What you need to know about Resident Evil 7, including trailers, release date, and latest news!
Resident Evil 7 Latest News
A new Resident Evil 7 premiered at TGS 2016, and it's a horrifying new look into the family of villains that will try to kill you throughout the game. It's very Texas Chainsaw Massacre-y with a side of True Detective (especially that opening shot!). Check out the trailer below:
Capcom also announced at the show that an update is coming to the game's Beginning Hour demo that will allow players to explore more of the spooky mansion than ever before. This "Twilight" demo is available to all PS4 users.
The first two DLC packs were also detailed. The first DLC will include four short side stories, while the second will add another episode to the main story. No details on the actual plot of these stories.
Resident Evil 7 Trailers
We still don't know much about Resident Evil 7's story beyond the fact that it will go back to the series roots of survival horror. So far, what we've seen of the game (or the concept of it, anyway) shows a lot less action and a lot more helpless running. The game takes more than a little inspiration from Amnesia and Outlast, it seems. The latest trailer out of Gamescom 2016 shows just how Capcom plans to terrify you next January. Check it out below:
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We had a suspicion that Resident Evil might be making an appearance at E3 2016, but nothing could have prepared us for the game's fascinating and terrifying new horror style. It is unclear if we're dealing with zombies in this sequel, and there is at least one mention of ghosts at the beginning of the trailer, but there are definitely glimpses of monsters that go bump in the night.
Watch the trailer below:
This nightmarish house presented in the trailer suggests that Capcom spent time playing P.T., though these masters of horror have clearly decided to prove to the world that they are ready to take back the horror crown. The upcoming Resident Evil is most certainly a return to the pure terror of the Resident Evil series, and we could not be more excited about what has been shown so far.
If you don't have a PlayStation 4, you can always just check out IGN's video of the full demo below:
Resident Evil 7 Release Date
Resident Evil 7 is scheduled to release on the Xbox One and PS4 on January 24, 2017. Even better, the game's demo is available to all PlayStation 4 users now.
Resident Evil 7 Story
Speaking in a Capcom blog post, Resident Evil 7 director Kōshi Nakanishi revealed that the protagonist in the new game will be very different from what we've come to expect from the series. In short, don't expect a Chris Redfield or Leon S. Kennedy this time around.
"You can’t be looking through the perspective of a macho, hero character because that’s not you at home," Nakanishi said. "Or maybe you are macho, I don’t know [laughs]. It’s sort of a powerless, ordinary person you’re playing as. We’re not really talking in too much detail about who they are right now, but they’re an ordinary person stuck in an extraordinary situation. I think that really brings the horror right to the fore."
Nakanishi also teased that the new game is indeed a sequel to Resident Evil 6 and that Resident Evil 7 isn't a reboot. He cites the new game's emphasis on mystery as the big change in the franchise:
After I say that and you try the demo, you may say 'Really?', because it looks nothing like any of that, but trust me. We need to have a bit of mystery in survival horror, so we’re trying to make you wonder when you play it how could this possibly be connected? That’s part of the appeal.
I want to give a reassuring message. I’ve seen from initial reactions of what we’ve put out that people are getting the impression that we’ve taken Resident Evil and turned it into some sort of supernatural, occult, ghost story. I think you can look at the trailer or the demo and get that impression, but don’t worry, we haven’t just thrown out Resident Evil as it exists and turned it into a ghost story. It will all make sense in the end.
In other news, Nakanishi clarified The Beginning Hour's role in the final release by assuring fans that Resident Evil is not morphing into a ghost story game.
"I think you can look at the trailer or the demo and get that impression," Nakanishi said in a blog post on the subject of the demo's supernatural style. "But don't worry, we haven't just thrown out Resident Evil as it exists and turned it into a ghost story. It will all make sense in the end."
Nakanishi goes on to state that the key pillars of the game are "fear and horror, exploration of the environment, puzzle-solving elements, resource management, and combat against enemies. Those are all in this game, but we wanted to start off with the first two – horror and exploration – and get you experiencing those two pillars up front."
Nakanishi continued to address the concerns of some franchise fans by stating that the quick time events that had become a part of the series as of late will not be present in Resident Evil 7.
The director confirmed to IGN that The Beginning Hour demo released during E3 2016 will not be part of the finished game. Instead, the demo's purpose is more about introducing the tone of the new game.
"The teaser demo is a bespoke experience that isn’t just a slice of gameplay from the main game," adding that it's "kind of a tonal preview instead of a content preview." Nakanishi described the game's key pillars as "fear/horror and exploration of an environment," two things that are clearly showcased in the demo.
Nakanishi also revealed that there's more to Resident Evil 7 that we didn't see in the demo, namely "puzzle solving, resource management, and combat. They’re all in there, but we’re focusing on horror has come home as a kind of theme for the teaser demo. So if you thought the games were going away from horror in previous years, this is just a statement of intent, purpose, to say it’s back."