RE: Deadly Silence

I brought one game up North the summer of 2016, saved for rainy days, and ended up playing it waaaay more than I was planning to! It's the remake of Resident Evil 1 for the DS (thus the suitable Deadly Silence acronym thing). Here's a little log of my attempts and successes while journeying through the game, in order:

1. Jill (Classic) - Stuck on 'Doom books'. Check... ohhh!! After that no problems.
2. Jill (Rebirth) - ...did I even complete this?
3. Chris (Rebirth) - Quick attempt. HARD!
4. Jill (Classic again) - Piece of cake this time.
5. Chris (Rebirth again) - Not so difficult either. Plenty of ammo at end.
   -- Bug on final fight. Helicopter cutscene instead of character view while battle ongoing
   -- Much more intense! Better voicing, sparser ammo; challengingly small inventory. Once I've played past Jill going back feels too easy.
   -- Final 'explosion' freezes before final cutscene.
6. Chris (Rebirth again) - Special Key?
7. Chris (Classic, went quicker) - Special Key and Rocket Launcher!
8. Chris (Classic with RL) - less than 2h.
9. Chris (Rebirth again) - Thought I'd get the RL, but... took more than 3h!
10. Jill (Classic again) - Waited for Benny; explored alternate ends. I've seen them all now! Less than 2h, special key + RL.

So that's that! Ten times huh. Nice and even numbers.

Some other notes and impressions jotted down while playing the game:

- Master of Knifing, arcade time waster with the best out of 'Rebirth' in one quick game! Addicting; satisfyingly short.
- Prefer Classic over Rebirth, though the twists are appreciated the first time. Like the relocated mirror in the hall, or changed enemies. In retrospect not so happy about added ammo - original was balanced. Also annoying flamethrower 'door lock' (or so I thought, turns out it's in both modes!). Flamethrower was a fun addition in the basement though. What really makes 'Rebirth' shine are the touch screen puzzles and chests, though I still have no idea how the 'power puzzles' work. Passed by trial and error.
- Plenty of replayability via unlockable characters for multiplayer mode (haven't tried that yet), special keys and even unlockable games! And playing the game without Internet cheats offered me the pleasantry of surprise too, albeit that Doombook frustration.
- Venomous snake is tough in Touch screen mode! Keep stabbin' every chance you get.
- Gameplay diverse and balanced. Not very scary by way of limited visuals, mostly, but effectual nevertheless. Occasional cutscenes cinematic and, despite masterfully bad voice acting for some characters, atmospheric.
- Exciting game. Right amount of challenge. Inventory simple to manage, but limited items are the base of a large portion of strategy/challenge. The Ink Ribbons too. Though I'm not sure I wanted limited saves I wonder how they'd play in the newer titles. Might be a welcome return, if naught else: as an Easter egg or unlockable.
- I've never finished the first 3 RE titles before, not on PC or PSX, even though I've played them plenty, and have memories of equal awe and aggravation from the by now very familiar introductory scenes. It seems I needed a vacation to finally boast beating the first title... a dozen times by now. If the sequels exist for handheld I'd be willing to offer a few days on those as well, though the next best thing's already waiting on PC: one more remaster and reiteration of the original well-played classic, now for computer! After that, I hear RE Revelations 2 and RE 7 are more than well underway already. They're out! The RE franchise is expanding faster than I have time to play. If I didn't re-run each title as many times as there are titles, then maybe time would be no issue, yet titles like this are a waste not to savor! RE DS is another one well-done.
- A couple multiplayer characters only unlock via multiplayer play. Bummer since I don't play multiplayer... is what I thought. :P But then again why am I complaining? I don't play multiplayer.
- Graphics aren't perfect, but they hold. One weird thing is the always round shadow, noticeable when you do something other than walk around, where the shadow should no longer be around. Like: take aim with that gigantic Rocket Launcher and spin around. Look at the shadow.
- Tried all endings except one where Rebecca dies. Thought Barry dying was an inevitability at first, but as it turns out he can be saved too! And you get an extra boss fight at the end. Nice. Better leave all spoilers for GF though, like how you can touch the characters for surprise animations, or get some extra perks if you get a good ending/beat the game under 3 hours. ;)
- Beating game under 3h is a piece of cake with the rocket launcher, but to get that one you need to first manage without... I tend to spend time hoarding items and killing all foes, but if you can avoid that satisfaction it doesn't need to take more than an hour or two to beat this classic. In retrospect, the level layout feels very polished and well-planned!
- Unlockable costumes and Rocket Launcher are perks I was first introduced to with RE 4, but it turns out their history dates back to the days of the original! Nice to find origins to some of the notable Easter eggs in the sequels too, like 'looking up to Ashley'. Hmm...
- I thought I wouldn't play Jill again... but I was wrong! Better ending FTW. Though whatever happened to Rebecca in Jill's alternative, and Barry in Chris's? I wouldn't mind parallel worlds, but Barry is mentioned in the intro for Chris, and there's no blood on the floor like in the intro for Chris, plus you don't get to rescue him from his cell (Jill is in that cell). He just mysteriously vanishes! The End.
- Remember... when I couldn't get past the snake? When I saved all the keys? When I actually ran out of ammo? When the game was full of surprises and scares. Them days...

It seems they come again with each sequel at keast. :) Looking forward to playing some more RE when time comes around.