Leafhopper
Banned
My first real thread with some meat and in turn my first LTTP so forgive me if something seems off or what not.
So I finally played and finished Dino Crisis over the passed few weeks. Yes, it was primarily Jawmuncher's idea at first but, it was also a sudden realization that I hadn't played a lot of those early PS1 era survival horror games. I was born in 1991 so at the time I was kinda too young for them, even barring the blood and stuff but the complexity of some of the puzzles in those games. I got most of that experience watching my big brother play but was kind of scared of the zombies in Resident Evil. That said I am glad I finally got around doing this.
My playthrough was:
Done on the PC version of Dino Crisis. Other than having extra modes unlocked at the start and looking slightly better than the PS1 version (probably the same as the Dreamcast version) it is the same game.
Played on Normal and took my about 9 hours in game time but I probably spent 12 hours playing this game.
Basic premise is you are in control of Regina, who is part of a special task force sent to investigate a mysterious island facility. However what awaits them is not something they could have planned for.
Before I get into the game itself though I kinda want to point out some things I learned playing one of these Survival Horror games from this era.
I get why people complain about tank controls now.
A year ago I wouldn't have really understood why people didn't like them so much. I played older RE games later in life but, not for long and only in passing so I didn't have time to really let it set in. However finishing this game I get the gripes people have with them. Especially after you even get used to them you may still flub a little. Up being forward in every situation possible is theory makes sense but, ones brain doesn't exactly want to correspond with that onto a controller. Can't say I miss them.
Shifting through multiple static camera angles.
This was something that I noticed and actually bugged me as a kid, even when I wasn't playing these kinds of games. It used to drive me insane that you couldn't just have had a camera follow you. Probably because at that point I was used to Mario 64 or something, since my older brother didn't play the RE games until later. This time though going through Dino Crisis it isn't really that bad. It's something that I got used to fairly quick.
Items and notes, oh man the notes. Oh and passcodes and keys
I always knew about items, and mainly ammo in early RE games was scarce and you would want to avoid combat if possible. This is no different in Dino Crisis. God though notes. Look I like the notes actually, they give you some backstory for a lot of things in game but, them combined with actual pertinent information you need to solve puzzles kinda what drove me up the wall at times in this game. There was probably 8 or 9 times where I got through a puzzle or got a crap load of keys and got to something that said I needed a passcode, that was more than likely written down a note 3 hallways back. Ugh.
Oh right the game.
As for the game itself though I like it, a lot more than I expected to. There is very few characters that even talk in the game that it feels like you are alone at times, despite being in contact with the rest of your team on the island. You have your typical guns in this game pistols, shotguns etc. At first it feels like your standard affair but, when you meet your first dinosaur. Man, it's something fierce. You shoot at it and it doesn't drop. You realize you will have to expense a good chunk of ammo with your starting pistol to kill it so your only choice is to run away. Running away from dinosaurs is what gives Dino Crisis it's sense of urgency, especially later in the game when you face some serious dinosaurs that can combo you to death. Before fast zombies were I guess a thing you had to worry about these fast ass dinosaurs. So yeah try to avoid fighting if you can!
If you played RE1 or 2 before DC, you will be used to the shooting as it is the hold to aim and confirm to fire so that isn't any different. I am not sure how many more puzzles DC has than the first 2 RE games (I assume around the same) but, there are a fair number of them I say. Some of them are a bit more annoying than others but for the most part the puzzles all make sense and were pretty satisfying when you solved them.
So yeah Dino Crisis and me playing more of these earlier survival horror games to completion. This was quite a journey through this game to be honest. Despite my gripes I seemed to have about, well the genre itself at the beginning of this post I really did enjoy Dino Crisis. Regina is a great character and has kind of a smartass and snarky personality to her that I really like. Rick reminds me of another character that I can't quite think of. Gail is alright, I liked him near the end more than I did at the start. The soundtrack when it gets serious or super fast really sets the mood, and of course the save room music is chill as all hell.
If you liked RE and didn't play Dino Crisis 1 back in the day because you said "Oh it's just RE, with Dinosaurs." I say you give it another chance. It may not be completely different from RE 1, 2 or 3 but I think it's for sure fresh enough that you will get an enjoyable experience out of it.
Soon...Dino Crisis 2, which I hear is very different!
I really hope this post is okay, ha.
