I Love Resident Evil 7
It’s October now—a.k.a. Spooky Season—and that gives me the perfect excuse to talk about a spooky video game that I love. RESIDENT EVILLLL. SEVEN. (That’s me doing the cool evil voice from the older games).
Honestly, for a long time I was pretty chicken and tended to avoid horror media. But the thing is, I like playing games that people say are the best games ever. And Resident Evil 4 is one of those. So, I finally played it in 2019, and hey, people were right; it’s an unbelievably fun game. But I also knew going into it that it was more of an action game than a slow-paced survival horror, so I had no real trepidation about playing it. A while after playing that, I played Resident Evil 2—the remake. It was excellent. And hey, while zombies are not all that scary to me, the game still has certain enemies that give me goosebumps (Lickers. I am scared of those. And also Mr. X though I eventually got used to him). At this point, I was loving the Resident Evil franchise and wanted to play more.
While there are several other Resident Evil games available on modern platforms, the one I set my gaze on next was Resident Evil 7. It’s a game that, unlike the others, is played from a first-person perspective. A game that leaves behind the over-the-top action of Resident Evil 5 and 6 in favor of something closer to the franchise’s roots.
I first played 7 in early 2021, and I completed the first section before quitting for the night. Except, after that, I just never really felt like picking it back up again—because, bro, that was intense. However, last October, I gave it another shot (now on PS5). And let me tell you. This game terrified me. And I love it.
Setting the Tone
When you first take control of the protagonist, Ethan, who has arrived at a dilapidated farm in a Louisiana swamp in search of his missing wife Mia, it’s late in the afternoon. The gate is locked, but you also find evidence that Mia has definitely been here, so you have to go explore further. As you walk, for a short second, you get a glimpse of someone in the distance, stepping out of sight as if he perhaps is just going about his day and didn’t notice you—or maybe he did see you and doesn’t want you to know. Go in that direction, and he’s nowhere to be found. It’s slightly unsettling.The beginning of the game is marvelously effective at creating suspense and fear for what’s to come. It lets you explore at your own pace. With every step forward and every new discovery, you know more and more that you’re walking into a nightmare—but it’s one you need to see more of.
You’ll soon enter a house. Now, the outside looked fine, but inside is where the game’s visuals truly impress. Thanks to Capcom’s use of 3D scanning technology, the house is full of ordinary objects that make it feel lived-in. It’s a perfect design choice for a game where you’ll be spending a lot of time exploring and looking for items, and it helps create the game’s immersive and tense atmosphere.
As you explore, there’s no music. You can hear your own footsteps, whether you’re on carpet or hardwood. I think this honestly makes me a lot more nervous than music could have. The first time I played I was on edge, wondering if someone was gonna show up out of nowhere. There will be music during all the action scenes, of course, and, perhaps even more importantly, in the safe rooms. It’s an understated soundtrack, but it always enhances the feeling of a given moment.
Anyway, back to that house I mentioned. Although it seems to have been recently abandoned, signs suggest something sinister is certainly going on here—I mean, you can’t exactly miss the video tape where a dude definitely dies.
Eventually, you do find Mia. She seems fine, somehow, although some of the stuff she says seems odd—but then, as she tries to lead you out of the house, she disappears suddenly while your back is turned. A thunderstorm now pours down over the house. As you attempt to find Mia, you hear loud, arhythmic knocking. You follow the sound to a door before it stops abruptly. You open the door and see only darkness ahead of you—and stairs to a basement beneath your feet.
At this point, you either turn off the game or go down the stairs.
As you proceed slowly down the stairs, you hear seemingly inhuman heavy breathing and maybe you start to wonder what creature is about to jump out at you. But then, you see not a creature but your wife, crawling on all fours. She suddenly rises, and you see her face up close, now looking monstrous (well with these graphics it looked kind of creepy to begin with, to be honest, but now it really does). And she attacks.
That's One Evil Resident
As startling as this encounter with Mia is, to me, the real terror begins afterward. That’s because you will meet the Baker family and their intimidating patriarch, Jack. Jack stalks you around the house and will quickly beat you to death if he catches you. Fun! Even when he doesn’t see you, you can hear his taunts. And you can hear his footsteps. You will have to move very carefully around the house. He’s a terrifying presence, and it will be a long while before you’re actually rid of him.There’s a point in the game where you’re still in the main house but you can look down and see Jack’s wife Marguerite outside. You see her slowly walking, carrying a lantern, talking to herself. I was filled with fear at this moment, thinking, “Oh great, I have another one to look out for.”
And yes, as you move to the next area of the game, you will have to avoid Marguerite. Fortunately, she is not as deadly as Jack, but she is incredibly creepy. And loud. And she makes bugs attack you, and I do not like bugs. You also don’t have a lot of space to move around in when avoiding her. So while I personally am more scared of Jack, surviving Marguerite is still a crazy nerve-racking section of the game.
There comes a point, however, where the game stops being particularly scary, and that’s when you start pursuing Lucas, the Bakers’ son. This guy is crazy, but not in the same way as the parents. He seems to have retained a greater level of intelligence, and he likes to put you through escape rooms rather than attack you directly. This makes his section of the game a fun change of pace—and honestly, I’ve had my fill of getting chased by crazy people yelling at me at this point.
This game really filled me with dread at times. There were doors I definitely didn’t want to go through. There were safe rooms I didn’t want to leave. For much of the game, I felt I had to watch my back constantly. But through all that, I wanted to keep going. I had to get Ethan out of there and figure out what the heck was going on. And I think I was even enjoying being scared somehow.
Mysteries
But hold on a second. We defeated three of the Bakers. But there was someone else at the dinner table at that early part of the game. An old lady in a wheelchair. Throughout the game, the Bakers never really talk to her, or acknowledge her presence in any way. She seems harmless. But then she will appear sporadically as you make your way around the house. You never see her move the wheelchair, but somehow, she just keeps showing up. And sometimes her gaze follows you closely. You wonder if maybe she is dangerous after all, but still, you can’t worry too much about her with these other crazies after you.As you read notes left around the house and listen to the family members talk, you may realize there’s someone else there too—seemingly a young girl. Perhaps not a normal young girl? Has she been locked away in a corner somewhere? In the dark, you’ll have to search what seems to be her room, and this for me is one of the game’s most suspenseful moments—at least on the first playthrough.
There is yet another person on the property, too—but don’t worry, this one’s not an enemy. Attempting to help you throughout this entire ordeal is a woman named Zoe, who will talk to you over the phone. She’s the Bakers’ daughter, and she also seems to be the only non-crazy one here. But…why?
At first glance, you might assume the story of the game is just that some crazy rural cannibals want to kill people and Ethan has to escape from them. That could be an interesting story by itself, and there doesn’t even necessarily need to be an explanation for why the people decided to become cannibals. There are definitely widespread tales about weirdos in the Southern United States (man, I myself spent two years in Alabama, and fortunately I did not encounter anyone quite like Jack Baker), so it’s a pretty easy idea for the audience to swallow. However, as you explore the Baker household, you will soon find that’s not what this story is at all. The game plays off your assumptions early on to make you afraid, but the truth behind it all is much more fascinating.
Of course you’ll probably start to wonder if the truth behind the Bakers’ monstrous strength has something to do with the large amount of insane mold in the basement and the monsters emerging from it? Yeah probably. Seems like a real biohazard. But seriously, there’s more to it than just that. I mean where did mold like that even come from?
Towards the end of Resident Evil 7, the setting changes a little bit. There’s less emphasis on exploration and a lot more time for machine gun fire—which might disappoint classic survival horror fans who were loving the early game (Me, I don’t mind too much). What this section does offer, though, is answers to all the game’s mysteries. And that’s why I like it a lot.
(On the other hand there’s also a really half-baked part near the end where you have to make a choice which leads to a slightly—very slightly—different ending depending on which of the two you choose. Not a fan of that, because it is, as I said, half-baked).
That aside, before the game ends, you end up right back where you started, and you realize what the things you saw way back at the beginning of the story meant and what exactly was going on. It’s a beautifully satisfying ending.
Resident Evil is not known for compelling narratives, but I was very interested in the mystery this game presented. And that’s the biggest reason why I love Resident Evil 7.
The Other Side of the Tone
Resident Evil 7 is scary. But like a lot of the Resident Evil games, it’s also kind of hilarious.There are so many completely absurd things that happen in this game that, on one hand, yes they’re disturbing, but on the other, are actually pretty funny.
Earlier I talked about how realistic the house looks. But the people living inside the house and the interactions you’ll have with them? There’s a whole lot of campiness to all of that, and I love it.
When you first meet the Bakers, they’re giving you a “very special feast” and they’re rather upset you don’t want to eat it. Now, one weird thing that happens during this encounter is Jack cutting his son’s hand off —but apparently, this is something that happens a lot here. In fact, all the “non-gameplay” violence (I mean the stuff you have no real control over) is shocking at first but quickly becomes kind of an annoyance to me—a funny annoyance, though.
Oh, and it’s funny how Ethan heals by dumping liquid on his arm.
Jack scares me, but the way he talks can also be crazy funny. He’s a terrible father, really. And he likes to tease you. There’s a line of his I quote whenever I see a nice car, and it goes: “Nice car! Mind if I take it for a spin?” Ok if you say it with his funny accent, it becomes funny. You…you have to hear it for yourself, I guess.
There’s a part where you battle Jack in the basement, and… it’s not exactly funny, but it is insane. That’s all I’ll say.
The Marguerite boss fight was also pretty weird, wasn’t it? I don’t want to spoil it. If you’ve played the game, you know what I mean. An odd lady, her. I also think her dialogue towards Mia, while unnerving, is hilarious, with the way she acts like “that boy Ethan” is her delinquent boyfriend or something.
And Lucas, well, he’s a spiteful little twerp. His whole section is kind of funny. I just really get a kick out of thwarting his escape room.
Maybe having a family of crazy people with southern accents of questionable authenticity was bound to be funny. Nah but seriously, those actors did a great job.
It’s crazy how this game manages to be so scary with how goofy some of this stuff is. But that’s just part of its brilliance.
On Resident Evil Village
In 2021, Capcom released Resident Evil 8, aka Resident Evil Village. It follows up on Ethan and Mia after that whole crazy Louisiana experience. I played it not long after playing 7. And I liked it. But I didn’t like it the way I liked 7.
First I will say, the visuals are beautiful. Mia’s face no longer looks scary like it did in 2017. I love the wintery setting.
In 7, you fight a family of crazy people, but in Village, you fight a diverse cast of monstrous folk. I definitely appreciate the shakeup; they weren’t trying to do the same exact tricks twice.
And I think it’s a fun game. I like how there’s a good amount of secrets to find in the village if you venture off the quickest path. The game is more of a crazy adventure instead of the claustrophobic nightmare being trapped in the Baker farm in 7 was, and that’s cool.
The biggest reason I didn’t like the game as much as 7, though, is the story. 7 is a compelling mystery. There are lots of hints as to what’s going on with the Bakers from the beginning, but the full truth is only revealed towards the end. 8 is sort of a mystery, except it’s more like “I dunno why this guy is doing this stuff, because he doesn’t feel like telling me, until almost the end when he now decides to tell me.” There is also a bit of a twist before the end, but it’s weak and is more like adding a little more information to what you pretty much already knew from playing 7.
Village is certainly not as scary as 7—though there is one brilliantly terrifying section. I wouldn’t say I crave the really scary stuff, but I think my problem is that some stuff sounded scarier in advertising than it actually turned out to be. Namely, Lady Dimitrescu, who is a really tall vampire woman. Out of all the recent Resident Evil enemies who follow you around, she’s the least scary. Maybe I would have felt different if I had gone into the game completely blind, though. Scary games are always going to have a smaller audience than less scary ones, so I don’t blame Capcom for making more action-focused games. But it would be cool if they were to go all-out making another one as scary as 7 in the future.
Resident Evil Village is Resident Evil 4-inspired in a number of ways, and they aren’t shy about it, from the sound that plays when you pick up a key item, to the merchant character, to the…fact that the game has a village…. Um, yeah. I like Resident Evil 4, so I like that this game takes after it. But then Capcom goes and releases a remake of Resident Evil 4, and I sort of feel like that makes Village a little redundant. The games have totally different stories and enemies, but still. If I have to choose between the two for a more action-focused Resident Evil game, I’m always gonna go for RE4 Remake. Still, I think you do spend much more time exploring the map quietly in Village compared to 4. Village is really kind of a mishmash of different Resident Evil games, so it’s cool in that way.
Resident Evil Village may not have left as much of an impact on me as 7 did, but it’s still a solid game. Right now I don’t much feel like going back to it, but that may change in the future.
Side note: Ethan is much more chatty in this game. I thought he was oddly quiet in 7, but they may have taken him too far in the other direction in 8. There are pros and cons to this.
Side side note: Why do the villagers have American accents if this is somewhere in Europe? Was this ever explained?
Conclusion
Ethan Winters. A guy whose face we can’t see (not even in Village’s third-person mode which they added in 2022). And the star of one of the most memorable game experiences I’ve had.
Resident Evil 7 was a game so fascinating to me I knew I had to write about it. It’s always great when you have tempered expectations for something, and then it just blows you away.
And with Village, I perhaps expected too much. But like I said, it’s still a good game.
Anyway, if I don’t post again this month: have a fun Halloween. See you.