Resident Evil is one of the oldest running Capcom franchises of all time. The number of changes this series has seen since 1996 is too much to count. Moreover, this evolution is why hardcore RE fans are always upbeat about every new entry in the series, and the same can be said for the new phase of Resident Evil titles that are played from the first-person perspective. While Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and the upcoming Resident Evil Village are completely different from the recent remakes, they have defined their own unique horror-survival style in just a few years.
However, a unique aspect of the new games isn't their gameplay but their stories and how they fit into the Resident Evil Universe. This is why fans have always dug deep to find concrete information regarding the plot of these games. What rumors about the 2017 title proved to be true?
6 RE7 Will Support VR
One of the first things people noticed about Resident Evil 7: Biohazard was its use of the first-person view, a big change from the classic orthographic and third-person camera angles synonymous with the IP. However, all of this was for a good reason, including a complete virtual reality experience.
Although not much was confirmed about Resident Evil 7 during its early days, some speculated that the game could be a complete VR title that gives players the chance to play it via the most hyped gaming tech of that time. This was later confirmed to be true as Resident Evil 7 made the jump to virtual reality, although the PSVR's low resolution was a big downside.
5 Multiple Endings
Most of the main Resident Evil titles focus on delivering a single ending to the player. From 2005 to 2016, every major RE game had one conclusion. The only difference with Resident Evil 6 was that the same ending was portrayed from different perspectives. So it was hard to imagine that the upcoming Resident Evil 7: Biohazard was all set to have multiple endings.
At that time, not many people expected the game to have more than one ending; however, as Resident Evil 7 was touted as a return to classic horror, there was a chance that multiple endings would be brought back. Out of all the rumors, this one wasn't especially believable, mostly because of the franchise's history. As it turns out, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard had two endings at launch.
4 ESRB Game Plot Info Leak
ESRB is the short form of the Entertainment Software Rating Board. It is a self-regulatory organization that most people know for giving games their age and content ratings. Most of the time, these ratings are based on in-game content and the use of obscene stuff. What this means is the rating and its criteria are pretty much factual.
This is why when the ESRB game plot info leaked, it should've been considered as an absolute certainty. However, many people wondered whether it could be a fake. Ultimately, it was not. The whole summary contained a lot of very descriptive things that took place during the entire game.
3 Classic Characters Return
As Resident Evil has some of the most popular characters in the world of gaming, it is natural that people expect some familiar faces to appear in every new release. For Resident Evil 7, it was rumored that a classic character would make a return and even be playable.
To nobody's surprise, this proved to be exactly the case when Chris Redfield was introduced at the end of Resident Evil 7's main story. In the beginning, not everyone was sure if this was truly Chris or someone else, mostly because of some visual dissimilarities. However, it was confirmed that the man was none other than Chris Redfield, and he even got his own playable DLC titled "NOT A HERO."
2 Completely New Direction
When the seventh main entry in the Resident Evil franchise was announced, not many predicted the series would go in such a new direction. As more info and trailers came about, it started to become more evident that Capcom was shaking things up. However, before the official info, most fans were expecting the seventh entry to be like its predecessors. That being, a third-person action shooter with elements of horror and survival.
However, it was suggested that the game would be very different from the older ones. Luckily for fans, this is exactly what happened, and the series got a change of pace and personality.
1 All About Family
The gameplay shift in Resident Evil 7 will remind the players of the golden days of horror survival. The seventh game is all about family and protection. The Baker family members are the main villains who became infected after helping the other main antagonist of the game.
There's a lot of unsettling family interactions in the game, and the whole reason Ethan went to the Baker house is to save his wife, Mia. The game isn't just about a man in a house of horrors, but it's about family. However, looking at the past games, most entries have been about operatives or agents. This is why when the rumors of RE7 being about family started, not many people believed them.