Dissecting Design -- Resident Evil 7's Problem with Horror

Summary

In this video, Game Wisdom offers an insightful critique of Resident Evil 7, particularly focusing on its deviation from traditional survival horror elements. The video highlights how the game blends old and new design elements, leaning heavily on environmental storytelling and first-person perspective. However, it also critiques the game's shift towards more action-oriented gameplay, which overshadows the survival horror aspect.

Highlights

• The use of environmental storytelling like detailed settings and interactive cassette tapes creates an immersive horror experience. 🕵️‍♂️
• The predictable nature of antagonist behavior detracts from the overall horror. 😬
• Shift from survival horror to action limits the player’s challenging, strategic engagement with the game. 🚀
• Game's design borrows from both indie horror hits and traditional elements but struggles to maintain a balance. ⚖️
• Critics hope future Resident Evil games will refocus on puzzle-solving and horror, similar to classics of the genre. 🔄

Key Takeaways

• Resident Evil 7 combines elements from indie horror games with traditional elements, offering a unique experience. 🎮
• The game’s first-person perspective and environment design are highly praised as immersive. 👀
• However, the shift towards action diminishes the survival horror aspect, which is critiqued heavily. 🤔
• The predictability of antagonist encounters reduces tension over time. 😐
• Resident Evil 7's combat focus undermines the balance between combat and puzzle-solving that defines true survival horror. 🎯

Overview

The video begins with a deep dive into the opening scenes of Resident Evil 7, praising the environmental storytelling and first-person perspective, which sets a strong tone of horror. The exploration of the disheveled house and use of cassette tapes for storytelling are highlighted as effective tools for immersion.

As the video progresses, there's a discussion on the game's mechanics and its focus on exploration amid danger. The presence of antagonists like Jack adds tension but is critiqued for being predictable, as the game limits his actions to specific areas. The video also addresses the balance of exploration versus combat, noting how the latter eventually dominates.

The final segment of the critique centers on Resident Evil 7's shift away from core survival horror elements towards combat-driven gameplay. The video suggests that while the game attempts to marry horror with action, it ultimately relies too heavily on combat, diminishing the horror experience. The video ends with a reflection on the future of the series and a hope for more balanced horror gameplay.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction In the introduction, the speaker welcomes viewers to this week's episode of Dissecting Design. They announce that the episode will focus on 'Resident Evil 7', a game they have completed. The speaker notes that 'Resident Evil 7' was highly praised prior to its release due to its impressive demo and campaign by Capcom. Post-release, it has been celebrated by fans for revitalizing the Resident Evil franchise.
• 01:00 - 04:00: Opening Scene and Environmental Storytelling In this chapter, the speaker discusses their thoughts on Resident Evil 7, arguing that it's not a pure survival horror game. They believe there are key aspects that the game does not maintain throughout its duration. The chapter warns that the discussion will include spoilers.
• 04:00 - 09:00: Introduction to the Bakers and Exploration Mechanics The chapter begins with an introduction to the Bakers and the mechanics of exploration in the game. The focus is on observing these elements, particularly in the context of the opening scenes. A discussion follows, highlighting the strengths of Resident Evil 7's introductory segment.
• 09:00 - 15:00: Combat and Stealth Mechanics The chapter titled 'Combat and Stealth Mechanics' introduces the transition to a first-person view, demonstrating the game's new engine. This change highlights environmental storytelling as players navigate through the backwoods. The narrative emphasizes skipping cutscenes to manage time, providing insight into the game's immersive mechanics.
• 15:00 - 21:00: Weapons and Item Management In this chapter, the focus is on the antagonist Jack, one of the central figures in Resident Evil 7. The narrative covers the early segments of the game, particularly the first one to two hours, which are memorable and disturbing for first-time players. Emphasis is placed on understanding the dynamics within the opening house, building an eerie and engrossing environment that sets the stage for the unfolding events.
• 21:00 - 27:00: Combat and Gameplay Critique The chapter titled 'Combat and Gameplay Critique' discusses the demo experience of Resident Evil 7 (referred to as 'res Newell 7'), highlighting its blend of classic and modern horror design elements. It particularly emphasizes the impact of first-person perspective and unsettling environmental design, drawing parallels with independent horror games like Outlast and Slender Man. The narrative explores how these components contribute to the overall horror experience in the game.
• 27:00 - 33:00: Mid-Game Exploration and Combat The chapter focuses on the theme of environmental storytelling by highlighting the detailed and realistic depiction of an abandoned house. The setting is described as disheveled yet authentic, indicating no occupants have been there for years. Despite the abandonment, the presence of elements like bathrooms and bedrooms enhances the genuine feeling of a real home, contrasting with typical setups where items are randomly placed. This attention to detail enriches the exploration and immersion aspect of the mid-game.
• 33:00 - 39:00: Transition from Horror to Action The chapter explores a transition from horror to action, drawing inspiration from independent works. It starts with a slower pace as the characters explore their surroundings. A unique storytelling element introduced in this chapter is the use of cassette tapes, which serve as interactive cutscenes. These tapes enhance the storytelling experience, though they are not explored in detail in this summary. The overall theme suggests an immersive experience where the audience feels as if they are living through the events.
• 39:00 - 45:00: Final Thoughts on Resident Evil 7 This chapter discusses the unique aspects of the game Resident Evil 7, particularly its use of cassette tapes for storytelling and gameplay. Players must pay attention to the footage in these tapes to gather clues about the game's environment and storyline. Unlike previous installments, Resident Evil 7 requires players to actively search their surroundings for useful items, adding a layer of strategy and engagement. This shift in gameplay mechanics distinguishes Resident Evil 7 from its predecessors.
• 45:00 - 46:00: Closing and Channel Information The chapter explores the closing segments involving a hidden passage revealed by a videotape. It discusses the placement of items such as handgun ammo on tables and hints at hidden items and collectibles under tables. There's an emphasis on discovering a secret passage and exploring it for additional content.

Dissecting Design -- Resident Evil 7's Problem with Horror Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 hello everybody welcome to this week's dissecting design we are going to be taking a look at Resident Evil 7 now that I finished the game now where's Evil seven was highly talented before it's released thanks to the amazing demo and campaign Capcom did and then afterwards by a lot of people hair Alenia adds they returned all the Resident Evil franchise but after
• 00:30 - 01:00 playing through it I don't think this game is a pure survival horror game and I know that may seem very weird of describing Resident Evil 7 but there are some key aspects of this game that I think aren't that the game does not sustain well over the period of the entire game and we're going to talk about that tonight now keep in mind before I begin anything that I'm going to show you or anything we're going to talk about is spoiler related so don't
• 01:00 - 01:30 watch this if you haven't played a game or intend to do so but we're going to load up the opening chapter we're gonna try and skip back and forth between some of the early parts of the game and just to discuss it so up next we're going to talk about the opening scene and probably one of the strongest aspects of Resident Evil 7 all right welcome back everybody we're now in the opening scene
• 01:30 - 02:00 I got I skip past the first cutscene I'm gonna try and skip past them where I can't just to save us some time but we're as equal Sam as you can tell right off the bat mixes things up by switching to a first-person view and it really shows off the new engine and what we're about to see in the next min hat is one of the game's strongest aspects and that is the environmental storytelling as we wander our way through the backwoods of
• 02:00 - 02:30 Louisiana well as we head over here oh there is Jack one of the main antagonist of res evil 7 any major part what makes the first I would say maybe hour to 2 hours if it's your first time playing so memorable but that's past disturbing stuff here and we'll get to the opening house now for people who play through
• 02:30 - 03:00 the demo this is what we got to experience when we first played the res Newell 7 experience and whereas Newell 7 definitely shows as a combination of old and new aspects of horror design the first-person view and just general disturbing nature of the environments is a major part of what we saw from the independent scene with games like outlast Slender Man and so on now we are
• 03:00 - 03:30 in the house and look at the detail this place this is a prime example of environmental storytelling you can see the whole place is disheveled no one look like they've been here for years but it still looks like an actual home and that's a major part of this there's bathrooms there's bedrooms there's stuff like that this doesn't feel like a case of the Vella we're just throwing a bunch of things around and then calling it a
• 03:30 - 04:00 home and this is where the inspiration from independent or comes in it's a lot slower of experience as we're exploring around now one of the other interesting aspects that resonable 7 does for its storytelling or these cassette tapes there are basically interactable cutscenes that we're not going to show off in this dissection just because it will add a lot more time to it but the idea is that we're essentially living
• 04:00 - 04:30 the cassette tape or living what's happening in the footage and using that to learn about what's happening or get advanced warning again the detail is really gray in this game it's a unusual factor to resonable seven that's not in previous games and that's the fact that you really do have to search for the environment for goodies it's not like old games where you could see like our herb will be
• 04:30 - 05:00 placed like right here or every table would have handgun ammo and said there could be stuff under tables we even have a little stuff right here and there's a bunch of collectibles and bonus things to do now if I watched the videotape we learned that there is a shortcut or a secret passage right here open this up and voila go ahead down here again the
• 05:00 - 05:30 detail just adds so much to resonable 7 and I know a lot of people nope one second a lot of people really well BV or experience for Reza sadly I don't have a PS move or anything like that so we won't be able to show that off here but
• 05:30 - 06:00 again so much about what's happening in this game can be read by the environment and this is a major part of our mental storytelling in Kurt when you would focus on this right it creates very deep game spaces where and there's just a lot to explore and find out but it still kept unique each area is its own separate entity it's now I'm gonna run
• 06:00 - 06:30 into five different rooms that all look alike now we're about to get a little bit of some gross factor here folks so heads up you there we go sorry buddy we own time for you we're trying to make a video we're going into another little area here now
• 06:30 - 07:00 movement is obviously entirely built around first-person perspective and camera we do a quick 180 turn crouch and we have our very very slow run yeah Mia as far as our main characters even or main character Ethan's wife who we're trying to discover and figure out where she's been to last three years again really great detail as to what's happening
• 07:00 - 07:30 around us now with that said I'm going to cut things here and we're going to fast-forward to right into our first interaction with the Baker's and we're going to talk about what the Baker's add to the experience and how things are really set up at the start all right it's a little bit further into the beginning of the game and we're about to meet the Baker's for real now the Baker
• 07:30 - 08:00 family a mortar II Jack Lucas and Granny over here was one the more polarizing with shifts of resin evil 7 compared to other games the family it's basically like our own personal Texas Chainsaw Massacre family here we're trapped in their home and they are going to actively stop us around once again the environmental detail is amazing and really adds to the game now as I said the last part a lava is about
• 08:00 - 08:30 exploring the environment trying to find ammo items and so on and that's one of the major parts about res niall sense that you're going to have to find items while you're being engaged by then now the thing is being stalked by Jack if every once in the next minute it's okay but it is still limited by the design of the game namely that he will only engage you in specific areas and he will only go so
• 08:30 - 09:00 far again we can see just how much things have degraded in this household since the family went evil on us getting various items we can find in the environment and what's surprising is at the start of resonable seven or at least in this pour of it it is more stealth than it is action as we have no weapons
• 09:00 - 09:30 and even the weapons we do find cannot hurt jack against so more some random things around that's for a lockpick so now jack is going to show up at the end of this hallway areas and the idea is we need to grab his key Oh music picking up and use add that hatch
• 09:30 - 10:00 he comes now if I was playing this on the horrid difficulty they're yours I'll probably break that
• 10:00 - 10:30 wall where are you jack on my way
• 10:30 - 11:00 we get that laid back there we go and
• 11:00 - 11:30 the magical Charl we never really explained how this works but it does exactly even later daddy
• 11:30 - 12:00 all right so as you can tell that was a very exciting turn for the game and definitely a very sharp departure from previous Resident Evil games now we're going to play a little bit longer passively until we get access to our first weapon that's gonna be both a knife and a handgun here's our first little save room a major part of the
• 12:00 - 12:30 game is looking for items that we can then either craft or combine with there's some dirty socks here's my inventory because Larry beat the game I get a few other items to start with so we can combine these into first a medicine we also craft better bullets later on I do that and this is I think
• 12:30 - 13:00 your name but now jack is gone at least for the
• 13:00 - 13:30 short term little girl and he does essentially become a the Alpha antagonist for the star of the game think about lockpick which I can use right here there you go more medicine but in this first quarter of the game Jack will be stalking you in specific
• 13:30 - 14:00 parts after you've basically passed certain triggers and the challenge is trying to figure out why should we come to the window now where are you buddy is trying to solve the puzzles and find the arms you need while actively avoiding Jack barriers so what want to do is we're going to cut for a little bit further I'm going to beat the first boss and we'll talk a little bit more about
• 14:00 - 14:30 the general combat of Resident Evil 7 next welcome back everybody just BP first I guess quote-unquote boss of the game and now we're in the central hub of the first act and we can talk a little bit more about the general gameplay of re7 here so we're going the focus of it that phones are just going to keep reading until I pass the trigger the focus at this point is trying to figure out how to get out of this area
• 14:30 - 15:00 now we've already saw Jack stalk around and he'll make another appearance in a few minutes but at this point our primary goal is to get to the next spot where we're getting more and we're going to encounter the game's general enemies these are resonable seventh versions of these zombies in this case it's called a molded now the items are also randomly placed as well
• 15:00 - 15:30 don't want to go in there just yet that's the actual trigger for Jack to show up in the meanwhile I'm going to quickly go look around for some items there's another cassette tape again the game does a really good job of hiding items in plain sight whether it's in these little drawers inside trash cans or even just like around the corners of
• 15:30 - 16:00 places does that help me at all there's another antique coin there's a little bobble head collectable debris there's a shock on it we can hopefully get at some point and we'll probably show it off in this video as well but that's everything that I need up here for right now I don't think I go into the kids room just yet I mean that door is still locked
• 16:00 - 16:30 well we're about to get another trigger going and the ideas are gonna have to sneak around to complete this next challenge while Jack is hunting us first we got some more ammo coin in the toilet there on straight to the left all right time to say hi hi
• 16:30 - 17:00 jack and bye jack I went the wrong way
• 17:00 - 17:30 I need to drop down and that should lose him or at least give us some distance oh he is following me and Jackie's being persistent tonight isn't he
• 17:30 - 18:00 there's our other shotgun piece but again this is technically the best part álvarez evil seven is being printed but this should lose it
• 18:00 - 18:30 now we're playing this on man house it would be even hard [Music] he is around someone quickly and hopefully do this fast it's not good when you're trying to be
• 18:30 - 19:00 speedy and you're trying to put together a video at the same time arrey we're about to run into again the general enemy of where as an evil seven that's gonna be in this next little spot first I'm gonna drop this off here wait did I not pick it up I must have missed it but
• 19:00 - 19:30 that's alright because eventually I will be able to defeat Jack in the long term and we can then explore forward but all right now we're gonna move away from the Alpha antagonists and get to the general enemies and that's going to be in this next little spot again take know of how items are hidden all over the place herbs bullets and there's email and
• 19:30 - 20:00 that's designed to help you find them quiet you or chem fluid there you know the games being generous with handgun bullets thankfully but I'm gonna use this and we're about to fight and yes there
• 20:00 - 20:30 are lockpick skin around here that folks nothing in their gun power we and use a craft better bullets but here is the game's first of many generic and like you know just be on the safe side and that is the molded technically I don't
• 20:30 - 21:00 have to fight him I can actually just drawing follow a show them all these amorphous looking creatures and only be killed by off in their head or destroying the boss there yo you're done and that is not gonna be the last row let's see of those guys as our Val get into a whole mess of them in this next area
• 21:00 - 21:30 let me just quickly drop things off here we all have a shotgun yet so unfortunately I can't use it let's see there's our save point me a lockpick for that and more handling bullets once we get our cell get our hands on the
• 21:30 - 22:00 shotgun life becomes a lot easier and that is actually one of the major complaints I have about Resident Evil 7 but we'll talk about that in our next section but for now we're gonna fight a few more moulded and show that off should be one coming around the corner where are you err your counter flock
• 22:00 - 22:30 there and blocking is a serious mechanic in resonable 7 the amount of damage that gets mitigated is insane there's a guy in there they will not break through
• 22:30 - 23:00 doors but you can also East spawn them if you know where the triggers are now the reason why we go this way and we get the key that will allow us access to the shotgun and the shotgun like I said is a very big deal because we can one-shot most enemies with it
• 23:00 - 23:30 just grab some more stuff here and now there's a few more items down here but the gameplay of more bullets that's great but the bullets or I'm sorry the gameplay of resna 7 is still very much action-oriented yes we are very slow but we're still going to have the means of fighting these enemies now that is going to spawn another enemy but
• 23:30 - 24:00 still up there I can just use that you should be dropping down the ceiling there you go now I just missed but let's just take a quick look at these guys again there is detail but there's not these enemies who all look alike they lack any kind of visible or distinctive
• 24:00 - 24:30 elements to them compared to the zombies or the lost Baga in previous Resident Evil games now we got the key here we got the lockpick now they're gonna spawn [Music] there's a way I know speedrunners can despawn these guys but I'm not that good this game yet to be able to do that but
• 24:30 - 25:00 these enemies tend to track you he's still back there believe in you buddy you know what let's just pop it or we'll try and pop it again the story you're still in this very week horror style face but it does
• 25:00 - 25:30 not last all that long there you go you just spawn now just run right there and the reason why you don't go that way or you come up here or after that first we have the lock I can use that here the treasure photo that we found will help
• 25:30 - 26:00 us but we're going to get what we need in order to use the shotgun and you'll again you're going to see a huge difference in terms of our power once we get it now the downside is that we're going to be dealing with Jack but Jack does not come past this route now enemies will respawn after specific
• 26:00 - 26:30 events but it is fixed they will never just like pop up out of the blue so that treasure feel I found tell us about a secret right here steroids act as the game's upgrade so now comes the annoying part I'm going to have to be chased by Jack in order to get the shotgun and the thing is it's such a big deal to
• 26:30 - 27:00 help and we'll help you out so now I need to pay attention if he does chase after me I can actually just run back through the Scorpion door and he will disengage so where is he here
• 27:00 - 27:30 again he will usually track you to some extent very important
• 27:30 - 28:00 oh yeah the important thing was just gain that broken shotgun because now after I this off here so we have room we'll have our
• 28:00 - 28:30 real shop and then basically all of our worries disappear family spawn trigger here he can't come in he does decide to do that we'll just drop down there and we'll be safe
• 28:30 - 29:00 jack is being very persistent for our dissecting design and that's actually good because it represents again the better parts of resonable summons gameplay but sadly it's not gonna last for the wall you won't be long my bad you would kill you yeah yeah I know
• 29:00 - 29:30 but now we're going to stop being scared the broken shock is actually those the best weapon in the game once we complete the first part now technically I didn't need to do all that to get the shotgun but you're going to see why we go for
• 29:30 - 30:00 the shotgun and we get no bullets or enough shells for the shotgun we basically don't to worry about anything here now the emmy may spawn are you still in
• 30:00 - 30:30 here easy spawn but you may just pop back [Music] there you are hi guy bye oh he's a little hittin once we get the upgrade shotgun it's usually one hit kill to the head [Music]
• 30:30 - 31:00 it's this diet home everyone de-spawn him so we don't have to worry about me but I'm going to cut this part here I'm going to do some more shotgun action and we're gonna pick up after the games or actually may we now will pick up after the boss fight and I won't talk about
• 31:00 - 31:30 some of the issues I have resonable summons combat system next all right welcome back I just finished the jackoff a second time which is pretty much the end of jak for the majority of the game I won't talk about some of the issues I have with resonable setter now now so far the game itself tries presents all that survival horror but I don't think that is necessarily the case I think this is just a really strong example of
• 31:30 - 32:00 a slow action follower game at this point I have my shotgun which means outlaw the threats of anything aren't really gonna be bothering we have free brain of the house because of all the triggers have been dealt with and the game really doesn't do a good job I think of representing survival horror now when I taught all survival horror I always bring up the talk forever and out who's the creative alone in the dark and
• 32:00 - 32:30 in that game where in that talk he talked about how he wanted to create game that combined the puzzle saw the exploration adventure games with having combat and fighting of action games but both elements had to be present the enemies couldn't just be bullet sponges you had actually think about how to engage them and the adventure elements were there to give you these puzzles that you had to solve there's granny again
• 32:30 - 33:00 but at this point though we're throughout resonable seven there really isn't that focus on puzzle solving there is exploration yes but there really aren't too many part to actually make you think chances are for most people who play through the game you'll probably turn to the Lucas sections that come out near about the halfway point as the primary example but most of the Cuong proposals are just simply used
• 33:00 - 33:30 what's nearby open the door move on so at this point I am basically done with Jack so I can explore this whole place and not to worry about anything we could look around for more items if we wanted to again this is where we got the shotgun c-can I actually combine yeah we can combine now we're about to find what
• 33:30 - 34:00 we're getting really lucky with shotgun woods - or shotgun shells we're about to find one of the key aspects that really downplay the terrorizing will seven that's enhanced bullets and our super shotgun or I guess quote-unquote super shotgun but first to do that you need to head over here and we're
• 34:00 - 34:30 basically done with the games major hub and now we're outside we're actually also done fighting the molded for quite a bit there's bug enemies next but they're just more of a nuisance rather than a Majin and fight so what we do down here is we get one of two repair kits now this is kind of like our new little safe
• 34:30 - 35:00 zone right here and we can tray those antique coins that just triggers that for goodies here so here just going to talk a little bit you need me to do is it gonna help me get out of here well we've heard of finish our little speech
• 35:00 - 35:30 is there a way to get out and while she is talking we'll just talk over res evil seven gets more more linear as a game goes also winners and the next part gets even more and more constrained as there's only one real way to progress and the problems with res neo 7 begin to rear their head as we get further aid the emphasis on combat like the
• 35:30 - 36:00 developers won't try and have their cake in here too they want to make you scare they want the exploration but they still want you to do a lot of fighting and the majority of the scheme is built around combat in fact all the upgrades we find facilitate that steroids increase our health stabilizers to improve our reload speed enhance guns I think there's a broken handgun on the bed there but what I'm going to do now is we're
• 36:00 - 36:30 going to trade our normal shotgun for an even better shot so I'm going to head over here and again I don't have to worry about any more enemies for the foreseeable future die accidentally just pick that up oh and there's one other thing you can use here stabilizing fluid or separating each and
• 36:30 - 37:00 I'm sorry let's you break down the expensive ammo into regular parts to get strong chemical flu which you can then combine for enhanced bullets grenade rounds and yes there is a grenade launcher in this game all I'm going to do right now that and there's not any enemies I can show you how to fight using this new shotgun and that's kind of an interesting thing
• 37:00 - 37:30 but the problem is as the game goes on instead of adding more exploration or more segments like what we just double the jack in the previous parts that all just gets traded for more combat come on grab this broken shotgun and now we get basically the best gun in the game and this gun will one-shot enemies if you get them in the head but this is
• 37:30 - 38:00 ultimately the problem that resonable 7 has is that despite the DEET despite you know this take a chainsaw or a Texas Chainsaw Massacre feel to it the entire game just becomes more about combat and there's like a little this is where we fight more to eat later on and there's a little milk around here for another secret which I don't think I'm going to find without doing a little bit
• 38:00 - 38:30 of digging here but the problem is as the game adds more more molded for you to fight it just becomes noise again get enough shotgun shells and all your worries for about 75 to 80% of the game are gone yes you don't fight heavier moulded and multiple molded and super Molden anymore combinations you can think of but with my shotgun and even
• 38:30 - 39:00 with grenade rounds later on it's hard to be worried about it so there should be a secret area somewhere around here and again for those of you watching this again and played it I won't ask you do you feel that resonable 7 is an example of survival horror or not because I don't think it is they focus on guns and upgrading the lack of puzzles and stuff like that it just doesn't feel like a
• 39:00 - 39:30 horror game and one of the more interesting aspects is like I said there's just too many enemies and I think what I would have liked to have seen developers do who have been very courageous of them to try we've been to massively cut down on the number moulded basically make every enemy in the game a one-off unique distinctive fight essentially give me a entire residence
• 39:30 - 40:00 of xenomorphs from alien isolation enemy said require you to do more than just shoot them in order to kill them you can still have combat but it's not as emphasized or rewarded you have to think about how you fight these enemies rather than just running around with a shotgun and going Duke Nukem on now there's not much else to show here I mean we could play through the game more
• 40:00 - 40:30 but I then will begin to wrap things up in the next few minutes in fact the martyring fight would be a really good example why I would like the fly itself is a nonlinear somewhat emergent situation with her in this one area as you turn her down and just a match of that fight actually took place across the entire area that you fight her in or her entirely as quote cold
• 40:30 - 41:00 residence it would've been a lot more interesting to do something like that rather than just being walked into these arena fights and that's the biggest part about the combat or the boss fights in this game they're all arena base it's not the same as having enemies like mr. X or nemesis engage the player in resonable two and three respectively here I know where Jack and spawn I know what triggers him and what areas he can't go to so it kind of again it down
• 41:00 - 41:30 plays allah the threat and the same goes for Marguerite in the next part and Lukas you don't even really fight his area is more about his little I guess evil escape room which isn't that bad of a part but the problems that the gameplay just never really goes anywhere in terms of evolving the either the combat or the exploration the second to last area of the game the mines you could pretty much put the doom 2016
• 41:30 - 42:00 soundtrack into that fight and it would just you would miss a beat that's just how much of a total shift it is but with that Sam will go back to the main menu we're gonna discuss my final thoughts on the game next we're back at the main menu for my final thoughts resonable 7 I would definitely call it one the best horror games of 2017 but in the same bread that's kind of damning it with faint praise the game is tries to be
• 42:00 - 42:30 both a reboot of the series and kind of a redemption play after the backlash of resonable six and it does work in terms of I guess resetting the table for the franchise but with that said though it still doesn't feel like it goes all the way back to Resident Evil One and the beginning of survival horror there's just too much of a focus on generic combat and just a downplay of puzzles
• 42:30 - 43:00 and that's a really good point about this game and I won't ask you what listening or watching this right now can you remember a major gameplay section of resonable seven not counting the first quarter of the game as in the whole engagement with Jack and up to his boss fight because there's just really now why to the gameplay that holds your
• 43:00 - 43:30 attention and as I said the start where the able sevens a game that I think it gets worse the further you play into it not better partly because of the downplay of exploration and again the emphasis of more more in terms of combat not only bosses because all that interesting in terms of the general strategy of just shoot them in their glowy bit until they die and that's even more so in the games bonus DLC the not a
• 43:30 - 44:00 hero and and of Zoey are all combat centric one of the best parts I think one like the solders that show some real sense of brilliance was the ban footage area where you're how to escape from a room while Mari is basically making sure you're not doing anything evil that's a very interesting idea I would love again to have that marriage between horror and adventure rather than horror and pure combat but Reggio seven like I said I
• 44:00 - 44:30 would still consider to be a pretty good game and where they go from here though is going to be very interesting are they going to try and go back to Brazil for through sin or will they try to double down on this but if they do that I'm just afraid they may just take the wrong lessons and add more in terms of combat and growth and not focus on the puzzle solving and it's
• 44:30 - 45:00 kind of like a reverse problem that the indie horror scene has where they focus all on the puzzle solving and none of the combat here we have very little in terms of puzzle solving it's more of a focus on combat and horror is just very hard to do right because the line between action and horror is very thin and once you cross over it you can't get back one of these days we should totally do a dissection of alien
• 45:00 - 45:30 isolation and discuss more about that game because I think that's where the residents and developers got some of their inspiration from but with that said we're gonna wrap things up here now you so much for watching this week's dissecting design 200 for daily discussions here and on game wisdom for design discussions and we're ease in the or on signs of games and youth I second design pieces will go up each Monday but that's gonna do it for res evil 7 thanks again for tuning in and I'll see you all next time before we get to the credits
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