Diving into Resident Evil 7 (First Impression/Reaction)

Peace fam this is BradBeGodlike and this is my first time writing my thoughts on a video game this year, I used to write video game reviews on Gametrailers in my own time which was a wealthy experience for the few I wrote for the games I loved at the time. But this isn't necessarily an interview but a short adventure on an immersive experience I had playing Resident Evil 7 with my boy DJ. Without taking you into parts of a story that you don't need to know, me and my boy DJ were up to some extracurricular activities before deciding to hop on Resident Evil 7. He enjoys watching me play horror games because he knows that's not my steez but we lit and I'm game for a new experience so we boot up the PS4. Start the game and the loading screen is simple, which it should be for a game going back to basics after Resident Evil 6 jumped so far from what the series was so this nice adjustment was welcome. (My opinion of Resident Evil 6 has changed a bit after watching a video on YouTube though, get used to these excerpts in parentheses cuz I like going off track sometimes to make reference to different things but back to it). I hit the Options button (Cuz the 8th generation of game consoles wanted to be edgy and forgo the start button but that's none of my business) and we get the introduction cut scene that starts off with a white girl from the most uncanny of valleys (Side Note: I love tropes and I read about them everyday so I'll be making reference to them a lot, it helps me understand the media I'm taking in more, but for those who don't know Uncanny Valley is a trope where characters who are supposed to be as life like as possible miss the mark by a margin and come out looking creepy or not quite right by the viewer thus making them uncomfortable with what they are seeing) and I made heavy note of this. In the next segment of the intro cinematic ole girl is recording herself in some dank looking basement telling you, the player character, not to come find her (Which I noted as easy because she's from that valley I mentioned before and I definitely would find me a baddie and leave home girl where she at but we need a game to put the player through so we go down to wherever she's being held to find her). After the few cut scenes are out of the way we finally get to look down and see our hands as we hop out of the car (which is always a nice touch for me, I lost my shit when you could see Master Chiefs feet in Halo 2, I'm a simple man, don't judge me cuz it's the little things that matter lol). You make your way through a wooded path and find a big ass house; don't know how the player character got the address but he's there (If homeboy knew where Valley girl was, why did she go there in the first place? Torture camp maybe? Idk man). A gate with a lock blocks your path and you can't climb the fence because games like making you work for that ending, CJ from San Andreas would've hopped the gate but we're in 2017. What do I know right? Since that path is blocked for now you make your way to the left past a totem with some bones on it and since your character is white you're gonna get your damn girl! Now this is where the game starts shining for me because I like to study game mechanics, small touches and immersive elements in video games. After walking down the totem path for a minute you turn to see a dude walk off around a corner and he's nowhere to be seen because people in the horror genre also have the foot of a parent when you're up to no good; smh. You find ole girls picture and you're in the right place (cuz it would be fucked up if homie was in the wrong place and had to hop back in the whip right? lol) and you find a side house with the door wide open and it's about dusk outside in game around this time. The first immersive element I noticed was the fact that past the threshold of that door it was pitch black despite their being some form of sunlight outside which was a nice touch because I was high and a bit apprehensive about walking in the house but excited at the same time because you don't know when the jump scares are gonna start rocking your shit. As stated before I'm lit so I don't know if it was the game making me do this or myself but I edged toward the door very slowly like a gameplay demo to see how the transition from outside to inside looked and it was neat because there was just enough sunlight peeking past your character on the wall adjacent to the door which was a very nice touch. After I made it into the middle of that room I turned around to see what outside looked like and it was nice, the sides of the room were still dark but it was bright where it needed to be, until you venture forth a bit more to have the door slam shut behind you. At this point I'm like welp, we in this bitch now lol. I walk all along the walls to examine every little detail that's put in front of me when I walk too close to the wall and the character puts his hand on the wall………Y’all remember how I was telling y’all earlier in the side note how I was jazzed to see Master Chiefs feet!? I lost my shit because these are the little context sensitive details I love about games, because real life people would do the same if they were that close to a wall, so that added to the immersion for me and homie during this walk through the house. I keep looking at the walls as I make my way through the house sidling as I go (Ok so I had to look it up and see if sidle was a real defined word and it's not, I could've sworn I saw "Sidle" as an option in Legend of Zelda when you had to shimmy standing up moving sideways on a steep cliff face, but for the purpose of this experience that word is real and it's going to get used again) just to make sure whatever jump scare that gets you when you turn around never got me cuz you can't get got if you don't turn around but if you walk sideways all the time you're good, trust me on these things. We find trash, old moldy food and the smell of rancid air (but VR is all we got, no smell o’ vision yet but it looks funky up in this piece) and we come to look and see the shadowed shape of a girl walking past a hallway threshold. Boy when I tell you I got excited because it was about to to down! Make my way to wherever she was going and it starts to get a lil hazy from here because I was cracking jokes the whole time and were dying laughing, don't worry I'm gonna get capture equipment and a mic so I can capture the magic I'm speaking into existence fam. And finally we run into ole girl in the basement of this house and she tripping, telling me I shouldn't be there (Which I agree with) and she tells me to hide before he comes back but of course I haven't met the gentleman yet so I can't judge him but she seems to think he's all bad. So after going to a very narrow portion of the room I explored before running into her that I knew was the next path because I've been playing games for more than 20 years and can tell where to go by now. We sidle through this body’s width worth of area to keep moving forward to get away from her handler (I told you sidling would come back up cuz that's exactly what we did at this part of the game to move the story forward, she likes to sidle just like I did so now I know why the protagonist came to rescue her she a ride or sidle bitch and I love that she got my reference to the events that I imposed on myself in game earlier, it's the simple things for real fam) So we get into another basement area where there's a ladder leading up to a way out of this hell hole when I start ascending her switch flips and she pulls ya boy off the ladder and proceeds to get a chainsaw from some unknown place to begin the first enemy encounter which was quite unnerving. I found a gun somewhere not long before this and some ammo so I was strapped bih what's up! Matter of fact I'm sorry y’all it just came to me, she goes ape shit in a hallway right before this with a knife and comes at you which you're finally given control to block and punch accordingly which my depth perception was a little off but I fought her back in this section handily. Once this is complete she stabs you in the hand which you have to fight her off then you knock her out cold on the floor. (I don't condone domestic violence but she transformed so it's aight I guess) After that segment you leave her be (See he really didn't want you to rescue her crazy ass) and come across a 9MM firearm and a box of bullets to accompany you on your way outta there. You make your way to a wet ass basement that probably wreaked of mold but it's a video game so you don't worry about that right? You pick up a bottle of first aid (which is this games healing item, you drench your hands and arms in whatever is in the bottle and your feel better, shit I need some of that for my allergies). Now if you've played a video game then your ass knows once you find a couple healing items it's about to get cracking. You head toward the ladder out of the basement and BLAM ole girl is awake, transformed and she got a chainsaw now which she can hit you probably a couple times with that; if you fuck up she introduces it to your gut and brings it up to your camera (Which in a first person game usually isn't a good thing) and keeps going until both halves of you fall to the floor. Upon restarting this segment I hit her in the head with some bullets a couple times and this being a game she's gonna shrug it off like a champ and keep on coming for me to dodge, shoot and repeat. After the 7th or 8th bullet to the head she staggers and knocks out again. After this your character picks her up and puts her on a couch (She would've been in that stink water if it was me) and you make your way to the next area but not before you get welcomed to the family via jump scare by dear or Walter White looking dad in the yellow jumpsuit as he reenacts Craig knocking out Deebo and you're the one who's been taking dudes chains (Think about it, take a second *ding*). Once that's done you awaken to a table of inbred freaks that are eating what else, human parts and force some down your throat. Now I feel like I'm telling the whole first portion of the game, which you yourself should experience. Resident Evil 7 is out now and it's a wonderful experience which has been getting great reviews thus far. Check it out and see how you like it fam. My name is BradBeGodlike which is my alias on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Xbox Live, Playstation Network and just about anywhere. Hit me up, let's have a dialogue about some games, movies and other forms of media. I hope you enjoyed this small adventure, I hope to come back and write more on my experiences, I'm passionate about gaming and I love sharing stories with people. Peace and love folks. ✌️