Resident Evil Turns 30

Resident Evil is 30 years old, which is honestly unreal, and we couldn’t let that date pass without a long, slightly chaotic love letter to the series that helped define survival horror. We get into the nuts and bolts of what makes Resident Evil feel like Resident Evil: limited ammo, hard choices, that slow dread when a door opens, and the way fixed camera angles and pre-rendered backgrounds turn “not seeing everything” into pure tension. We also talk about why the term survival horror still matters, and why the classics are more than just nostalgia.

Then we go personal. Cody tells the story of finding Resident Evil 2 as a kid, getting instantly hooked, immediately dying in the flames, and learning tank controls through pure stubborn trial and error. From there we spiral into the broader franchise timeline, the spinoffs, the weird detours, and the entry that still feels like a rite of passage: Code Veronica. We also touch on remakes versus originals, what modern versions improve, and what they sometimes smooth over in ways that change the feel.

We close with practical advice for new players who want to experience classic Resident Evil in 2026: where to play the original trilogy, how to approach tank controls, why older design can be surprisingly accessible for some disabled gamers, and which games make the best starting points. If you’ve got memories of Raccoon City or you’re brand new thanks to modern releases like Requiem, we want to hear your journey. Subscribe, share the show with a fellow horror fan, and leave a review so more people can find Tech And Tactile.

Transcript

Welcome And The Big Anniversary

Cody 0:01

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Tech and Tactile Podcast, the show that comes around when it feels like it. As always, I'm Cody.

Michael 0:09

And I'm Michael.

Cody 0:10

And today, we're here to talk about something near and dear to my heart. The 30th anniversary of Resident Evil is today. Indeed. I could not be happier. So, I wanted to just take the time, you know, to talk about the series as a whole, what it means to me, and uh, you know, talk about some cool stories of uh showing uh this lad here where the series started and where it's going. And it's been it's still an ongoing journey in that regard. And it's an interesting journey at its heart, and it's it's really good. I I couldn't be happier and I couldn't be having more fun uh doing it. But yeah, Resident Evil, 30 fucking years old. Isn't that great?

Michael 0:57

March 22nd, 1996.

Cody 1:01

I mean I I personally, you know, I did not play the first game right away. My first game was the second one. And boy, what a story I have to tell for that one. I mean, I could share all my Resident Evil stories, but I mean 30 years of survival horror, and I wanted to get into that.

Michael 1:22

Thirty years of fear.

Defining Survival Horror Basics

Cody 1:26

People uh are kind of like that's a term that's been going around for ages, and people don't exactly understand survival horror. And well, Capcom kind of coined it themselves, that's what they considered Resident Evil to be survival horror. So, you know, uh there's been a lot of consensus as to what survival horror really is, and well, uh according to Capcom, it's uh limited ammunition uh and fixed camera angles. Now that's subjective, and people can either take the take or leave the fixed camera angles. I'm gonna get into the whole legacy of what survival horror is and what people think of survival horror and what it means to them and uh what people think of the series, because boy, this is a divisive series. Yes. Um there is uh I mean when you've been around for 30 years, your gameplay won't always stay the same. I mean, not everyone's like Mario, you know, where you know you get your 2Ds and your three D's and all the 2Ds are practically about the same with uh you know different mechanics, but Resident Evil has adapted and changed over the years and kind of wanted to get into it.

Michael 2:37

Had many a spinoff as well.

Cody 2:40

Oh yeah. Um I guess before I start talking about my memories, I mean I'll I'll go over what brief basic ass knowledge. I mean, personally, if you're coming for the uh here for the wealth of knowledge of Resident Evil, I would point you to plenty of other YouTubers who are in the Resident Evil space that would do a far superior job than I ever could.

Michael 3:00

Shout out to the Residents of Evil.

Cody 3:02

Oh, yeah, they're they're really good.

Sweet Home Origins And Fixed Cameras

Cody 3:05

Uh but I mean, yeah, so Resident Evil, it uh it's humble beginnings, started out as a remake of a Famicom RPG based off of a movie called Sweet Home. And uh then it evolved into the zombie crawling uh horror fest that you we all know and love today. That's basically its origins. It was gonna be a remake of a movie tie-in, and then it you know grew. And wow, I'm glad it did what it did. Uh but yeah, Resident Evil.

Michael 3:41

So the baby of when Fujiwara and Mikami kind of came together after the elements of uh Sweet Home kind of was um emanated from the Famicom in Japan in late '94.

Cody 3:55

And you know what's kind of funny. Uh I I played Sweet Home and uh it's it has the DNA of Resident Evil before Resident Evil. Like it has door transitions and everything, but uh I'm getting ahead of myself. So I'd like to talk about how the game of like how the series evolved. I mean, as anyone would probably know, the original Resident Evil's were on the PlayStation, yes, and well, they had a lot of uh limitations as to what they could do. So they did this cool little trick that I have been a fan of for 30 years, and I I'm I don't think it's going anywhere. And so they wanted to make a game that was in first person, but due to limitations, they came up with a cooler idea where they would create uh like pictures, little PNGs, and they would stick a character on them, and then you would move between fixed camera angles. They would they would literally frame each shot that you would go into, and as your character moves, the character would then you know switch to another angle to facilitate you know the environment that they wanted to show. And it might look simplistic, uh it might look like you're like moving around a megablocks looking character, but at the time, I mean it was it's pretty good.

Michael 5:17

For the hardware, it was it was very revolutionary because you gotta think it wasn't not only was what Resident Evil was built on in its in its origins per se, it to me it it gave me on a on a personal level as like you know, you like to call me the more the more of a modern day Resident Evil um enthusiast with how kind of like you know you introduced me to the series growing up and all the memories that we have going through all of these different games and you know their toy their coined term of the survival horror genre as kind of its own thing, which gave birth to a few different kind of things that like you know I don't want to be, and I know you for sure don't want to be forgotten the time with what the series made um in itself, which is uh a couple things. So you've got the third person um perspectives, then you've also got things like you know, we can't never forget tank controls, and we also can't forget um the camera angles, which tie into um our beloved pre-rendered backgrounds as well.

Cody 6:20

Yeah, I was gonna get into that. So for the newbies, the newcomers who have been getting into the series, welcome. Uh, you know, it's nice to get newer fans into the series, but um, if you started getting into Resident Evil with let's say 7 and the 2 remake, um, or you know, any of that, then you would either have played the game in first or third person, or if you played Requiem, if this is your first game, you could choose between first and third, which is honestly really neat. I I like that a lot. But that's the series had more humbler beginnings with fixed camera angles and tank controls, and that is a very divisive topic. Uh I see I see a lot of uh newcomers to the series kinda well, for lack of better words, they just kinda ignore or like you know undermine the original games.

Michael 7:24

I like to to give people a mental kind of imagery um for this. I like to think of newcomers to Resident Evil, um, those clips that you see of people trying um tank controls for the first time where they just go back and forth through the same door frame 50 times before figuring it out.

Cody 7:41

Yeah. Um it is quite interesting to honestly say the least. Um, Resident Evil, like I I was gonna I I kind of got uh turned around, but it's 30 years of horror.

Eras Spinoffs And Series Whiplash

Cody 7:58

It has switched genres a lot of times. So we had our we had our fixed camera angle era, then we had our uh third person era that's yeah that still had the tank controls. Resident Evil Ford 5, I mean five kinda still has it in its DNA, but four still had the tank controls, it just pivoted the camera behind your character, yeah, and then you have whatever the hell six is. We don't talk about six. Listen, uh for those people who like six, I think six has one of the best mercenary modes. It's not a bad game, it's just not what I want for a Resident Evil, and therefore we have to agree to disagree, and I have to say it became more of a Call of Duty aspect type of game, unfortunately, in that era. I gotta say, Revelations did it a lot better, but I'm getting ahead of myself before I start ranting about I'm just gonna sit here and go, my version of Resident Evil that I like is better. No, uh the the fandom is actually very bad about doing that. But I mean, God, I I don't even know what how to uh uh begin with this for 30 years.

Michael 9:08

Well, I I guess kind of piggybacking off of what you were saying, after the the really rough patch that um they had with six, they kind of reinvented, if you will, um the series and well not reinvented, but like reinvigorated um themselves with what they did with seven and eight and now nine, because seven was the first one. Um correct me if I'm wrong, Cody, but it was the first one that had first person elements, and then it also was the first one that started implementing um the VR ones as well shortly after, with things like um village, and I know RE4 had a VR version as well, if I remember correctly.

Cody 9:46

RE4 had yeah, it had a VR version. Uh, but I I'll go I'll tell you this. So 30 years uh after six, it didn't just get better, it still got actually worse. Like they had Revelations one and two, which people like you know liked, and like it was divisive.

Michael 10:04

Yeah, when I when I say after six, I meant mainline, of course.

Cody 10:08

Okay, okay, I was about to say, so I would just like to talk about how the series was before I get into it because like you know, it's more modern. So obviously you had your original on the PlayStation, you had your original three. Yep. Uh you had a spin-off called Survivor or Gun Survivor, if uh you're uh uh anywhere else, and then you had Code Veronica on the Dreamcast. Yes.

Michael 10:34

Oh the Dreamcast, how we love the love it.

Cody 10:37

And then after that, you had uh Gun Survivor 2 on the PS2 and Arcade.

Michael 10:44

Didn't uh that was I believe right after Survivor 2 is when that one GBA not GBA uh GBC game came out. What was it? Uh Gaiden?

Cody 10:54

Yeah, that was in 2000.

Michael 10:57

2000, 2001, somewhere around there.

Cody 10:59

Yeah, somewhere around there. We have uh uh an underrated classic spin-off for me, which is Dead Aim. I I have a lot to say. I love that one.

Michael 11:09

I've we went through Dead Aim a little bit.

Cody 11:11

I showed you a little bit of it. Underrated classics that people still talk about getting remade today are the outbreak series.

Michael 11:17

Uh those have been spotlighted with nine.

Cody 11:21

Yeah, because you play as Alyssa. She's one of the characters, which is Grace's mother. Uh but the Ashcrofts. Then you got four. And then you have uh you got five. And uh I don't really know of any spin-offs besides the DS remake of one that came out around that time.

Michael 11:43

Uh didn't so alright. Now this is just my brain cooking here for a second. Um, four came out in 05, right? Yep. Five came out in 09. Didn't Umbrella Chronicles come out between those two?

Cody 11:58

I think around 2007, yeah. Umbrella, which is uh that would be cool to see that in an arcade setting. Yeah, that would be kind of cool. Umbrella and Darkse Chronicles, which are rail shooters. Yeah, Dark Side came after 5. Yeah, and then around that time, you know, you you after that you had uh six that came, uh along with uh Operation Raccoon City.

Michael 12:20

That was that wasn't after, that was before.

Cody 12:23

I think yeah, was Operation Raccoon City before?

Michael 12:25

Because between five and six, uh you had again, brain uh dark side, you had Mercenaries 3D, Revelations 1, and Operation Raccoon City, if I remember correctly.

Cody 12:38

Uh somewhere in that time span. They they were cooking Resident Evil games out for like with mainline and spin-off.

Michael 12:44

Yeah, because that one span between 09 and 2012, they were just flipping things.

Cody 12:49

Yeah, you did. They were they really were. Then you have freaking uh Umbrella Core, which is that other multiplayer one.

Michael 12:55

Umbrella Core didn't come out until after Revelations 2, right?

Cody 12:59

I believe so, yeah.

Michael 13:01

Which that wasn't until much later, after six.

Cody 13:04

Yeah, umbrella core.

Michael 13:06

Because that was like the that was like the last one before the next main line.

Cody 13:10

Yeah, yeah, before they did the soft kind of reboot slash not. Oh, I I could consider it a soft reboot, yeah. So the uh seven, two remake, three remake, village, yeah, uh, four remake.

Michael 13:23

Requiem the the time span between entries of six and seven was kind of long before they did Revelations two, and I think it was what two years?

Cody 13:33

I think so. Uh I know the director behind uh Revelations, I think he did Revelations 1 and 2, also directed 7. Uh, which he came back for Requiem. Uh Resident Evil, like I'm just uh I'm I know it might be a little tangent that I went on, but I was just trying to figure out all the games and kind of list them out. Like it's been 30 years. So there's like it's it's been a long time, people. I'm probably missing some things. I'm not even counting the fucking phone games that came out and all the other crazy stuff. Like there's there's a lot of there's a lot. There's books based off of the original PlayStation games. There's a movie adaptation that I may have some words about.

Michael 14:14

Uh oh, the movies.

Cody 14:17

I mean, I don't I don't hate them, but I also don't like them. I think the first two are fine for what they are.

Michael 14:24

A personal highlight that I I would like to give a shout-out to, just for my purposes, is all the mangas and the manoas from Japan for two and three. Those, the art, all of that is just peak. I love it. There's just perfection. If I can own the all volumes of that and just have it on a shelf, I would love it.

Cody 14:42

Yeah.

A Flea Market Copy Changed Everything

Cody 14:43

So 30 years, I don't I I'm just kind of all over the place with I there with what I want to talk about with Resident Evil, so I guess I'll just talk about how I came into the series. I mean, uh, I probably mentioned this on other episodes before, but I mean how I came into the series is kind of funny, uh, because I would go over to my grandparents' house uh for the summer, and uh they had got me a PlayStation 1 uh at the time. Yep. And at so they would buy a handful of games from the flea market every time I would come down and then give them to me, uh, you know, uh just to have something to do. And so I remember getting bored of some of the games uh that I was playing because they were generic licensed games and racing games and stuff, and I just couldn't be bothered. And then I pick up this weird game that uh, you know, I pick up Resident Evil 2. That was my first one that I played, and realizing that I had two discs, I popped in the Claire disc first. You were very confused, I would imagine. Yeah, I was. So I popped in the Claire disc. I was like six years old when this happened. And I started up, I watched the cutscene, I am fucking hooked. I like what I see. I see the burning tanker, uh, and I proceed to run into the fire and get devoured by zombies. Now could my first experience.

Michael 16:08

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this was also your first somewhat run-in with having actual like dubbing as well, right?

Cody 16:15

Dubbing.

Michael 16:16

For like voiceover.

Cody 16:19

Uh no, I mean I played plenty of games of voiceover at the time, you know, voice acting and stuff, but it's it's my first time playing a game with tank controls, and God did it show. Like, so my my experience with Resident Evil 2 and is is like this. I watched the cut seed, I ran into the fire, watched Claire get eaten alive by zombies, and it scared the piss out of me. It fucking terrified me. I had nightmares for about it for like ages about zombies coming to get me. And I remember uh because they were very adamant about this whenever I went to my grandparents' house when I was young, I couldn't take anything that they had uh home with me because I uh, you know, they they wanted me to keep what I had there. But I remember one day being bored and figuring out, oh wait, if I hit up on the D-pad, my character moves forward no matter what, even when the camera changes. And I remember working my way through the streets, taking all kinds of damage, because not being able to juke zombies and not understanding how to properly do the tank controls. Yep. But I remember getting to Kendo's gun shop and seeing that that cut scene of him getting eaten by the zombies and stuff and getting out there and then still dying, because like you know, I I was trying to save him, and then I still got eaten by the zombies, and something clicked in my brain when that happened, and I was like, okay, I'm getting further. I get a screen further every time I die. Even though I had to restart, I I didn't understand that ink ribbons would save your game quite yet, because my dumbass six-year-old brain wouldn't refuse to read. Oh, the typewriters. So I wouldn't uh I kind of kept running into that ordeal. So little by little, like you know, the days go on while I'm at my grandparents, and I get further and further, and I remember making it to the police station. I'm on danger, like I'm literally all my health is gone. I'm limping around, and then I find the first aid spray that you can find by unlocking something in one of the hallways, and it brought my health back up. Yep, and something clicked into my brain right then and there, whenever I was that like young, I was like, wow, I I just made it here, I just did this. Um and then I had to leave and go back home, but I just could not take it. I snuck the game with me, took it back to my house, and uh the PS2 was uh like around, so I uh we got a PS2 at that point uh because the DVD player functionality on there was a perfect excuse as to you know, hey, why why do you need this video game system? And you'd be like, But mommy, it has a DVD player on it, and DVD players are like $200, and then she's like, say no more.

Michael 19:23

Or say less wait and switch, eh?

Cody 19:25

Yeah, it was. It was it was literally like that. I brought the uh game with me, but didn't have a fucking PS1 memory card, so I could not save my damn game. Then things were inexpensive, they really were. But uh I would get further and further, and uh eventually I would uh come about a PS1 memory card uh second hand, someone would probably just give me theirs. But beating the first disc is clare uh was an experience. And granted, you know, I was playing the North American version of Resident Evil 2, which is a lot harder, a lot more, a lot less ammo, a lot more zombies. And I did this as a seven-year-old at that point, because like you know, I I would put it uh down. I was very young when I played it.

Michael 20:13

You very seven year old seven years old and you were in the Rackham City trenches. That was roughly.

Cody 20:18

Yeah, I was. I was I was a young lad. I mean, you know, barely in grade school, and I was able to go through it. And mind you, um, like uh it was just an experience. Uh it was something magical that I couldn't explain, but I didn't realize that there was an entirely different scenario with Leon. Like I thought, okay, I beat the game again because I didn't read, dumbass little kid. Like you would make a save data and then you would uh come back to the B scenario to fully beat the game. I didn't do that, I just played both Leon and A, uh Leon and Claire's A scenario as a kid. Um, it wasn't until a few years later, whenever I would come back uh and you know, actually read like a genius, uh, that I would, you know, find out, hey, there's a B scenario. Hey, this is completely different.

Michael 21:14

A goes before B, B goes after A.

Cody 21:18

Oh shit, there's a fucking extra cutscene. Now I know how the helicopter crashed into the police station. Oh god, there's a giant trench coat wearing bastard chasing me. Like I it was like a whole nother experience that I was having. And then it took me like, you know, it took me a few months to go through it because you know, a little kid learning things, tank controls still weren't grasping. But I I'll never forget sitting there and killing Birkin on the train for the first time and seeing that. That was an experience that I will I was I did all that before I was like ten. Uh it's crazy going through a game like that whenever you're little. Uh the tenacity that kids had back then with uh older video games. It was definitely a lot more of a cruel game, at least for me as a kid. Now that I'm into it, like I understand the perfect balance of it. But it's just it's my it's my memory that I just can't explain it. It is the most pure memory of Resident Evil that I have that got me into the series. Eventually I would track down the first game, play it, love it, uh but not as much as two just because of how what what two meant to me. And then I would play three on PC in my uh days as I got you know better at learning computers, I would pirate.

Michael 22:44

Was it still on your old e machine?

Cody 22:46

Yes it was it was fucking I pirated all the Resident Evil PC ports and played them that way. I did not get to play all of them on I didn't get to play them all authentically on uh on their original platform. The only one that I played authentically and beat was uh like on its original platform was two. I beat three on PC and I beat one on PC. I didn't get to play them originally I got to play them much later on their original platforms but nice I I mainly had uh I mainly was on PC uh going through them. Code Veronica is a completely different story.

ode Veronica Found By Pure Luck

Cody 23:28

Oh god code for the way I got code Veronica was actually really funny. I was at my dorm school I was at the school for the deaf and blind and uh this teacher had confiscated a uh uh a video game from one of their students and they left uh they graduated and they uh never bothered to get it back from the teacher and it was a copy of Resident Evil Code Veronica X uh on the PS2 nice uh and I ended up asking her if she you know if I could just take it with me because I mean why is it just sitting here in her in her drawer and uh that was my first experience with Code Veronica. It wasn't actually the Dreamcast version I didn't get to play the Dreamcast version of Code Veronica until much later which uh I think is it looks a lot better than the PS2 version. But yeah that's all I got Code Veronica X uh through a fluke accident and I didn't even realize because like you know back in those days I didn't really have a ha a lot of access to the internet so I didn't even know that there was another Resident Evil besides one, two and three. Right. Um and that that kind of tickled me. Uh so I got a whole new series uh a whole new game in a franchise I was learning to love as a kid.

Michael 24:41

I would I would have loved to have been in your brain to see how your your thought process was like with all of these being like I wonder which one like chronologically in your brain how how you were like doing this systematically trying to figure out like you know plot points and things in your brain not having access to the internet. I would I would have loved to see your like your mental breakdown of how all you processed all that information.

Cody 25:04

God this was before you were born too it was just it makes me feel old as shit. So yeah because the way I played it was I played two I played one I played three and then I played Code Veronica and fuck I was not ready for Code Veronica. Anyone who's played that game will infamously know and I haven't even shown Michael this yet Code Veronica is probably the hardest in the fixed camera angle uh saga of Resident Evil for a very good reason it's very unforgiving it has a DPS check from hell halfway through the game that if you do not have the ammo for unless you have some tenacity to dodge I mean you're kind of screwed it's a soft lock it's bad like uh it's it's something else but only two thousand soft locking eh yeah but I have a lot of uh love for Code Veronica despite it being one of the weirdest stories in the franchise I I don't know I just have some really fond memories of staying up and doing the same thing with two uh learning getting my ass handed to me trial and erroring until I finally succeeded and then escaped with Claire uh that that was another just key memory I'll never get

Growing A Collection Across Consoles

Cody 26:22

back. And then you know at this point my mom you know I was getting these games and she didn't know how I was doing it so she just started buying them for me because you know she's like those are rated IB games I'm not gonna buy them for you because they're mature. Eventually she just gave up and anytime a new version of Resident Evil came out she would just surprise me with it whenever uh she had the money and give them to me. So I ended up getting zero and one remake on the game queue which is the best game in the series I'll I'll fight anyone on that. One remake is still the best.

Michael 26:54

I cannot wait to go through that with you. I'm I'm waiting for that yeah it's that's crazy.

Cody 27:00

Once I'm done rambling about all my stories of Resident Evil I'll get your input but I mean uh I got she gave me outbreak uh file one and two on the PS2 I I have them physically somewhere in my room and I'd love to you know find them and you know get them looked at and everything.

Michael 27:17

Don't forget I still have your um original Japanese director's cut of Resident Evil as well. That that you do that you do.

Cody 27:25

I mean I've uh I've played them all I've literally played every mainline every spin-off every port uh except for the N64 port of re2 because it doesn't emulate very well and uh tracking down a cartridge is something that I I would very much like to do on real hardware either that or on one of those uh analog 3D consoles or something I I would like to experience RE2 N64 at some point in my life. Oh yeah that's the only that's the only thing I haven't done but other than that every version every spin-off uh I have a lot of funny stories that I could probably get into like I remember getting Resident Evil 3 on the PC and uh they had like a demo version uh and I remember trying to play it but my e machine after the uh opening cut scene would freeze on a black screen and it would freeze it would lock up my whole PC and it turns out it was something to do with the game was meant to run on Windows 2000 or 98 and uh it was a XP bug and it just it was breaking my heart because I would try to find these runarounds to try and get this trial edition of Resident Evil 3 to run and then eventually I pirated the game and uh uh got the game to work on PC like and um played through the whole game with a keyboard like when I played the original games on PC I played those bitches with keyboard I I'm telling I can I can tell you this now playing a fixed camera angle Resident Evil with tank controls on an arrow key WASD just sounds and feels painful. It it's not as bad as you think it's actually not as bad as you think so the arrow keys would control and then I would just put Z X C and V as different things so like um how would I put this uh oh my god uh Z or I think the space bar would be your confirm key and it would be the uh you would hold down like uh one of the buttons and then press space to shoot it was it was actually not too bad because although I yeah the only the only upside to that that I could think of is your quick turn would be a little bit easier. Yeah you gotta think of it this way so Resident Evil mainly was used like you know before the dual shock controller you used the arrow keys uh you used the D-pad uh as tank control so it actually translated pretty well to arrow keys now this was before the WASD kind of like a lot of 3D games some of them used fucking arrow keys which was kind of gross but yeah it was before WASD was truly like cemented as the keyboard movement keys yeah so it it's it was a little different it was a different time but yeah that's that's how I experienced the original trilogy keyboard on fucking PC raw was it was um yeah it was so it was something else I remember if I remember correctly my first run in when I was a Wii lad was when you I I I forget what year it was because god this was so long ago but um it was one mini moon ago um I believe you were playing um classic RE2 on I forget what system it was but I I yeah game cube but you were playing Resident Evil and we were sitting at the bar um next to our old CRT we're gonna used to make our milkshakes every night and you would be playing Resident Evil yeah yeah uh it was Resident Evil 2 on the GameCube and I still have that copy around I'm gonna find it at some point um because uh god I love my mom uh whenever she was little like I I was so sad because my original copy of Resident Evil 2 was lost the Claire disc was cracked uh yeah it it got fucked I don't know what happened to it uh but I could not play the game because the uh I lost like I don't know what happened to the Leon disc uh and then the cray the Claire disc was clo cracked so I the the game was unplayable for me at that point and I I remember being so sad I did not know that Resident Evil 2 and 3 got GameCube ports and my mom came home with uh Resident Evil 2 for game cube with me and I I could not have been the happy like I was the happiest boy.

Michael 31:57

Um it is probably my favorite uh version of RE2 besides the Dreamcast version but I have a lot of sentimental value with the see see the the funny mental imagery that I have of tiny you trying to explain to your dear mother about Resident Evil and like you know ESRB ratings and stuff like that to get around like you know all the legality of back in the day for like you know tiny children in the ESRB is you were just like Mom the M only means there are multiple games in the series nothing else now go buy it no no she knew she just didn't care mom was the kind of person at least back then she was like well I mean you know as long as you know that it's fake I mean you know there's no reason like I don't care if you if I get you this game as long as you're not you know uh like doing crazy obscene things she didn't care like you know um so it was a lot more she was a lot more chill yeah I mean uh god I just I have so much sentimental value with Resident Evil too it's funny because I I grew up around you playing Resident Evil a lot so I just I got a lot of the passive like you know not really like you know direct know-how of what was going on but I got a lot of the like atmospherical ambiance of you doing that all the time when you used to come down every summer.

Cody 33:24

Yeah they hated me uh it was actually kind of funny because they they didn't realize they were the ones uh your grandparents or my our grandparents got Jesus they didn't realize that they were the ones who actually got me into the series unknowingly by getting me that one game at their yard sale that does the market feel that's one thing that we do it was um you know go hunt for video games at yard sales that's a very fun pastime memory of both mine and yours. Yep so yeah they uh they were not a fan of it uh no one was a fan of they did not like me playing these types of games around you and I'm like you could see the pixels on the s this game doesn't look real at all like come on man there's not even a swear it's funny for a rated M game there was no real swearing I actually I don't think a single swear was uttered in the entirety of the uh Resident Evil trilogy on the PlayStation I think the worst that you're gonna hear is someone say damn yeah that's it and that was probably I think it was like one character which is Ben in Resident Evil 2. I uh someone'll have to correct me if I'm wrong but I swear oh Chris I think he might have said it too but like I think the worst you'll ever hear is someone say damn. So like it actually they didn't have body mounts back then. Yeah there was no vulgarity in the original trilogy now you hear the modern day ones they'll swear like a sailor when they're shooting zombies but in the other ones they actually barely said us like anything that would be considered vulgar at all.

Michael 35:00

Yeah probably probably one of my favorite memories of the original um res and the res cast um again just personal preferences probably the Jill sandwich line that's always going to be unforgettable for me which is actually

Why The Originals Still Matter

Michael 35:17

funny um I mean the way that those games were uh dubbed was they just found people in Japan that spoke English and was like hey you want a job come and you know come and do this game for us that's literally how it happened but I mean all my sentimental uh crap about Resident Evil aside as a newcomer to the series I mean what do you think of this series uh I I I say newcomer you've been around here for eight like you've seen it yep I've been around it my whole life let's be real here I know you've I know you've played I know you've not actually seen the like gone through the credits of a Resident Evil game yourself you've seen me do it more uh often I know of the Resident Evil universe because of you and I've I've gone through basically the majority of the series um thanks to you know what we do but you know with how like my life and like what I've been through and what I'm going through I've never actually fully been able to sit down and do one myself but I'm very well versed in the RD series as a whole as you know. The one thing that I can just say is just to start off with in the blanket term of survival horror, it has definitely made me have a better appreciation for the finer things that are tied to the series such as like you know mechanics the the know-how behind the mechanics the technical aspects of what makes these games great especially um considering like you know what I do for a living um not to mention just like you know having appreciations for textures and like you know old art design as a whole and just like you know the tiny nuances for like you know text work translation stuff like that is just really kind of shown through for me especially since um you know we were we were planning this episode out and we were kind of going through like you know because Rockwiam just released we we we realized like you know hey the 30th anniversary's coming up why don't we go back through some of the old classics and like you know actually getting to sit and go through um Resident Evil 2 and 3 um was a very fun time because let me tell you something man those games are just such gems that like while yes you can you can see some of their age in some aspects you can still play them as modern as anything else these days because like you know Resident Evil's are you know what they are because like you know they they're set in stone and they were made in such a way to not be kind of changed too much to have that sense of preservation years to come hell 30 years down the line they're still as good as they were before you know what I mean at least for the originals.

Cody 37:53

Yeah so I'll I'll say this the original series at least the original games may seem like they're kind of hard to come by and uh a lot of newcomers to the series may not really think too highly of the originals which makes me sad.

Michael 38:15

I adore the originals you you have given me a more profound appreciation for again what they're made from and what they stand for as compared to actually going back and going through these and seeing their their modern you know remake counterparts while yes the remake counterparts have their their ups and their quips that make them great I will say what you what you see in the differences um that we'll get into with this of the the old ones and the originals versus their remake counterparts while yes they make some improvements they definitely take away a lot of the original kind of what I would consider you know kind of core elements in some regards either with writing story what have you again we'll get into it but um there are there are some other aspects with kind of like you know the these comparisons that we've made over the last couple of months going through these like you know uh again uh one that I would like to talk about is they have definitely improved upon some of their accessibility aspects while not being perfect in some regard for every entry of the modern day they definitely have you know taken themselves and reinvigorated what they want for their player base to be able to um have as you know as far as general accessibility and approachability which we do appreciate however in doing a lot of these modern day changes they have taken away a lot of the core shine from the originals that's not necessarily a bad thing sometimes I would I would like to consider the remakes a a different interpretation although thanks to Requiem the remakes are now completely 100% canon before I could argue you know well maybe you know this you know a thing but no uh uh thanks to Requiem without spoiling it Resident Evil 2 remake is now the official canon besides the original Resident Evil 2 uh but they're still worth experiencing yeah and I can I can say this for uh you know certain people who would be willing to try them depending on where or like where you're at or what platform you're on you actually have more access to the original series

Where To Play The Classic Games

Michael 40:31

than you think.

Cody 40:31

If you're on PlayStation then you have practically access to the entirety of the original PlayStation trilogy along with Code Veronica which is the PS2 version they may not look the best considering that there are better versions of Code Veronica that look better but you could still play it.

Michael 40:50

As long as you're willing to pay for premium because I do believe that the classics are locked behind the high tier highest tier I think I think you could purchase them individually on the store.

Cody 41:02

I don't know but I do know that they are on premium you're right on premium for PlayStation you get access to the original PlayStation versions of one, two and three and then code Veronica and um I think you could play the original you can also play the original Resident Evil 4 on the PS4 and 5. Uh so you can still do that. You also got access to Resident Evil 0 and remake of the first uh version as well which Resident Evil 1 remake Zero's the one with Rebecca right yeah yes um and those two in particular if you just cannot deal with tank controls if tank controls are just a deal breaker for you and you're not willing to learn the remake of Resident Evil uh and Zero well technically they're ports but you know what I mean those two games actually have alternate controls that give you traditional controls that aren't tank controls. So if you wanted to play a fixed camera angle game and see what it's like without the tank controls those are your best options. If you're on PC you got well you're a little more open. You can play the entire franchise on PC whether it is via emulation uh or you can go for the official PC ports that are released on GOG which I hope come to Steam.

Michael 42:28

Please Steam if you're listening please well Capcom at this point they they put Dino Crisis one and two on there which is a surviv which is a survival horror is kind of I would say uh like little sister to Resident Evil yeah but it's it's it's a uh now that you mentioned that that it brings up another point that I was gonna kind of highlight doesn't um God you you talked about earlier what um I my mind's blanking a little bit but wasn't Dino Crisis as a series what kind of spawned off of uh their survivor um originals no dino crisis was just Shinji Mikami being like hey I'll I'll make another survival horror game but instead of zombies put some fucking dinosaurs in there I mean it's literally I remember there was a connection but I couldn't remember the specific uh they reference each other I mean in Resident Evil 3 you can unlock a Regina uh which is the heroine in uh Dino Crisis you can unlock her you can unlock Regina's outfit and then in um Dino Crisis you can unlock Jill's outfit.

Cody 43:40

Right um so yeah they they do they know each other but yeah I hope that that comes to steam but on PC you can play the original trilogy on GOG and you can play Resident Evil 4 which ultimately I think the original Resident Evil 4 has the best version the ultimate HD version on PC um Uh and yeah, that's that's readily available on Steam.

Michael 44:03

I gotta give four props for um being the one to implement its accessibility um forefront with its remake because they really hammered that home quite well, in my opinion.

Accessibility Strengths Of Old Design

Cody 44:15

Speaking of accessibility, since we are two crippled shits uh who play video games, uh for those of you with disabilities, I think the original Resident Evil, uh, especially if you're motor, if you have motor uh skills or like, you know, are really ambidextrous, the original series is pretty uh accessible, if I'm honest with you. It's so simplistic, it's straightforward, basically. Let me put it to you this way. In the original trilogy and Code Veronica and one and zero, you only need to worry about your character's movement. All camera work is done for you. You see what the game wants you to see. Is it annoying that you can't see all the enemies on screen? It can be, but that also leads to the tense atmosphere. Like you gotta like, yeah, the character can see it, and you're like, why the hell can't I see the enemy? Uh but there are ways around it. You can use your auto aim function to have your character snap to enemies, and you can generally tell what direction they're in. Right. All you have to do is worry about shooting forward, up, or down. You only have three lanes of shooting. It is highly, highly accessible to everybody.

Michael 45:32

That reminds me of one of my one of my favorite moments of um going back through Resident Evil 2 with you when you mentioned the up and down aiming. That one that one portion where you have to use that uh enter that password on that computer to scan the fingerprints and you have to shoot the the larva off of the desktop to use it before you're chased by that one zombie. And I remember you just losing your mind because you're emptying two clips trying to aim on the keyboard and you just kept missing point blank.

Cody 45:57

Yeah, I should have brought the knife and used it, but I didn't fucking do it. Uh uh yeah, the the lab. And God, if I it younger me would have seen that, he would have slapped me. Because like I would have just ran in there and just immediately like got the fucking plants off the keyboard and typed in the code to unlock the fingerprint scanner in the lab. Yeah, you only yeah, it it it just because it's simplistic doesn't mean it's also not challenging because it is.

Michael 46:27

It has its moments. It has its moments.

Cody 46:29

Yeah, you still gotta juke zombies, still gotta run around them and everything.

Michael 46:32

But zombie juking is also kind of a funny term that's been spawned off of Rosen Evil.

Cody 46:39

Yeah, well, it it I don't think juking zombies, it's more uh I I started hearing that term around Call of Duty zombies where they're like, alright, juke the zombies, train them all, like line them in a train, line up headshots. Yeah, that kind of thing. Like uh, but yeah, the original trilogy and code Veronica are highly uh doable these days if you're willing to put in the patience to learn. Tank controls, I I you know I can't convince people to like tank controls. It is what it is. But for me, it makes sense to have them because hear me out. When you if you are running to the right and then your camera switches to you running to the left, if you're holding a direction and then your camera switches, you you might run back the same direction you went. Imagine if you're being chased with alternate controls, and then the camera uh switches, and then you know, you have to adjust your analog stick, and then you might turn and run into a zombie like an idiot. With tank controls, if you're holding up on your D-pad, you're moving forward no matter what angle the camera angle changes to, you will continue moving in that same direction. The tank controls go well with the camera switching perspective, but I can't convince people to like it. I mean, you know, tank controls will always be a divisive form of controlling your character, right? But to me, it makes sense, and only when you have taken the time to truly master it, it might sink in with you. And yes, it will feel clunky. Yeah, there's not you you there's no way you're gonna make tank controls feel natural.

Michael 48:19

And and like I said, going through the series with you over these last couple months and kind of d divulging myself fully into these universes, I I can confirm kind of off of what you were saying. It ties yes, it ties into the design art form, which I appreciate, and then also it's not so much about the control. I feel like it's more about getting you to that point where you take the time to immerse yourself, and as long as you take that time to get fully immersed, it will come to you as you go.

Tank Controls Defense And Learning Curve

Cody 48:54

Yeah, exactly. Uh, if I had to make any recommendations for any newcomers to the series who would like to appreciate the classics, my recommendation is to look up the classic rebirth mods for the original trilogy. They are a mod of the Japanese versions, which are easier than the North American versions. Thanks, video game rentals. The Japanese really did not like that in the 90s, so they made our games a lot harder. Yeah. The Japanese versions have uh less health for the enemies, more ammo for you, and more saves in your ink ribbons. So if you were to play them, I would suggest looking up, you know, how to run the Japanese uh classic rebirth mods. Um that is a perfect way to get into the series. You get you get some quality of life changes that will help with uh little bit of modern feel, like quick turn and a whole bunch of other stuff, tactical reloading, uh along with your difficulty not being so damn like insurmountable for a so that would be my honest to God uh advice. Stay clear of code Veronica until you have gone through a few of the fixed camera angles. If you really want my honest opinion about the classic classic games on which ones you should probably start with, I think that the first Resident Evil is a good pick, just because it gives you a lot of room to run around the open mansion before you deal with zombies with your tank controls, get used to the way the movement works. It's better than Resident Evil 2 original because 2 expects you to know what you're doing. You get put right in the thick of it, right in the middle of Raccoon City with tons of zombies around you that are coming for you. So you don't have a lot of time to get used to those controls, and Resident Evil 3 is just as bad. You are literally exploded out of your apartment, and you are running from zombies, and there's just so many of them.

Michael 51:07

Um because that's how uh that's how three starts, because Jill's in her apartment, no?

Cody 51:13

Yeah, Jill literally gets exploded out of her apartment.

Michael 51:17

Yeah. Because she's getting hunted for you know her ties to stars at that point.

Cody 51:22

Mm-hmm. If but if tank controls are just a no-go for you, a deal breaker, I still say you could enjoy Resident Evil 1 remake. Yep. Uh that is perfect, and it has especially with the newer ports, uh, they actually have a new easy difficulty that is just perfect for people getting into the series. Now, you know, you might scoff at a like lowering difficulties and everything, but if it's something that you have to get used to, I mean, you know, uh you get challenges and stuff for being getting to harder difficulties, and it really it's pretty lenient, and especially if you just want to enjoy the atmosphere and story, you can go through one remake, no problem. I would honestly stay steer clear of zero until unless you feel confident in your skills. Zero is what I'd like to call the bullshit game of the series. It's just it, I mean, it is literally it's something else. It has alternative controls, and yes, you could probably, you know, play it right after one if you're feeling confident, but Zero is definitely a divisive game. Um but yeah, I mean, for those of you who are just getting into the series of Resident Evil, I mean, I'd like to know where you started your journey, where uh you would like what games you would like to play, or what your you know, what would be your favorite Resident Evil if you have played the series. And for those of you who are, you know, wanting to try the classics, I'd love to know your uh journey through that. I'd love to hear about your first time and what you did to overcome your odds, how close you uh scraped by without losing your head by a hunter or getting impaled by a liquor or hell being, you know, chased by a nemesis. Yeah, uh not getting uh tentacle uh whipped made fun no, well, I without getting tentacle impaled by Nemesis. Yeah. Uh there you go. I would love to know how you know you guys escaped that kind of ordeal. There's a lot of newcomers to the series thanks to Requiem. Whether you're playing the newer modern games or experiencing the older games, I'd like to know people's journey through getting into Resident Evil.

Michael 53:49

Yes.

Cody 53:50

And it's been quite a legacy.

Michael 53:53

Thirty years of greatness.

Cody 53:55

Thirty years, and I hope to see thirty more years. Although I'd like to see Yeah, you and me both, dude. Uh uh final really thoughts about this kind of uh rant slash off like off the walls, back and forth, uh garbly gook of nonsense.

Requiem Grace And Future Hopes

Cody 54:17

Where I would like to see the series go in the future is probably how I'd like to you know wrap this up. And quite honestly, I hope they continue doing what they're doing with this like you know, honoring the survival horror legacy. Uh I I like Resident Evil more when you play as the everyman. Yeah. Like I don't mind Leon or Chris or Jill, you know, you got your larger-than-life badass heroes and playing as them. I don't mind it. But I like with Requiem, without spoiling, I like playing as Grace a lot more than I did uh Leon. Not that I didn't have fun with Leon, because God I had fun with it, Leon.

Michael 55:03

Again, being able to go through Requiem, especially now that we've gone through it a couple times prior to today being the 30th anniversary of one of our favorite series, I I can say, after going through all of these with you, especially with from Grace's POV and like what Requiem brings to the series um for the 30th anniversary, I do like what they did um for those of the you know for those of the original crew for that know the legacy. I like the callbacks, I love the references, and I like the new mechanic tie-ins that have callbacks to the old ones, just to see because Grace, as a protagonist, while yes she is brand new, and while yes, she has her ties to the legacy of Resident Evil for her family tie-ins and what happens with you know Requiem without spoiling, um, I like the aspect that they kind of did. Uh how best should I say this? Like a kind of like in a mirror aspect, how you have the the Leon side of things and you have the Grace side of things, because Grace kind of as a character for being the Protag is what I like to call like the the protagonist, like you know, like human embodiment of someone that is new to survival horror, someone that is new to being thrown into this, having to figure it out, using your tools at your disposal, and having to implement different mechanics that's not just you know guns blazing kind of going a bit back to the roots in a way without having those fixed camera angles or things like that while still keeping a lot of the core horror elements in place. Does that make sense?

Cody 56:47

Yeah, they did they did uh Grace's sections in the remake, or not remake, in the in the new game, uh really, really well. And that's why I like playing as Grace, because she is just an average Joe thrown into a really fucked situation, and that's at its core. Even Shinji Makami, the creator, says that's when Resident Evil is at its best.

Michael 57:11

Yes, it's when when it's pantshittingly just in the core of the moment.

Cody 57:17

Like in I'll bring up two since it's my favorite. It's that moment where you are on your way down to the umbrella lab and William Birkin jumps in front of you, and you're like, oh hi. Oh hi, yeah. He mutates and grows like a like two giant arms in front of you or something. Like, you know, he starts like mutating and growing bigger, and his muscles start balding, and you're like, oh fuck.

Michael 57:45

Because he does that to you, what four different times?

Cody 57:50

Uh yeah, he does like he should yeah, he shows up with a crowbar, then he drops it and grows like big muscles, and then he grows giant claws, and then he turns into this dog thing, and then by the time you see him in the train, he's a giant squid. Yeah. Um the the grossest thing on the PS1, I swear. Um but yeah, that's the that's when Resident Evil's at its best, when you are like you're you're not certain, your ammo is low, and then this thing comes in front of you, and you're instead of like I got this, you look at it and you go, Oh fuck. Yep. I might not do that.

Michael 58:29

You look at it and you think you got a bullet in your chamber, but you hear that click and you don't have no ammo, and then you're like, oh fuck, I gotta juke it now.

Cody 58:36

Yep, that's when Resident Evil's at its best for me. Yep. Uh it's when you play as the everyman, like the rookie cop, the FBI analyst, uh, on her, like, you know, like that's not really seen a lot of action.

Michael 58:50

The FBI did Grace pretty rough, I'm not gonna lie.

Cody 58:53

Dude, the real main villain, without spoilers, is the fucking boss, is her boss. Why would why would you send your fucking crew to a place that you know gives like has some serious PTSD involved?

Michael 59:10

We need someone out in the field, and we don't have any actual trained agents, so we're gonna send you the analyst with eight years of trauma to the place where your trauma originated. Go have fun and figure it out and write your report.

Cody 59:22

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's the real villain. Fuck him. And then he has the gall whenever he comes like oh no, never mind. That's I I no light spoiler, but not really. But when the game is all done, you're back at your desk, and he's like, hey, I didn't get that report. Where's that report? I would have been like, fuck you, fuck your report.

Michael 59:41

I would have I would have taken the requiem and I would have jammed it so far down his throat.

Cody 59:47

Yeah, no. Couldn't I couldn't be bothered. But yeah, Resident Evil is at its best when you play as the everyman. Even Ethan Winter is the white bred of fucking protagonists. I got I'm I got my gripes with Ethan. But at least Ethan at least was the everyman. He's like, you know, just an average guy looking for his wife and his baby.

Michael 1:00:15

And and his really fucked up baby. His mold baby.

Cody 1:00:19

Yeah, he's gonna be a big one. But then again, uh, light spoilers. I mean, the game's been out in a few years, but I mean, oh, it's it's it's a weird series, guys. It's a weird, weird series.

Michael 1:00:31

Resident Evil is the most fucked up, twisty, turny, bullshit roller coaster of a ride you could ever have for a span of 30 years. But goddamn do I have to give it to Capcom and Mikami and the crew. Y'all have done something that will stand the test of time. And here's to many fucking more, because this is only the beginning, and it's already been 30 years, and we've only got nine games. Please, Capcom Gods, Mikami, all of you. Keep doing what you're doing. And while you're at it, it's the 30th anniversary. Where's our code Veronica remake? We want it, it deserves it. We're waiting.

Cody 1:01:08

This will be uh date this video or date this fucking podcast. I swear to God. Uh Code Veronica probably will be announced sometime, like maybe around like summer games or like Tokyo Gabe show this year. We'll probably see a fucking thing of Code Veronica remake right then and there and be like, Well, there's there it is. It's the game that needs to remake the most. Yeah, it's the game that needs to remake the most. Do not remake the first Resident Evil for the second time.

Michael 1:01:33

But the Resident Evil remake one is peak. Don't change it.

Cody 1:01:37

It's yeah, don't don't do it. Uh, give me Code Veronica, I'll take that. Uh, but I mean, yeah, I hope that this little disjointed rambling slash reminiscing slash, you know, uh whatever the hell this was was at least somewhat interesting for those of you out there. And like I said, Cormant Resident Evil memories, I'd love to hear them. Yeah. Uh, and for newbies, professionals, pros alike, uh, I would love to hear your input about the series and what you like and dislike. You know, what's your favorite games, what's your least favorite games. What bullshit boss fight is bullshit to you? Because there's plenty of them in this series. Plenty of them. I'm looking at you, Crane fight and Resident Evil 2 remake.

Michael 1:02:19

Go fuck your thoughts.

Final Rants And Listener Questions

Michael 1:02:20

Oh yeah.

Cody 1:02:21

Fuck that fight.

Michael 1:02:22

But yeah, as always, people, um, let us know down in the comments uh what you think. All the things, your 30th anniversary hype, your stories, we would love to hear it. And as always, you know where to find us um techandtactile.com. All of our socials are always in our link tree down below. Let us know. We appreciate you guys. Anything else you would like to add, Cody?

Cody 1:02:41

Uh no, that's really it. I think I'm gonna go back to playing Requiem for the sixth time.

Michael 1:02:46

In Japanese or Russian.

Cody 1:02:51

Yeah, what he said.

Michael 1:02:53

Yeah, that's what we like to do. But anyway, people, happy 30th anniversary. It's been a fun one. Here's too many more. Cheers, y'all. Have a good one. And as always, stay accessible.