Resident Evil 7 Will "Go back to Horror Roots"

Iffin' you recall, we mentioned how Capcom had big plans for Resident Evil for the end of this year and the beginning of the next, calling the incoming wave of Resident Evil stuff a "full-scale offensive," which doesn't exactly invoke hype as much as it inspires undead fatigue and a little bit of unwarranted fear. Well, at least now we know a little bit more about what exactly this all-out assault will warrant, as a Japanese analysis has recently revealed a few details about Capcom's future plans, and, no surprise: they involve Resident Evil 7 at this year's E3.

So, yeah. Resident Evil 7 will be announced at this year's E3. Which is swell. But here's where things go from "alright cool I guess," to "hrm, I might actually pay attention now." Here's what he continued to say:

"The entire game will go back to RE's horror roots and (essentially) be a clean slate. The RE7 team hired Jordan Amaro, a designer who previously worked on MGS V and P. T. at Kojima Productions."

Here's the thing: the last universally praised Resident Evil game was Resident Evil 4, and if you recall (and god knows I wouldn't begrudge you for forgetting, that was back in the Gamecube days) Capcom made a similar vow with that game: and it worked. Resident Evil 4 was scary, fun, and best of all, required little to no prior knowledge of the series to enjoy. But then, for Resident Evil 5, 6, and the assorted mobile titles, Capcom fell back into the trap of it's old lore, and things got confusing and action-packed once again. Quite the let-down.

So seeing them willing to try the same approach for Resident Evil 7 actually fills me with a bit of hope--more so now that Resident Evil 4 proved that they could actually do that if they put their mind to it. So, congrats, Capcom: you have my attention at this year's E3. I hope you have the goods to back up your big talk.

Oh, and a former Kojima designer is always exciting. They do solid work. Fingers crossed.