Some early game spoilers here.
So I was looking for some spooky games to get into the holiday spirit and finally decided to nab a copy of Resident Evil VII. I have a pretty spotty history with the franchise. I'm more or less an advocate, Resident Evil 4 is one of my favorite games period, and I really like a lot of the games that Resident Evil spawned like Devil May Cry, Onimusha. etc. But I actually really only have a personal connection to RE4 and REmake. To keep it short, RE4 was the first game in the franchise I played and beat. I was too scared of the other games as a kid to really embrace them and was such a goody two shoes I didn't really touch M rated games until the second half of my teenage years. Anyway, I did eventually play REmake and loved it, I've gotten a couple hours into a ton of the others and liked them, but just never really finished them. My understanding of ""the lore"" is pretty weak at best, I forget who characters are and why they're relevant, etc. BUT, I think I've gone back a fair bit and have a general understanding and appreciation for what these games are or were to people.
Anyway, I'm really early in REVII still, but I'm totally loving it. I've encountered Jack twice, just at the point where I'm really exploring around and fighting molded, etc. I know there are dozens and dozens of write-ups about RE7 at this point, but what it really reminds me of is LoZ: A Link Between Worlds strangely. The thing about both games that really strikes me as masterful is the way that they both innovate to create nostalgia. Both games change fundamental gameplay but do it in such a way as to replicate the feelings of the original game, feelings that were long lost.
The feeling that players had in 1991 when they played A Link To The Past was a feeling of openness and exploration, but when you play that game today, it comes across quite differently. Following the series over the decades, we all know exactly what to expect in a Legend of Zelda game, and in reality it isn't very "open" at all, and that's fine.Playing Ocarina of Time today feels very different than what it felt like when you played it all those years ago. After decades of experience with the franchise, we have all trained our eyes, and we can now see the strings. ALBW innovates by cutting those strings and freeing the player, and as a result we actually get a product that feels approximate to what it felt like when I was a little kid playing Zelda for the first time, and that's really something.
What's so thrilling to me is how REVII feels like that kind of game to me. We've all seen a dozen first person survival horror games at this point, and they all sort of follow that Amnesia model. REVII is different. REVII takes that first person perspective to deliver a true, classic, Resident Evil experience. Making that mad dash away from an enemy, only for Jack to smash through a wall right in front of you? Turning around and dashing to that safe room, low on health and ammo? Hearing that safe music begin to play when you're finally safe, Jack still rambling by the door? You could remake REVII entirely third person fixed perspective like the original games, with it's camera shifting from one angle to the next each turn, and sure, it would mechanically feel very similar to classic RE. But those tricks? They don't work anymore. Both RE7 and ALBW make bold risks with gameplay and series convention to shine a light on the past. And that's rad.
Anyway, I'm rambling quite a bit here, but I'm having a blast and just wanted to share my thoughts and wanted to hear what others thought now that the game is almost two (!) years old.
So I was looking for some spooky games to get into the holiday spirit and finally decided to nab a copy of Resident Evil VII. I have a pretty spotty history with the franchise. I'm more or less an advocate, Resident Evil 4 is one of my favorite games period, and I really like a lot of the games that Resident Evil spawned like Devil May Cry, Onimusha. etc. But I actually really only have a personal connection to RE4 and REmake. To keep it short, RE4 was the first game in the franchise I played and beat. I was too scared of the other games as a kid to really embrace them and was such a goody two shoes I didn't really touch M rated games until the second half of my teenage years. Anyway, I did eventually play REmake and loved it, I've gotten a couple hours into a ton of the others and liked them, but just never really finished them. My understanding of ""the lore"" is pretty weak at best, I forget who characters are and why they're relevant, etc. BUT, I think I've gone back a fair bit and have a general understanding and appreciation for what these games are or were to people.
Anyway, I'm really early in REVII still, but I'm totally loving it. I've encountered Jack twice, just at the point where I'm really exploring around and fighting molded, etc. I know there are dozens and dozens of write-ups about RE7 at this point, but what it really reminds me of is LoZ: A Link Between Worlds strangely. The thing about both games that really strikes me as masterful is the way that they both innovate to create nostalgia. Both games change fundamental gameplay but do it in such a way as to replicate the feelings of the original game, feelings that were long lost.
The feeling that players had in 1991 when they played A Link To The Past was a feeling of openness and exploration, but when you play that game today, it comes across quite differently. Following the series over the decades, we all know exactly what to expect in a Legend of Zelda game, and in reality it isn't very "open" at all, and that's fine.Playing Ocarina of Time today feels very different than what it felt like when you played it all those years ago. After decades of experience with the franchise, we have all trained our eyes, and we can now see the strings. ALBW innovates by cutting those strings and freeing the player, and as a result we actually get a product that feels approximate to what it felt like when I was a little kid playing Zelda for the first time, and that's really something.
What's so thrilling to me is how REVII feels like that kind of game to me. We've all seen a dozen first person survival horror games at this point, and they all sort of follow that Amnesia model. REVII is different. REVII takes that first person perspective to deliver a true, classic, Resident Evil experience. Making that mad dash away from an enemy, only for Jack to smash through a wall right in front of you? Turning around and dashing to that safe room, low on health and ammo? Hearing that safe music begin to play when you're finally safe, Jack still rambling by the door? You could remake REVII entirely third person fixed perspective like the original games, with it's camera shifting from one angle to the next each turn, and sure, it would mechanically feel very similar to classic RE. But those tricks? They don't work anymore. Both RE7 and ALBW make bold risks with gameplay and series convention to shine a light on the past. And that's rad.
Anyway, I'm rambling quite a bit here, but I'm having a blast and just wanted to share my thoughts and wanted to hear what others thought now that the game is almost two (!) years old.
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