Capcom released the original Resident Evil games on Steam late last night. This was apparently done as part of the 30th anniversary of the franchise, but it's far from a joyous celebration.
The releases that hit Steam last night include: Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2, and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. All of three of these games were out by late 1999 and yet Capcom felt compelled to released them on Steam with their Enigma DRM.
Do you know what else Capcom did? Due to the inclusion of Enigma, these 30 year old games are unplayable on Steam Deck without having to jump through some hoops. There are also no achievements, nor did they even include support for cloud saves on Steam. Mod support is also impacted with many players stating that popular mods, such as Resident Evil Classic REbirth, causes the games to crash after the first cutscene.
There are some improvements in these Steam releases, but these are courtesy of the work GOG put into the games for their platform. For example, here are the features included in the Resident Evil 2 release on Steam.
6 localizations of the game included (English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese).
Improved DirectX game renderer.
New rendering options (Windowed Mode, Vertical Synchronization Control, Gamma Correction, Integer Scaling and more).
Improved audio volume and panning.
Improved cutscenes and subtitles.
Improved savegame manager.
Improved game video player.
Issue-less game exit.
Improved game registry settings.
Improved key-binding settings and audio settings screens.
Improved end credits in the German version.
Fixed issues with Rooms 114 and 115 (missing text), Room 210 (invisible diary), and Room 409 (looping sound).
4th Survivor and Tofu modes enabled from the very beginning.
Graphic Option Settings Overview
"Display mode" - Provides the control over monitor resolution and refresh rate.
"Presentation" - Provides the control over presentation mode (fullscreen / windowed).
"Aspect ratio correction" - Provides the control over image aspect ratio correction.
"Scaling method" - Provides the control over image scaling mode (how image is scaled on a monitor).
"Vertical synchronization" - Provides the control over vertical synchronization (frame synchronization).
"Gamma Correction” - Provides the control over gamma correction (image brightness).
"Anisotropic filtering" - Provides the control over anisotropic texture filtering technique (texturing quality).
"Antialiasing" - Provides the control over anti-aliasing technique (3D geometry edges smoothing).
Features
2 Separate Adventures! Command Leon S. Kennedy, a rookie cop who stumbles onto the carnage reporting for his first duty, or play as Claire Redfield, desperately searching for her missing brother.
Cutting edge 3-D accelerated graphics that create a terrifying, photo-realistic experience.
3-D accelerated graphics and non 3-D accelerated settings to maximize performance whatever your setup.
Features complete versions of both original U.S. and the original Japanese versions of Resident Evil 2.
New Extreme Battle Mode: Battle your way through hordes of zombies as your play the hyper-intensive challenge that changes every time you play.
All new Resident Evil 2 picture gallery.
The game's secret scenario available from the very beginning (no need to finish it under certain conditions first).
Improved DirectX game renderer.
New rendering options (Windowed Mode, Vertical Synchronization Control, Gamma Correction, Integer Scaling and more).
Improved audio volume and panning.
Improved cutscenes and subtitles.
Improved savegame manager.
Improved game video player.
Issue-less game exit.
Improved game registry settings.
Improved key-binding settings and audio settings screens.
Improved end credits in the German version.
Fixed issues with Rooms 114 and 115 (missing text), Room 210 (invisible diary), and Room 409 (looping sound).
4th Survivor and Tofu modes enabled from the very beginning.
Graphic Option Settings Overview
"Display mode" - Provides the control over monitor resolution and refresh rate.
"Presentation" - Provides the control over presentation mode (fullscreen / windowed).
"Aspect ratio correction" - Provides the control over image aspect ratio correction.
"Scaling method" - Provides the control over image scaling mode (how image is scaled on a monitor).
"Vertical synchronization" - Provides the control over vertical synchronization (frame synchronization).
"Gamma Correction” - Provides the control over gamma correction (image brightness).
"Anisotropic filtering" - Provides the control over anisotropic texture filtering technique (texturing quality).
"Antialiasing" - Provides the control over anti-aliasing technique (3D geometry edges smoothing).
Features
2 Separate Adventures! Command Leon S. Kennedy, a rookie cop who stumbles onto the carnage reporting for his first duty, or play as Claire Redfield, desperately searching for her missing brother.
Cutting edge 3-D accelerated graphics that create a terrifying, photo-realistic experience.
3-D accelerated graphics and non 3-D accelerated settings to maximize performance whatever your setup.
Features complete versions of both original U.S. and the original Japanese versions of Resident Evil 2.
New Extreme Battle Mode: Battle your way through hordes of zombies as your play the hyper-intensive challenge that changes every time you play.
All new Resident Evil 2 picture gallery.
The game's secret scenario available from the very beginning (no need to finish it under certain conditions first).
If you still want the inferior versions of the game through Steam, you will be able to pick them up for 50% off until April 15 at 10 AM PT.
Originally released in 1996, the critically acclaimed Resident Evil spawned a franchise that has gone on to sell more than 183 million units. Throughout the first three entries in the series, play as iconic characters like Leon S. Kennedy, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Claire Redfield as you solve puzzles, disarm traps, unravel mysteries, and face off against powerful creatures and enemies like Nemesis, Mr. X, the legendary Lickers and more.
And for RPG adventure genre fans, Breath of Fire IV, the fourth entry in the classic series, follows the adventures of Ryu as he teams up with other warriors to stop an evil immortal emperor and save the world.
