Resident Evil 7 Reviews: 10 Early Reactions You Need To Know
Back with a vengeance (mostly).
The first major AAA gaming release of 2017 has arrived, and it brings with it a ton of fanboy baggage, not to mention Capcom's own desire to broaden the series' appeal to those who might otherwise be intimidated by the "7" appearing in the title.
Resident Evil 7 is here, and fans can basically rest easy that Capcom haven't screwed the franchise up again: the game seems pretty firmly planted in the mid-80s on Metacritic, which is probably around where most realistic expectations were sitting anyway.
The majority of the big gaming outlets have chimed in with their thoughts already, and a consensus has formed about what the survival horror extravaganza gets right, what it doesn't, and who exactly it's going to end up appealing to.
Here are 10 early reactions from the Resident Evil 7 reviews you absolutely need to know...
10. Enemy Variety Is Disappointing...But The Bakers Are Awesome
"While the Bakers are the best enemies, there’s an extremely wide gap in quality between them and the only other prominent enemy type in Resident Evil 7...It does far too much signaling ahead of everything it does. The Molded tear themselves out of the wall with a distinctly slimy sound, and they only do so in areas overtaken by mounds of black mold." - IGN
"Plenty of space is given to letting the family, the real stars here, breathe and find their voice. From Jack’s boorish, redneck Silverback bullying, to Marguerite’s mad cat lady screeching and Lucas’ very special brand of ‘that kid ain’t right’ - they bring the game alive and give it a unique character. You get to know them, in a way. A horrible way." - Gamesradar
"About a third into the game you begin to understand how its logic works, and you realise that you’re not actually in as much danger as you first assumed...Eventually you realise that in most cases you’re not really being stalked at all – and in far less danger of being unexpectedly assaulted than originally implied." - Metro
One of the biggest questions surrounding RE7 has been what sorts of enemies Capcom have hidden from the game's marketing, and the answer sadly seems to be "not much."
The consensus is that the Molded aren't a particularly interesting enemy type, there's not enough variation on them, and their scare factor diminishes because they're not that threatening to begin with.
Also, the Bakers are by far the most interesting adversaries with their surprisingly humourous personalities, but their confrontations with the player are too frequent such that some of the power is lessened as the game goes on.
Several reviewers also called out the transparent A.I. routines as making the game easier to figure out and therefore less scary.