u/Any-Ship837

Hello! Sorry if I'm not using the right flairs and such, I'm new to the sub (and reddit as a whole lol).

I wanna begin by saying that I'm kinda new to the Resident Evil series as a whole. The most experience I have with it is watching my dad play Re5 when I was like 4, and Markiplier play Re7 when I was I think 10? So really the only characters I knew at the time were Chris, Sheva, and Ethan. But I wanted to go through all the games now that Re9 came out. For 1-4, I'll probably play the remakes, but from what I've seen, the Re3 remake is kinda bad, so I'll play the remake and the original to them when the time comes.

Starting off immediately, I like the way that the game is formatted. I'm a huge fan of horror so I already knew it was gonna be a hit for me, but the way the horror really comes from survival, resource management, and the isolation besides zombies that wanna kill you instantly reminded me of Amnesia: The Dark Descent, a game that I hold very near and dear to my heart, in fact the use of ink ribbons to save reminded me of Amnesia's hard mode, in which you have to use tinderboxes to save instead of just being able to do so freely. Exploration being something that's encouraged but at your own risk is also something that I find cool! I got so scared about missing something that I actually ended up getting the "every nook and cranny" achievement on my first playthrough.

I started my first playthrough as Chris, since he was a familiar face. THIS WAS A MISTAKE! It's really hard to play as Chris. Sure, he gets the lighter for free, but 6 storage slots, especially when you really don't understand where everything goes at first, really sucks. I think I held the Emblem from the Dining Room literally until I had to finally use it, because I got so scared that I was gonna have to need it and end up not having it. Also, the lack of the grenade launcher and the fact that Chris' unique weapon (The Flamethrower) can only be used for that one underground area, really sucks. ALSO I HATE THE OLD KEY THING! I much preferred playing as Jill, with one exception that I'll talk about later.

The aesthetic of the mansion is very fun though. I don't know whether it's the lighting or the kind of dull coloring, but the way it feels to play the game gives me an odd nostalgic feeling, which is weird because the remake came out 5 years before I was even born lol. The Mansion is hands down my favorite part of the game and my favorite area as a whole. If I had to pick a specific room though, it'd probably be the laboratory with the wind charge or the Gallery from the Residence. However, my least favorite part of the game HAD to be the underground section. I don't know what it is, but I get a headache every time I'm down there. It's just weirdly irritating to me, the best way I could put it is like watching a football game when you're not interested in sports. Or alternatively, for people who like sports, like watching a football game that doesn't involve your favorite team. It just feels inherently bland in an otherwise fun and amazing game.

Now, I'm not one who cares too much about gameplay, but I ADORED the feel of this game. The auto aim really helped me out and just walking around with the fixed camera angles was such a cool way to add suspense to the environment. That's really all I have to say on it though. Sorry if you wanted more.

Now, for the story. I really like it as well. Playing as a member of S.T.A.R.S Alpha Team and investigating a mansion for another team that went missing is so cool! Also the Wesker reveal was so subtle seeing him in the slides of the Umbrella Researchers, I almost didn't notice it at first! I also interpret Wesker being a secret part of Umbrella as a bit of a criticism on the US Police Force, and Resident Evil as a whole seems like a criticism on the US Medical Industry, so I LOVE the political undertones of it all! I hope it expands on them in RE2 as well, especially since the guy we're playing as in that one is a cop (I've heard he's a fan favorite, so I'll let you all know my thoughts when I play that one too!)

Now, for the characters. Both Chris and Jill are really fun protagonists, and while I was worried that I'd be biased towards Chris because I knew him, I think I actually prefer Jill. Her story just felt so much more emotionally charged and like she played more of an active role in her own story. Now, the exclusive characters Rebecca VS Barry, I have to say, I MUCH prefer Rebecca. And when I say much prefer, I mean that she's hands down my favorite character. I adore Rebecca so much that I think it's entirely worth playing as Chris just for her. My heart leaps into a graceful bound as soon as I see her! She's utterly wonderful in every way. Barry has a more compelling story with his family and all that, but I don't care too much for him in comparison. Although my least favorite character has to be Richard. Not for any particular reason, just that he's so forgettable. We heal him and then he dies later. Sure, with Jill, I got a bit more attached, mainly because he jumps in to save us from Yawn, but it felt like with Chris, he just died to die. I actually forgot that he existed by the time I made it to the aqua ring and didn't realize it was the same guy until the Laboratory. Wesker, on the other hand is probably my second favorite behind Rebecca. He seems so comically evil and kinda campy that it makes me like him all that more. Also the way the VA delivers his lines is so GOOD! He's so silly! "CHRISTHISWAY!", "Jill, no.", and "You gotta love Barry" are my personal favorite lines of his.

Overall if I had to rate the characters in order of Favorite to Least Favorite, it'd be:
Rebecca/Wesker/Jill/Chris/Barry/Richard.

I rate this game a 8/10 I think (-1 Point for lack of Rebecca as Jill, -1 Point for the whole underground section). This is already a game I can tell that I'll look back on fondly, and I can't wait to see what the rest of the series has in store! Thank you for reading this and if you have any questions or anything, please feel free to comment below! Bye bye!