Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster

A classic in the Resident Evil line with a fun story and good characters and if your a fan of extra unlockable content, then this game has it!
Something to bare in mind for newcomers to the franchise or people who have only played the later games/remakes, this is when the games where extremely trial and error and you had to be very resource mindful. You are not (nor do you need to) supposed to kill every enemy you see or rush through the game. There are some fundamental things you must understand about the legacy games before you play them as I have listed below:
These games are not meant to be beaten in 1 sitting as fast as you can. Take your time, make notes of things and take breaks.
Adding onto what I said above, keep a notepad be it virtual or an actual notepad with you. Maybe even have a print out or digital version of the in game map. Write down what enemies are weak to when you discover it, write down where you found things, the answers to puzzles and where tricky enemies are. Pay attention to what enemies you NEED to kill and which ones you can simply avoid. Information is key to beating resident evil.
Don't be afraid to load up a save or die. Make multiple saves (you have 10 slots so use them) but don't over save since you have limited ink ribbons to do so. Take a risk like I mentioned above, the game is very trial and error so you are bound to make mistakes or even soft lock yourself on the first playthrough. So BE SURE to use all your slots up instead of saving over 1 slot. Don't take death as another set back but instead treat it like a lesson. What did you learn from your death? did you discover where some useful items where? did you find out the location of enemies that are important? did you solve a tricky puzzle? Death is common in this game, if you view it as just a set back then your going to keep failing. Use and write down all the info you learned and try again using your new knowledge.
NEVER JUST DROP SOMETHING! Seriously there is an unwritten rule with these games I see almost nobody mention. The game has an interesting mechanic few people seem to either pick up on or mention to newcomers. Whenever you pick up and use a key item be it an actual key or some piece of equipment, you will be asked "this item is useless now, would you like to discard it?" this means you no longer need it and so you are safe to throw it away. The other instance of this is automatic discarding meaning you use an item and the game disposes of it without your permission. HOWEVER! if you have a piece of equipment and the game doesn't auto discard it or ask you if you wish for it to be removed.....that means you shouldn't abandon it! For example everyone likes to mention the hookshot being an item that can set you back. What they fail to realise is its because the hookshot is to be used the entire game. It never discards it for you and it never asks for it to be discarded. This means the games wants you to keep it for something later. Other RE games have similar items like code veronicas fire extinguisher. The tricky part is this game has no item box, so be prepared to juggle items around, but DON'T abandon them.
Use your characters wisely. For some reason I keep seeing people primarily (or only) use Rebecca. The issue is they keep dying or using up all their ammo failing to realise what the game warns you of at the start. Billy is the combat guy, he tanks more damage, deals more damage and can solve puzzles that involve moving heavy objects. Rebecca can mix herbs and uses a mixing tool which is very useful for a puzzle later in the game. Rebecca however is very weak to damage and not the best at combat. So stop using Rebecca as the primary combat role when that belongs to Billy. Both have their places in this game so use them accordingly. Also their weapons also have unique abilities with Billy's pistol being slower but more powerful in overhaul damage, but Rebecca's pistol is faster and has higher chance of critical hits (headshots). A little extra tip is use your inventory to reload! seriously it saves you precious moments in game. The in game reload animation can let enemies get dangerously close to you and risk you getting attacked. Simply bring up your inventory and combine the ammo with your gun. It's slow in terms of real time pacing but fast in terms of not getting hit. You should also switch to your knife when safe to do so and finish zombies on the floor. Don't waste precious ammo on shooting the zombie an extra 3 times on the floor, instead equip your knife and stab em.
Lastly READ! seriously the amount of playthroughs I have seen or forum posts of people not being able to solve puzzles or getting lost simply because they refuse to read is infuriating. This game has notes scattered all over the place and many of them contain clear answers to what your supposed to do. You can tell this too because many people don't read the tutorial notes that explain characters abilities and how to use certain items hence my previous post about people not using Billy correctly. Once you have done your first playthrough you shouldn't need the notes, then you can speedrun to your hearts content. But don't skip them then complain your stuck.
If you can bare all this in mind you should have a lot of fun with the game. I'm not saying its perfect and it certainly has flaws like removal of the storage box, poor AI for the teammate, annoying enemies that are either just bullet sponges or poorly made and LOTS of backtracking. But you can certainly help yourself by following some of the tips above and not treating it like RE4 onwards where you rush in, gun everything down and move on.

I spent almost 3 hours only seeing door animations but yeah, the game is good

Capcom's Resident Evil Zero remains a controversial game in the Resident Evil franchise, so it's only natural that such a controversial game was subject to a very rough development cycle. Originally being developed for the Nintendo 64, Zero's development was completely restarted for the GameCube when it became abundantly clear that the N64's storage constraints were insurmountable and the 64DD add-on sold too poorly to justify development for it. Director Koji Oda made a point to differentiate Zero from previous games, partly due to hardware constraints and partly due to wanting to innovate on the survival horror formula. These departures have received a variety of reactions, some praising them for shaking up the formula and some criticizing them for being unintuitive. I'd say I generally lean more positive than most, but I'd still argue the game has some glaring flaws.
The original screenplay was written by Noboru Sugimura, writer of Resident Evil 2, before being significantly retooled post-reboot by Hiromichi Nakamoto and Junichi Miyashita. Resident Evil Zero serves as a prequel to the original Resident Evil. You play as Rebecca Chambers, the rookie medic from the first game, investigating the strange murders occurring within the Arklay Mountains with the rest of the STARS Bravo Team. After a dangerous helicopter crash and increasingly hostile weather conditions, she is separated from her team and boards the Ecliptic Express, an abandoned luxury train now populated by the living dead. On the train, she meets escaped death-row inmate Billy Coen, with whom she forms an uneasy alliance. Together, they must survive the horrors that lurk beyond.
Zero's story is a mixed bag, to say the least, suffering from often ridiculous tonal shifts and a general lack of focus. The biggest problem with the narrative is the antagonist, a mysterious man who controls an army of shapeshifting leeches, which he controls by singing opera. This feels entirely out of place and only gets more ridiculous when his true nature is revealed. Another issue I had with the story was its connection to the rest of the series. Despite being a prequel, Zero does very little to expand on the first game in a meaningful way, only really delving into what Rebecca had been up to before it. Characters from previous games like Albert Wesker, William Birkin, and Enrico Marini appear very briefly simply to remind you that this is a prequel, and their inclusion feels like hollow fanservice as a result. Like previous Resident Evil games, most of the narrative is told through memos that can be found in the environment, and these memos do wonders fleshing out Zero's story. However, previous RE games told you their stories with both memos and more traditional cutscenes, but Zero seems content to stick to the former. Because of this, the game lacks narrative flow, and it's hard to stay invested when the writers themselves seemingly aren't. You need to have a balance between the two, and Zero simply fails to achieve this. It's not all leeches and zombies though, there is one narrative aspect that Zero's writing succeeds in, and that is the relationship between Rebecca and Billy. Initially hostile, they eventually become blood brothers on the battlefield. The scene where Billy opens up to Rebecca about his PTSD from his service in Africa, reminiscing on how his squad was ordered to fire upon unarmed civilians, is genuinely emotional and you can hear the pain in his voice. The two feel like a real pair by the end of the game and it's heartwarming when Rebecca, despite her orders to capture Billy, decides to falsely report him as a casualty instead of turning him in. It's the only element of this story that actually works and I wish it were part of a much more engaging narrative.
Zero's most controversial element was its gameplay, originally designed by the legendary Hideki Kamiya before being iterated upon by a myriad of other designers. The biggest change is the partner system. RE2 had the "zapping system" which showed that Leon and Claire were working together, though in actuality it was a thinly veiled illusion. Zero, however, gives you control of both Rebecca and Billy simultaneously. Although this has proved controversial as all elements of Zero have, I found it to be a refreshing innovation in the Resident Evil formula, especially after Code Veronica had done so little to change it. It fundamentally changes how you strategize and divide resources, after all, now you have two mouths to feed. This forces you to think a lot more carefully than you would in a comparatively easier game like RE2. The puzzles designed around this mechanic were generally quite fun, too, minus a particularly repetitive box puzzle in the late game. The partner AI is pretty decent, and you can even give it commands if you don't want it wasting ammo on every zombie in sight. You can also leave them behind in a safe room if they've taken too much damage. It's surprisingly very intuitive for a mechanic often described as "cumbersome". The lack of item boxes, on the other hand, I am not fond of. I don't think it makes the game "unplayable" as some reviews have stated, far from it, but it doesn't really add any new strategy to the game either. Any seasoned RE player will just dump all of their nonessential items in the main hall, where nothing will attack them, and just leave them there until necessary. It trivializes any potential difficulty or strategy that the mechanic could have brought since I don't have to worry about backtracking to some potentially dangerous location to find ink ribbons, I can just go back to the always enemy-free main hall. Since the new inventory system doesn't really add anything, Capcom should have just stuck with the traditional item box system, which would have at least made some of the backtracking less tedious. That's another problem this game has: the backtracking. Backtracking is just an inherent part of survival horror and isn't necessarily a bad thing, but in Zero it feels a tad excessive. For the most part, it's a little uneven, but generally fine. However, in the final stage of the game, every single puzzle is spread out so far from the rest that it becomes an act of herculean willpower to actually get through it. The game's difficulty balancing is also fairly unrefined. I played on hard mode, as I want survival horror games to push me to my limits, but Zero goes too far at points. Despite having two health bars to tend to, the game only gives you barely enough to maintain one. The game's new enemies are also ridiculously frustrating at points. The mimicry marcuses aren't too bad, they are the "elite mook" of the game similar to the hunters and lickers in the previous games respectively. The threat they represent is genuinely terrifying. The problem is, the game has two more elite mooks in the form of the hunters and eliminators, so a good amount of the game's enemies can really put the hurt on you. It feels excessive and leads to many frustrating encounters.
When you complete Zero, you unlock an extra game mode called Leech Hunter. In this mode, you have to collect as many crystal leeches as you can throughout the training facility. Essentially, this is Zero's battle/mercenaries mode. Each leech is either blue or green, and each color can only be picked up by one of the characters respectively. I only gave Leech Hunter a brief spin, as it did not hold my interest for too long, but I found it to be an interesting little minigame. The most interesting part is how it doesn't have any timer whatsoever. You can explore the facility collecting leeches to your heart's content, leaving whenever you feel you've got enough. This does mean the mode lacks the tension of The Mercenaries, but I can imagine spending more time on it at a later date. It's decent for what it is.
If the gameplay has so many flaws, why exactly have I rated the game so highly? Well, because when it works, which is most of

Got played through Resident Evil Zero on Hard difficulty playing it for the first time and... It was really kind of stuffy. The discovery for me was that the game doesn't take place most of the time on a train, because before I started the game that's what I thought for some reason.
Overall - it's not a bad part of the “classic” series, which even now looks absolutely amazing in some places. The backgrounds are nice and the design is good. The section on the train I liked 100%. However, the problems in this part are unfortunately much bigger than in the first one.
The performance of the game on my laptop is absolutely terrible, I got through the game in almost 10-20 fps, this wouldn't be a problem if the game didn't have the most obnoxious and nasty Hard Mod I've ever played in Residents.
The game's rather large zoo of enemies is both a plus and a problem, as every enemy besides the classic zombie is a pain due to its difficulty and unfairness. This game has a lot to surprise in terms of making the player angry. And a certain bossfight in the church is the worst bossfight in the history of Resident Evil for me personally.
There are also a lot of bad decisions in the game, for example: no item box, no normal AI partner, and a small number of weapons.
Otherwise? An otherwise enjoyable part, during the playthrough of which I generally had my fair share of fun. I can only recommend NOT to play on hard mode, if you do not want to suffer. I also knocked out 100% in the game for some reason, as I will try to do in other parts of the series.
Pros:
+ Nice atmosphere, the train section is very good.
+ Passes in one breath.
+ Old, but still decent gameplay.
+ Great music.
Cons:
- Poor performance on laptops.
- Hardmode is gross.
- The nastiest enemies and bosses in the series.
- The main disadvantage of the game is the lack of chests, because of which you constantly have to go back for items. But it will cause problems only on hardmode.
As a result, we have a good example of the classic Residents, which is worth passing if you are interested in the series, but passing on hardmode is not worth it, if you are not a fan of the series, as I am.
«I could shoot, you know» (c)

Resident Evil?! Zombies? No, more like insect exterminator simulator.
Approved, 10/10.
Quick spoiler on how the game works: you gotta travel to China to bring back an item to Africa, but you lost gasoline and now you need to play a piano to catch a plane and go to Russia to activate the energy for the elevator back in China. Do you still remember about Africa? if no, mix some herbs and try again.

Resident Evil 0 serves as a narrative precursor to the iconic original Resident Evil, diving deeper into the origins of the T-virus and the early days of the STARS team. Released initially for the Nintendo GameCube and later ported to multiple platforms, it’s a visually impressive entry in the series that blends classic survival horror mechanics with some bold—if uneven—gameplay innovations.
The game follows rookie officer Rebecca Chambers and fugitive ex-soldier Billy Coen as they investigate a derailed train and a mysterious training facility, encountering grotesque biological experiments along the way. The story adds texture to the overarching Resident Evil mythos, though it doesn’t quite reach the narrative intrigue or character depth of later titles like Resident Evil 2 or Code: Veronica.
The environments are a standout. The Ecliptic Express, in particular, is one of the most atmospheric settings in the series, packed with claustrophobic tension and rich detail. The eerie silence, subtle music cues, and unsettling creature designs all contribute to a classic survival horror feel.
Resident Evil 0 introduces a unique partner system that allows players to switch between Rebecca and Billy on the fly. While this adds a new layer of strategy—encouraging cooperation for puzzles and resource management—it can also lead to frustration. The AI partner isn’t always reliable, and the system can feel cumbersome in tense combat scenarios.
One of the most divisive changes is the removal of the traditional item box. Instead, players drop and pick up items in the environment. This increases realism and forces more careful planning, but it also results in excessive backtracking and inventory micromanagement that can kill momentum.
Even decades after its original release, Resident Evil 0 remains visually striking. The pre-rendered backgrounds and character models hold up well, especially in HD remasters. The lighting is moody and deliberate, and the attention to detail enhances immersion. The voice acting is serviceable, though some lines suffer from awkward delivery—a staple of early Resident Evil games.
Resident Evil 0 is a flawed but fascinating installment in the franchise. It offers a rewarding challenge for longtime fans and deepens the lore in meaningful ways. However, its experimental mechanics and some outdated design choices might alienate newcomers or players accustomed to the more refined systems of later entries.
It’s not the strongest chapter in the Resident Evil saga, but it’s an atmospheric and memorable ride worth revisiting—especially for those curious about how the nightmare began.
Rating: 7/10

This game totally nails that classic creepy vibe, and the story keeps things moving. There are no boring parts, which is a big plus. Managing your items and partners feels really satisfying, though I gotta say the hookshot taking up two slots and barely getting any use is annoying.

What really bums me out is no RE.net support. Come on Capcom, that feels like low effort. Stop treating your fans like that.

Still, it’s a solid survival horror experience and definitely worth your time. If you’re into the genre, don’t miss this one.