Well, it depends on how you look at it. If you don't care about finding out why people are where they are in the first game, you don't need to worry about it. If you're interested in learning how the whole series started out and why, then it's the game to start with. It's not the best game, I'll agree, but it's worth it to learn more about stories and stuff. The wii release cut the story down to the bone giving no clarification of what was going on, but it does let you see what happens a little more between the two games
I really wouldn' t recommend playing it for its story. Complete useless filler crap. Not to mention Rebecca instantly goes from badass in 0 to useless in 1. As a game I didn' t like it as much as ReMake, but not by far, I still played it to death. Its switching and inventory mechanics can get tedious here and there, especially on further replays, but if you ask me it still beats the full action shooters the series has become.
