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Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare, a game that didn't win the test of time

deriks

4-Time GIF/Meme God
Back in the day I was full into the "dark games". Resident Evil, Soul Reaver, Shadowman... So my uncle got me the new Alone in the Dark, and my PC didn't run, but his could, and I played like half in the game. Never finished thou. In the same time, I got a GBA and got the GBC version of it, and had a blast! Graphics are really great, the RPG themed worked fine for it, just kinda short game - I could finish less than half an hour with no problem. Still, the PC version was kinda of a novelty for me... until yesterday, that I played start to finish, and yeah, it kinda blows

New Nightmare was launched in 2001, Resident Evil 3 and later Code: Veronica was launched more than a year before. The graphics of the characters are not great, but not bad - pick the original Code: Veronica for the Dreamcast and compare, it's way better. Scenario is fucking amazing, with high quality pre-rendered stuff close to REmake - kinda repetitive thou, but ok. Mechanics? Painfully slow, with old methods like entering the Menu and choosing a key to open a door, bosses with too much life energy, and weird difficult level - regular enemies are easy to kill, but like three hits you can die. Music is original RE level of bad. Story sometimes work, but sometimes don't, and the end is very dry

It's very weird that a game that I loved is not the same anymore. I can't say that is really a product of time, because other games had fixes for that back in the day. But at least I still love the GBC version. Shit is amazing
AGIjrZD.png
 
People didn’t have high expectations for New Nightmare upon release, so how is it going to improve after all these years in it’s original condition?
 

01011001

Banned
I wanna say that there never has been a good Alone in the Dark game really... the first 2 games founded a new genre/style of game, but that's about it. thats why anyone even still talks about them

Alone in the Dark 1 is barely playable, unfair as hell and just jank. same with the second game.
I never played the third one but I have low expectations.

A new Nightmare is by far the best game in the series and even that is pretty dull, but at least not as completely unfair and janky as the first games
 
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JCK75

Member
I loved 1-3, I've not liked a single one that followed.
Not sure why devs felt they could not make a solid horror game around the dapper gentleman Ed Carnby but had to slap a leather jacket and longish hair to be a generic action hero.
 

ResurrectedContrarian

Suffers with mild autism
This is the first time I've been made aware of the GBC version. That looks amazing, I'll have to try it on one of my hacked GBAs.
 
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ShadowNate

Member
This game went through radical changes in character design and graphics, probably more stuff too (gameplay, story) about mid-way in development. Iirc, unsurprisingly, it was considered to be in development hell.

I was a fan of the series up until (and including) the third one -- but in kind of love-hate relationship.
I couldn't manage to get this game's demo to work correctly on my hardware (due to GPU's fault and probably some bad coding on the game's side). When later on this was resolved, I was largely unimpressed by the gameplay. I don't think I ever played past the first hour or so.
 

Aion002

Member
I have lots of fond memories of it on the Ps1... But I don't dare play it again...

I want to keep those memories. A remake of it made by a good studio would be amazing.
 

Bitmap Frogs

Mr. Community
I wanna say that there never has been a good Alone in the Dark game really... the first 2 games founded a new genre/style of game, but that's about it. thats why anyone even still talks about them

Alone in the Dark 1 is barely playable, unfair as hell and just jank. same with the second game.
I never played the third one but I have low expectations.

A new Nightmare is by far the best game in the series and even that is pretty dull, but at least not as completely unfair and janky as the first games

The first game is megajank lol.

I remember playing it when it debuted in the 90s and it was scary, janky and hard!

As you say, they pioneered a new genre, but that is all.
 

ResurrectedContrarian

Suffers with mild autism
looks amazing? what bizarro world you live in? lol

Have you seen the original games? The GBC version looks much closer to that feel.

The first game is megajank lol.

I remember playing it when it debuted in the 90s and it was scary, janky and hard!

As you say, they pioneered a new genre, but that is all.

Booo

The first game was a classic. Not just for jumpstarting a genre, but for the genuinely eerie tone of its minimalism. I love a game that can give you so much with so little.

amiga-retro-games-window-computer-wallpaper-preview.jpg

Play it on one of these babies late at night with that CRT glow, and you'll see.
 

01011001

Banned
Have you seen the original games? The GBC version looks much closer to that feel.



Booo

The first game was a classic. Not just for jumpstarting a genre, but for the genuinely eerie tone of its minimalism. I love a game that can give you so much with so little.

amiga-retro-games-window-computer-wallpaper-preview.jpg

Play it on one of these babies late at night with that CRT glow, and you'll see.

awful controls and literally unfair Gamedesign, not "boohoo it's too hard" unfair, but actually designed to fuck you over if you don't know exactly what to do. and that's bad gamedesign.

that doesn't mean you can't like it, but let's be real, it's not good
 

cormack12

Gold Member
Which was the one where you started in like a burning building, was that 1? Is there a 2? Yeah just found it, this game was like eating a turd.

 

Matt_Fox

Member
The original 1992 Alone In The Dark was incredible at the time. I was there and it gave goosebumps - that amazing feeling when you come face to face with something revolutionary and truly next generation.

You had to be there... If you're playing for the first time today you'd need to do so with the mindset of an archeologist rather than someone wanting to be wowed by a survival horror (for that, play Resident Evil 8!).
 

mansoor1980

Member
a new nightmare on ps1 was great , but everything since has been a turd , and just for laughs..............
Alone-in-the-Dark-2005-MOVIE-Uwe-Boll-6.jpg

never seen the UNRATED CUT before , will def watch for the hilarity
 

Belmonte

Member
I was surprised when I knew how many people didn't like The New Nightmare on the internet. I played when it released in my PSX and liked it a lot. Hard but satisfying. I plan to play it again in the future to finish with Aline this time.
 

Aldynes

Member
Ok more seriously, beside Aline jeans, the Dreamcast / PS2 / PC versions of this game (which is more or less a re imagining of the first game) is VERY interesting if you are fan of horror games, the main gimmick of the game is the use of your torchlight, you can aim everywhere with it and it serves purpose in combat and in exploration / puzzle solving, the game utilize 2 backgrounds at the same time for this to works, the atmosphere is really good, the guns are very weird, triple barrel shotgun and double barrel revolver with twin cylinder yeah it's wild, the puzzles are tough too, the game has 2 stories with Edward / Aline and is really impressive graphically with the detailed background, you can't go wrong with this game and the gameboy color port is amazing, remember the cancelled Resident Evil 1 gameboy port? It's this but cranked up to 11 just go look a video on YT it's bonkers for a gameboy color game.

On the whole the Alone in the Dark series is VERY inconsistent, the first one is a such an important game for it's use of polygons, 2D background, motion capture, the whole structure is what sets the base for Resident Evil which Mikami, after leaving Capcom, confirmed that Alone in the dark was the inspiration for Resident Evil) It's very dated now, slow controls, unfair traps and NO holding you hand at all, you MUST read every books you find to find clues on how to avoid ennemies or traps which many players never bother doing, creating frustration.

The sequels (2 and 3) are bad in my opinion, it was not made by the original team ( no Frédérick Raynal ) so it went to a complete baffling direction mainly focusing on combat and that doesn't work because the controls are horrible, even worse most ennemies got guns and you often get shoot at across multiple screens away...

That's leave us to "A new nightmare" and that's explain why most people didn't play it back then, market saturation and too late in the PS1 life cycle, too soon for PS2, dreamcast got plenty of horror games / survival and lacked a second analogue stick for the control of the torchlight, the whole concept was nothing new, it's basically a remake of the first one so...

If you want a more in depth review of the whole series :
 

Bartski

Gold Member
Alone in the Dark never gets the credit it deserves and I always get triggered reading that Resident Evil invented survival horror, while it straight up copied all key design features pioneered by infogrames years back.
 

Aldynes

Member
Alone in the Dark never gets the credit it deserves and I always get triggered reading that Resident Evil invented survival horror, while it straight up copied all key design features pioneered by infogrames years back.
You're not alone, Raynal was really bumed out when RE1 came out and Mikami said during interviews they never heard of Alone in the Dark, it was years and years later after leaving Capcom that Mikami could then pay tribute to Raynal.

 

Bartski

Gold Member
You're not alone, Raynal was really bumed out when RE1 came out and Mikami said during interviews they never heard of Alone in the Dark, it was years and years later after leaving Capcom that Mikami could then pay tribute to Raynal.


yeah. The auto-translation from french here is very bad but really, the whole claim that Resident Evil one was mainly inspired by "Sweet Home" (released by Capcom, what a coincidence) is complete dogshit.
I love Mikami and I love RE but when it came out in 96 it didn't feel innovative at all, just an excellent title in this new 3rd person cinematic action-adventure genre that didn't really have a name back then.
 

Aldynes

Member
yeah. The auto-translation from french here is very bad but really, the whole claim that Resident Evil one was mainly inspired by "Sweet Home" (released by Capcom, what a coincidence) is complete dogshit.
I love Mikami and I love RE but when it came out in 96 it didn't feel innovative at all, just an excellent title in this new 3rd person cinematic action-adventure genre that didn't really have a name back then.
Raynal said " There's a story behind all of this that deeply affected me and made me very very happy, so at the time when I started working on Alone in the Dark it was early 91' for a release in 92'and I was burned out with the game, years later came Resident Evil at the same period I was in the middle of quitting Infogrames, but I've heard rumors that the higher ups were very pissed off about Resident Evil, because in recent interviews the producer of Resident Evil (Mikami) and his team said that they never heard of seen Alone in the Dark before, THIS deeply affected me, it wasn't a matter of pride [Raynal don't define what affected him] ...Then years later , and I had to thank Mr Mikami, who I hope I will meet soon, the first thing he did when quitting CAPCOM and wasn't in contract with them anymore, was to clarify things and he admitted that without Alone in the Dark, Resident Evil would have been just a first person shooter if the team hadn't loved Alone in the Dark"

There you go Bartski ;)
 
S

SpongebobSquaredance

Unconfirmed Member
I remember this game fondly, to be honest. Neat atmosphere, great graphics...
Getting into tank controls is important to enjoy these types of games.

Maybe I will give it another try if I get my hands on it. How is the PC port compared to the console versions? Does anyone know that?



That 2008 Alone in the Dark game had a crazy inventory system and was really cool. With that said, I didn't get very far in the game.
R.362ee649b812e7584d8b13d5b93bc84b
image_alone_in_the_dark-8583-905_0006.jpg

It's not as bad as people say, but it's also not very good. There was definitely a lot of passion put into it, and it's very unique in many ways, but ultimately held back by its combat, technical inconveniences, meh controls. It's clearly unfinished, even the improved PS3 version. Oh and the story is super cringy, but that should be known by now.

Still, this game is full of fresh ideas. The item management system alone was very cool. One thing that should be noted though, it's not really a horror game, it feels more like a thriller.
 
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Aldynes

Member
Alone in the Dark never gets the credit it deserves and I always get triggered reading that Resident Evil invented survival horror, while it straight up copied all key design features pioneered by infogrames years back.
Not only that! Have you heard of Dr Hauzer for the 3DO? A Japan exclusive, came out in 94' I've discovered it 3 years ago by doing a EDGE magazine relecture from the debut of the magazine trough ~2003 , It was featured in a preview, got me interested, then I watch this :



Not only do you find the same setting with a manor, the same exact door transitions view in first person to mask loading times including climbing up stairs, object in the environment that needed to be pushed, and the exact same boulder chase sequence !
This too MUST have been seen by Mikami and his team as a reference, they got some devs interested on the 3DO in Japan, including Kenji Eno who made "D" on it.
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
It wasn’t bad at all at the time. Haven’t played it again in two decades, though.

The first AITD was amazing even years after its original release. For such an early 3D game, it’s incredible how many things Infogrames got right. AITD2, now that was unfair. Pure trial and error.
 
S

SpongebobSquaredance

Unconfirmed Member
Not only that! Have you heard of Dr Hauzer for the 3DO? A Japan exclusive, came out in 94' I've discovered it 3 years ago by doing a EDGE magazine relecture from the debut of the magazine trough ~2003 , It was featured in a preview, got me interested, then I watch this :



Not only do you find the same setting with a manor, the same exact door transitions view in first person to mask loading times including climbing up stairs, object in the environment that needed to be pushed, and the exact same boulder chase sequence !
This too MUST have been seen by Mikami and his team as a reference, they got some devs interested on the 3DO in Japan, including Kenji Eno who made "D" on it.

wow, this straight-up looks like bootleg Resident Evil, but it's actually the real deal. Even the sound effects are similar. Is there combat?
 
The reviews at the time for New Nightmare put me off from trying it. Same with the reboot.

I did really love 1-3 back in the day though. 2 was the weakest since it was so combat heavy. But even so, mowing down ghost pirates with a Tommy gun was still pretty fun.

The first game is an absolute legend. All the Lovecraft shit, the books in the library... creepy as hell.

And part 3 was fantastic as well. A more fleshed out take on the gameplay of the original.

There's a new sheriff in town, bitches:
 

Aldynes

Member
wow, this straight-up looks like bootleg Resident Evil, but it's actually the real deal. Even the sound effects are similar. Is there combat?
No combat, there is a shotgun that is used for a puzzle though, but between this game and alone in the dark, sweet home for the scenario and maybe add a little ECSTATICA (1994 too) you got a good starting base to do Resident Evil.

 

Bartski

Gold Member
Not only that! Have you heard of Dr Hauzer for the 3DO? A Japan exclusive, came out in 94' I've discovered it 3 years ago by doing a EDGE magazine relecture from the debut of the magazine trough ~2003 , It was featured in a preview, got me interested, then I watch this :



Not only do you find the same setting with a manor, the same exact door transitions view in first person to mask loading times including climbing up stairs, object in the environment that needed to be pushed, and the exact same boulder chase sequence !
This too MUST have been seen by Mikami and his team as a reference, they got some devs interested on the 3DO in Japan, including Kenji Eno who made "D" on it.

Wow.

Here are the gameplay features and key mechanics that creators of Alone in the Dark (released in 1992) actually invented, concepts that appeared there for the first time ever in gaming, or concepts known from other genres that were brought together in one game giving birth to the cinematic action-adventure genre (action = weapons, enemies, combat; adventure = story, dialog, picking up objects to inventory and using them in the environment to progress, - features of early 90s point and click games) that directly "inspired" core pillars of Resident Evil gameplay later on and many other later titles.

Listed focusing on direct comparison to Resident Evil 1 ('96):

- gameplay space consisting of fixed, "cinematic" camera angles changing depending of player character position.

- 3D vector models of player character, enemies and all non static objects using animation interpolation

- tank controls

- exploration and puzzle solving using items picked up itn the world, to open new areas and progress through the story

- combat, both melee (unarmed, sabre, multiple daggers sword with attack moveset) and ranged (pistol, shotgun)

- storytelling through both exploration and books/notes and other readable documents

- combining objects in the inventory, being able to examine them by rotating them in 3D

- very tight inventory limit

- game takes place in a haunted old mansion :)

- oppressive horror vibe, making out of the mansion quickly the primary goal aside from solving the mistery

- zombies as the most common enemies among other enemy demonic creatures

- male and female character choice at the start - play the game either as detective Edward Carnby or Emily Hartwood

- traps to avoid or disable

- jump scares, including a scene with a monster crashing into the room through a window from outside :)

- stationary monster in the bathtub ;) ... ok this is a bit of a stretch but you get the picture.


Except for Alone in the Dark 2 ('93) and 3 ('94... talking about dev speed), there was Ecstatica (1994), which used shaded spheroids instead of vectors for its unique graphics style, and despite how utterly hilarious it looks like now it was a mature game telling a dark, medieval story full of werewolves, occult murder rituals, demons and torture!

1995 released "Time Gate: Nights Chase" first introduced fully textured models. This concept was taken to the next level by BIOFORGE (also 1995). Aside from capitalizing on all mechanics of AITD (action-adventure with deep plot, exploration and progress through puzzle-solving, using items and defeating enemies, static camera angles, tank controls, melee combat system with combat stance, projectile weapons...) It also introduced the following:

- fully textured 3d characters and enemies in glorious SVGA. Aka (quote from Wiki) first "single-skin, fully texture mapped, skeleton-based characters ever" in a videogame.

- Visible damage on player character and enemy models in form of blood and gore, also making you limp when low on health

- fully voice-acted characters, FMV cutscenes - was only available on CD ROM which back then was cutting edge tech. Big multimedia production.

- NPCs you could interact with at sometimes kill if you choose.

It also featured a cyborg protagonist, a dark sci fi-plot that starts with beating a dude to a pulp with his own torn-off arm. Legendary!



THEN after all those games, in 1996 came Resident Evil 1. New things it introduced on top of systems copied from its predecessors were:


- fixed typewriter save points

- item storage system "teleporting" items between containers

- ???

- thats it.

It was still back then, the best-made game of this kind. I remember very well seeing it for the first time as the Playstation 1 was entering the market, as impressed as I was with its mind-blowing graphics and vibe, it didn't really feel like anything new at all, just an awesome next-gen take on a very well known formula.

Edit: grammar and spelling
 
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Aldynes

Member
Wow.

Here are the gameplay features and key mechanics that creators of Alone in the Dark (released in 1992) actually invented, concepts that appeared there for the first time ever in gaming, or concepts known from other genres that were brought together in one game giving birth to the cinematic action-adventure genre (action = weapons, enemies, combat; adventure = story, dialog, picking up objects to inventory and using them in the environment to progress, - features of early 90s point and click games) that directly "inspired" core pillars of Resident Evil gameplay later on and many other later titles.

Listed focusing on direct comparison to Resident Evil 1 ('96):

- gameplay space consisting of fixed, "cinematic" camera angles changing depending of player character position.

- 3D vector models of player character, enemies and all non static objects using animation interpolation

- tank controls

- exploration and puzzle solving using items picked up itn the world, to open new areas and progress through the story

- combat, both melee (unarmed, sabre, multiple daggers sword with attack moveset) and ranged (pistol, shotgun)

- storytelling through both exploration and books/notes and other readable documents

- combining objects in the inventory, being able to examine them by rotating them in 3D

- very tight inventory limit

- game takes place in a haunted old mansion :)

- oppressive horror vibe, making out of the mansion quickly the primary goal aside from solving the mistery

- zombies as the most common enemies among other enemy demonic creatures

- male and female character choice at the start - play the game either as detective Edward Carnby or Emily Hartwood

- traps to avoid or disable

- jump scares, including a scene with a monster crashing into the room through a window from outside :)

- stationary monster in the bathtub ;) ... ok this is a bit of a stretch but you get the picture.


Except for Alone in the Dark 2 ('93) and 3 '94.. talking about dev speed), there was Ecstatica (1994), which shaded spheroids instead of vectors for its unique graphics style, and despite how utterly hilarious it looks like now it was a mature game telling a dark, medieval story full of werewolves, occult murder rituals, demons and torture!

1995 released "Time Gate: Nights Chase" first introduced fully textured models. This concept was taken to the next level by BIOFORGE (also 1995). Aside from capitalizing on all mechanics of AITD (action-adventure with deep plot, exploration and progress through puzzle-solving, using items and defeating enemies, static camera angles, tank controls, melee combat system with combat stance, projectile weapons...) It also introduced the following:

- fully textured 3d characters and enemies in glorious SVGA. Aka (quote from Wiki) first "single-skin, fully texture mapped, skeleton-based characters ever" in a videogame.

- Visible damage on player character and enemy models in form of blood and gore, also making you limp when low on health

- fully voice-acted characters, FMV cutscenes - was only available on CD ROM which back then was cutting edge tech. Big multimedia production.

- NPCs you could interact with at sometimes kill if you choose.

It also featured a cyborg protagonist, a dark sci fi-plot that starts with beating a dude to a pulp with his own torn-off arm. Legendary!



THEN after all those games, in 1996 came Resident Evil 1. New things it introduced on top of systems copied from its predecessors were:


- fixed typewriter save points

- item storage system "teleporting" items between containers

- ???

- thats it.

It was still back then, the best-made game of this kind. I remember very seeing it for the first time as the Playstation 1 was entering the market, as impressed as I was with its mind-blowing graphics and vibe, it didn't really feel like anything new at all, just an awesome next-gen take on a very well known formula.
Bartski going full detective on this case ! Damn I've never knew about at least half of this things, Bioforge I had completely forgot on top of that, you're exactly right, I never heard of "Time Gate: Nights Chase".

Ecstatica is one of my favorite game, the ellipsoid are such a clever find too.

In order to make a great game, you got to be inspired by something or improve upon an already existing formula, like history in general, you don't want to repeat errors of the past and some ideas need more time or additional work to be really sucessfull.

I love RE games, I appreciate them even more knowing all of that stuff you mentioned in your list.
 

Dithadder

Member
I dont think theres a better time in gaming than jumping into a pit and then reading the Necronomicon to break your own back in midair.
 

Bartski

Gold Member
Bartski going full detective on this case ! Damn I've never knew about at least half of this things, Bioforge I had completely forgot on top of that, you're exactly right, I never heard of "Time Gate: Nights Chase".

Ecstatica is one of my favorite game, the ellipsoid are such a clever find too.

In order to make a great game, you got to be inspired by something or improve upon an already existing formula, like history in general, you don't want to repeat errors of the past and some ideas need more time or additional work to be really sucessfull.

I love RE games, I appreciate them even more knowing all of that stuff you mentioned in your list.

Thanks. Again, this is not a jab at RE, I'm a huge fan of RE and I beat almost all RE mainline games. Everything is a remix and that's ok.

I just think sometimes credit should be given where it's due and Frédérick Raynal is a genius that deserves his place in videogame history.
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
THEN after all those games, in 1996 came Resident Evil 1. New things it introduced on top of systems copied from its predecessors were:


- fixed typewriter save points

- item storage system "teleporting" items between containers

- ???

- thats it.

It was still back then, the best-made game of this kind. I remember very well seeing it for the first time as the Playstation 1 was entering the market, as impressed as I was with its mind-blowing graphics and vibe, it didn't really feel like anything new at all, just an awesome next-gen take on a very well known formula.
“Just” :messenger_grinning_smiling:

It’s true, RE didn’t invent much. But just as games like Breath of the Wild, it’s the one game that takes a huge list of notes and features from many other previous games and gives it that unique spin, making it greater than the sum of its parts.

I also think that Capcom was very clever in dropping stuff from previous similar games that, while interesting on paper, wasn’t that good at the gameplay level. I remember one book in Alone in the Dark that would kill you if you didn’t examine it while standing inside a pentagram, or some time-based puzzles like in the very first room where, if you don’t bar the window with a cupboard, you have to face a monster. Also some jumping sessions that were extremely awkward and frustrating in AITD, or the fact that you could lock yourself in an unwinnable state if you saved at the wrong moment.

In one word, RE was a modern game at release, even if it didn’t do a lot of new things in its genre.
 

Aldynes

Member
“Just” :messenger_grinning_smiling:

It’s true, RE didn’t invent much. But just as games like Breath of the Wild, it’s the one game that takes a huge list of notes and features from many other previous games and gives it that unique spin, making it greater than the sum of its parts.

I also think that Capcom was very clever in dropping stuff from previous similar games that, while interesting on paper, wasn’t that good at the gameplay level. I remember one book in Alone in the Dark that would kill you if you didn’t examine it while standing inside a pentagram, or some time-based puzzles like in the very first room where, if you don’t bar the window with a cupboard, you have to face a monster. Also some jumping sessions that were extremely awkward and frustrating in AITD, or the fact that you could lock yourself in an unwinnable state if you saved at the wrong moment.

In one word, RE was a modern game at release, even if it didn’t do a lot of new things in its genre.
Resident Evil is super refined, it completely nailed the gameplay on top of the atmosphere and music, Director's Cut is my favorite horror game of all time.

Why this game in particular? Well I've played it countless times, again and again for years, that's sure help appreciate it! Why do I keep replaying it then? Why not replaying Alone in the Dark or other games in this genre?

You play for the story, the sense of discovery, mystery and exploration, to get scared, but when you beat the game nearly all of these points are no longer there to entertain you in repeated playtrough, you know the story by now, know the jump-scares, there's no mystery left or maybe tiny details you've missed but that's about it.

What remains is the gameplay and the enjoyment to play the game, RE completely obliterate most of the competition in this regard, the game mechanics are tight, easy to use, responsive and got depth too, no surprise there CAPCOM made fighting games and is experienced in arcade gaming, so they added this mentality in the design of RE, I have so much fun running around the mansion popping zombies head clean with the shotgun, using advanced stuff like quick-shot that were left in the game intentionally by the devs, why did they leave that "glitch/exploit"? Because it's FUN, the gameplay is superb, the feeling of the guns, the sounds, music, ennemies movesets and attacks and weakness, all of that makes the game extremely gratifying to play, mind you the manor in itself is the main character of the game, I'm sure you can picture most of the map in your head years later, the game becomes a sort of racing game, with shortcuts and all, just speeding trough it evading creatures with near misses, popping heads, grabbing only what you need, it's designed for that, repeated playtrough and time attack in mind, that's why I kept returned to it again and again.

But in the US you guys got screwed with the absurd increase in difficulty caused by removing the auto aim feature, this is the main reason the game was always viewed having bad controls, "tank controls are bad", this is bullshit, the game was designed WITH auto aim in mind, this was just a marketing decision to make the game more hard to beat in one week end, to avoid rentals, because yes the game is short, hell if you know what to do you can finish it in 1 hour and a half easy, but tank controls are still the best controls for fixed camera angles, if not your character directions are reversed or changes after each new screen and the devs MUST limit their creativity when taking this into account when making pre-rendered background.

Director's Cut is the ultimate RE experience for me, ARRANGE mode was made specifically to give a hard challenge for those who got so good at the original game, they could beat it in one hour without getting hit once, the devs knew it and even had to make sure they not overdue it by playtesting it intensively, in a interview one of the dev said he put a room with 3 hunters in it, on purpose because in the original it was a room you came across when using the fastest and safest route possible, but when other devs where tasked to play this build, they all end up getting killed/game over at this same spot so they had to restrain themselves a little when designing new enemy placement in order to keep the game "fair" and fun. Many tiny things like new camera angles or reworked weapons (the new pistol had a RNG magic bullet that could insta-kill zombies and dogs) new jump-scares all of this was already present even before REbirth, which for me is also one of the greatest remake / horror game of all time BUT failed to reach my top spot for it's regression in the gameplay, see in REbirth shooting heads with the shotguns are VERY inconsistant, due to poor hitboxes or in order to increase the difficulty, it's not as fun when you got basically a coin toss that decides if you continue to play or get a game over when using a shotgun.
 
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