Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - Making Zombies Creepy Again

[Stanley]

I’ve just started this, it’s horrible isn’t it - still doesn’t reach the sheer horror of say, Outlast II, but it’s very, very good. 

[Vemsie]

On 06/03/2021 at 14:20, Stanley said:

I’ve just started this, it’s horrible isn’t it - still doesn’t reach the sheer horror of say, Outlast II, but it’s very, very good. 

I've started this recently as well and completed it this weekend. I really enjoyed it overall. I thought it was absolutely tremendous up until 

Spoiler

the boat and the mines. The boat wasn't awful by any means but not nearly as immersive as the excellent house design and the mines were nothing special really.

I really enjoyed the Bakers, the level design, the puzzles and the general atmosphere. My biggest gripe with it - and something they seem to be fixing with Village - is the lack of enemy variety. I think 2 Remake is the better game and I prefer third person Resi overall, but still had a great time with this.

Also, the end credits are dope.

[Spacehost]

Do the videotape bits play back in 2D in VR? I think that would be amazing.

 

I'm so glad 

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Daddy Baker jumpscared me in the toilet rather than anyone else, as I absolutely shat myself.

 

Feel very much like they took a lot of Resi tropes and filtered them through first person horror games. I kinda miss blasting Wesker with rocket launchers inside an erupting volcano now, but it's good to be back to 

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saving with archaic equipment in a room that plays "you're okay" music at you

 

[Mike S]

On 05/03/2021 at 00:40, Spacehost said:

Only just started this, after finding out i) it's a sane length at about 10 hours and ii) it's in the PS+ Collection and plays like s dream on PS5.

 

 

Has this been upgraded for PS5 then?

 

If so I think I'll download it and give it another play through!

[Spacehost]

2 minutes ago, Mike S said:

 

 

Has this been upgraded for PS5 then?

 

If so I think I'll download it and give it another play through!

No, but it plays very smoothly. I've nothing to compare it against though, not played it before.

[Mike S]

Just now, Spacehost said:

No, but it plays very smoothly. I've nothing to compare it against though, not played it before.

 

Well, I shan't be deterred by your false promises and will download it anyway. 

 

That'll show you.

 

[Stanley]

I’ve progressed quite a bit now and I’m enjoying it more the further I get, I must admit I have a penchant for bat shit crazy storylines in games and this certainly delivers. 
 

It’s not all great but in terms on bringing the series back on line after number six it does the job admirably. Will give more detailed impressions when I’m done.
 

Late game spoilers.

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Got strong MGS 2 vibes in the boat section, I do love a good boat story, and a haunted one all the better! 

 

[Mike S]

I did try this again last night but the HDR was totally broken. The sky box was a mess of weird contour line type patterns and everything else was washed out and totally drained of colour. 

[Stanley]

23 minutes ago, Mike S said:

I did try this again last night but the HDR was totally broken. The sky box was a mess of weird contour line type patterns and everything else was washed out and totally drained of colour. 

Yeah there was some weird stuff happening with the sky right at the start but other than that I’ve found HDR, colour saturation etc. to be really good. Have you tried adjusting the settings for it? 

[Mike S]

Just now, Stanley said:

Yeah there was some weird stuff happening with the sky right at the start but other than that I’ve found HDR, colour saturation etc. to be really good. Have you tried adjusting the settings for it? 

 

Yeah, made the in game adjustments as usual but it still looked awful and much worse than my last (non HDR) play though on the Xbox.

 

Will reboot the PS5 later to see if that helps... 

[Vemsie]

The Not a Hero DLC is definitely worth a punt, considering it's free and all. While the location isn't very interesting, the mechanic of stagerring enemies and then punching the shit out of them is good fun. 

[Stanley]

And I’m done, overall that was a blast from start to finish only really running out of steam in the very last section which although wasn’t that long felt drawn out and kind of pointless as I just ran past most of the enemies.

Spoiler

In the mine.

I loved the last boss. 
 

Spoiler

It looked like something out of Contra 

At times it does feel a bit like a funfair attraction though, you know, enemies popping up out of nowhere, and the bosses felt a bit awkward in first person view.

 

Basically you can see it was also designed to work in VR as the combat lacks finesse and it’s a lot easier than other games in the series; it’s point and shoot, rinse, repeat most of the time. I never felt low on ammo or health either.

 

In fact the survival element there in the original game which largely spawned a whole genre is now pretty much absent. Sure you still have that daft inventory to manage but gone are the days where you had to really plan your route and conserve ammo making every bullet count. 
 

But yeah as a creepy action adventure game with some gross out moments it works well and definitely makes me look forward to the next one. 

[Spacehost]

Fuck 

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mutant bug lady battle after the hunt-and-peck puzzling in the only environment where you can get the ammo to fight the bug lady 

I’ll probably nail it in one shot tomorrow, but compared to the gentlemanly, elegant ballet of

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chainsaw battling a mentally ill immortal investment banker until his torso explodes

it feels cheap.

[Spacehost]

Finished! I had a lot more fun in this than I was expecting. I may need to buy all the DLC. Such a treat to have a well paced game too, no bloat on this corpse.

[Hanzo the Razor]

11 hours ago, Spacehost said:

Finished! I had a lot more fun in this than I was expecting. I may need to buy all the DLC. Such a treat to have a well paced game too, no bloat on this corpse.

 

The Not A Hero DLC is free. Start there.

[Stevie]

I’m terrible at RE7. I always run out of ammo, and I just don’t get how you are supposed to play it. I’m being chased by evil dad guy and I shot him until he drops, but then he gets up again and I die. 

 

[Spacehost]

59 minutes ago, Hanzo the Razor said:

 

The Not A Hero DLC is free. Start there.

Oh. My. God.

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I can stagger enemies then punch them and their heads explode.

I've gone from being ambivalent about Resi 8 to quite excited.

[Spacehost]

11 minutes ago, Stevie said:

I’m terrible at RE7. I always run out of ammo, and I just don’t get how you are supposed to play it. I’m being chased by evil dad guy and I shot him until he drops, but then he gets up again and I die. 

 

That's your hint that you can't kill him. You've got to sneak about the house doing things without Dad spotting you. It's like being 15.

[Stanley]

12 minutes ago, Stevie said:

I’m terrible at RE7. I always run out of ammo, and I just don’t get how you are supposed to play it. I’m being chased by evil dad guy and I shot him until he drops, but then he gets up again and I die. 

 

Don’t worry that’s how it’s meant to be played, well not you dying, but it gets easier trust me. 

[Stevie]

Thanks guys

[Spacehost]

Finally wrapped all the story DLC.

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I wasn't expecting to be throwing spears and crocodiles and punching Jack's head off with a roooooboooooot haaaaaaaand, but it's completely in keeping with Resi. Well done.

Guess I should join the queue of thirsty motherfuckers and preorder Resi 8.

 

[Hanzo the Razor]

8 hours ago, Spacehost said:

Finally wrapped all the story DLC.

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I wasn't expecting to be throwing spears and crocodiles and punching Jack's head off with a roooooboooooot haaaaaaaand, but it's completely in keeping with Resi. Well done.

Guess I should join the queue of thirsty motherfuckers and preorder Resi 8.

 

 

Give the 21 DLC a go. It's quite addictive and hilarious in a dark, gruesome way.

[Transient Curse]

I played through this on Gamepass and have just picked up the gold Edition so I can play all the dlc. Does it matter which bit I do first? 

[Spacehost]

1 hour ago, Hanzo the Razor said:

 

Give the 21 DLC a go. It's quite addictive and hilarious in a dark, gruesome way.

I have it a whirl, it's pretty clear I should never play blackjack

[Spacehost]

1 hour ago, Wahwah* said:

I played through this on Gamepass and have just picked up the gold Edition so I can play all the dlc. Does it matter which bit I do first? 

Not A Hero and End of Zoe are set post-game, Sisters is set pre-game. The rest are minigames, basically. Depends what you want to explore, all are less than two hours long.

[ZOK]

I am playing this on Stadia, and loving it!

 

For the most part, anyway. My partner is playing it with me, and she pretty much exclusively plays DK Tropical Freeze / Mario Kart 8, so she’s less familiar with the standard FPS set up than me. So when she gets the controller, Ethan starts navigating the environment like he just downed three bottles of tequila to numb the pain of receiving a cricket bat to the bonnet.

 

Fortunately we’re playing on easy so he’s fairly indestructible, but the videotape bit where Mia was trying to evade Marguerite (?) was...challenging. And we won’t talk about the first bit in the garage. 

[Bushtopher]

I was in danger of getting caught up in the Resi 8 hype, so to stop myself buying it I figured I should at least try one more time to get into and complete Resi 7.  After a few failed attempts - including one in VR (never again!) - I've now put about 4 hours in and have just got out of the first/main house (I'm aware this might be a long time to take, but I'm finding it pretty terrifying!).

 

It's definitely up there as one of the scariest games I've ever played, in large part due to the sound effects.  So well designed (and so horrible).  

 

Looking forward to seeing where this goes next... looks like I have a yard to explore, and I'm desperately hoping there are no horrible dogs hiding in the long grass I can see. 

[Bushtopher]

Still going with this and had my biggest jump scare yet last night. 
 

In the old house, 

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clearly feeling far too comfortable, I’d made the woman with the lamp run off so I didn’t need to sneak around the house and was heading up to the Crow door. 
 

At the top of the stairs, the damn woman jumped out on me and I actually shouted out to the extent that my wife came running into the room to see what was going on!

 

I’m just relieved that this didn’t happen in VR….!

 

[Calashnikov]

I knew what bit you were talking about even before I clicked on the spoiler 😁

 

It’s 7’s dog-crashing-through-window-of-a-quiet-corridor as per the original 😎

[Bushtopher]

4 hours ago, Calashnikov said:

I knew what bit you were talking about even before I clicked on the spoiler 😁

 

It’s 7’s dog-crashing-through-window-of-a-quiet-corridor as per the original 😎

… and 

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she’s only bloody well gone and done it again!

 

At least I’m pretty sure she’s dead for good this time. Although I thought that last time and look what happened!

Really enjoying how effective this is as keeping everything tense and uncomfortable. Just hope I can get through it….