Resident Evil 7: A Brilliant Game to Test Your Stomach

source: en.wikipedia.org

by Penny Lai

     For gamers, one of the most exciting things that happened in the beginning of 2017 is that, Resident Evil 7, after almost 5 years since its last issue, came out and swept the players off their feet. And the company is the world-famous Capcom, a Japanese video game developer and publisher, which is most famous for its significant games such as Street Fighter, and Resident Evil franchise. This time, Capcom is turning over a new leaf of Resident Evil. and introduce the fans to a whole new perspective of this game.

     Capcom tried various and relatively new ideas in this new work after a long pause. Unlike the previous main series, Resident Evil 7 is to be played from the first-person perspective. To go with that, they also published a version of the game that can be purchased in VR in Play Station. This change of perspective in the 7th edition of the series also modifies and spices up the game experience, the protagonist can turn 180o degrees in a short time, attacks can be parried off to reduce the harm, only to name a couple of examples. Some players might experience a certain degree of dizziness due to the first-person perspective on either normal screens or VR headsets. However, it certainly gives the players an extra kick of excitement in horror games like this.

     Another difference that Capcom made in their new hit game is the background of the story and the protagonists. In the previous series, the protagonists had some level of skills and well trained for weapons and combats. While in this one, the protagonist, Ethan Winters, is no more than an ordinary husband who got a call from his missing wife three years after her disappearance. Thus, he steps out on the adventure and is determined to rescue her. Ethan enters the property of the Baker family in order to find his wife, Mia. The Bakers, seemingly possessed by some kind of evil spirits, vow to rid themselves of any intruders and restore the family whole. Players have to find all the resources they can in order to survive through the story against the Baker family. With little weapon knowledge and few combat skills, Ethan must gather what he can find and make the best of them. That is also a crucial difference that the players and critics have been discussing -- the change of styles.

     One of the issue under heated discussion among fans is its transition from action horror to survival horror. In the previous editions, the game style focused more on action and horror. During some combats in the story, the game presents the fights through cut-scenes; it gives the players a cinematic similitude. In the 7th edition, the game developers start a new story line and focus more on the survival and horror aspect. The developers with Capcom realize that the story of Resident Evil franchise has gone too far from the original concept by the issue of the 6th edition of the series. The story line expended widely as the biohazard terror grew world-wide. Therefore, Capcom decided to switch to the story line of a side story that happens in the year of 2017. And with the feature of first-person perspective, the gamers can feel the tension constantly building up; the whole atmosphere in the game differs greatly from other games in the franchise. 

     For the diehard fans of the Resident Evil series, this new page might be the most wanted. Capcom wins over the old supporters’ favor and takes the first-timers by surprise after the 5th and the 6th edition were given the criticism of “going down the slope” and something along the lines. However, in this edition, the story can be considered as an episode of the bigger story line. It will be a challenge for the developers to decide whether to pick up the original adventure or to keep on going with this sidetracked but delicate exploration for their next story.