Resident Evil VII: Biohazard

Having not played any of the other resident evil games besides 4, take this with a grain of salt. It is not only one of the best looking games of all time, but contains a seriously effective and oppressively grim atmosphere. This game really had me unable to play for more than an hour at a time it got me so stressed out. I really enjoyed it, but I cannot say I would be able to do it again. The Bakers are repulsive villains and they seriously intimidate, harm, and brutalize Ethan as he tried to rescue his girlfriend. The boss fights and the ever looming presence of the big bad rednecks in the quieter moments means you hardly have moments to feel like you can breathe. There are quieter sections but they are weaved and laced masterfully with tense sound design and crisp, creepy environments. If the ending stuck the landing I think this would receive a perfect score but just because I didn't particularly care for it, the rest of the game is not diminished in my eyes.

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There are already many reviews available for Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. So why should you read mine? What do I have to offer that separates me from other reviewers? For what it's worth, I'm writing this review as someone who has never thoroughly played a Resident Evil game before. (I vaguely recall watching a friend play one of the original games when I was younger.) Also, I promise not to spoil anything.

Overall: Biohazard is a top-notch survival horror game. The graphics are excellent, the gameplay is challenging, and the story is interesting. The game isn't perfect, as I discuss below, but it seems to me that the pros outweigh the cons.

Graphics: Superb. Did they combine live action footage with computer generated imagery in the beginning of the game? I'm not sure. Either way, I'm impressed. But this isn't true for all of the game. If you're a stickler for graphics, you might notice some objects which aren't rendered to your liking. Otherwise, I doubt you'll have complaints.

Gameplay: Challenging. I haven't died so much in a game in a while, yet I never felt frustrated when I died. I always recognized some flaw in my playing style which needed to be addressed. Resident Evil 7 is tough, but not arbitrarily so. Although, I am somewhat new to the survival horror genre of video games, so veterans might not have such a tough time.

Story: I often cringe at the sophomoric storytelling in video games; Biohazard is a pleasant surprise. I found myself engaged with the story, wanting to know more. However, depending on your knowledge of horror movies, you might find some aspects of the story too derivative.

Common Complaints: Lack of monster variety; easy puzzles. I agree that there is a lack of monster variety, but, for the most part, it feels natural given the game's small setting. Though, one does wonder why there aren't any zombie alligators or other creatures given the game's location in the woods in Louisiana in the middle of nowhere. Nevertheless, the "molded" are terrifying enough to carry the game. Imagine Baraka from Mortal Kombat and Tarman from Return of the Living Dead have a baby, which is adopted and raised by Satan. I agree that most of the puzzles for the main story of the game are fairly easy. But in the game developer's defense, there is a lot of hidden stuff which isn't as easy to find. Also, I found a puzzle towards the end of the game challenging, though perhaps this is due to insufficient cognitive capacities on my part.

Quibbles: Why in the world can't you manually turn your flashlight on or off? This would have been such a great feature in the game! It gets frustrating when you're walking in near complete darkness, but you know that the protagonist is carrying a flashlight. Moreover, this could have added a great survival aspect to the game (conserving battery life, hiding from enemies in the dark, etc.). Why can't you pick up certain items? For instance, there is a baseball bat in one room, yet you can't pick it up. This would have been handy when battling the molded.

Despite some minor complaints, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard comes highly recommended. 8.5/10

Resident Evil 7 is one of the greatest horror games I've played and also one of the best games I've played. This game was actually the first resident evil I played because I watched people on YouTube play it but I knew nothing about the series but I just got it because it was scary, When I first played it I was so scared that I stopped playing it for a few months but over those months I started to play the original games like resident evil 1 and 4 and started to understand the full story of all the games, even the ones I haven't played. But I finally beat it a few weeks ago and I was so proud of myself because it wasn't just a scary game but it was also a really enjoyable action and puzzle game. But now let's get to the story. You play as a character named Ethan who comes to an old house that was claimed to be aboandond in Louisiana after his wife Mia who has been missing for 3 years sends him a message to go there, Ethan then goes to the house and finds his wife but there is something wrong with her, but it turns out that she was trying to escape the house from a crazy family called the Bakers, they seem to be demented by some sort of demon and they can't be killed until you kill the virus that they are infected by, you roam around the mansion trying to escape and solve puzzles while the bakers try to kill you, but you don't just want to escape by yourself and leave yourself and your wife Mia. That's all I'm going to say about the story before I get into any spoiler territory. So now let's go over the gameplay and how I feel about it. This is the first resident evil game to be in a first person point of view unlike the first 3 games that were an angled perspective view and the 3 games after we're 3rd person behind the shoulder. I like how they made this game first person because it makes it more terrifying for the serting that you are in. Also the reason this game is loved by everyone is because it feels like a resident evil game because the 2 games before re7 were action shooter games witch the long time fans didn't like because resident evil was originally a horror game where you fight to survive and try to reserve scarce ammo and medicine. So this game was a revivsl for the series. While you progress through the game you have to search around for ammo but each gun you get takes different ammo. Your weapons also aren't over powered, they can't kill the baker family they only stun them for a few second so you can runaway from them, so sometimes it's better to run away then to fight. But you can kill the zombie creatures in the game but you have to pump plenty of rounds into them to kill them, this is why the game is so scary. It might sound hard but it actually makes for a more terrifying experience and also a more fun one, I really like it. You also have to heal in the game if you take any damage, so you have to find herb, a green plant that looks useless but is really important, you can ether take it on your own or combine it with chem fluid to make it stronger. That's also another very good thing about the game is your inventory space. You have a limited ammount of inventory space so you can't carry everything and makes for a more balanced experience, but you can combine items to make something but it also leaves and open slot for inventory space, but you can always store your inventory in the box at the save room. I also like this gameplay feature too. But the last thing I want to say is that this game can be really gory at times and there is language throughout the game but it isn't bad. So my final rating for this game is a 10/10, I love everything about this game from the gameplay and the story. This game makes you feel terrified and gives you anxiety at times, so if you have bad anxiety and don't like to be scared then this game is not for you bust if you like a challenge then this game is a must by. I hope this was a good review and thanks for reading it.

Resident Evil 7 is one of the most enjoyable horror gaming experiences to date. The visual jump scares seldom feel cheap in part due to the masterful sound design. Making people jump isn't a difficult task. However, making people terrified to progress the plot is a daunting task to pull off. Resident Evil 7 absolutely succeeds in pulling off what developer/publisher Capcom set out to accomplish. After the failure of RE6, the need for the series to return to the survival horror genre became clear. Horror is all about maintaining an atmosphere. Walking down a corridor, Ethan Winter (the surrogate for the player) might hear some variety of crash off in the next room or in the room above. The mansion is lived in (a slightly inaccurate phrase) and a sense of foreboding never escapes the player except for around the ending. The sound design mixed in with phenomenal limited lighting merge in encouraging the player never be overconfident in a given environment. Unlike previous entries, the locations are realistically scaled down. The Baker homestead never features a room or ground that feels out of place. In other words, the property is very much one a person might find in reality. Conversely, the game's need to feature a puzzle at every turn suspends belief every once in awhile. In the end, the limited environmental scope aids in augmenting the horror. The developers painstakingly created the home to a disturbing degree. Every nook and cranny of the home serve a purpose in telling the Baker family's story. The player is rewarded at great cost for exploring the environment. In addition, the exploration feeds into a very enjoyable item management system. All of the items encountered are useful. In order to make backpack space, the player has to really decide what is the most useful item in a given situation. Looking through your inventory doesn't stop the game time. You could be looking at the very low ammo of a given gun and suddenly come under attack. In most fights, the best solution is often to run away until a more advantageous moment. The narrative lasts little more than ten hours. The duration of the experience ensures the plot never drags or overstays its welcome. The mysteries of the circumstances surrounding Ethan Walker are more than enough to ensure the player fights their fear. The player won't be able to stop themselves from enjoying their twisted adventure with the Baker family.