10 Things Resident Evil 7 Must Learn From The Evil Within

5. A Slow-Burn Plot That Works

It's going to be up for debate in the forums across the land whether or not Evil Within's slow drip-feed of plot is exactly what you need to traverse the horrors with an inquisitive mind - or that it's reliance on having main-man Sebastien Castellanos fall through the floor to a new area every five minutes overstays its welcome.

Either way, that idea of "What the hell is going on here?" hasn't been done in an effective third-person title for years, and although Evil Within does give most of its big humdingers away at about the three-quarter mark, the additional flavour text that surrounds in-game character diaries, audio diaries and newspaper clippings helps to pad out the potentials for the machinations of the world itself long before they actually appear.

Lastly its clear Shinji Mikami isn't one for writing deeply involving and multi-faceted characters - instead Castellanos is a man upstaged by his own name for the most part, with a supporting team that although they get some memorable time to shine, for the most part don't appear to act like people would in their situation. Although given the game's overarching storyline, it's possible this is intentional.

Still, the point to be made is let the world speak for itself, as although we all loved the live-action cutscenes and dialogue that was hammier than an abattoir in earlier Resident Evils, it's the environment design and narrative drive that needs to stand out just as much as the gameplay.