You have access to all sorts of weapons in Resident Evil. Pistols, shotguns, rocket launchers—you name it, and it's somehow sitting around an abandoned mansion. Players can also wield a knife, except it's super weak and has to be used extremely close range. It's a backup plan. Unless, of course, you're one of the many obsessed with playing the game with only knives.
Knives-only playthroughs have existed for a while, stretching back to the original game. Even Capcom was convinced people wouldn't want to use the knife. There's only one sequence in the game requiring players to swing it around, which is why the section includes another knife!
But the legend persisted. Someone at GameFAQs even wrote an entire guide about it in 2002.
You mean the idea is to take on all those Zombies armed with just that
titchy little knife?
-Yes.
But what about the dogs?
-Them too.
But surely not the Hunters...
-Even the Hunters.
The giant Spider?
-Not a problem.
If you say so... Ah, but what about the Bosses? You always need your
biggest guns for them! I mean the Snake, and that Plant Virus thing!
-It's OK, honestly. Just the knife.
Stop right there. You CAN'T take on Tyrant with 'just' a knife.
-Well, I didn't say it was going to be easy...
Too right! It's madness! I just don't believe you can do it.
-I'm not going to. You are!
In fact, it wasn't until the most recent update to REmake where the series actually acknowledged the "strategy," which is tied to unlocking the game's "CQC FTW" achievement.
(We're still saying FTW?)
I remember dying a whole lot in Resident Evil, especially on the bosses. I'd dump buckets of bullets into these monstrosities, only to watch as my virtual guts spilled into the floor. Then, I watch people do stuff like this, taking out the game's toughest enemies with a tiny dagger:
Fine, you made the Nemesis walk in circles. He's a slow-moving dope. What about Plant 42?
Are you kidding me? Step it up a notch. Now, I wanna see you take out the snake boss.
I give up. You keep your knives, I'll fight off legions of the undead with my rocket launcher.
You can reach the author of this post at patrick.klepek@kotaku.com or on Twitter at @patrickklepek.