] mansion to the

[01:19:28] point we could

[01:19:29] move around

[01:19:29] without too much

[01:19:30] danger.

[01:19:31] We actually let

[01:19:32] our guard down

[01:19:33] a little bit.

[01:19:35] Eventually,

[01:19:35] we do leave the

[01:19:36] mansion and find

[01:19:37] our way to a

[01:19:38] nearby guardhouse.

[01:19:40] I won't get into

[01:19:41] all the details here,

[01:19:42] but eventually you

[01:19:43] conquer this area,

[01:19:44] find a key that

[01:19:45] you need for the

[01:19:45] mansion,

[01:19:46] and then you head

[01:19:46] on back.

[01:19:48] Now,

[01:19:48] normally,

[01:19:49] returning to the

[01:19:50] quote-unquote

[01:19:51] starting area of

[01:19:52] a game is often

[01:19:53] fun because you've

[01:19:54] either conquered it

[01:19:55] already or the

[01:19:56] enemies there are

[01:19:57] no match for you

[01:19:58] because you've got

[01:19:59] better weapons that

[01:20:00] you started with

[01:20:01] or you have

[01:20:01] different abilities to

[01:20:03] use, and it's

[01:20:04] kind of fun squashing

[01:20:05] the low-level enemies

[01:20:06] that are here.

[01:20:07] But Resident Evil

[01:20:08] throws a wrench in

[01:20:09] those plans by

[01:20:10] introducing a new

[01:20:11] enemy type just

[01:20:12] when you started to

[01:20:13] get comfortable.

[01:20:15] When you return to

[01:20:16] the mansion,

[01:20:17] there's a point where

[01:20:18] a CGI cutscene plays

[01:20:19] out and you're

[01:20:20] watching a creature

[01:20:21] run after you in

[01:20:22] first person.

[01:20:24] When the creature

[01:20:25] gets to the door

[01:20:26] that you just

[01:20:27] passed through,

[01:20:28] you're almost

[01:20:28] terrified to see

[01:20:29] that the creature

[01:20:30] is able to open

[01:20:32] the door.

[01:20:33] Enter the hunter,

[01:20:36] a hunchback lizard

[01:20:37] sort of creature

[01:20:38] with long claws

[01:20:39] on the end of

[01:20:40] its feet and hands.

[01:20:42] When you first

[01:20:43] see it,

[01:20:44] it's the face

[01:20:44] that sticks with

[01:20:45] you.

[01:20:46] White eyes and

[01:20:47] razor-sharp teeth.

[01:20:50] I will never forget

[01:20:52] our very first

[01:20:52] encounter with

[01:20:53] the hunter.

[01:20:54] After the CGI

[01:20:56] cutscene ended,

[01:20:57] I was the one in

[01:20:58] control and my

[01:20:58] stepdad was watching.

[01:21:00] We both leaned a

[01:21:02] little further forward

[01:21:03] as gameplay resumed

[01:21:04] and we heard the

[01:21:05] door we just

[01:21:06] passed through

[01:21:07] open and close.

[01:21:11] In a cutscene,

[01:21:13] Jill turned around

[01:21:14] and then we saw it.

[01:21:16] The hunter.

[01:21:17] Walking towards us.

[01:21:23] All at once,

[01:21:25] the game gave me

[01:21:25] back control

[01:21:26] and then...

[01:21:28] I panicked.

[01:21:29] In a flash,

[01:21:30] the hunter sprinted

[01:21:31] towards Jill

[01:21:32] and took a swipe

[01:21:33] at her.

[01:21:35] I had my handgun

[01:21:36] equipped and

[01:21:37] without thinking,

[01:21:38] I started to use it

[01:21:39] against the hunter.

[01:21:41] But the hunter

[01:21:42] was too strong

[01:21:43] and way too fast.

[01:21:45] I ended up missing

[01:21:46] both of my shots

[01:21:47] and then I took

[01:21:48] more damage.

[01:21:50] My stepdad finally

[01:21:52] urged me to run

[01:21:53] and I did.

[01:21:54] But my hesitation

[01:21:56] would ultimately

[01:21:56] be my undoing.

[01:21:58] I started to run

[01:22:00] to the door

[01:22:00] that would take me

[01:22:01] to the nearest

[01:22:02] save room,

[01:22:02] but before I could

[01:22:03] get there,

[01:22:04] the monster let out

[01:22:05] a screech that

[01:22:06] still haunts me

[01:22:07] to this day.

[01:22:09] In a flash,

[01:22:11] the creature lunged

[01:22:11] at Jill,

[01:22:12] swinging its arm

[01:22:13] wide.

[01:22:14] But before I could

[01:22:15] react,

[01:22:16] the claw found

[01:22:17] its mark.

[01:22:19] Jill never cried

[01:22:20] out as the claw

[01:22:21] took her head

[01:22:22] clean off of

[01:22:24] her shoulders.

[01:22:25] Pixelated blood

[01:22:26] shot everywhere

[01:22:27] and almost comically,

[01:22:29] Jill's body fell

[01:22:30] over and hit the

[01:22:31] ground with a thud.

[01:22:33] The screen slowly

[01:22:35] faded to white

[01:22:35] and soon we were

[01:22:37] treated with a shot

[01:22:38] of Jill's lifeless,

[01:22:40] headless body

[01:22:40] on the ground

[01:22:41] and the words

[01:22:42] You died

[01:22:44] came on screen

[01:22:45] yet again.

[01:22:47] You never really

[01:22:49] forget the first

[01:22:49] time a hunter

[01:22:50] takes your head

[01:22:50] off.

[01:22:51] My stepdad and I

[01:22:53] just stared at the

[01:22:53] screen for a moment

[01:22:54] and then we stared

[01:22:55] at each other.

[01:22:56] Again,

[01:22:57] I found myself

[01:22:58] caught between

[01:22:58] the idea that

[01:23:00] what I just saw

[01:23:01] was the most

[01:23:01] shocking thing

[01:23:02] imaginable,

[01:23:03] but also it was

[01:23:04] one of the coolest.

[01:23:05] The mansion in the

[01:23:07] second half of the

[01:23:07] game was full of

[01:23:09] these monsters now

[01:23:10] and the once

[01:23:10] safe haven that

[01:23:12] I had carved out

[01:23:12] was now dangerous

[01:23:14] once again.

[01:23:15] Even the music

[01:23:16] in the mansion

[01:23:17] was a twisted form

[01:23:18] of the original

[01:23:19] melodies that

[01:23:19] had played before,

[01:23:21] letting the player

[01:23:21] know that something

[01:23:22] new was here

[01:23:23] and that it was

[01:23:24] much more dangerous

[01:23:25] than ever before.

[01:23:26] It was even

[01:23:27] much more dangerous

[01:23:28] now than the time

[01:23:29] that we had fought

[01:23:29] the giant snake.

[01:23:31] Oh, that's right,

[01:23:32] there's a giant snake

[01:23:33] in this game.

[01:23:34] It was a huge

[01:23:35] snake

[01:23:36] and also

[01:23:37] poisonous.

[01:23:38] Ugh.

[01:23:39] Ah, that's right.

[01:23:40] Thank you, Richard.

[01:23:41] It was a giant snake

[01:23:42] and it was also

[01:23:50] a giant pharmaceutical

[01:23:54] company that went

[01:23:55] by the name

[01:23:56] Umbrella

[01:23:57] was experimenting

[01:23:58] on viruses

[01:23:59] and one of them

[01:24:00] just so happened

[01:24:00] to escape,

[01:24:02] turning the place

[01:24:02] into a den

[01:24:03] of zombies and monsters.

[01:24:05] The lab at the end

[01:24:06] of the game

[01:24:07] wasn't very long,

[01:24:08] but it's one of my

[01:24:09] favorite areas

[01:24:10] in the entire game.

[01:24:13] The music here

[01:24:14] is very tense

[01:24:16] and it's

[01:24:16] just all around

[01:24:17] evil.

[01:24:18] You're slowly

[01:24:19] putting all

[01:24:20] the pieces together

[01:24:21] as you move

[01:24:22] about the lion's den

[01:24:23] and you know

[01:24:24] that everything

[01:24:24] is going to culminate

[01:24:26] in one epic showdown

[01:24:27] of some kind.

[01:24:29] Depending on

[01:24:30] who you're playing

[01:24:30] as,

[01:24:31] the other player

[01:24:32] character can be

[01:24:33] discovered locked

[01:24:34] up in the lab

[01:24:35] and if you've been

[01:24:36] thorough in your

[01:24:37] exploration,

[01:24:38] you'll hopefully

[01:24:38] have the means

[01:24:39] to free them.

[01:24:41] Whether or not

[01:24:42] you do

[01:24:42] can impact

[01:24:43] one of the various

[01:24:44] endings that you get

[01:24:45] at the end of the game.

[01:24:47] But at this point,

[01:24:48] I was the one

[01:24:49] who was most in control

[01:24:51] and my stepdad

[01:24:51] took a back seat

[01:24:52] while I drove the gameplay.

[01:24:54] While he was

[01:24:56] and probably still is

[01:24:57] a competent gamer,

[01:24:58] I had the gaming

[01:24:59] experience to see us through.

[01:25:01] I got really good

[01:25:03] at Resident Evil

[01:25:03] over time too.

[01:25:05] I remember going over

[01:25:07] to one of his work

[01:25:08] friends' house

[01:25:08] and their kids

[01:25:09] had a PlayStation.

[01:25:10] I beat Resident Evil

[01:25:12] to completion

[01:25:13] in about two and a half

[01:25:14] hours and these kids

[01:25:16] thought it was just

[01:25:17] the coolest thing.

[01:25:18] It was really fun

[01:25:19] showing these kids

[01:25:20] how awesome I was

[01:25:21] at this adult game

[01:25:22] and that stands

[01:25:23] as another favorite

[01:25:24] childhood memory for me.

[01:25:27] But back to my stepdad

[01:25:29] and I,

[01:25:29] I'll always remember

[01:25:30] finishing the game

[01:25:31] for the very first time

[01:25:32] with him.

[01:25:33] We knew the end

[01:25:34] was near

[01:25:35] after we discovered

[01:25:36] the ultimate monster.

[01:25:38] A large creature

[01:25:39] known as the Tyrant.

[01:25:42] It was a humanoid creature

[01:25:44] much taller

[01:25:45] than any regular person

[01:25:46] with an incredibly long

[01:25:47] claw on one hand.

[01:25:50] We actually had to do

[01:25:51] battle with it once

[01:25:52] and were able

[01:25:53] to come out on top,

[01:25:54] but once we left the area,

[01:25:56] the final countdown commenced.

[01:25:57] The triggering system

[01:26:00] has now been activated.

[01:26:02] All researchers

[01:26:04] and guards

[01:26:05] should take cover

[01:26:06] immediately.

[01:26:08] Unlock all routes

[01:26:10] for evacuation.

[01:26:17] The whole idea

[01:26:18] of the

[01:26:19] quote-unquote

[01:26:20] escape sequence

[01:26:20] never really was

[01:26:22] my favorite,

[01:26:22] but you can't deny

[01:26:24] that they can be exciting

[01:26:25] if done right.

[01:26:26] When the triggering system

[01:26:28] is activated

[01:26:29] at the end of the game

[01:26:29] and you realize

[01:26:30] everything is going

[01:26:31] to be wiped out

[01:26:31] in the explosion,

[01:26:33] it has a way

[01:26:33] of putting a certain

[01:26:34] pep in your step,

[01:26:35] that is for sure.

[01:26:37] It was pretty clear

[01:26:38] what it was

[01:26:38] that we needed to do

[01:26:39] in order to escape,

[01:26:40] so my stepdad

[01:26:41] and I were pretty

[01:26:42] zeroed in

[01:26:42] in order to see it through.

[01:26:45] We'd been put through

[01:26:46] the ringer

[01:26:46] at this point.

[01:26:48] We had solved

[01:26:49] a handful of puzzles,

[01:26:50] discovered the mystery

[01:26:51] surrounding the mansion,

[01:26:52] and we found a way

[01:26:53] to die a few times

[01:26:54] along the way.

[01:26:56] But now it was time

[01:26:57] to finish things.

[01:26:59] What started as a

[01:27:00] slow-paced,

[01:27:01] blood-filled scarefest

[01:27:02] that my stepdad

[01:27:03] was adamant I couldn't play

[01:27:05] now turned into

[01:27:06] the ultimate bonding

[01:27:07] experience as we

[01:27:08] worked together

[01:27:08] in order to escape

[01:27:09] the nightmare.

[01:27:11] Make sure you stop by

[01:27:12] the last save room

[01:27:13] on your way out.

[01:27:15] Okay, got it.

[01:27:16] And I've got a feeling

[01:27:17] we're gonna want to save.

[01:27:18] Grab the first aid sprays

[01:27:20] that we've been hoarding too.

[01:27:21] I'm sure we're gonna need them.

[01:27:23] Should I bring the magnum?

[01:27:24] We've been saving that one

[01:27:25] up all game.

[01:27:26] Yeah, good idea.

[01:27:29] We planned our last escape

[01:27:31] and brought everything

[01:27:32] that we could carry,

[01:27:33] which admittedly being

[01:27:34] our first playthrough

[01:27:35] wasn't a whole lot.

[01:27:37] Though, we did find

[01:27:38] a magnum,

[01:27:39] the most powerful weapon

[01:27:40] in the game,

[01:27:41] and stockpiled as many

[01:27:42] bullets as we could for it.

[01:27:44] So, that was the weapon

[01:27:45] that we were going to wield

[01:27:46] from now on.

[01:27:48] As we made our way

[01:27:49] through the winding

[01:27:50] passageways,

[01:27:51] we stopped to rescue Chris

[01:27:52] so he could join Barry

[01:27:54] and us as we make our way

[01:27:55] to the nearby heliport

[01:27:57] where Brad made one

[01:27:58] final attempt

[01:27:59] to contact us.

[01:28:01] At the end of a long hallway,

[01:28:03] we found an elevator

[01:28:04] that we powered up

[01:28:05] with a conveniently placed battery.

[01:28:07] As soon as we put the battery in

[01:28:10] and powered on the elevator,

[01:28:11] the real countdown

[01:28:12] to destruction began.

[01:28:14] There is three minutes

[01:28:16] until explosion.

[01:28:18] A timer appeared

[01:28:20] at the top of the screen

[01:28:21] and started to count down.

[01:28:23] Oh boy, this is it.

[01:28:25] I remember my hands

[01:28:27] tightening ever so slightly

[01:28:29] on the grips of the controller.

[01:28:31] Suddenly, the sounds of monsters

[01:28:33] could be heard coming towards us.

[01:28:43] Ladies first!

[01:28:45] Go first, Jill!

[01:28:46] But Chris!

[01:28:48] Give me a chance

[01:28:49] to play nice guy.

[01:28:51] Okay, I leave it up to you.

[01:28:53] See you again at the heliport.

[01:28:56] Barry and Chris

[01:28:57] offered to hold off

[01:28:58] the approaching horde

[01:28:58] while we took the elevator

[01:29:00] to the surface.

[01:29:03] When we made it

[01:29:04] to the heliport,

[01:29:05] the countdown timer

[01:29:06] was still ticking.

[01:29:08] To the left of us

[01:29:09] was a box on the ground

[01:29:10] that sort of stuck out

[01:29:11] so I felt compelled

[01:29:12] to examine it.

[01:29:14] Inside was a flare.

[01:29:16] Perfect!

[01:29:17] We can signal Brad with this.

[01:29:19] After adding it

[01:29:20] to our inventory,

[01:29:21] I ran to the center

[01:29:22] of the heliport

[01:29:23] and used the flare

[01:29:23] from my inventory.

[01:29:25] Jill bent down

[01:29:26] and lit the flare

[01:29:27] and after a moment

[01:29:28] it flew skyward.

[01:29:32] Nothing happened

[01:29:33] for a few moments

[01:29:33] but then soon

[01:29:34] sounds from the helicopter's

[01:29:36] rotor blades could be heard

[01:29:38] and it seemed like

[01:29:39] the nightmare

[01:29:39] was finally over.

[01:29:43] But that would have

[01:29:44] been too easy.

[01:29:45] The camera changes

[01:29:47] and we're shown

[01:29:47] a corner of the heliport.

[01:30:01] Suddenly the ground

[01:30:02] bursts open

[01:30:03] and the tyrant appears.

[01:30:06] With less than

[01:30:07] two minutes to go

[01:30:08] and the helicopter

[01:30:08] circling overhead,

[01:30:09] it was up to me

[01:30:10] to defeat the tyrant

[01:30:12] once and for all.

[01:30:14] The magnum

[01:30:14] was a powerful weapon

[01:30:16] but even though

[01:30:16] it packed a punch,

[01:30:18] the tyrant was fast.

[01:30:19] And powerful.

[01:30:21] I took aim right away

[01:30:23] and fired off two shots.

[01:30:27] Two direct hits

[01:30:28] but the creature

[01:30:29] just kept coming.

[01:30:30] Soon he started sprinting

[01:30:32] full speed towards Jill

[01:30:34] and with a swing of its claw

[01:30:35] nailed Jill

[01:30:36] for some decent damage.

[01:30:39] Jill was knocked back

[01:30:41] and slid on the ground

[01:30:42] quite a ways

[01:30:43] before her back

[01:30:44] hit the wall.

[01:30:46] She fell to her hands

[01:30:47] and knees

[01:30:48] and by the time

[01:30:49] she got back up,

[01:30:50] the tyrant

[01:30:50] was already on her.

[01:30:51] It sliced at her

[01:30:53] cutting her open

[01:30:54] for even more damage.

[01:30:57] God damn

[01:30:58] this creature

[01:30:58] was all over me.

[01:31:00] I was already low on health

[01:31:01] and the fight

[01:31:02] had just started.

[01:31:03] I healed up

[01:31:04] using one of the first aid sprays

[01:31:05] in my inventory

[01:31:06] and took a minute

[01:31:07] to get my bearings.

[01:31:09] Then my stepdad

[01:31:10] made a great suggestion.

[01:31:12] His claw is on

[01:31:13] the left hand side.

[01:31:14] Try running around him

[01:31:15] and staying on his right.

[01:31:18] Okay,

[01:31:18] I thought.

[01:31:19] I can do this.

[01:31:21] I had more than mastered

[01:31:22] the controls at this point

[01:31:23] and I was confident

[01:31:24] my ability to duck and weave.

[01:31:26] I exited the menu

[01:31:28] and the game was back on.

[01:31:30] I chipped away

[01:31:31] at the tyrant

[01:31:32] with a shot here and there.

[01:31:36] Then I would turn,

[01:31:37] run in a circle,

[01:31:38] and reset.

[01:31:39] As long as I stayed

[01:31:41] to the tyrant's right side,

[01:31:42] I was doing okay.

[01:31:44] I'd still get hit

[01:31:45] now and again,

[01:31:46] but it was much more

[01:31:47] manageable now.

[01:31:48] But the clock was ticking

[01:31:50] and I didn't have

[01:31:51] much ammo left.

[01:31:52] I think somewhere in here,

[01:31:54] my mom had called out

[01:31:55] to my stepdad and I

[01:31:56] that dinner was ready,

[01:31:57] but we paid her no heed.

[01:32:00] This was it

[01:32:01] and I was not going to fail.

[01:32:05] Finally,

[01:32:05] with around 30 seconds left,

[01:32:07] something fell

[01:32:08] onto the center

[01:32:09] of the helipad.

[01:32:11] Oh shit,

[01:32:12] is that a rocket launcher?

[01:32:14] Brad from the helicopter

[01:32:15] called out

[01:32:16] on a loudspeaker.

[01:32:24] Ignoring the corny line

[01:32:26] about Jill being an Amazon,

[01:32:27] I rushed over

[01:32:28] to pick the rocket launcher up.

[01:32:30] It looked beautiful

[01:32:32] and was practically

[01:32:33] the same rocket launcher

[01:32:34] Arnold Schwarzenegger

[01:32:35] used in the movie

[01:32:36] Commando back in 1985,

[01:32:37] I think it was.

[01:32:39] Once I added

[01:32:40] the rocket launcher

[01:32:41] to my inventory,

[01:32:42] I immediately equipped it,

[01:32:43] trying to ignore

[01:32:44] the fact that the tyrant

[01:32:45] was literally on my heels

[01:32:47] while I was in the inventory screen.

[01:32:49] As soon as I backed out,

[01:32:51] the tyrant was right there,

[01:32:52] stabbing me with its claw.

[01:32:55] As soon as I was able,

[01:32:56] I made another circle

[01:32:57] around the tyrant

[01:32:58] just like I did before,

[01:33:00] waiting for the right moment

[01:33:01] to strike.

[01:33:02] 20 seconds left.

[01:33:04] This was it.

[01:33:06] When I found my opening,

[01:33:08] I had Jill shoulder

[01:33:09] the launcher.

[01:33:10] With what looked like

[01:33:12] all of her remaining strength,

[01:33:14] she brought the weapon up

[01:33:15] and with my lip curve,

[01:33:17] swirling into a little bit

[01:33:18] of a smile,

[01:33:19] I knew the game was over

[01:33:20] as soon as I pulled the trigger.

[01:33:29] The tyrant exploded

[01:33:31] and only his limbs

[01:33:32] were left on the ground,

[01:33:33] scorched and burnt.

[01:33:35] My stepdad and I

[01:33:36] let out a victory yell

[01:33:38] and we high-fived each other

[01:33:39] as the helicopter landed

[01:33:40] on the helipad.

[01:33:43] In another full-on movie cutscene

[01:33:45] like the game's opening,

[01:33:47] we got to see Chris,

[01:33:48] Jill, and Barry

[01:33:49] in the helicopter

[01:33:50] as it flew away.

[01:33:52] Eventually,

[01:33:52] the credits would roll

[01:33:53] and afterwards,

[01:33:54] we went upstairs

[01:33:55] to a cold dinner,

[01:33:56] all the while recanting

[01:33:58] all the crazy things

[01:33:59] that happened

[01:34:00] during our adventure.

[01:34:01] Of which,

[01:34:02] my mother was completely

[01:34:03] and utterly confused by.

[01:34:05] Giant spiders and snakes,

[01:34:07] ceiling traps,

[01:34:09] giant green lizard men,

[01:34:10] zombie viruses,

[01:34:12] that damn dog

[01:34:13] bursting through the window.

[01:34:14] It was an awesome time

[01:34:16] and I am so glad

[01:34:17] I got to share it

[01:34:18] with my stepdad.

[01:34:20] At that point in my life,

[01:34:22] before Resident Evil,

[01:34:23] I lived a pretty simple existence.

[01:34:26] I was lucky to have

[01:34:27] video games in my life

[01:34:28] and while I didn't spend

[01:34:29] all my time with them

[01:34:30] or anything,

[01:34:31] they were a nice substitute

[01:34:32] for the siblings

[01:34:33] that I didn't have.

[01:34:35] I found comfort

[01:34:36] and familiarity

[01:34:37] in games like

[01:34:38] Super Mario Bros.

[01:34:39] and Super Mario World.

[01:34:41] Whenever I wanted

[01:34:42] to do my own thing

[01:34:43] or there wasn't anything

[01:34:44] I wanted to watch on TV,

[01:34:45] I would power up

[01:34:47] a video game

[01:34:47] and let the magic

[01:34:48] of a high score

[01:34:49] or completing levels

[01:34:50] take me.

[01:34:52] But after discovering

[01:34:53] Resident Evil

[01:34:54] and experiencing

[01:34:55] what it had to offer,

[01:34:56] I was addicted

[01:34:57] to how that game

[01:34:58] made me feel.

[01:35:00] Like I already talked about,

[01:35:01] I felt genuine tension

[01:35:02] and even a little bit of fear

[01:35:04] as I went through the game.

[01:35:06] These were feelings

[01:35:07] that no game

[01:35:08] had ever made me feel before.

[01:35:10] More than that though,

[01:35:12] Resident Evil brought out

[01:35:13] in me

[01:35:13] a sort of primal feeling

[01:35:15] which surprised me

[01:35:16] at such a young age.

[01:35:18] I think the reason

[01:35:19] people enjoy survival

[01:35:21] or survival horror games

[01:35:22] today

[01:35:23] is that feeling

[01:35:24] we get

[01:35:24] when we're stripped

[01:35:25] of our everyday feelings

[01:35:27] and we're put

[01:35:27] in a situation

[01:35:28] where we need to survive

[01:35:30] and your ability

[01:35:31] to do so

[01:35:31] is limited

[01:35:32] as the resources

[01:35:33] are that you can find.

[01:35:35] Back in the before times,

[01:35:37] before civilization,

[01:35:39] I'm sure that's all

[01:35:40] we had on our minds

[01:35:41] and I'm willing to bet

[01:35:41] a lot of that

[01:35:42] is deeply rooted

[01:35:43] into us.

[01:35:44] There's something

[01:35:45] addicting

[01:35:46] about shedding everything

[01:35:47] and focusing

[01:35:48] on that one

[01:35:49] singular task,

[01:35:51] survival.

[01:35:52] Which is why

[01:35:53] games like Resident Evil,

[01:35:55] Silent Hill,

[01:35:56] Dead Space,

[01:35:57] and others

[01:35:57] just resonate so much

[01:35:58] with me today.

[01:36:00] As the Resident Evil

[01:36:02] franchise grew

[01:36:03] in the number of games

[01:36:04] it offered

[01:36:05] and its overall popularity,

[01:36:07] I couldn't help

[01:36:07] but be swept up

[01:36:08] at it all.

[01:36:09] Shinji Mikami

[01:36:11] helped create a wonderful

[01:36:12] game that turned

[01:36:13] into something special.

[01:36:14] This series has a cast

[01:36:16] of fun characters

[01:36:17] and a storyline

[01:36:18] that rivals

[01:36:19] some of Hideo Kojima's

[01:36:20] best worlds

[01:36:21] in terms of complexity

[01:36:22] and sheer batshit craziness,

[01:36:24] but I can't help

[01:36:25] but love it.

[01:36:26] The cheesy

[01:36:27] B-movie style story

[01:36:28] and acting

[01:36:29] coupled with

[01:36:30] a simple gameplay premise

[01:36:31] make Resident Evil

[01:36:32] special to me.

[01:36:34] The original game

[01:36:35] on the PlayStation

[01:36:36] will continue to be

[01:36:37] one of my absolute favorites.

[01:36:40] Even though

[01:36:40] the original

[01:36:41] was remade

[01:36:41] on the GameCube

[01:36:42] and is far and away

[01:36:43] the definitive way

[01:36:44] to play

[01:36:45] and the original

[01:36:46] hasn't exactly aged

[01:36:47] all that well,

[01:36:48] it'll always

[01:36:49] hold a special place

[01:36:50] in my heart for me.

[01:36:52] No matter

[01:36:53] what I have going on

[01:36:54] or what time of year

[01:36:55] it is,

[01:36:56] I will always be up

[01:36:58] to entering

[01:36:59] the world

[01:36:59] of survival horror.

[01:37:34] And with that,

[01:37:35] we've come to the end

[01:37:37] of the trail today,

[01:37:38] my friends.

[01:37:39] This has been

[01:37:40] episode 61

[01:37:41] of the Retro Wildlands

[01:37:43] Resident Evil

[01:37:44] on the original

[01:37:46] Sony PlayStation

[01:37:48] Revisited.

[01:37:49] Thank you very much

[01:37:50] for tuning in

[01:37:51] to the show today.

[01:37:52] I had a really good time

[01:37:54] going back

[01:37:54] and taking another run

[01:37:55] through one of my

[01:37:56] favorite video games

[01:37:57] of all time,

[01:37:58] especially since I have

[01:37:59] more skill behind

[01:38:00] the microphone

[01:38:01] and skill when it comes

[01:38:02] to audio editing.

[01:38:03] I hope you enjoyed

[01:38:04] the show

[01:38:05] and I'm probably

[01:38:06] going to revisit

[01:38:07] a few more

[01:38:08] of our very early

[01:38:09] episodes and have

[01:38:10] another crack at them

[01:38:11] as well.

[01:38:12] Parasite Eve,

[01:38:13] Turtles in Time,

[01:38:14] and The Legend of Zelda

[01:38:15] A Link to the Past

[01:38:16] just to name a couple.

[01:38:18] Again,

[01:38:19] thank you very much

[01:38:20] for hanging out today

[01:38:20] while I revisited

[01:38:21] one of my favorite

[01:38:23] memories as a kid.

[01:38:25] And to my stepdad,

[01:38:27] I don't know if you'll

[01:38:28] ever listen to this show

[01:38:29] or not,

[01:38:30] but if you do,

[01:38:31] thank you again

[01:38:32] for giving me

[01:38:32] this awesome memory

[01:38:33] with you

[01:38:34] and thanks for not

[01:38:35] sending me back

[01:38:35] to my room

[01:38:36] when you found me

[01:38:37] behind the couch.

[01:38:38] My life would probably

[01:38:40] have been much different

[01:38:41] if you did.

[01:38:43] If you like the show

[01:38:45] and you want to show

[01:38:45] it and myself

[01:38:46] some support,

[01:38:47] please consider subscribing

[01:38:48] to it on your

[01:38:49] preferred podcasting platform.

[01:38:51] The Retro Wildlands

[01:38:53] is now part of

[01:38:54] the SuperPod Network,

[01:38:55] home of some awesome

[01:38:57] gaming podcasts

[01:38:57] and other gaming content,

[01:38:59] so you can follow us

[01:39:00] over there

[01:39:01] at superpodnetwork.com.

[01:39:04] Other than this podcast,

[01:39:06] you can check out

[01:39:06] some other awesome

[01:39:07] video game-centric

[01:39:08] podcasts and shows

[01:39:10] such as

[01:39:11] The SuperPod Saga,

[01:39:12] Gaming Together,

[01:39:13] A Novel Console,

[01:39:15] Bar Silence,

[01:39:16] A Video Game Podcast,

[01:39:17] and much more.

[01:39:19] There's blog posts,

[01:39:20] videos,

[01:39:21] and tons of other content,

[01:39:22] so be sure to

[01:39:24] check it all out.

[01:39:25] Now,

[01:39:26] if you really like

[01:39:27] the show today

[01:39:28] and you have a few

[01:39:29] minutes to spare,

[01:39:30] I'd really appreciate

[01:39:31] it if you could leave

[01:39:32] The Retro Wildlands

[01:39:33] a good review

[01:39:34] on your podcast platform

[01:39:35] if you're able to do so.

[01:39:37] Off the top of my head,

[01:39:39] you can leave a star rating

[01:39:40] over on Spotify,

[01:39:41] but you can leave

[01:39:42] more substantial reviews

[01:39:43] over on Podbean,

[01:39:45] Podchaser,

[01:39:46] Podcast Attic,

[01:39:47] and over on iTunes

[01:39:48] just to name a few.

[01:39:50] Good reviews will help

[01:39:51] circulate the show,

[01:39:52] but more than anything,

[01:39:54] it'll let me know

[01:39:55] that you're liking

[01:39:55] what it is that I'm

[01:39:56] trying to do here,

[01:39:57] and it would mean the world

[01:39:58] to me if you could give us

[01:39:59] that good review.

[01:40:01] But,

[01:40:02] as always,

[01:40:03] you are under no obligation

[01:40:04] to do any of this.

[01:40:06] Just the fact that you're

[01:40:07] listening to my show

[01:40:08] right now

[01:40:09] is much more

[01:40:10] than I could have

[01:40:10] ever asked for,

[01:40:11] so,

[01:40:12] above all else,

[01:40:13] thank you

[01:40:14] for being here.

[01:40:16] So,

[01:40:17] what's coming up next?

[01:40:18] Now that we're

[01:40:19] technically past

[01:40:20] spooky season,

[01:40:21] it's back to business

[01:40:22] as usual,

[01:40:23] I suppose.

[01:40:24] If you happen to

[01:40:26] skip over

[01:40:26] Campfire Catch-Up

[01:40:27] near the beginning

[01:40:28] of the show,

[01:40:28] I mention that I've

[01:40:29] been playing through

[01:40:30] Iron Meat,

[01:40:32] a new indie run-and-gun

[01:40:33] shooter that took

[01:40:34] a lot of inspiration

[01:40:35] from games like Contra.

[01:40:37] Because of that,

[01:40:38] I've really been

[01:40:39] enjoying going back

[01:40:40] and just playing

[01:40:41] through the original

[01:40:42] Contra again

[01:40:42] whenever I have

[01:40:43] a few minutes to spare.

[01:40:45] Which,

[01:40:46] got me thinking.

[01:40:47] I have a lot of

[01:40:49] Contra games missing

[01:40:50] from my gaming resume.

[01:40:52] Which is why I think

[01:40:53] it's time to break out

[01:40:54] the Super Nintendo

[01:40:54] again and play

[01:40:56] the one Contra game

[01:40:57] I keep hearing

[01:40:58] is the best.

[01:40:59] But is it really,

[01:41:01] though?

[01:41:01] Well,

[01:41:02] I'm excited to find out.

[01:41:04] Next time on the

[01:41:05] Retro Wildlands podcast,

[01:41:06] we'll be diving in

[01:41:08] to Contra 3

[01:41:10] The Alien Wars.

[01:41:12] Also,

[01:41:13] be sure to subscribe

[01:41:14] to our social media pages

[01:41:15] as well as over on YouTube.

[01:41:17] I'm fixing to release

[01:41:18] more content over there

[01:41:20] soon as well.

[01:41:21] Lots of things

[01:41:22] happening around here

[01:41:23] and not a lot of time

[01:41:24] to do it all,

[01:41:25] so stay tuned

[01:41:26] while I continue

[01:41:26] to churn out

[01:41:27] what I can

[01:41:28] when I can.

[01:41:30] I really appreciate

[01:41:31] you spending your time

[01:41:32] with me today

[01:41:32] and I hope you're able

[01:41:33] to join us

[01:41:34] on our next expedition

[01:41:35] into the gaming wilderness.

[01:41:38] Exploring and discovering

[01:41:39] is fun,

[01:41:40] but it is a hell

[01:41:41] of a good time

[01:41:42] when you're able

[01:41:42] to join us.

[01:41:44] Until then,

[01:41:45] my friends,

[01:41:46] my name is Nomad

[01:41:48] and you can find me

[01:41:50] roaming the Retro Wildlands.

[01:41:53] I'm going to be

[01:41:53] to be here.