Resident Evil VII Trailer Debuts at E3 2016!

I love survival horror.

More importantly, I love Resident Evil. I can keenly remember as a young child playing the first under a blanket with my brother while pretending to not be afraid. And 20 years, several movies and a cornucopia of games later, we’ve found ourselves at a crossroads. I say a crossroads because we have started to develop a pattern where there is just as many let downs as there is successes. And fresh with the lingering bad taste of Resident Evil VI in my mouth, I sat to watch Sony’s E3 coverage knowing that the dreaded Resident Evil VII trailer was looming. And before we go on, let’s watch it together, shall we?

First reactions?

What the hell was that?

Seriously, what as that? It wasn’t Resident Evil. It doesn’t even kind of resemble Resident Evil. So what was it?

After reading several press releases I came to the conclusion that the game was this way because it was meant to be played used the new VR systems PlayStation is offering. In fact, all of Sony’s releases are being fit into the VR box. How wonderful.

The first point I want to make is that there is nothing wrong with liking VR. I know tons of people who use it. But when you create a  system that essentially bases all of your products around a first person view system that not everyone even likes, I just can’t support it. Furthermore, the problem with adapting this particular franchise to such a culture shock is that we have come to know Resident Evil a certain way. We know it as the stories of Chris or Wesker or Leon. Not us.

If I wanted a game that made it seem like I would get eaten I would play Outcast or Zombi. I wouldn’t go to Resident Evil. This is a franchise, not a single game, and it was built on a certain premise. And while I don’t think new is necessarily bad, I do think new is bad when it’s disingenuous to the past. And I believe this is.

Additionally, the trailer doesn’t seem to suggest that there will be weapons, or fights, or the strategy that has made the franchise great. And it really seems out of place.

More than that, if you are going to make something new, MAKE SOMETHING NEW. Don’t remake something that is already working and try to make it seem as if you are being “creative.”

Or rather, the trailer would have me believe all that.

Actually, the game is a really good blend of old and new, if the demo is to believed. But the biggest problem with trailer is that it does what too many trailers do: it lies to you. It leads you to believe that this game is more on the side of PT/Silent Hill, but in reality, it really is just Resident Evil in first person. Which is weird, but not a deal breaker. Overall, this could be a decent title, and it is being marred in controversy it doesn’t really deserve.

My advice: skip the trailer, play the demo. The trailer makes the game seem really stupid. The demo, however, makes the case of a perfectly blended, though gimmicked title. Is it going to make you go out and buy and Oculus, probably not. But it is a interesting starting point. I still have the same reservation listed above, but a lot of them may prove to be wrong in the long run.

The whole experience leaves you feeling confused. And Capcom, I’m pretty sure confused it the wrong way to lead consumers back to you. Especially when you have been so bad at giving gamers what they want recently.

PS. – Yes I know the promotional material shows Leon and Chris, but the trailer however, does not. Again, I feel like this whole thing is being brought before us in the worst way possible.