I didn't really know what to expect from my first taste of survival horror, but something that certainly took me by surprise was how strong the throughlines are between this game and Demon's Souls, and by extension the entire Soulslike genre. Resident Evil's limited saves, combined with very finite resources that must be consumed to move throughout the space, produce a play pattern that clearly presages the progress from one bonfire to the next.

In both cases, a save represents a fixed set of resources with which you must try (often repeatedly) to push forward to the next save. RE gives you somewhat more control over when "the next save" comes, but you still have to weigh the risk of getting murked by a zombie against the value of completing one more task and saving your precious ribbons. This risk/reward calculus echoes through every Soulslike where you find yourself running low on estus, carefully determining whether to forge ahead down a new path to find the next bonfire or turn back and try for a better run after you rest up.