I was like you. I didn’t finish RE1 for the FIRST time until like 2 or 3 years ago. I played the others, absolutely LOVED RE0 (it’s my favourite of all time, don’t judge) and really enjoyed RE2, 3, and Code Veronica on the DC. but I just couldn’t get through RE1.

what helped me was using a walk through. I also found the mansion confusing and got lost all the time. But using a walkthrough that didn’t have spoilers in it really helped and allowed me to enjoy the game a lot more. a lot less aimless backtracking as because of the walkthrough I knew where to go and many times later on I remembered stuff I needed to do and exactly where it was.

But even then if you still can’t stick with it don’t feel guilty or force yourself to. You already know the story, you know what happens, you know where all the lore from the first game leads to, etc. I forced myself in the past to play and finish games I felt like were a chore and I regret it. I mean I wasn’t a big fan of RE5 and 6 and I couldn’t finish them but that didn’t stop me from enjoying other games in the series. Hell I never finished Kingdom Hearts 2 but beat many of the other ones. I got insanely frustrated with the “dance water dance” guy and just stopped, never picked it up again and that was like 20 years ago.