Resident Evil 7 is a dang scary game, and at many times does NOT feel like a Resident Evil because of it. In the vein of recent indie horror games like Amnesia and Outlast, RE7 does not feel new in its presentation, however it does champion itself on being another title in the classic survival horror franchise.
What RE7 succeeds at is what the first four games also found promise in, and thats intriguing lore with a mysterious twist as well as containing campy characters and villains in a terrifying setting. It felt like going all the way back to the Arklay Mountains (RE1) with a fresh set of villains and a different disease at hand. Instead you find yourself as protagonist Ethan Winters in the Louisiana Bayou trying to track down your missing beloved, Mia. Soon enough you learn how absolutely messed up her situation is upon your introduction and time spent with the Baker family. The Baker's are hilarious and over the top, while simultaneously being frightening and devious. There are times you'll laugh at their mannerisms and well-written humour (Jack) but also be mortified by their transformations and actions (the Mother.)
RE7 saw Capcom go back to what made the series thusfar (minus RE6) so captivating, the lore. They spend the entire game building up the intrigue and attributes of the mold. How does it act? How does it infect? How do the infected react? How does this pertain to Ethan and the world at large? These questions are slowly answered throughout the game's near eight hours of campaign. Again, just like RE1 through RE5 I found myself desperate to discover new lore files, flipping through every document I could get. This is what makes the game so magical, even if it was extremely scary at points due to jumpscares and the excellent musical score, I felt motivated to continue.
Mechanically though, this is one of the more frustrating RE experiences because enemies are a dang bullet sponge and the inconsistincies of how much damage they take can be quite penalizing. They also move a little too fast for Ethan to react and shoot in time, even if my FPS reaction times were up to snuff.
Visually this game is beautiful and I frequently found myself in awe of the detail Capcom went to make a terrifying setting, even if you don't travel that much. Every room was filled with so much detail from the floors, to the plates, to the doors, to literally everything. It truly felt like the developers and artists went to the highest length they could to make the player really feel like they were in the same environment Ethan was in. Lighting and shadow-work was phenomenally done from the early interior segments of the game to the exterior traversal.
Capcom may not have invented the first person horror genre, but they brought one of gaming's most beloved series to it, and made it a very memorbale experience. Rock on Ethan Winters, you loveable meme.
What RE7 succeeds at is what the first four games also found promise in, and thats intriguing lore with a mysterious twist as well as containing campy characters and villains in a terrifying setting. It felt like going all the way back to the Arklay Mountains (RE1) with a fresh set of villains and a different disease at hand. Instead you find yourself as protagonist Ethan Winters in the Louisiana Bayou trying to track down your missing beloved, Mia. Soon enough you learn how absolutely messed up her situation is upon your introduction and time spent with the Baker family. The Baker's are hilarious and over the top, while simultaneously being frightening and devious. There are times you'll laugh at their mannerisms and well-written humour (Jack) but also be mortified by their transformations and actions (the Mother.)
RE7 saw Capcom go back to what made the series thusfar (minus RE6) so captivating, the lore. They spend the entire game building up the intrigue and attributes of the mold. How does it act? How does it infect? How do the infected react? How does this pertain to Ethan and the world at large? These questions are slowly answered throughout the game's near eight hours of campaign. Again, just like RE1 through RE5 I found myself desperate to discover new lore files, flipping through every document I could get. This is what makes the game so magical, even if it was extremely scary at points due to jumpscares and the excellent musical score, I felt motivated to continue.
Mechanically though, this is one of the more frustrating RE experiences because enemies are a dang bullet sponge and the inconsistincies of how much damage they take can be quite penalizing. They also move a little too fast for Ethan to react and shoot in time, even if my FPS reaction times were up to snuff.
Visually this game is beautiful and I frequently found myself in awe of the detail Capcom went to make a terrifying setting, even if you don't travel that much. Every room was filled with so much detail from the floors, to the plates, to the doors, to literally everything. It truly felt like the developers and artists went to the highest length they could to make the player really feel like they were in the same environment Ethan was in. Lighting and shadow-work was phenomenally done from the early interior segments of the game to the exterior traversal.
Capcom may not have invented the first person horror genre, but they brought one of gaming's most beloved series to it, and made it a very memorbale experience. Rock on Ethan Winters, you loveable meme.