History YMMV / ResidentEvil0

* ContestedSequel: ''Prequel'' in this case. The game has plenty of fans that liked it for being the last game to stick true to the series' survival horror roots before going into ActionizedSequel territory, for expanding on the original game's story and for [[AuthorsSavingThrow turning Rebecca Chambers from a scrappy to a fan favorite character]], claiming it’s essential to the series. However, it’s also got a sizable amount of detractors who see it as one of the weaker games in the series for its [[ScrappyMechanic inferior control setup]], a weaker story and noticeably harder difficulty making some parts of the game less scary and fun by comparison, declaring it [[FanonDiscontinuity non-canon]]. A smaller third group believes that [[EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame the story itself is fine, but the gameplay is repetitive]].

* FanonDiscontinuity: Fans who don't like ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilGunSurvivor Resident Evil: Survivor]]'' have been known to use the ContinuityNod to declare ''Resident Evil Zero'' non-canon.

* ThatOneAchievement: The remastered release includes achievements. Some more difficult than others:

* PortingDisaster: Downplayed, but the Switch version has [[LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading longer loading times]] compared to ''any'' other version of the game. Also, the final cutscene has audio issues due to the loading times making the whole thing off-sync.

* {{Sequelitis}}: It's generally agreed that ''Zero'' is a step down in quality from ''[=REmake=]'', largely because of the {{Scrappy Mechanic}}s.

* PortingDisaster: Downplayed, but the Switch version has [[LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading longer loading times]] compared to ''any'' other version of the game.

* ContestedSequel: ''Prequel'' in this case. The game has plenty of fans that liked it for being the last game to stick true to the series survival horror roots before going into ActionizedSequel territory, for expanding on the original games story and for [[AuthorsSavingThrow turning Rebecca Chambers from a scrappy to a fan favorite character]], claiming it’s essential to the series. However, it’s also got a sizable amount of detractors who see it as one of the weaker games in the series for its [[ScrappyMechanic inferior control setup]], a weaker story and noticeably harder difficulty making some parts of the game less scary and fun by comparison, declaring it [[FanonDiscontinuity non-canon]]. A smaller third group believes that [[EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame the story itself is fine, but the gameplay is repetitive]].

* ThatOneAchievement: The remastered release includes achievements. Some more difficult than others.
** Who's Got Herb and This is serious business. The two achievements that require a no healing run. A problem with this is unless you are good at dodging, you are required to beat the game without healing. This is also a problem if you're playing as Rebecca, who is so frail in this game that you're likely to tear your hair out. The other is using the green chemical that heals poison. There are four spider enemies and the chess puzzle where making the wrong move, you'll release poison gas which can poison both characters.

* ContestedSequel: ''Prequel'' in this case. The game has plenty of fans that liked it for still sticking true to the series survival horror roots before going into ActionizedSequel territory and for expanding on the original game with Rebecca Chambers’ story, claiming it’s essential to the series. However, it’s also got a sizable amount of detractors who see it as one of the weaker games in the series for its [[ScrappyMechanics inferior control setup]] and noticeably harder difficulty making some parts of the game less scary and fun by comparison, declaring it [[FanonDiscontinuity non-canon]].

* FanPreferredCouple: Many of the game's fans have admitted to have shipped both Billy and Rebecca. Even the collab review done by WebVideo/{{Caddicarus}} and WebVideo/JordanUnderneath have them indirectly shipping these two.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The developers explained that the reason why the Crimson Heads were not included in ''Resident Evil Zero'', after being retroactively introduced in [[VideoGameRemake the remake]] of [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil1 the first game]], is because Rebecca and Billy don't spend as much around the same place as Alpha Team does in the latter.

* {{Sequelitis}}: It's generally agreed that ''0'' is a step down in quality from ''[=REmake=],'' largely because of the [[ScrappyMechanic Scrappy Mechanics]] mentioned below.

** Unlike previous games, there are no crates for you to store your stuff in. Instead, the inventory system here works by having Billy and Rebecca ferry stuff you need from one area to the other. While it's convenient that you can finally discard items to make room, it's not so pleasant when a small majority of the items you receive, such as the hookshot, take up two slots while trying to have room to spare for your weapons, ammo, herbs, and other plot-related items. Especially since there are several moments in the game where Billy and Rebecca have to split up.
** Rebecca is disgustingly frail. While this may have been intentional to put more emphasis on Billy being the fighter of the two, there's a difference between can't take much punishment and "three attacks put Rebecca into orange caution status." It's frustrating using double the healing items necessary if you're not careful; but the game also has various goddamn enemies such as Eliminators and leech zombies who are hard to avoid regardless.
** The hatred for the partner system isn't quite as vitriolic as the above, but it is there. It means you can burn through ammo a lot faster then you intend, it requires you to keep an eye on two separate characters' health bars (if one dies, game over), and some of the puzzles relying on it are notoriously fiddly -- the "retrieve the fire key" puzzle has it worst because, if you accidentally call Billy to rejoin Rebecca after raising the cage, you get a NonStandardGameOver as the cage drops on top of her and kills her.

* CompleteMonster: [[EvilutionaryBiologist Dr. James Marcus]] was one of three co-founders of Umbrella Corporation and a MadScientist without regard for anyone or anything unlucky enough to get in his way. Running the Umbrella training facility in the Arklay Mountains, Marcus subjected at least 20 people to [[PlayingWithSyringes experimentation]] with the [[SyntheticPlague T-Virus]], resulting in their deaths. After being assassinated by Umbrella CEO Ozwell Spencer, he was resurrected when his memories and consciousness were absorbed by his most recent creation, the Queen Leech. Desiring revenge against Umbrella, he leaked the T-Virus under the Spencer Mansion and on the Ecliptic Express, killing dozens of people and partly precipitating the crisis that led to the contamination of Raccoon City itself. He had every intention of causing large-scale destruction--when Rebecca and Billy finally encounter him, he gleefully expresses his desire to destroy the entire world. Callous and amoral, Dr. Marcus's complete lack of humanity predates his transmutation into a literal monster, which merely gave him the means to demonstrate the true and terrifying extent of his depravity.

* {{Sequelitis}}: It's generally agreed that ''0'' is a step down in quality from ''[=REmake=],'' largely because of the [[Scrappy Mechanic Scrappy Mechanics]] mentioned below.

* {{Sequelitis}}: It's generally agreed that ''0'' is a step down in quality from ''[=REmake=].''

* CompleteMonster: [[EvilutionaryBiologist Dr. James Marcus]] was one of three co-founders of Umbrella Corporation and a MadScientist without regard for anyone or anything unlucky enough to get in his way. In the late 1960s, Umbrella CEO Oswell Spencer assigned Marcus to head the company's recently-constructed research center in the Arklay Mountains, which would also be used as a management training facility. Marcus seized the opportunity to use several of the trainees as test subjects for the newly-created [[SyntheticPlague T-Virus]], which he himself had developed in his lab by mixing the Progenitor Virus with leech DNA. At least 20 people were unwittingly subjected to his experiments, all of whom died and were either sent off to other laboratories for further research or dumped into the nearby sewers. In 1988, Spencer had Marcus assassinated following a decade-long schism between them; however, he was resurrected ten years later when his memories and consciousness were absorbed by his most recent creation, the Queen Leech, which had the ability to control other T-Virus leeches. Through the Queen Leech, Marcus set out to exact revenge on Umbrella. To do so, he leaked the T-Virus under the Spencer Mansion and on the Ecliptic Express, killing dozens of people and partly precipitating the crisis that led to the contamination of Raccoon City itself. He had every intention of causing large-scale destruction--when Rebecca and Billy finally encounter him, he gleefully expresses his desire to destroy the entire world. Callous and amoral, Dr. Marcus's complete lack of humanity predates his transmutation into a ''literal'' monster, which merely gave him the means to demonstrate the true and terrifying extent of his depravity.

* {{Sequelitis}}: It's generally agreed that ''0'' is a step down in quality from ''[=REmake=].'' Averted if you play the games in chronological (rather than release) order -- ''0'' is still a solid entry in the series, so playing it first makes ''[=REmake=]'' an EvenBetterSequel.

* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** Despite being the game's focal character, Rebecca still counts as one as for [[Franchise/ResidentEvil the series as a whole]]. So her fanbase was pleased to see her get her own game and they hope to see more of her in the future.
** Billy became fairly popular. So much so that his fans desperately want Creator/{{Capcom}} to reveal [[spoiler:whether he survived the Raccoon City incident]].

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The developers explained that the reason why the Crimson Heads were not included in ''Resident Evil Zero'', after being retroactively introduced in the [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil1 remake of the first game]], is because Rebecca and Billy don't spend as much around the same place as Alpha Team does in the latter.
* CompleteMonster: [[EvilutionaryBiologist Dr. James Marcus]] was one of three co-founders of Umbrella Corporation and a MadScientist without regard for anyone or anything unlucky enough to get in his way. In the late 1960s, Umbrella CEO Ozwell Spencer assigned Marcus to head the company's recently-constructed research center in the Arklay Mountains, which would also be used as a management training facility. Marcus seized the opportunity to use several of the trainees as test subjects for the newly-created [[SyntheticPlague T-Virus]], which he himself had developed in his lab by mixing the Progenitor Virus with leech DNA. At least 20 people were unwittingly subjected to his experiments, all of whom died and were either sent off to other laboratories for further research or dumped into the nearby sewers. In 1988, Spencer had Marcus assassinated following a decade-long schism between them; however, he was resurrected ten years later when his memories and consciousness were absorbed by his most recent creation, the Queen Leech, which had the ability to control other T-Virus leeches. Through the Queen Leech, Marcus set out to exact revenge on Umbrella. To do so, he leaked the T-Virus under the Spencer Mansion and on the Ecliptic Express, killing dozens of people and partly precipitating the crisis that led to the contamination of Raccoon City itself. He had every intention of causing large-scale destruction-- when Rebecca and Billy finally encounter him, he gleefully expresses his desire to destroy the entire world. Callous and amoral, Dr. Marcus's complete lack of humanity predates his transmutation into a ''literal'' monster, which merely gave him the means to demonstrate the true and terrifying extent of his depravity.

** Despite being the game's focal character, Rebecca still counts as one as for the series as a whole. So her fanbase was pleased to see her get her own game and they hope to see more of her in the future.

* EvilIsSexy: The young James Marcus seems to have been invented for the sole purpose of adding more {{bishonen}} to the series.

* {{Sequelitis}}: It's generally agreed that ''0'' is a step down in quality from ''[=REmake=].'' Averted if you play the games in chronological (rather than release) order - ''0'' is still a solid entry in the series, so playing it first makes ''[=REmake=]'' an EvenBetterSequel.

** Rebecca is disgustingly frail. While this may have been intentional to put more emphasis on Billy being the fighter of the two, there's a difference between can't take much punishment and "three attacks put Rebecca into orange caution status". It's frustrating using double the healing items necessary if you're not careful; but the game also has various goddamn enemies such as Eliminators and leech zombies who are hard to avoid regardless.

* {{Sequelitis}}: It's generally agreed that ''0'' is a step down in quality from ''REmake.'' Averted if you play the games in chronological (rather than release) order - ''0'' is still a solid entry in the series, so playing it first makes ''REmake'' an EvenBetterSequel.

** Rebecca is disgustingly frail. While this may have been intentional to put more emphasis on Billy being the fighter of the two, there's a difference between can't take much punishment and "three attacks put Rebecca into orange caution status". It's frustrating using double the healing items necessary if you're not careful; but the game also has various goddamn enemies such as Eliminators and leech zombies who are hard to avoid regardless. Another damning thing about it is that there more than a few points in which the game has no problem forcing Rebecca through dangerous elements by means of plot necessity.

** Rebecca is disgustingly frail. While this may have been intentional to put more emphasis on Billy being the fighter of the two, there's a difference between can't take much punishment and "three attacks put Rebecca into orange caution status". It's frustrating using double the healing items necessary if you're not careful; but the game also has various goddamn enemies such as Eliminators and leech zombies who are hard to avoid regardless.

* VindicatedByHistory: ''Resident Evil Zero'' had to compete with being released after the remake of the first game which considering the incredible reception to that game, was no easy task. It also introduced a lot of new features like the partner system and lack of item boxes, and both were disliked by just about everyone. With the HD re-release of the game, however, a lot of detractors have been much kinder to it, and have stopped comparing it to the RE1 remake. It's now regarded as a flawed, but ultimately entertaining and unique entry in the series.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The developers explained that the reason why Crimson Heads were not included in ''Resident Evil Zero'', after being retroactively introduced in the ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil1 remake of the first game]]'', is because Rebecca and Billy don't spend as much around the same place as Alpha Team does in the original.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The developers explained that the reason why Crimson Heads were not included in ''Resident Evil Zero'', after being retroactively introduced in the ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil1 REmake]]'', is because Rebecca and Billy don't spend as much around the same place as Alpha Team does in the ''[=REmake=]''.

* VindicatedByHistory: ''Resident Evil Zero'' had to compete with being released after the ''[=REmake=]'', which considering the incredible reception to that game, was no easy task. It also introduced a lot of new features like the partner system and lack of item boxes, and both were disliked by just about everyone. With the HD re-release of the game, however, a lot of detractors have been much kinder to it, and have stopped comparing it to ''[=REmake=]''. It's now regarded as a flawed, but ultimately entertaining and unique entry in the series.