I've never played a Resident Evil game before, but I am sitting on a lot of them unplayed due to humble bundles

Also is there any reason to play REmake on Gamecube than the HD version?

Not really.

The original Director's Cut is fine, the Director's Cut: Dualshock edition is the problem.

The Resident Evil series has perfectly aged from a mechanical and artistic standpoint, so there's no reason to start with REmake unless you absolutely plan to not play the other games, otherwise you'll be jarringly stuck in an older environment that WILL subconciously shift the way you think about the game. That isn't good. Just play the release order. There's no reason not to. That's what the devs intended, that's what makes the most sense, that's what will make you the most happy once you get onto RE2 and RE3 which are better entries not deserving of being played after a graphical remake.

Like fuck, it's not like you're playing Wizardry. The gameplay is exactly the same. You won't be hurting for a game being old. Just play the classics. It's the best route to enjoying a good series.

Not really no, unless you got the machine and game lying around.

The HD port ain't perfect, but it's damn good. You can choose between the new 16:9 mode, which sort of pans around as player moves in the scenes, or the original 4:3 view, and can also choose between OG 30fps or 60 / unlimited modes - which really don't change much in a slow-paced 3rd person survival-horror adventure game.
Dunno about PS4 version, but I assume it's pretty much the same as the PC port, just without some graphical settings.

Now, before you start, I also want to make sure you sort of know what you're getting into. The old RE games, especially RE1 in all its forms, are far from "zombie shooters". They got much more in common with old adventure games, with tons of puzzles and such spread into their non-linear worlds, that work as "puzzles" themselves. Every encounter with an enemy can be dangerous, so you need to think your gear and routes carefully. I'd suggest heading straight to the 1st save room when you start.

I played the Silent Hills on PS1 and PS2, I think I have an idea of what I'm getting into. It feels pretty jarring I've played those and not RE.

Hmm, I'll think about it a bit more. I do want to play RE2&3 too after RE1

>there's no reason to start with REmake unless you absolutely plan to not play the other games, otherwise you'll be jarringly stuck in an older environment that WILL subconciously shift the way you think about the game.
Hard to comment on that from a point of an old fan who played these games when they came out at age of 10, but having witnessed the said total rookie pop her survival-horror cherry with REmake and totally loving it, the sequel + Silent Hill 1-4 afterwards,

I'd say REmake HD, with its beautiful visuals, more haunting atmosphere and in general "easier to be taken seriously" tone, not to mention the option of the 2D controls (yeah, I know) can be just the smooth landing a beginner may need to give the saga a proper shot.

>I played the Silent Hills on PS1 and PS2, I think I have an idea of what I'm getting into.
Ah, in that case you're very ready, I'd say.
SH did improve controls, especially melee combat a ton though, and ditched limited inventory. Just couple things to mention.
Other than that, SH was meant to be a literal RE-clone back in the days.

All three emulate great. Make sure you set your video settings so you're playing at the original PS1's resolution, otherwise the character models will look even more out of place from the pre-rendered backgrounds.

frankly RE1 is the worst of the bunch and RE2 made big improvements interms of playability.

While I would say that RE1 is still playable and very good too, I would also say that it is the one that might be the most off-putting one from the series.

So playing the remake first should be fine in my book, since it does improve many gameplay aspects, but stays verymuch true to the original game.

I forgot to mention that after the numerous replays, I played OG Re1 for the said rookie a couple times, showing some of the differences. She wasn't disgusted or put off by the original at any point, found the comparison very fascinating, but admitted that if it'd been the only choice for "RE1", she might've not given the series a fair shot.

RE1 had fairly big difference between BGs and characters in the first place. Wouldn't go above 480p though.

I'm not a big fan of emulation. Are the Dreamcast/Gamecube versions of 2&3 good?

yes, they are.
There are plenty of platform-specific differences.
/vr/'s comparison guide to the rescue!

If unsure, just go with PS1 originals.

>dreamcast is the only one at 60 fps
what the fuck? Guess I'll go for the dreamcazst version for both of them

>Hard to comment on that from a point of an old fan who played these games when they came out at age of 10, but having witnessed the said total rookie pop her survival-horror cherry with REmake and totally loving it, the sequel + Silent Hill 1-4 afterwards,
Nice try, bro. I played the series for the first time about 9 months ago.
>I'd say REmake HD, with its beautiful visuals, more haunting atmosphere and in general "easier to be taken seriously" tone
RE1's fuddy, low-fi looking PS1 graphics really helps the atmosphere and the dread.
>not to mention the option of the 2D controls (yeah, I know)
This is a beginner's trap-- the tank controls are best in play, but might take a couple rooms to get used to.
>can be just the smooth landing a beginner may need to give the saga a proper shot.
If you don't like RE1 you will not like RE2 and RE3.

There's nothing wrong with emulation. If you're going to try and play entire series, it's sometimes the best route. Unless you like, don't own a PC gamepad, in which case I'd just mock you.

>what the fuck?
majority of console games used to (and still do) play at 30fps, or less. Yes, even Silent Hills.

The 60 fps doesn't add much to this kind of games.

>Nice try, bro.
...what "try"?

>RE1's fuddy, low-fi looking PS1 graphics really helps the atmosphere and the dread.
I do agree, even more so in SH1 than RE, but not everyone see it that way. Yes, graphics-whoring is a quickly growing disease, and you usually need some visual appeal to ease people into new stuff. And boy, is REmake a total gem in that.

>This is a beginner's trap-- the tank controls are best in play, but might take a couple rooms to get used to.
True. But believe me, I tried to get this person into REmake on GC before HD port came out. Didn't work. Now, she can run from the start to the cop-station no problems in RE2.

>If you don't like RE1 you will not like RE2 and RE3.
That was not the point. Was still totally referring to the general idea of helping beginners get started with a honestly quite different and challenging sort of gameplay.

>Unless you like, don't own a PC gamepad, in which case I'd just mock you.
off the topic, but I have no problems playing REs and SHs with KB-only controls. The good ol'" tank controls" fit the old Doom control scheme like a glove.

RE1 also features the best voicework and cutscenes of the entire franchise. Performance wise it's terrible, but since the script is so goddamn generic, the unironic guffawing of the voiceactors incentivize progressing and genuinely make it a better game. If you've played Disaster Report or Raw Danger, you'll sort of know what I mean, but without hurting the tone of the gameplay.

And it's not some dub, those english VAs are in the Japanese version.

Yeah but having the whole keyboard available can make learning controls hard. Console games have an assumption that there's only about eight buttons you can possibly be concerned about and it feels a lot natural with how they designed it. Sort of minor.