The beloved PS1 classic, Dino Crisis, has finally made it to PS4 and PS5 consoles. However, the news is more a curse than a blessing. One of the best Capcom games comes locked behind the PlayStation Plus Premium paywall, and to make matters worse it doesn’t even come with trophy support. This has left many long-time fans frustrated as it feels like a real slap in the face instead of a long-desired revival.
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Capcom’s Dino Crisis was released in 1999 and created by Shinji Mikami. It follows Regina and her team as they investigate cataclysmic outbreaks of deadly dinosaurs in closed environments. The game became a massive success for Capcom, spawning three more games and a long desire for a new installment since the last release back in 2003.
Praised for its survival horror atmosphere and sci-fi storyline, it sold over four million copies. While enjoying popularity similar to Resident Evil, Capcom decided for the latter to be its mainstay. That said, Resident Evil, launched in 1996, has been getting a string of remakes and remasters that proved to be a success for Capcom, including Resident Evil 4.
To reiterate, Dino Crisis is on the PlayStation Premium Plus tier, which will set anyone back a massive $119.99. This decision has left many fans feeling disappointed and mad, as they cannot purchase the game separately like other retro titles in the PlayStation catalog.
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Capcom and Sony have certainly pushed away die-hard fans of the franchise by locking it behind subscription. To add insult to injury, the lack of trophy support further adds to the frustration, making it feel like an incomplete re-release without a proper reason to get the digital-only copy.
For a game with such a loyal fan following, this is more than a missed opportunity for both Capcom and Sony.
The disappointment behind the effort is reflected in fan comments. One fan, @bazely2354, expressed his disappointment on Twitter, stating: “It is pretty disappointing honestly, shame about the lack of trophies but I’d say the incentive of playing it is to experience the story and have fun, unfortunately not many people can now as it’s paywalled.”
He is not the only one as another Dino Crisis fan, @Gaius_Gaming, said, “I really wanted to sit down and play DC tonight after a long day. Not even upset, just disappointed as I had a gut feeling this was going to happen. I’ll just dig my copy and ps2 out of the closet instead.”
It’s a big miss when players would rather play the game without all the benefits of modern hardware, and resort to older console iterations of the game. However, it is clear that fans wouldn’t hesitate to outright buy the Dino Crisis PS4/PS5 iteration.
This only tells the story of how deeply fans still care about the Dino Crisis. The original game hasn’t lost its fanbase despite its age. Its impact remains strong enough for players to dust off old consoles rather than churn out unfair amounts of money for a subscription fee that isn’t doing any good with other titles in its catalog.
Adding to that notion is X user @gregForEvermore, who said, “It was such a disappointment to see this today after being very excited to play it @CapcomEurope @PlayStation Doesn’t even have trophies, what incentive is there to even play this now if I can’t own it digitally.”
There is now only hope that Capcom and Sony will listen to the fans’ backlash and make Dino Crisis purchasable at least. That said, there is a strong desire for a full remake/remaster behind the original title as many are eager to revisit the classic, but only in the right way. Locking it behind a costly subscription certainly isn’t one, and just leaves a sour taste.