If you're not familiar with tank controls, yeah. It's gonna be brutal. The opening to RE2 is pretty tough as you get to grips with how to control it

It likely doesn't help that the tank controls make every character control like they're drunk, and the area felt like it was too narrow to avoid zombies, though maybe it wasn't as narrow as I thought.

Part of it is also learning how zombies attack and when it's safe to move past them or not

I was hoping that rookie mode would make it easier for me - no such luck haha

You generally gotta bait out a grab, backpedal away from it and then slip by? But I confess I never really got to grips with classic RE games yet

Ah, okay. I guess them throwing four or five zombies at you at the start probably doesn't help. (Not much room to dodge)

Yeah. RE2's opening is tough for a first time player. I'll confess that when I tried the first time I couldn't even make it to the RPD

It's... yeah.

It's rough out there for a first time player.

I also tried Silent Hill 1 and had a similar issue. (Though I'm pretty sure that was scripted - I was surrounded by short people or children with knives, and I couldn't attack them or get away)

So don't feel bad if you're struggling

Yeah, that's scripted.

Thanks.

I get that control options might have been limited and 3D was fairly new, but the tank controls make playing PS1 games frustrating. I couldn't even make it out of the first room in Tomb Raider 2. (I haven't played enough of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver to judge it)

At least Mega Man Legends 1 seemed fine from the tutorial.

(I had noticed that the PS3's store was still up, so I've been getting games on that - I never had a PS1 or PS2, so I'm seeing what I missed out on)

MML1 does give you more options with strafe buttons, and combining them with moving forward gives you a lot more mobility

But yeah. Tank controls take adjustment and itme.

Once you get used to them though?

You should be okay. My buddy Sparterson ended up a tank control savant after fucking up and then a day or two later he just kinda clicked with it

I also picked up Dino Crisis 2, since it's apparently more action-focused than the first. (I've heard good things about the series)

Thanks for the encouragement!

This opening segment feels like it's dragging on for too long. Maybe it's intentional to make you feel the dread/desperation, but even with an intentionally overpowered weapon (a machine gun that has infinite ammo), it feels like it's taking an insane amount of time just to find a healing item or a save point.

(if I'd been playing on Easy mode, I probably would have died 8 or 9 times at least)

Made it to a save point, at least.

I do like the PS1 RPGs that I've played, though. (I have Final Fantasy 7-9 on the Switch, but I got Legend of Dragoon, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Suikoden - I also got Chrono Cross a while back, though I haven't played it yet)

Yeah, the run at the beginning of RE2 is more meant to give you a sense of scale versus the original RE and put the fear of the undead into you. It does a really, really good job of that because your resources are so limited you have no choice but to run

But that's not easy when running around isn't intuitive