Edit Oct 7 - Thanks to everyone's advice I beat the game! The biggest advice came from coming to terms with I'm not supposed to be able to do everything on my first play through. Rather, I focused on the cases and got survivors time permitting.

Hey guys - I was hoping you could help me out.

It being October, I've decided I'd like to try and stay thematic with my games this month and play games appropriate for Halloween. Since I kind of non-ironically like zombies, the first game I'm going to tackle is Dead Rising. I bought the game on day of release years ago but just never got quite into it, and I think part of the reason was that I just never understood the right way to play it.

I'm not looking for a FAQ or walk through, just general advice on how I should be playing. I'm not supposed to be able to beat 72 hour mode on a single run try, right? I think this is the hardest thing for me to come to terms with. Rather, I need to play until I die, start over with my leveled up Frank, and make another run at it, right?

You got it. Keep building that XP before you even consider beating the game.

I'm sure there are people that have run through starting from a level 1 Frank, but that's madness to me.

what he said. just play the game and kind of dick around and level up. try to do the first few mission over and over again as they will help you level up. you dont really play a dead rising game for the story. you play it to level up lol

@ShaggE said:

I'm sure there are people that have run through starting from a level 1 Frank, but that's madness to me.

I played Dead Rising all the way through for the first time last month. I did it this way, and it didn't seem that bad to me.

@Soapy86 said:

@ShaggE said:

I'm sure there are people that have run through starting from a level 1 Frank, but that's madness to me.

I played Dead Rising all the way through for the first time last month. I did it this way, and it didn't seem that bad to me.

Madness, sir! Madness!

... I'm just jealous because I never finished either game. I love the first few hours of both, but man... once everything starts going to shit and you can't throw a frying pan without hitting a zombie, it just gets too frustrating for me.

@ShaggE said:

@Soapy86 said:

@ShaggE said:

I'm sure there are people that have run through starting from a level 1 Frank, but that's madness to me.

I played Dead Rising all the way through for the first time last month. I did it this way, and it didn't seem that bad to me.

Madness, sir! Madness!

... I'm just jealous because I never finished either game. I love the first few hours of both, but man... once everything starts going to shit and you can't throw a frying pan without hitting a zombie, it just gets too frustrating for me.

I haven't played the second one yet. How far have you gotten in the first?

If you play the second one, keep in mind the correct way to play it is coop with a friend, not singleplayer.

You could probably do what I did for Dead Rising 2 - just play through for fun, die and restart, etc. until I was around level 30, then I used a FAQ to do one "perfect run" where I did everything and got the best ending.

Thanks for the help everyone!

And @Rolyatkcinmai: is like Borderlands in the sense that it's fine as a single player, but clearly designed to shine if doing it co-op? Because I have the 2nd one and was going to give it a go depending on how my experience with the original goes.

I'd say Dead Rising is one of those games where there is no right or wrong way to play it, just have fun however you want. A lot of people restart to build up the early levels but I haven't done that in any Dead Rising and found it perfectly manageable.

@C0V3RT said:

Thanks for the help everyone!

And @Rolyatkcinmai: is like Borderlands in the sense that it's fine as a single player, but clearly designed to shine if doing it co-op? Because I have the 2nd one and was going to give it a go depending on how my experience with the original goes.

Yeah, absolutely. It might be fun in singleplayer, but play it with a buddy and it's exponentially better. You'll be laughing so hard you'll lose your breath.

@C0V3RT: id say you can play DR2 single player no problem. playing it co op is the exact same thing only with another person.all depends on your prfernce

@Soapy86 said:

@ShaggE said:

@Soapy86 said:

@ShaggE said:

I'm sure there are people that have run through starting from a level 1 Frank, but that's madness to me.

I played Dead Rising all the way through for the first time last month. I did it this way, and it didn't seem that bad to me.

Madness, sir! Madness!

... I'm just jealous because I never finished either game. I love the first few hours of both, but man... once everything starts going to shit and you can't throw a frying pan without hitting a zombie, it just gets too frustrating for me.

I haven't played the second one yet. How far have you gotten in the first?

I honestly don't remember. It's been quite awhile since I've played it.

@C0V3RT: It's a lot of fun in co-op, but also a lot easier, so leveling isn't as important. That said, I'm not sure how good a "perfect run" would work out in co-op, since you're constantly rushing from one objective to another and risk running out of time if one of you goofs off somewhere.

@ShaggE said:

@Soapy86 said:

@ShaggE said:

@Soapy86 said:

@ShaggE said:

I'm sure there are people that have run through starting from a level 1 Frank, but that's madness to me.

I played Dead Rising all the way through for the first time last month. I did it this way, and it didn't seem that bad to me.

Madness, sir! Madness!

... I'm just jealous because I never finished either game. I love the first few hours of both, but man... once everything starts going to shit and you can't throw a frying pan without hitting a zombie, it just gets too frustrating for me.

I haven't played the second one yet. How far have you gotten in the first?

I honestly don't remember. It's been quite awhile since I've played it.

Oh. Well, if you ever pick it up again, you should stick with it. The game goes in some pretty interesting directions towards the end that I wasn't expecting.

@C0V3RT: You need to give up on the idea that you can play it perfectly, you're not going to be able to save everyone (hell, you are unlikely to find everyone) or beat all the Psychos your first time thru (Can you do a 100% run from level 1? Yes, but you really need to know the game inside and out to do it).

This is a game about failure and the acceptance of loss. Always put a premium on saving your own skin because if you die then no one will know the truth.

You also need to be willing to let go and restart if you get yourself in too much trouble -- though this is less necessary than giving up on those you can't save when it will cause you to die (a very early group of survivors is very hard to save and a lot of people give up right there in frustration).

Embrace the imperfection that is Frank West.

@OldGuy: Wow, thanks a ton. Looking at it from that perspective should really help.

Restarting makes you appreciate new skills and knowledge you have gained and thus makes you enjoy the game more. Suddenly you find that you are fast enough and smart enough to save that lady or kill that psycho.

Remember to try saving all the people you can, not only you get good amount of XP, but you can get one of the best achievements ever.

Is there an appropriate level I need to start worrying about Psychopaths? I was still pretty low leveled and remembered Adam the clown. When I got the call I went to go take him on and he pretty much ate my lunch. Do I just worry about case files/survivors the first few passes?

I played two to four hours into it several times when I first started and it didn't quite click. It was really good, but I never hit my time-management stride.

Then I sat down and ground away to level fifty and suddenly it all made sense. That game was/is my Dark Souls Jr. It's pretty tough if you play it right, the time limits are constricting, but it can be done and enjoyed.

But if you exploit it...

I'll tell you, running through the halls with the RMB, those three magazines, six bottle of orange juice, and Adam's chainsaws is a highlight of games for me. Busting the game completely is why it's on my top five list.

This is cheap, but here goes:

Take a run and grind out the Zombie Genocider achievement. Do this by driving to the parking garage and running over zombies with the vehicles in there (and the red convertible parked outside it). There are helpful video guides for this so you know about how long the vehicles can go before petering out, and when and where you can gather orange juice and wine for yourself when you need to heal.

When you kill the thousands of zombies you need for the achievement, hang out at the helipad where the game ends. Obviously you'll get probably the worst possible ending, but that's fine. When you restart the game after seeing the credits roll the first time, you'll see a very specific heirloom from a very specific Capcom franchise in the saferoom. It'll carry you through some of the harder fights in the game, and respawns when you leave and return to the saferoom.

Again, this is cheap. And it's a tedious process. But eh. Just another option.

Don't ruin it for yourself by looking up guides online(except for boss fights, seriously, the game is fucking impossible if you don't exploit them). Just fuck with it and have fun. It is meant to be replayed several times on the way to the end.

Best way to play this game is to level up first, and try to unlock the powerful weapons. Mega Buster makes the game a lot more manageable.

@HistoryInRust said:

This is cheap, but here goes:

Take a run and grind out the Zombie Genocider achievement. Do this by driving to the parking garage and running over zombies with the vehicles in there (and the red convertible parked outside it). There are helpful video guides for this so you know about how long the vehicles can go before petering out, and when and where you can gather orange juice and wine for yourself when you need to heal.

When you kill the thousands of zombies you need for the achievement, hang out at the helipad where the game ends. Obviously you'll get probably the worst possible ending, but that's fine. When you restart the game after seeing the credits roll the first time, you'll see a very specific heirloom from a very specific Capcom franchise in the saferoom. It'll carry you through some of the harder fights in the game, and respawns when you leave and return to the saferoom.

Again, this is cheap. And it's a tedious process. But eh. Just another option.

This is the way of the coward, and will only detract from the enjoyment of the game. Zombie Genocide should be one of the last things to do.

@charlie_victor_bravo: I'd contest both points in your first sentence. But not the point of the second.

Play Deadrising: Case Zero. Its basically Deadrising in a nutshell. It has the grinding elements, save innocent civilians, the always on a time limit frustration, and a boss battle. Its also a few hours long and pretty damn fun, I didn't burn out like the first Deadrising because its not this crazy long experience. When you die, its only like an hour into the game, so its not a huge loss unlike the first game where you could lose 5 or 6 hours.

Also, if you enjoy it, play Deadrising: Case West. It has the most boring setting out of the Deadrising series, but you'll get a near maxed out character plus a co-op AI partner if you can't play with someone.

@HistoryInRust: I had actually already gotten that achievement a few years ago when I was into getting achievements. That save had since been wiped. I don't think I'd want to do that though because like you said, feels kind of cheap and isn't really the way the game was meant to be played.

@SomeDeliCook: I've played Dead Rising Case Zero and S ranked it. Heck of a game, however feel as if it doesn't really show the player just how demanding some of the save/time juggling mechanics can get.

Alright, I finally beat it! Thanks everyone for all your advice. Really, coming to terms with not being able to do everything on my first play through helped. Rather, looking at it that Frank is in the mall for a story so progressing the case is the most important thing to focus on. I ended up rescuing 27 people. There were a few others I saw but didn't have the time to figure out how to save them.

I finished as a level 40. It was on my 3rd run through that I was really able to progress. I do feel as if I cheesed it a little as I found the books that gave the mini chainsaws x27 their lifespan and would always carry three on me at a time.

I got the "ture" ending. A bit bummed the game's ending was just a bunch of text that tells you what happened after the escape. No real desire to give infinity mode a go. I may go back at some point and try to tie up a few seemingly low hanging fruit achievements. I could have swore I defeated 10 psychopaths but I guess not.

I'm a bit Dead Rising-ed out so Dead Rising will have to wait until next year. I am, however, sticking with my thematic month of games appropriate for Halloween and will be finally be going back to SAW.