Soft remakes are a fairly common trend in video games, having produced such bonafide classics as Metal Gear Solid and Super Metroid. While it doesn’t surpass 2002’s full blown remake of the series progenitor, Resident Evil 7 does well justify its existence with both the shift in perspective and the adoption of new technology. It’s important to note, however, that part of the reason why the franchise’s renaissance era hasn’t yet challenged the throne is because Resident Evil Remake was made great by its friction and prickliness, and the current era is too smoothly paced and perfectly engineered towards convenience to foment tension caused by fear of lost progress, which is the vital ingredient of video game horror. Where RE7 succeeds where RE2 Remake failed in terms of fear factor is providing a sense of unease through its perspective, both through the thorough griminess of its setting and texture but through its rough movement and aiming. Combat never feels clean, even during the routine power trip of its final act, and as an aside, I always appreciate a game with ammo and encounter pacing that makes you say “fuck yeah” when you get two shotgun shells and “oh, fuck” when you get six. Albeit, the fact that a major part of RE7’s novelty comes from the sense of presence provided by the first person perspective means that I suspect it won’t age as gracefully as its 2002 counterpart, as the textures get comparatively worn out over time, especially with the game’s only official VR support being locked to PlayStation, but for now at least it’s a delight.
RE7 does have one other major distinction factor from RE Remake and that is found in the subtext. Aside from its spin on gothic horror portraying humbler wealth and grodier decay, RE7's main contributions to the franchise’s themes are exploring how capitalism affects and corrupts the social structure of the family, with Eveline representing an artificially, profit driven desire for family contrasted with the difficult but sincere relationship of the Winters. Despite being the most personal Resident Evil story to date, the dramatization of these themes in undermined by the fact that Ethan is a vessel and Mia is a prop, but as is series tradition, (sans RE6) the narrative flaws are papered over by goofy camp presentation. This has been a strength of the series because it helps ensure the themes don’t get in the way of the simple genre pleasures of running scared and blasting monsters, while still giving you a modest snack of ideas to chew on afterwards, and it's in finding novel ways to deliver such an entrenched formula that allows RE7 to stand tall amongst such an esteemed franchise.
RE7 does have one other major distinction factor from RE Remake and that is found in the subtext. Aside from its spin on gothic horror portraying humbler wealth and grodier decay, RE7's main contributions to the franchise’s themes are exploring how capitalism affects and corrupts the social structure of the family, with Eveline representing an artificially, profit driven desire for family contrasted with the difficult but sincere relationship of the Winters. Despite being the most personal Resident Evil story to date, the dramatization of these themes in undermined by the fact that Ethan is a vessel and Mia is a prop, but as is series tradition, (sans RE6) the narrative flaws are papered over by goofy camp presentation. This has been a strength of the series because it helps ensure the themes don’t get in the way of the simple genre pleasures of running scared and blasting monsters, while still giving you a modest snack of ideas to chew on afterwards, and it's in finding novel ways to deliver such an entrenched formula that allows RE7 to stand tall amongst such an esteemed franchise.