Resident Evil 7 Biohazard
Continuing my journey through the RE Engine games due to the hype for RE Requiem coming out soon, I went back into the horrors in the swamp in RE7. This is one of my top favorites in the series and I always have a hard time with figuring out where I'd place it, especially in regards to its sequel. The best way I've found to explain my feelings about these games, RE7 and RE8, is I compare them to Zelda Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Now they don't share the same map but there are other similarities with how they're constructed like how they go about introducing the cast of villains you face throughout the games and of course it's a story with the mold and Ethan and Mia and of course them being the only first person perspective mainline entries in the series.. But for the most part the similarities stop there. Now more of what I find similar to the Zelda games is RE7 like Breath of the Wild, no pun intended, breathed new life into the series. The Resident Evil series was going more and more into the realm of action eclipsing the horror as discussed at length in my RE6 review, Granted from what I've read, RE6 did sell well but a lot of fans became more and more disenfranchised with the series and Capcom recognized that. So they decided to go back to basics with aesthetics but at the same time went to new ground with gameplay mechanics, mostly in the perspective.
One thing that can't be denied that played a huge role in the inspiration for RE7 was PT, the playable teaser for the cancelled Silent Hills game that Hideo Kojima was working on for Konami before his departure from the company. It’s crazy to think how much this game was inspired by PT. How the greatest Silent Hill game that never was, helped rejuvenate the Resident Evil franchise. But to be honest it wasn't just PT. I believe the shift that was already occurring in the horror genre that gave it huge popularity especially at the time in the 2010's with games like Amnesia the Dark Descent and Outlast, played a huge role in Capcom's decision to give the first person horror game mechanic a try. But the choice with being in the "murder house" so to speak, was definitely influenced by PT. And all this was only for the betterment of the series. I felt more strongly about this back when the game came out but over the years since and as I've played more horror games, I've found that I personally prefer games that blend action and horror which is why I always loved the Resident Evil series.
This game was definitely a hard pivot towards horror but it becomes more action horror and more fun for me personally. This got even better when getting to Lucas’s part especially after all the traps but then the game takes that back and puts you back in the survival horror aspect with Mia. Doing this kind of feels annoying because it also slows down the pace in the story to a halt which was already slowed down in the story itself but the pace picks back up very slowly like you’re starting a new game again. This is because the flashback scene feels a little too out of nowhere and like jumping the shark because there’s no hint of any setup to that. This actually becomes more of a criticism of RE8 in that I feel Mia should have had a bigger part of the action as that would have retconned a little making this part with Mia being an action star out of nowhere make more sense. It also has you explore the ship and then explore it again which only works at the beginning of the game with the first tape because of how small the area that’s covered. The other tapes you get so much sooner than the parts you play with Ethan that it doesn’t feel like playing a part over and over again back to back and also each tape is a lot smaller in size. Yes this one adds to the story and lore but honestly I feel it could have been achieved with cutscenes and files found when playing the normal timeline with Mia. Also maybe they can still show more of this action hero aspect of Mia by having her be a surprise character you play in RE9 or maybe RE10 if that picks up where 8 left off.
This time I noticed one of the random criticisms I've heard from time to time which is the janky hair mechanics especially with Mia. It does get a little wild but not enough to break immersion unless you're looking for it in my opinion. Speaking of hair, it’s interesting they made Chris look like the classic RE1 original and RE2 original Extreme Battle version especially with his hair. I guess it serves more to the soft reboot concept with RE7. I remember when the game came out all the questions on whether that was actually Chris or not considering that he’s in an Umbrella helicopter. Another random thing I enjoyed is the mention of Alyssa Ashcroft with her article you read in this game. Showing she isn’t just being picked completely out of obscurity and making me wonder if and how Ethan Winters and or his story will be referenced in RE9.