If you plan to play this on current hardware, make sure to use the KainGL patch by Verok, which makes the game fully compatible with modern OS. Google "KainGL" to find it. As far as the game itself goes: An above-average action-adventure title in the console style, I enjoyed the ~13 hours it took to beat the game, but it definitely has many issues. The high points are mostly on the side of presentation -- the sound in particular. The game has incredibly above-par script & VA, a standout compared to the vast majority of games from it's time. It is a very moody game, with a large variety of abilities and enemies that give it a nice visual variety, even though the actual environments can start to feel a bit samey after about the 2/3 mark. The combat is barely passable, having god awful hit detection that makes it never quite feel "good" since you will often find yourself needing to move to just the right spot to hit the enemies, with very little feedback outside of audible "oofs" when you get it right. The difficulty curve is good for the majority of the game, but starts to fall apart near the end, with it being incredibly punishing and annoying to try and fight enemies in combat, but incredibly easy as long as you saved your consumables through the course of the game. Those consumables and spells are very fun though, giving unique death animations. The story itself is just OK, though the voice acting and dialogue itself is strong enough to let it punch above it's weight class. It's more valuable as a starting point in the Legacy of Kain series, but as a standalone title it often feels very rushed and like it's missing connective tissue. The feel of the game, in my mind, makes it seem like big chunks had to be left on the cutting room floor. The endings are very anticlimactic, though do their job as setup for Soul Reaver. As a standalone game, it's passable. As the first title in the Kain series, I think it's worth playing.
Holds up incredibly well, highly recommended. Unlike the more faithful RE1 remake, the remake for 2 is so dramatically different that I think it's still extremely worthwhile to go back & experience this even if you play the remakes. RE2 felt like such a big jump in scope & experience from 1, with so much cool stuff like the dual narrative system, more map variety, side content, etc... the translation was improved, the voice acting dramatically better. Graphically it looked fantastic, and the art direction has enough personality to stand out even today. IMO RE2 is a serious high point of the franchise with how much it defined the style & atmosphere of the games that followed, at least until the post-remake age leaned harder into the serious horror direction. A near perfect game, taken for what it is.
A really solid port of an absolute classic. It might not have all the bells & whistles of the remake, but there is still something very special about the feel of the original Resident Evil. Highly recommended, especially if you never played it.
