Resident Evil 7 Trailers Tease Old School Save Mechanic
By Dalton Cooper 25 October 2016
Capcom releases two more teaser trailers for Resident Evil 7 that show fans the hunting knife in action and how they will save their progress in the new game.
When Resident Evil VII was first unveiled during Sony’s E3 2016 press conference, many were confused as to how it was truly a Resident Evil game. Its first-person perspective, lack of zombies, and use of virtual reality all marked significant departures from series norms. However, in recent weeks, Capcom has shown how Resident Evil VII ties into past games, and it seems like that is mostly being accomplished through smaller details and various gameplay mechanics.
For example, in old Resident Evil games, players had to find save points that were scattered across the environment. This old school kind of save system has been abandoned by most video games in recent years, with many titles sporting automatic saves, or allowing players to save whenever they want. As shown in a new trailer, Resident Evil VII is bringing back this kind of saving, with players having to find tape recorders hidden on the Baker family plantation in order to save their progress.
Players may even have to collect tapes like they did ink ribbons in past titles, but that’s not confirmed at this point. What we can determine from watching Ethan use a save point in the new trailer is that the game will have a variety of locations, as the save he uses specifies “main house,” not unlike how saves let players know where they were at in the previous games.
At the end of the save point trailer, Ethan answers a mysterious phone call from an unknown character. Fans have theorized that the characters calling Ethan are series veterans, like Resident Evil 5‘s Sheva Alomar and the ever-elusive Ada Wong, but we aren’t any closer to knowing the truth about the phone calls in the new teaser. The second new teaser Capcom released today also doesn’t reveal more information about the phone calls, but it does show Ethan utilizing a hunting knife to loot for items.
In the “Volume 4” teaser for Resident Evil VII, Ethan is in a garage of some sort, and it must be early on in the game, as he appears to have just collected the hunting knife. Ethan uses the knife to smash a box, finding handgun ammo inside. It appears the knife will also play a role when it comes to solving puzzles as well, as Ethan uses it to cut open a strange cabinet of some sort. Unfortunately, the trailer cuts out before fans have a chance to see what’s inside.
With Capcom releasing two of these teaser trailers at a time every few days, it’s possible that we will see what’s inside the cabinet sooner rather than later. And if we don’t, then fans just have to wait until early next year to learn all of Resident Evil VII‘s secrets when it finally releases to the masses.
Resident Evil VII will be available on January 24th, 2017 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation VR, and Xbox One.
