Resident Evil 7 Review - Welcome to the Family

[Lizzy Finnegan]

Resident Evil 7 Review - Welcome to the Family

Resident Evil 7 is in your face, behind your back, and under your skin horror, and it features the most suspenseful, terrifying setting I've seen since the Spencer Mansion. Disappointing boss fights and forgettable puzzles are overshadowed by atmospheric horror, enjoyable gameplay, and enemies you love to hate.

Read Full Article

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Still a salty Resident Evil fan that prefers the Fixed Camara ones:

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Horror will always work better in first person. It's the perspective that doesn't distance the player from the stakes. Whether it's done effectively though is down to the developer. Am glad Capcom are finally back into putting time and effort into things once more.

 

[LysanderNemoinis]

While the review was good, the one thing that all reviewers never mention is whether or not RE7 still fits tonally with the old games and if there are clear connections to the ongoing lore and overall plot. Despite being a horror game, the RE series has never been as dark or messed up as stuff like Silent Hill and has been more optimistic generally. And as a long-time fan, perhaps I'm the only one, but I care more about the story than the scares. I'd rather have another action game that advances the plot than a scary game that's some kind of soft reboot.

 

[Gizen]

While the review was good, the one thing that all reviewers never mention is whether or not RE7 still fits tonally with the old games and if there are clear connections to the ongoing lore and overall plot. Despite being a horror game, the RE series has never been as dark or messed up as stuff like Silent Hill and has been more optimistic generally. And as a long-time fan, perhaps I'm the only one, but I care more about the story than the scares. I'd rather have another action game that advances the plot than a scary game that's some kind of soft reboot.

There are connections to the previous games lorewise, however those connections are, to the best of my knowledge, few and very spoilerish. The latter of which I would imagine is the main reason reviews aren't bringing them up. They're not the main focus of the plot, so there's no real way to bring them up without it either feeling like a tangent, or spoiling something. And as far as tone, judging by what I've seen, it definitely fits because it's got that right combination of horror mixed with shit that's so ridiculous you can't help but laugh.

 

[LysanderNemoinis]

While the review was good, the one thing that all reviewers never mention is whether or not RE7 still fits tonally with the old games and if there are clear connections to the ongoing lore and overall plot. Despite being a horror game, the RE series has never been as dark or messed up as stuff like Silent Hill and has been more optimistic generally. And as a long-time fan, perhaps I'm the only one, but I care more about the story than the scares. I'd rather have another action game that advances the plot than a scary game that's some kind of soft reboot.

There are connections to the previous games lorewise, however those connections are, to the best of my knowledge, few and very spoilerish. The latter of which I would imagine is the main reason reviews aren't bringing them up. They're not the main focus of the plot, so there's no real way to bring them up without it either feeling like a tangent, or spoiling something. And as far as tone, judging by what I've seen, it definitely fits because it's got that right combination of horror mixed with shit that's so ridiculous you can't help but laugh.

Thank you. And that does make me feel a bit better about things. Given the last trailer and seeing Ethan apparently get into a chainsaw duel, I felt the tone might be slightly lighter than it first seemed. Part of me is still holding out hope that the big twist of the game will reveal that Ethan is really Billy Coen under an assumed name, but I know that's not the case. Billy would be too old for Ethan if he's supposed to be in his twenties like his wife (presuming they're in their twenties).

 

[Xan Krieger]

Watched Achievement Hunter do a let's play of this and it's freakin brutal. It's scary just watching and the graphics are amazing. It's not my type of game (I'm more an RTS gamer) but based on everything I've seen and read this would be a great standalone game, just doesn't look or feel like past Resident Evils.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Is it fair to say its a once great franchise if the only good ones were 1, 2, 4 and half of 0?

 

[Tahaneira]

While the review was good, the one thing that all reviewers never mention is whether or not RE7 still fits tonally with the old games and if there are clear connections to the ongoing lore and overall plot. Despite being a horror game, the RE series has never been as dark or messed up as stuff like Silent Hill and has been more optimistic generally. And as a long-time fan, perhaps I'm the only one, but I care more about the story than the scares. I'd rather have another action game that advances the plot than a scary game that's some kind of soft reboot.

There are connections to the previous games lorewise, however those connections are, to the best of my knowledge, few and very spoilerish. The latter of which I would imagine is the main reason reviews aren't bringing them up. They're not the main focus of the plot, so there's no real way to bring them up without it either feeling like a tangent, or spoiling something. And as far as tone, judging by what I've seen, it definitely fits because it's got that right combination of horror mixed with shit that's so ridiculous you can't help but laugh.

Thank you. And that does make me feel a bit better about things. Given the last trailer and seeing Ethan apparently get into a chainsaw duel, I felt the tone might be slightly lighter than it first seemed. Part of me is still holding out hope that the big twist of the game will reveal that Ethan is really Billy Coen under an assumed name, but I know that's not the case. Billy would be too old for Ethan if he's supposed to be in his twenties like his wife (presuming they're in their twenties).

Having watched some early gameplay, it seems like there are absolutely bits of RE silliness in the game; it's just overshadowed by the fact that this kind of stuff would be terrifying as shit and the main character doesn't really brush it off the way previous ones usually did.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Is it fair to say its a once great franchise if the only good ones were 1, 2, 4 and half of 0?

You didn't think 3 was that good?

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Is it fair to say its a once great franchise if the only good ones were 1, 2, 4 and half of 0?

You didn't think 3 was that good?

Honestly I don't. At least not compared to the others that were out at the time, 1 and 2 and certainly not compared to 4. Zero I grant wasn't for everyone. It worked for me, because it's basically a full length DLC for Resident evil 1.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Is it fair to say its a once great franchise if the only good ones were 1, 2, 4 and half of 0?

You didn't think 3 was that good?

Honestly I don't. At least not compared to the others that were out at the time, 1 and 2 and certainly not compared to 4. Zero I grant wasn't for everyone. It worked for me, because it's basically a full length DLC for Resident evil 1.

0 had interesting features, like doing away with the Item Chests, forcing you to strategically place important items in certain rooms.

(Even though most people would just leave items where the Save Typewriter is)

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Horror will always work better in first person. It's the perspective that doesn't distance the player from the stakes. Whether it's done effectively though is down to the developer. Am glad Capcom are finally back into putting time and effort into things once more.

I'm not sure I agree. First-person can feel like an out of body experience, with how awkwardly you view and interact with your surroundings and are unable to perceive your character's body. Third-person is able to add details that you don't see in first-person.

Details like? Character clothing and firm buttock shapes? I was talking more about the horror and immersion, not gameplay fidelity. Surely a camera outside the player character body would be far more an outer-body experience than a camera in their eyeballs? Awkwardness is a plus for adding tension. Not sure what you mean with interacting with surroundings though, I tried elder Scrolls games in third person and had a terrible time trying to steal people's dinners and pillows with an armoured lizard man doing a poor impression of a window. With a game like Resi 7, I want that camera all up in the dirt, grime and decaying flesh...I want to feel like my face is close enough to lick the damn filthy wallpaper for emergency sustenance! Ethan's buttocks may be firm and fine, but they are not going to help with immersion and tension in tight spaces. Well...

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Horror will always work better in first person. It's the perspective that doesn't distance the player from the stakes. Whether it's done effectively though is down to the developer. Am glad Capcom are finally back into putting time and effort into things once more.

I'm not sure I agree. First-person can feel like an out of body experience, with how awkwardly you view and interact with your surroundings and are unable to perceive your character's body. Third-person is able to add details that you don't see in first-person.

Details like? Character clothing and firm buttock shapes? I was talking more about the horror and immersion, not gameplay fidelity. Surely a camera outside the player character body would be far more an outer-body experience than a camera in their eyeballs? Awkwardness is a plus for adding tension. Not sure what you mean with interacting with surroundings though, I tried elder Scrolls games in third person and had a terrible time trying to steal people's dinners and pillows with an armoured lizard man doing a poor impression of a window. With a game like Resi 7, I want that camera all up in the dirt, grime and decaying flesh...I want to feel like my face is close enough to lick the damn filthy wallpaper for emergency sustenance! Ethan's buttocks may be firm and fine, but they are not going to help with immersion and tension in tight spaces. Well...

Who says horror elements can't be shown with a character model? Sweat, shivering, a submissive posture, a pale face, wide eyes, slanted eyebrows, the head reacting to noise, heaving of the upper body. Things that needn't disrupt the gameplay. Body language is where a lot of the horror comes from in horror movies. I don't feel like the character in either view, but third-person at least gives you a visual of their body in relationship to the environment, whereas first-person gives you nothing. You can't feel yourself. The disembodied character holds whatever they are holding like a robot, always up high in the center of their vision. I find funny when people say first-person is more realistic when you're basically a tripod on wheels, with a gun attached to the end. It offers no peripheral vision, and you can't look to the side without stopping a run (because almost no games let you run sideways) or facing away from an enemy, since the disembodied camera turns in conjunction with the legs. First-person isn't better. It's just different.

Edit: Lol, the reactions I'm getting from my Steam version of this post are entertaining.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/418370/discussions/0/133255603283036772/

I didn't say it was more realistic, just more immersive when done well. If you feel you need to see the character performing emotions to be more immersed, then that's your bag, if you'd rather be the observer to someone else's performed emotions instead of experiencing your own organically then I can't convince you otherwise. Third person works for some games, definitely wouldn't want first person for most experiences, just atmospheric horror. And there are titles that you can see the body by looking down. Any camera in anything is disembodied, so not sure how a third person camera is somehow less disembodied than first person. If you don't like the view, that's fine. But I think it works better for some experiences than others.

 

[TheFinish]

I've been playing it for a while and I really like it. I feared it would be like Amnesia or Outlast, but it's actually a lot like Alien:Isolation, except Inventory management is a much, much more important aspect of this game.

I mean I rage about the character being a slowpoke and some parts of the game took me out by being unintentionally hilarious, but its still a very enjoyable game.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I'm pleased to hear it's proving to be a pretty good game. I guess RE6/Umbrella Corps really were the bottom of the barrel.

 

[bjj hero]

Resident Evil 7 Review - Welcome to the Family

Resident Evil 7 is in your face, behind your back, and under your skin horror, and it features the most suspenseful, terrifying setting I've seen since the Spencer Mansion. Disappointing boss fights and forgettable puzzles are overshadowed by atmospheric horror, enjoyable gameplay, and enemies you love to hate.

Read Full Article

Thank you for the review.

Could I please ask, how long did it take you to play through? Did you feel the need to start again once you had completed it? Or is it a case that you'd seen everything?

I loved Alan Wake but I dont think Id ever play it a second time. Some games are not like that.