Resident Evil VII: Biohazard

There are already many reviews available for Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. So why should you read mine? What do I have to offer that separates me from other reviewers? For what it's worth, I'm writing this review as someone who has never thoroughly played a Resident Evil game before. (I vaguely recall watching a friend play one of the original games when I was younger.) Also, I promise not to spoil anything.

Overall: Biohazard is a top-notch survival horror game. The graphics are excellent, the gameplay is challenging, and the story is interesting. The game isn't perfect, as I discuss below, but it seems to me that the pros outweigh the cons.

Graphics: Superb. Did they combine live action footage with computer generated imagery in the beginning of the game? I'm not sure. Either way, I'm impressed. But this isn't true for all of the game. If you're a stickler for graphics, you might notice some objects which aren't rendered to your liking. Otherwise, I doubt you'll have complaints.

Gameplay: Challenging. I haven't died so much in a game in a while, yet I never felt frustrated when I died. I always recognized some flaw in my playing style which needed to be addressed. Resident Evil 7 is tough, but not arbitrarily so. Although, I am somewhat new to the survival horror genre of video games, so veterans might not have such a tough time.

Story: I often cringe at the sophomoric storytelling in video games; Biohazard is a pleasant surprise. I found myself engaged with the story, wanting to know more. However, depending on your knowledge of horror movies, you might find some aspects of the story too derivative.

Common Complaints: Lack of monster variety; easy puzzles. I agree that there is a lack of monster variety, but, for the most part, it feels natural given the game's small setting. Though, one does wonder why there aren't any zombie alligators or other creatures given the game's location in the woods in Louisiana in the middle of nowhere. Nevertheless, the "molded" are terrifying enough to carry the game. Imagine Baraka from Mortal Kombat and Tarman from Return of the Living Dead have a baby, which is adopted and raised by Satan. I agree that most of the puzzles for the main story of the game are fairly easy. But in the game developer's defense, there is a lot of hidden stuff which isn't as easy to find. Also, I found a puzzle towards the end of the game challenging, though perhaps this is due to insufficient cognitive capacities on my part.

Quibbles: Why in the world can't you manually turn your flashlight on or off? This would have been such a great feature in the game! It gets frustrating when you're walking in near complete darkness, but you know that the protagonist is carrying a flashlight. Moreover, this could have added a great survival aspect to the game (conserving battery life, hiding from enemies in the dark, etc.). Why can't you pick up certain items? For instance, there is a baseball bat in one room, yet you can't pick it up. This would have been handy when battling the molded.

Despite some minor complaints, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard comes highly recommended. 8.5/10