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Resident Evil Zero: does anyone find this game fun?

I’ve made a negative thread about RE7 around 2 weeks ago, but I ended up appreciating it. I also just finished Village and outside of the garbage story I really enjoyed my time with it. I also LOVE RE2R and RE3R. So I’m not a hater! Lol.

But Resident Evil Zero…. My god. I think I initially tried playing it 2-3 years ago but gave up.

This game is hideously unfun. I know part of my gripes with it have to do with modern conveniences + being spoiled by how amazing RE2R is (in my opinion), but I’m still just constantly wondering to myself “WHO FINDS THIS FUN?” any time I play the game.


1. Everything about the game is excruciatingly SLOOOOOOOOW. The room transitions that they didn’t cut out are SLOW. The jogging speed is SLOW. The load times are SLOW. The process of interacting with anything is SLOW. Doing anything feels like it takes forever.

2. The inventory system. Oh my god. What is this?? There’s almost no room for anything. You have only 6 slots per character and no item box. And the game has the audacity to still have ink ribbons lol. You constantly have to drop shit, and personally, I don’t care enough to lug everything into an area’s “main” room. And despite the game giving you a paltry amount of space, there’s seemingly a bunch of weapons and they practically all take up 2 slots and then another slot for ammo.

3. The hookshot lmao. You randomly need it a few times and it takes up 2 slots.

4. Rebecca seems to die when an enemy brushes against her.

5. Combat is atrocious and janky and tbh the pre-rendered backgrounds are no excuse. Onimusha 1-2 manage to be fun despite its pre-rendered backgrounds.

6. This is basically an extension of point #1 but the slowness of the game makes me want to cry any time I have to backtrack for anything. The last time I played the game, I wanted to save and quit, but I realized that I accidentally dropped my ink ribbons 3 rooms away because I probably needed space for some key item and dropped that without thinking. Which means slowly jogging through 3 rooms, sitting through the unskippable room animations, having to confirm picking up the ink ribbon, then slowly jogging back through 3 rooms while sitting through the unskippable room transitions. Needless to say, I definitely stuck to my decision to quitting the game after I managed to make it back to the typewriter with ink ribbons in hand lol.

7. This is definitely me being spoiled by modern RE games, but the very least this game could’ve done to be less effing annoying would be for the map to indicate what I need for each locked door, like with RE2R. It just makes me want to play with a walkthrough at all times because I’m not accidentally going into the wrong room and having to slowly backtrack and sit through more unskippable room transitions.


I mean seriously idgi; this game is almost torturous for me. Only positive thing I have to say about it is that the production values are off-the-charts. The pre-rendered backgrounds look absolutely phenomenal. It’s too bad that I can’t appreciate them because I’m too busy thinking about how the game is the antithesis of fun.

Does anyone find the game fun? If so, how? I’m genuinely curious.

Thank you!
 
No.

Okay but seriously, I played + beat the game for the first time last month, and this is what I had to say in another thread:

Final thoughts: it is a terrible game and feels like a shitty imitation of classic Resident Evil, because every aspect of RE in this game is just wrong. The story, the enemy placement, the enemies themselves, the puzzles, the map design... everything.

I'm honestly thinking this game doesn't even deserve a remake. Just ignore it and pretend it never happened.

After replaying RE6 last week, I can now confidently say that RE0 is the worst game in the series. At least you can fuck around with a friend in RE6 coop and dropkick your partner in the face every so often.
 
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Northeastmonk

Gold Member
I enjoyed fighting the spiders and monkeys. The CGI was great, especially when you saw it on the GC version. Control Billy or Rebecca with the C stick or 2nd joystick. It’s worth playing for the extra modes. The additional Wesker mode was neat to see. I always saw the beginning train area as being enjoyable. It’s not a bad game. Try out the extra costumes. I had this game right when it came out on GC and then years later got it on PS4. It has its moments. The crows use to piss me off.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Weird you made this Thread as I'm currently playing it
ipt6ENI.jpg
XYYhNcv.jpg

Story aside, the game is made with two characters that share an inventory, it gets you think about what to take and carry and who to take it.
It's a intriguing take and I'm sure it would be better if it was more traditional without the shared inventory but I still like it.
But yeah the whole Story could of been better.
 
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Weird you made this Thread as I'm currently playing it
ipt6ENI.jpg
XYYhNcv.jpg

Story aside, the game is made with two characters that share an inventory, it gets you think about what to take and carry and who to take it.
It's a intriguing take and I'm sure it would be better if it was more traditional but I still like it.
But yeah the whole Story could of been better.
I get it, but with how unbelievably slow the game feels, the inventory system is like adding insult to injury to me. If everything was snappy, sure, I might appreciate what they were going for with the inventory system (actually, probably not really. Just seems to be an excuse to lengthen the game by requiring more backtracking). As-is? Lol no
 
Yes, aside from dropping item all over the place, the game had every classic RE charm to it
Yeah maybe classic RE isn’t for me. My first experience with the series was RE4 at my cousin’s house whenever I’d come over, then years later I bought Darkside Chronicles, and I’d say my official start was with RE2R.

I can’t really see myself appreciating Zero.
 

MiguelItUp

Member
Honestly the idea of a prequel to RE1 always sounded super intriguing, but when they first showed what it looked like and its gameplay, I was immediately turned off. I was a diehard RE fan since RE1 too. Something about it just didn't look or seem interesting to me at all, and over the years it didn't really sound like I missed out on anything special... 🤷‍♂️
 

Madflavor

Member
Billy Coen was cool, but yeah RE0 was a low point of the series. It definitely has that "Made by the B-Team" feel to it. It also doesn't fit well with the rest of the story. It doesn't make sense for Rebecca to come off like such a rookie in RE1, when this bitch was soloing a Tyrant 24 hours ago.
 
Those unskippable slow loading door animations are the worst. I tried playing REMake a while back and couldn't, too much of a waste of time with the door transitions. I'd probably share your complaints OP. No storage box sounds miserable.
The drop item system in this game is amazing...the entire map IS the storage box. You can pull up a list of the dropped items within the area you dropped them in on the map, which mimics the interface of the storage box except it's on the map screen...as for the doors, it's a survival horror game...it's supposed to be slow paced, atmospheric, immersive, that goes for both Zero and REmake
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
The drop item system in this game is amazing...the entire map IS the storage box. You can pull up a list of the dropped items within the area you dropped them in on the map, which mimics the interface of the storage box except it's on the map screen...as for the doors, it's a survival horror game...it's supposed to be slow paced, atmospheric, immersive, that goes for both Zero and REmake
Spending 1/4 of my life staring at a door loading screen is not immersive.
 

Astral Dog

Member
Its a classic ,oldschool horror style Resident Evil, i never got the hate for it, sure it has some goofy enemy designs and plot but i enjoyed it for what it is, i think its flaws have been exaggerated

Atmosphere is amazing,music as well,the level design isn't complex compared to REmake of course but it does the job
It came out at the time when fanboys wanted a big change desperately, but its a good survival horror game,the item managment for example is not a big deal you just need to manage your items in a room of your choice instead of a box,there were some ok puzzles with the pair mechanic

And the remaster looks gorgeous, im happy it sold well

 
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Arsic

Loves his juicy stink trail scent
It has good parts but it’s the only game I wouldn’t replay again without a full blown remake.

It’s definitely one that Capcom could make shine big time with a full reboot.
 
The drop item system in this game is amazing...the entire map IS the storage box. You can pull up a list of the dropped items within the area you dropped them in on the map, which mimics the interface of the storage box except it's on the map screen...as for the doors, it's a survival horror game...it's supposed to be slow paced, atmospheric, immersive, that goes for both Zero and REmake
To me it sounds like you’re just pointing out that it’s slow paced for all the wrong reasons
 

bender

What time is it?
Finished it for the first time last year. The train section was the highlight of the game but overall it is fairly lackluster. Billy's character design is laughably dated.
 
Finished it for the first time last year. The train section was the highlight of the game but overall it is fairly lackluster. Billy's character design is laughably dated.
From what I’ve been reading in this thread + favorable online opinions, the game is tolerable when you’ve basically memorized what you need to do and if you somehow don’t mind the “atmospheric” room transitions that you have to endure every 5-10 seconds. And if you don’t mind the janky combat and the load screens outside of the room transitions and the fact that you need to manage your inventory at least 3 times in every room and having to interact with every item (which means having to load into a separate screen and back) so that it’s marked on your map.
 
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ssringo

Member
I enjoyed it on Gamecube and again with the remaster. Definitely my least liked of the classic style games though that's due to bad bosses and a moronic story (even by RE standards).
 

Knightime_X

Member
By far the worst re game to date.
There is a difference between inventory management and being a stupid chore.

I also strongly dislike the tag system gimmick.

Resident evil 0/10
 

K' Dash

Member
Spending 1/4 of my life staring at a door loading screen is not immersive.

It’s a classic old school horror game, a lot of us played these games as teenagers, classic RE is not for those who have tight schedules.

As a dad of a 20 month old, who works as a dev and getting a second major, I’m not able to play anything like that… or open world games, or anything that’s more than 20 hrs.

But I love the transitioning doors, maybe it’s because I have all the classic RE memorized and don’t explore much, just get trough them.
 
This is one of the few Resident Evil games that I recommend looking up a guide beforehand. It will save you the headache of constant backtracking for item management, and it will streamline the experience to be a much, much more enjoyable game.

Either this, or play Umbrella Chronicles and experience it that way.

I fully believe that Resident Evil 0 can be remade into a Resident Evil 3 Remake style of a 4-6 hour fun game that could have speedrun potential as a bonus.
 

CGNoire

Member
Those unskippable slow loading door animations are the worst. I tried playing REMake a while back and couldn't, too much of a waste of time with the door transitions. I'd probably share your complaints OP. No storage box sounds miserable.
Theres a mod for REmake that removes them.....so much better with it.
 

consoul

Member
Worst numbered entry? Easily.

Worst of the entire franchise? Not quite. Resident Evil Survivor 2 – Code: Veronica has it beat for worst RE game.
 
I enjoyed it. The big turn off for most people is the lack of inventory space. You have to play the game differently to other Resident Evil games having to designate a room or two to store your items. Once you figure out the most efficient roots to limit backtracking it is actually quite good and is a bit more tense as a result.
 

Soodanim

Gold Member
Zero is one of those games where the best experience is had when you learn to play around its flaws. However, OP used 7 onwards as a reference point for being a fan as if it counts towards classic RE. They're vastly different in more ways than the controls.
Spending 1/4 of my life staring at a door loading screen is not immersive.
As big a classic RE fan as I am, I installed mods for 1/0 to skip doors and it definitely keeps things moving. After a few replays you don't need to see them again.

I think there could have been a balance struck in REmake/0 that didn't have you slowly opening doors you had been through multiple times. It's not like most rooms needed the loading time, as evidenced by a corridor in REmake that gets permanently opened up into a second corridor with no impact on load speed. I always wished they took more advantage of that.
 

Dirk Benedict

Gold Member
This game would be kind of fun... if they only GOT RID OF THE FUCKING MONKIES. SERIOUSLY fuck this game. If you enjoy it, then you'd probably enjoy an enema, too.
This game needs to be somewhat rebalance... or maybe I need to play it 100 times to git gud....LOL.
 
It's certainly atmospheric, like the first remake. However, I found the game to be rather boring once the train part ends. You get lost a lot as the facility you find yourself in is rather long, and then it picks up near the end.

The story isn't that great either. It's not really much of a prequel that explains much, other than that an angry man into opera singing and leeches was trying to get payback against Umbrella. 😄
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
No, the problem with Zero is that it's too cumbersome to have fun.
The latest classic RE game highlighted very well all the limits around which the original was made... by doubling and tripling down on them, lol. Code Veronica and Zero are exercises in redundancy. The limited inventory worked pretty well until RE3, then Capcom somehow thought that everything in the games had to be built around that. And that's how we got Zero, where inventory management completely ruins what could have been a good game. That fucking hookshot forced me to make some legendary backtracking.

Combat against quick-moving or flying creatures doesn't work, too. The original RE made hunters bulky for a reason - they gave you a big hitbox to shoot to compensate against their speed. The monkeys in Zero and the poisonous butterflies in Code Veronica are pure torture.
 

GenericUser

Member
It was the only Resident Evil game I could't bring myself to finish. The inventory system simply sucks ass. There is a point in the game where you more or less have to transfer all your shit from one location to another and that process is tedious as fuck. Dropped the game and never looked back.
 

Dirk Benedict

Gold Member
No, the problem with Zero is that it's too cumbersome to have fun.
The latest classic RE game highlighted very well all the limits around which the original was made... by doubling and tripling down on them, lol. Code Veronica and Zero are exercises in redundancy. The limited inventory worked pretty well until RE3, then Capcom somehow thought that everything in the games had to be built around that. And that's how we got Zero, where inventory management completely ruins what could have been a good game. That fucking hookshot forced me to make some legendary backtracking.

Combat against quick-moving or flying creatures doesn't work, too. The original RE made hunters bulky for a reason - they gave you a big hitbox to shoot to compensate against their speed. The monkeys in Zero and the poisonous butterflies in Code Veronica are pure torture.

Infinitely Spawning Poison Butterflies!
FREE TIP: NEVER KILL THE BUTTERFLIES IN CODE VERONICA. Just run through.
 
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