had a strange time with this one. i was really excited to play it because the vibe seemed up my street, and i liked RE8 quite a lot back in the day. i was getting out with it fine until the dinner table scene where jack is stalking around the house looking for you... and, idk, i just got lost, couldnt work out what to do, got needlessly frustrated by the fact that jack is just faster than ethan even when i'm sprinting, etc etc. finally got into the basement and died constantly to the mould men down there when it would sometimes take what felt like an entire clip to down one of them... so i gave up! thought that the combat was ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ me off so i'd try again on easymode... and i did! i ended up playing the entire game in one sitting. in my normal mode playthrough i hadnt got the final doghead for the door so basically the whole gmae blind! i think once i got into the meat and potatoes of it all i was having fun and just enjoying it a whole bunch! i guess it turns out that i'm literally just bad at video games?!

so story time. i remember RE7 coming out in 2017, and it was obviously the first in a brand new era of resident evil after the disastrously bad RE6 (or so i've heard) and seeing it was this first person, hyper realistic American setting it reminded me of games like Outlast, and i thought "where's all the weird quirky stuff from RE gone!? its not a japanese zombie camp thing anymore!?" anyway i was comlpetely wrong lmao. i also played RE8 first as previously mentioned, which is split into very clear different environments with bosses in each of them. much more action-y, much more traditionally silly in the way RE can be. i kind of had it in my head that RE7 was going to be one bigger location, JUST the house (with maybe a bit of outside) and that the entire family would be making problems for you consistently... what i can actually see now that i've played it is that RE8 is a much more logical sequel. the "bosses in areas" thing there is just as true in RE7, just the areas are much closer to each other, and the bosses are the members of teh family... and honestly i think that makes RE7 slightly worse for it! Jack as a recurring villain works the best because he is easily the scariest member of the family, so when i had an epic chainsaw fight with him in the basement i was kind of disappointed that i didnt have to deal with him elsewhere in on the premesis! like on one hand it was nice to feel that the house i had traversed was "safe" now (until the lucas bit) but i think the family doesnt end up feeling like a unit the way they should do. maugerite is a fun character but feels like, just there to make the game a bit longer? her area was fun to navigate! she's not quite as scary as jack but the environment is good. lucas was the worst one imo! I think the reason Jack is so scary is because he projects this image of domestic violence, and the fact that he is unstoppable makes that frightening! his violence is immediate and frightening, doing major trauma to you. he's big, he's scary. lucas being "just a guy who makes traps" feels a bit more, i dont know, antithetical to the brainwashing that eveline does. his evil feels more intelligent and planned which feels at odds to the "madness" of jack and maugerite's violence. also, with jack and maugerite both "dead" by the time you encounter lucas, the house and premesis just feels kind of empty, and that is kind of a shame! i would've liked more scene with these characters interracting with each other as well, and seeing how they actually operate in their home life, whatever that means. the premise here is fantastic and the start of the game really delivers on that, but by the time i got to maugerite's area i was like "ahh okay, its RE8 but smaller" and felt kind of disappointed. that being said, the extra boss with Jack and then the magic cutscene with him was great.

in terms of general story, its okay! its resident evil, they never have great plots, but rather scary atmospheres with cooky characters. i do love that ethan is just a guy who turns up and does all this ♥♥♥♥. i kind of love him. as I've said, Jack is the best character in this game. Mia is so scary even when she's not scary that it's hard to believe Ethan like, loves her? the choice of who to give the serum to out of zoe and mia is a funny one bc as a player i hardly know either of them! the boat area massively overstays its welcome, honestly should've just been a small walking tour bit before going on to the mine and final boss battle. the story that is eveline just wanting a family is good! its twisted and i like it. i wish that it could be explored a bit more with a bit more empathy for her because she is a little guy who was raised in a lab to be a bioweapon, so like, maybe she was abused by the system?? jack even says "she just wants a family" and i wish there was a bit more of that. because yes she IS evil and has killed loads of people, but there is something funny about going "alright i'm going to ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ shoot this little girl". multiple characters call the literal child a "♥♥♥♥♥" and thats funny. again, not undeserved, lots of blood on her hands, but it is funny. i like that was the old lady all along, and i like that you keep finding her in stranger and stranger places before she just vanishes again. the scariest resident evil game i've played for sure...