This is the game I bought my PlayStation for. I originally bought one with my brother at launch with Ridge Racer, but completed that very quickly and didn’t see much else interesting. We sold that one, and when this game was released I used the money I had from that sale to buy my own. Initially I couldn’t afford a memory card, and so had to start from scratch every time. As such I remember large parts of this game very well thirty years later.
As either Jill or Chris you explore the mansion, killing monsters and solving item-based puzzles. You are very limited with your ammunition and ability to save. The acting is truly awful. There is no way these people were actually real actors.
I never played this version though, the Director’s Cut. It includes a new arrange mode in which most of the puzzle items are shuffled around the house. There are also new camera angles throughout the mansion. I thought I’d try it since I do love this game and it would give a new spin on something I am very familiar with. In the end I don’t think it really adds a huge amount though. I read online that this version was actually created to soften the blow of Resident Evil 2 being delayed after having been scraped and started again. It does have the feel of a quick and dirty hack now that I think about it.
This time I actually managed to complete the game in under three hours, which unlocks a rocket launcher with infinite ammo for your next playthrough. It is quite funny to wander through the game absolutely obliterating zombies with the most powerful weapon normally only available for the final boss.