This is no April Fool's joke. Capcom's just casually dropped the original Resident Evil trilogy onto Steam without warning, alongside the publisher's cult classic JRPG Breath of Fire 4.
With no prior announcement, Capcom re-released all three PS1 games in its first survival-horror trilogy earlier today: 1996's Resident Evil, 1998's Resident Evil 2, and 1999's Resident Evil 3. All un-remade and un-remastered.
The only improvements that are present come from the games' previous GOG ports, which include "improved timing of the cutscenes," "improved game video player," and new rendering options, as well as the four localization options that the games first launched with. All that is to say, expect a very different kind of horror if you first jumped into the series with its boulder-punching memes or hot witches/uncles.
Breath of Fire 4's Steam version is also a similar deal. The oft-forgotten fantasy romp previously came out of retirement on GOG, and this new re-release includes many of the same features, including but not limited to improved keyboard and mouse support, restored audio, and more graphics options.
Best of all, all four classics are available with a -50% introductory discount slashing their price tags down to $4.99/£3.99 for the next two weeks – that's less than a cup of coffee in most places nowadays and an absolute steal for games this good.
All four games have also already amassed 'Very Positive' reviews on Steam – no shock there – but reactions aren't universally glowing. Capcom's quietly and retroactively added DRM, Enigma, that wasn't bolted on to the games' GOG releases.
DRM is almost always a sticking point for gamers concerned about their privacy and possible performance issues, and the same applies to these older Resident Evils and Breath of Fire 4.
"DO NOT BUY RE1 FROM STEAM, BUY IT FROM GOG," as one fan puts it. "Windowed mode is broken, no steam overlay, no achievements, minor graphical issues, and more. These issues persist over ALL 3 original games." Some other user reviews claim these versions are broken on Steam Deck and refuse to launch entirely on certain PCs.
