You Play As A “Powerless, Ordinary Person” In Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, Says Capcom

While what the final product of Resident Evil 7 Biohazard will end up looking like is anyone’s guess considering that the demo is apparently not part of the main game, the developer is letting out some hints in the meantime. Producer Masachika Kawata and director Kōshi Nakanishi recently revealed several new things about the game in a Capcom Unity Blog post, such as hints on the protagonist and the type of gameplay.

Kawata begins by describing the change in the type of protagonist, saying that “it isn’t an existing character whose eyes you’re seeing through. I think one of the places we got in the series up until now is you’re kind of playing these superhero characters. They’re fully equipped, powerful people who go into these survival horror situations but they’re ready for them. They can take it on.”

He goes on to say that “To bring the horror experience right to the player, we thought now that you’re in first person you’ll feel like you’re there. You can’t be looking through the perspective of a macho, hero character because that’s not you at home. Or maybe you are macho, I don’t know [laughs]. It’s sort of a powerless, ordinary person you’re playing as.”

Despite the change in direction, they reconfirm that this is not a reboot and will take place after the events of Resident Evil 6. Nakanishi said that “It’s not a reboot and we’re not throwing away the series’ canonical storyline. It’s the new numbered title in the series and it’s a sequel to the existing mainline series titles. After I say that and you try the demo, you may say ‘Really?’, because it looks nothing like any of that, but trust me. We need to have a bit of mystery in survival horror, so we’re trying to make you wonder when you play it how could this possibly be connected? That’s part of the appeal.”

They end by reaffirming fans that they haven’t ditched what makes the series what it is and turned it into a ghost story, saying “Don’t worry. We haven’t just thrown out Resident Evil as it exists and turned it into a ghost story. It will all make sense in the end. I know it’s frustrating holding back on what we can show fans, but this is really the best way to let you enjoy the game to the fullest when it finally comes out.”

Resident Evil 7 Biohazard will launch for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on January 24th, 2017. You can check out our impressions on the demo and our post on all of the endings and secrets in it by clicking here and here.