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We invited Nomad, from the Retro Wildlands podcast, to discuss the Resident Evil series and its many replay values. Nomad shares personal stories of his own experiences with the franchise, as well as proposing a unique solution to make the game even more thrilling. Join Nomad, Jay, and Squidge as they explore the thrilling world of Resident Evil and discover its hidden secrets.

Here's a sample of the full show notes - make sure to click through and check them out.

Content Warning

We talk about Resident Evil a lot in this episode, from the first game to the most recent one. As such, and because these are horror games, this episode is not meant for the ears of the innocent.

Please listen responsibly.

Show Notes

As Squidge says in our new intro:

From active timer battling to zombie slaying, Waffling Taylors covers video games and beyond. We are kicking off the new year and the new season of Waffling Taylors retro and beyond with a bang. Because why not?
Today we are joined by Nomad from the Retro Wildlands podcast. We've teased him in from the Wildlands to talk about Resident Evil. So when you're ready, strap yourselves in for our episode on the Resident Evil franchise named Resident Evil Requiem for a Jill Sandwich.
- Squidge

I mean, that says it all really. And, believe it or not, Squidge came up with that off the cuff. He's pretty good at words and that, is our Squidge.

But just what is the Retro Wildlands Podcast? Well, in Nomad's own words:

My podcast is about the games that I have discovered or rediscovered while roaming the gaming wildlands. That sounds good, that's my catchphrase.
But really what it is, is I'm a 38 year old guy who loves video games, and I've grown up playing games most of my young adolescent life and well into adulthood. My episodes are around games specifically, and what I try to do is I have my episodes around a couple of different parts. They're one part review, they're one part game overview, they're one part my experiences and personal memories, and they're one part nostalgia. Mix all that together and that's my show. Basically my goal is if you've played a game before that I'm talking about, I hope you end my episode with a bunch of nostalgia and all them tingly feelings that you get. And if you've never played the game before, hopefully it's a nice introduction into what the game is and maybe something you may want to play. And if not, maybe you just listen to me talk for an hour, and I killed a little bit of your time.
- Nomad

Because the guys were talking nostalgia and Resident Evil, Squidge brought up his Resident Evil 2 specific controller - we first mentioned this controller back in episode 7: Sega Wrist - It's called the BIOHAZARD dedicated controller, and you can find out more about this controller over on the Resident Evil fandom wikia page for it.

Resident Evil (1996) & Resident Evil 2 (1998)

Squidge wanted to start the discussion with Nomad by talking about the first episode of his podcast - one which just so happened to cover the first Resident Evil game. In fact, he wanted to know why Nomad started with Resident Evil:

So Resident Evil is where it all started for me as a gamer.
Now, that's not to say that's the very first game I ever played. I've been playing games since, more or less. The Cradle, the Nintendo at my grandmother's house, the Super Nintendo that my parents got a couple of years after that. So I've had games. But it was Resident Evil that solidified my passion for video games.
- Nomad

Nomad then shares a story from the first episode of his podcast about how he first experienced Resident Evil. We're going to leave the story out of the show notes, as there's already two different sources for it (Nomad's show, and this episode).

The effect that the Resident Evil series has had on popular culture cannot be understated, but also worth noting is the tension that the original brought to the table - if you're willing to set the goofy voice acting to one side that is:

And the tension in that game was so thick and we had no idea what to expect.
I mean, Resident Evil is everywhere now. And most people, I would think, that are semi familiar with the series kind of know what it's all about. But the very first time we played it, we didn't know why zombies were in this mansion. We didn't know why these dogs were running around. What is really going on here? And that mystery really drove us and we bonded over it.
And that whole experience, once we were done with it and put it away for something else, that's what I knew. I want more of these experiences in my life. And Resident Evil was by far the biggest catalyst for me.
- Nomad

On the back of this, both Squidge and Jay share their stories on how they discovered Resident Evil, and Jay mentions the many different branching pathways through Jill's scenario. And the guys agree that there are quite a few different ways to achieve certain story points. With just one example being:

...off the very top of the staircase, a side room, you come across a long corridor that's full of blood and someone's injured and has been through there. And you come across Forest, I think his name was, another member of the Stars team.
Now, depending on when you decide to go up there, Barry may actually be up there and you have a conversation with him and he gives Jill the bazooka. But depending on what you do, he may not actually be up there sometimes.
And the little things like that, that influence the story, little decisions that you're making that you don't even realize that you're making, really enhance that experience.
- Nomad

Most Memorable Games

Since this is a discussion about Resident Evil as a whole, Jay wanted to ask Nomad:

Out of the different games that this series has to offer, what would you say is your most memorable game to play?
- Jay

And Nomad brought up an often-forgotten title in the series: Resident Evil Outbreak (and it's sequel File #2). This title had a great twist on the Resident Evil formula, as it was multiplayer. The set up was the same (albeit with different characters): get out of the city, avoiding zombies and felling monsters, all the while solving puzzles. Unfortunately, it was released in the UK too late for Squidge or Jay to have played it online, but all three of the folks in this episode had played it, back in the day.

You're playing everyday survivors that are in Raccoon City and you're put in I think the first game had five and the second had four scenarios where you're given an objective, "get to this point", "evacuate from here", "find this thing", some sort of scenario. And it recreates th...