Resident EVII

Has anyone played?

I consider myself a huge fan. 1, 2, and 4 are all among my favorite games ever. The series is admittedly pretty bloated with junk.

Typically this is a series I'd pre-order, but my disappointment with the last few entries, particularly the last one, which I didn't even finish (5 with Sheva I didn't mind that much actually, it just didn't feel like a RE game), along with this changing to First Person, which I'm really not fond of, as well as a couple bad pre-order experiences of late, along with a few other things that seemed to just make this game deviate from the cannon, and I just felt compelled to see some reviews.

Well, reviews are in and are pretty consistently solid. And after reading some of them, even the complaints are things I'm interested in, like it being too exploratory. So I ordered it last night.

Just checking to see if anyone else has gotten going yet? I know there's a few other RE guys on here.

Never played a RE game before, but saw the trailer and it looked good.

Played for about an hour and its creepy as hell. I can only imagine how much worse it gets as the game goes on.

They promised to go back to their old roots, never happened. I watched the demo only to be disappointed. No fixed camera (though, I don't mind it being not having tank controls anymore).

Rename this game to [I]Resident Evil: Outlast[/I]

Why are they so stubborn? RE3: Nemesis & RE2: Apocalypse (movie) were so good, don't know what happened after. It's like they grew tired of having just zombies. It was zombies, zombies, zombies + having a zombie freak monster. But now, it's 1 zombie & 5 zombie freak monster.

RIP Survival Horror.

@Thorpe, you didn't like RE3? I felt like that was their best game.

[QUOTE=$LakerGold]They promised to go back to their old roots, never happened. I watched the demo only to be disappointed. No fixed camera (though, I don't mind it being not having tank controls anymore).

Rename this game to [I]Resident Evil: Outlast[/I]

Why are they so stubborn? RE3: Nemesis & RE2: Apocalypse (movie) were so good, don't know what happened after. It's like they grew tired of having just zombies. It was zombies, zombies, zombies + having a zombie freak monster. But now, it's 1 zombie & 5 zombie freak monster.

RIP Survival Horror.

@Thorpe, you didn't like RE3? I felt like that was their best game.[/QUOTE]

I liked all of the first four. But 3 was probably my least favorite of that group. And honestly, it took some time for 4 to grow on me. It was too big a change for me. But in the end it's just a really well done game.

The thing about 7 that most intrigued me, in spite of the first person, which I really am not a fan of, is being inside again. The haunted house thing. The maziness of the estate, which is the thing I most fondly remember about the first game. The claustrophobic sense of being pinned in and thinking something might be able to trap you, even though it doesn't always happen.

I won't have the game until next Friday apparently. I bought it online from Gamestop because I had a gift card from Christmas. I've been spoiled by Amazon.

Mine delivered last night. A full five days sooner than I was told it would. I didn't get home in time to get it installed and start playing though.

[QUOTE=Thorpesaurous]Mine delivered last night. A full five days sooner than I was told it would. I didn't get home in time to get it installed and start playing though.[/QUOTE]

My copy is installed but I haven't touched it. I'm close to finishing Witcher 3 and then I'll start RE 7. I'm interested in your take on it Thorpe....especially knowing your aversion to 1st person games.

So I have had very little time. But managed to get through the first half hour or so, which amounts to very little at the pace I play. I just got to the first save point really. And I haven't actually killed anything, or even seen anything.

But even with just that, the tone and mood are just crazy. I'm genuinely scared while I'm playing. The sound design is incredible. The house makes all manner of weird noises. Creaking and squishing and cracking. Part of the reason I've gone so slow is because I've been legitimately scared moving around a corner. I've actually not even interacted with some items just for fear of what they might do, as I'd like to get better acquainted with my surroundings still.

The story is interesting, and a totally fresh start. Although I heard there's some potential tie in, it starts out totally fresh. And it's interesting coming in as an every man, and not a SWAT team member. However I am irked at this bozo for driving to the middle of nowhere in search of his long missing wife alone, and unarmed, and with little more than a pocket flashlight. Just not very smart.

I did run into one interesting game play element. I picked up a VCR tape to play, and thought I would get a short cut scene, but instead wound up with a playable sequence. It's a nice way to mix up the game play and move around the narrative, and not something I can recall seeing before.

I'm still bothered by the First Person. There's even a message at the start to turn off the camera shake feature if it's bothering you, which is intended for the VR functionality, but it feels like the design of the game for the VR almost closed the field of vision generally for the game anyway. It makes the game scarier for sure, even though I haven't even had anything pop out at me yet, but it's still tough on my head. Fortunately it's short. I've heard 10 - 15 hours. There's even a trophy for finishing it in 5 or something, so obviously once you know what's coming, you can plow through it. My hope is that I can play an extended stretch this weekend, but next weekend for sure I should be able to dump more time into it.

Finally beat it. I can't believe I only had 16 hours in it. It felt like I'd been at it forever, but I spent a lot of time reloading and trying to ace areas.

Story was really excellent. The eventual connection to the original story, which is thin, really worked for me. I really am not a First Person guy, and that did bother me play wise, but it's effective and well used, in terms of hiding things, and playing it for scares.

The tone of the game is great. Although it does have a couple distinct parts. The first act of the game really plays as true horror. I actually felt like it didn't feel as much like an RE game because the player you play as is so weak. You're not a special forces operative. And it felt like you're playing something closer to a series of boss fights against characters you can't actually defeat. They're closer to scripted battles that progress the story. In fact there was a level of confusion I had through this part that slowed me down some. Not thinking I did things correctly, or that I wasted ammo on guys I really couldn't do anything about anyway. It does provide a genuine scariness.

After a more traditional feeling boss fight, the game shifts to a new setting, and it does feel much more like the traditional RE format. More cycling back and forth through the environment, fetching a key, going back to a door, reversing back again, grabbing all sorts of puzzle pieces. It also began the point when the weapons began fattening up, which made it feel more combative.

Overall a really excellent experience, in spite of the FP really not being my thing. It warrants a second playthrough at least. There is a "choice" which affects the ending (which I decided to watch on YouTube), so that's something I'd like to try. I also missed a couple collectables. One trophy, 3 files, which I wonder if I had found and then lost in a reload somewhere, and 3 Coins, which actually cost me the magnum, as I wound up two short from getting it. Not to bad considering I did it without any playthrough aid at all. There's also a fair amount of DLC that seems compelling.

However I do feel like I need a break from the FP, and unfortunately, my habit in my old age is once I get away from a game I rarely come back. And I have a couple small downloaded games I'd like to get into (Little Nightmares, Abzu, and Virginia).

It really feels like a potential GotY competitor. And if you're into the RE canon, it's a nice shift of direction.