Now I know what you’re thinking: “Oh sweet Jesus, Patrick is discussing Resident Evil yet again!” But as you may gather, I’ve been disappointed with how the series is going and how Capcom has made a mess of things and blamed the fans for it. I’m a big fan of the series and feel we deserve better. As for Resident Evil 7, I was uncertain of how I felt.
Now I’m thankful Capcom has changed the game’s framework and made it into something different. I’m happy the series is taking a departure from this stupid “dramatic horror” nonsense, which is really just another way of saying that the game includes over-the-top action and adventure. There is no need for that in the Resident Evil franchise. So for those who whine about the change, come on, many of you asked for that kind of gameplay, and it happened.
But I have some concerns that stem outside of this pitiful argument.
So, I must make it clear that the concept of a FPS horror title isn’t new in itself—Capcom doesn’t have any original ideas, and where they could have created a game changer, they’re following the heard. It’s a shame as Resident Evil 4 did change things for gaming. I saw very early on that Capcom’s motive was to cash in on the P.T. hype. It’s clear Capcom saw what Silent Hills was going to be, before the plug was pulled, and they knew they had to step up the game by copying the demo in many ways. But now that P.T. is out of the picture, they have no competition and can essentially create a P.T. clone that will be successful. I’m sure I’m not in the wrong when I say that many of us know this to be true, and that we will certainly buy the game because of it.
Even though Capcom swears that P.T. hasn’t influenced Resident Evil 7’s development, I beg to differ. I can understand if it’s been in development before P.T. came about, but the demo is a clear sign they’re going for gold and making the P.T. clone everyone desires!
But there’s another game coming out that is very similar, Outlast 2, which I believe most people have forgotten about. It might be that the developers are just waiting it out or cursing Capcom for producing an idea very similar to theirs, but it’s very generic. A husband looks for his kidnapped wife, he faces groups of murderous hillbilly cannibals, and he has to eat some questionable stuff during a dinner scene. Oh, yeah, very original! P.T. seemed highly original and set to deliver a complex horror game with interesting narrative and gameplay.
While I like the concept of the RE7 demo with its interesting dynamics and multiple choices, I find it hard that such an engrossing amount of dynamics will be in the main game. Capcom has clearly just tried to replicate the P.T. demo, and with much respect, they have done so, but it probably won’t be enough. Maybe I’d be fine if it was another company, but it’s Capcom after all, and they’ve been extremely lazy in recent years. I mean they canceled the last Mega Man game because the fans didn’t come up with enough good ideas, then they released a Dead Rising remaster, and they even created yet another port of Resident Evil 4. Capcom should just fully remake their games—at least it’ll show that they care about the experience, rather than just shoving the same one into our faces.
I’m not too convinced about the narrative I’ve seen so far, too. I get that Capcom wants to go for a B-movie concept, and that’s great, as it captures an essence of what the series was all about. As I mentioned before, the idea has been done to death. You don’t have to be a movie expert to name 10 movies with this concept, and now it’s appearing in quite a few games from big developers. There doesn’t seem to be much of a new dynamic in place when it comes to the upcoming Capcom title, just some more murderous hillbillies.
Maybe it’s the trailers that put me off, I didn’t find them to be all that great. The latest one just kind of puts it in perspective: we’ve got the freaking Terminator! I mean the dad of the Baker Family is like Superman on crack. He gets shot, set on fire, and blown up, yet still manages to keep strong even without taking an aspirin. Even Nemesis has to take a little break after a few frozen rounds to the face. But Nemesis was terrifying, so wouldn’t it be more fun to be chased by something like that?
RE7 just seems much more tamed; more of a human threat is in place, and it’s kind of boring. The cat and mouse type game we’re seeing so far makes it very similar to yet another game: Haunting Grounds. The formula is the same—you’re not a fighter, you’re more of a runner. Well, wouldn’t that be up to the player if you’re focusing on VR? At least give us something that’s scary and not just the rejects from the Hills Have Eyes. Although, I must admit, I do like the amount of detail that goes into the world’s design and the creepy factor it has. Even the graphics look pretty decent, up until the particle effects, such as fire, that look awful. This could ruin the immersion and it did for me in the latest trailer when the dad was on fire. Just looked poorly animated.
Also, the trailers didn’t explore very much in terms of the world or the enemies other than the dad and some moments with the mom. Are they the main enemies in the game, or are there more? Even Alien Isolation knew we’d get bored of the alien and threw in the cool Working Joes as other forms of antagonists. We’re just exploring, waiting for them to come through a wall and get beat? I just don’t sense a world being made—not from the trailers we’ve seen. And while the demo is enjoyable and I like all the little secrets, it does just feel like a P.T. clone. It has an interesting setup, but overall, it’s trying too hard to capture what made P.T. unique. On the plus side, there are no QTEs apparently!
Maybe I’m wrong and I hope so. I am keen to play Resident Evil 7 and see what the series has in store for us next. So far, I sense Capcom is just taking the most popular ideas around and throwing them together in a big old bucket of rotten gumbo . By doing so, everyone will love it since it’ll take advantage of virtual reality. I suppose, though, that we should rate it on its merit and not just because we’re wearing a VR headset. But, I’ll eagerly wait for its arrival in January.