For years, if not decades, fans of the Resident Evil series have been clamoring for a modern re-release of the original Resident Evil trilogy, the classic games that started it all. The first three games from the franchise got proper remakes, and the remakes are available on a multitude of platforms. However, the original and beloved games were still unavailable (other than selected games on the PlayStation Store), until today.

GOG (formerly known as Good Old Games) announced today through their social media accounts the re-release for PC of the original Resident Evil game from 1996. This announcement comes without any previous news about the game coming to PC at all, being shadowdropped at the very moment of its release on the digital platform.

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Resident Evil 1 on GOG comes with full compatibility for Windows 10 and 11, support for 4 languages (English, German, French and Japanese), an improved DirectX renderer, new rendering options, improved timings for cutscenes, improved video player, support for modern controllers, completely free of any DRM, and with the full uncensored content that the original RE1 was so elusive to include in a whole package, and all of these for the measly price of $5 USD.

Not only that, but GOG also announced that both Resident Evil 2 (1998) and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999) will also be available on GOG at a later date, with both featuring the same level of features, be it Windows 10/11 compatibility, better video and audio playback, Spanish and Italian added as additional languages (including the 4 already present in RE1), modern controller support, DirectX rendering, etc. RE2 will have both the Tofu and 4th Survivor modes unlocked from the start,

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It's still unknown whether or not this classic RE trilogy bundle will make its jump from GOG into Steam, since there hasn't been any official confirmation on the matter.

Additionally, it's worth noting that, apparently, these PC ports are all based on the original SourceNext ports from back in the day, and while this port of RE1 isn't compatible with the Classic Rebirth mod(s) out of the box, according to people online, if the user downloads the 1.01 patch for the Japanese version of the port from the SourceNext versions and implements the patch this port, the port will now effectively be compatible with Classic Rebirth. It still remains to be seen whether or not the RE2 and RE3 ports will also be compatible with Classic Rebirth.

Resident Evil (1996) on GOG
Resident Evil 2 (1998) on GOG
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999) on GOG
Resident Evil Bundle on GOG

 

[Robert Newbie]

RE 3 is the best videogame ever

I'm in camp RE2 all day, but I played quite a bit of RE3. I went through the Mercenaries mode more times than I care to admit. RE2 will always be my favorite, since it introduced me to the franchise.

 

[Lumstar]

So, is this the version with the good soundtrack?

I believe RE1 Director's Cut (and RE2 Dual Shock for that matter) wasn't brought to PC.

 

[Necron]

What did you do to make it work?
I currently have an error saying "Failed to initialize the DirectX" when trying to boot it with Classic Rebirth + Seamless HD Project installed.

I haven't gotten it to boot at all.

I'm not using the HD textures, so I haven't looked into that.

That said, I followed Carci's guide on how to install. He does mention at the end he'll make another guide for the HD textures, however.


Which basically boils down to:

- Downloading the Japanese version
- Downloading the 1.01 patch on Classic Rebirth
- Downloading the dll on Classic Rebirth
- Downloading the music and video packs

After all that's done, I followed the "I have visual glitches" section of Classic Rebirth's page troubleshooting https://classicrebirth.com/index.php/re1cr-troubleshooting/

After I did that, everything worked as intended, with very minimal visual glitches (like a slightly wobbly shadow under the character)

 

[Spectremint]

I really appreciate seeing more GOG love! GOG's emphasis on older titles pretty much cemented it as one of the storefronts I actively use, and I hope this move gets more people to use it.
Also, does this mean that Deadly Silence is no longer the best way to play the original Resident Evil outside of the remake? lol

 

[64bitmodels]

A lot understandably prefer Steam for everything, but GOG is DRM-free so it's actually the best PC gaming store. I'll buy on discount even if I don't end up playing.

Steam can be DRM free too, some games don't even use steamworks (which is really hard to call DRM honestly)

its just that they both support it and don't support it, and most companies would rather have DRM than not.


BTW for emojis.... where is the steam deck emoji?

 

[ShadowOne333]

Wait what the fuck, SH4 is on GOG? Is it still there or?

It's still there last I checked.
It's been there for years at this point.

 

[ShadowOne333]

I'm not using the HD textures, so I haven't looked into that.

That said, I followed Carci's guide on how to install. He does mention at the end he'll make another guide for the HD textures, however.


Which basically boils down to:

- Downloading the Japanese version
- Downloading the 1.01 patch on Classic Rebirth
- Downloading the dll on Classic Rebirth
- Downloading the music and video packs

After all that's done, I followed the "I have visual glitches" section of Classic Rebirth's page troubleshooting https://classicrebirth.com/index.php/re1cr-troubleshooting/

After I did that, everything worked as intended, with very minimal visual glitches (like a slightly wobbly shadow under the character)

I think the visual glitches are fixed by using dgVoodoo. I have yet to try out the full installation, but I found this video for RE1 CR+SHDP on Steam Deck, maybe it helps you too:


I'll post if I got it running as well

 

[Necron]

I think the visual glitches are fixed by using dgVoodoo. I have yet to try out the full installation, but I found this video for RE1 CR+SHDP on Steam Deck, maybe it helps you too:


I'll post if I got it running as well

Yeah the section I mentioned was the dgvoodoo. Still after those there are very minimal wobbles, but just a nitpick.

 

[RetroNerdGamer]

It's still there last I checked.
It's been there for years at this point.

Does it run okay? Because like, to get it on PS2 was it? Would be impossibly expensive at this point so GOG might be the only way I can play it lol

 

[ShadowOne333]

Does it run okay? Because like, to get it on PS2 was it? Would be impossibly expensive at this point so GOG might be the only way I can play it lol

I haven't gotten it to run yet since I play on Steam Deck, but I've heard from many people online that it runs great, except for a minor timing issue which the devs already noted and will be fixing in the next update.

 

[RetroNerdGamer]

I haven't gotten it to run yet since I play on Steam Deck, but I've heard from many people online that it runs great, except for a minor timing issue which the devs already noted and will be fixing in the next update.

Ah cool. I might get it on GOG then.

 

[peter8]

The German PC copy was 100% full Uncut all the time The German PSX DC version was to 99% Uncut.
All other copys was still censored, also the Japan original PSX copy was not fully Uncut.
But in the end, mostly all other games was banned and strong censored in germany. So Resident Evil 1 was one of the best highlights to buy.

(So far I remember there was also a full 100% Uncut copy in France)

Please Port it to Vita Yeah

 

[Aergisgeist]

Maybe once I beat the versions I got on the Vita, I'll play it again here. Glad they're finally getting another release, and not left to be lost to time

 

[drazenm]

Who could resist Remiliking a dead cow when you have sheep that just "must" own it on all platforms

 

[ShadowOne333]

Who could resist Remiliking a dead cow when you have sheep that just "must" own it on all platforms

Thing is before this, the original 3 RE games weren't available for purchase anywhere else, outside of a very specific version of the original RE1 (Director's Cut) on PS4.
This isn't a case of milking a dead cow, but rather making it available in the modern day.