I just got an arm from the mummified kid.
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Ah, so the old residence then. Yeah quite a few tricky puzzles and jumpy moments there. Still before the halfway point, IĀ“d guess. Some really heavy bossfights ahead, too. Though I think youĀ“re already beyond the chainsaw duel with Jack by that point. That is a tricky one.
Yeah, Iām beyond that. So far the biggest problem I had was that I did something, that triggered Jack hunting me entire time as I was exploring the first house (just after the garage scene). It is supposed to happen, but it happened very soon for me. I know, because eventually I had to resort to a walkthrough and saw opinions from people who had the same problem. After that was over I was pleasantly surprised that I donāt have someone on my back entire time and the game isnāt as punishing as I thought it will be.
I admit reading walkthrough from time to time. I have low patience for getting killed a lot.
Oh yeah, that is a bit rough right there at the beginning. But itĀ“s good that usually you can concentrate on the puzzle solving(like the shadow/light projection puzzles). My biggest problem on both of my playthroughs was opening that drawer with one of the tar monsters inside. I still donĀ“t know how I solved that, I guess who have to rattle all the others first because that jarred one opens?
Itās a borderline Myst-type, abstract puzzle on the top of video game logic thing (itās stupid). Thereās a note with a hint right in the room how to solve it. I think itās easy once you know the note refers to the drawers and itās the only thing you need. The problem with the puzzle is that the solution to opening the drawer is so dumb and unrealistic, itās easy to miss because why in the world would someone do that.
I think this is the worst puzzle so far, but in general I donāt like puzzles like that, especially in a somewhat realistic game. Things like shadow puzzles, just sticks out and reminds me that itās game, a Japanese game. Iām fine with puzzles that are more in line with the setting, like find the crank and put it on the bridge.
Oh yeah, I think that was the only time I got seriously stuck. The other puzzles are much more intuitive and the shadow puzzles are usually not that hard (except in the āBedroomā DLC episode where you have to find two objects and one of them is everything but obvious, which I kind of liked actually).
Looking forward to what you will have to say about the extended ābirthday partyā puzzle which is the longest and most convoluted part in the whole game where you have nothing to do but combine stuff. I thought that was real fun.
I just did Birthday Party. Really enjoyed that, this part is just pure old school adventure game, the puzzles made sense in the context they were presented (on a second thought, maybe itās not that oldschool ; ). I loved how few objects I had in inventory and almost every time I did something right, one disappeared and it didnāt seem new options where opening. I was constantly thinking Iām stuck, but in reality it was a smooth experience.
I noticed they messed one thing though. You canāt use the burning candle on the rope at the start.
Overall this part reminded me of Saw movies. Saw - now, that would be a cool setting for an adventure game.
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I donāt play these kinds of games, but I would play that.
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Did you play it on the videotape first? Because you can cut it short with Ethan in the actual situation if you did that because the codes remain the same.
I loved that part of the game. I even enjoyed bursting the ballons in the room longer than you were supposed to actually do that. 
I believe there even are Saw games. Of course the concept of those movies is ripe for games, but IĀ“m not sure what they are like. Until Dawn also has a brief Saw like moment, where you have to make a decision between two characters(which however doesnĀ“t mean anything as it turns out).
I also just played the 2002(2015) Remaster(or rather remake) of the first Resident Evil and itĀ“s amazing how the first one and RE7 seem to borrow elements from Maniac Mansion, that just cannot be an accident.
So far I played it only on videotape : ) I popped all the balloons, just in case.
I havenāt played RE1 at all, maybe I should, I was curious about the original years ago.
What elements of MM do you see in RE7? There are the obvious - the house, the crazy family, but these are not very unique, just common horror tropes, so Iām wondering if thereās anything I missed.
If you played the videotape (btw you can skip most of them, but they are helpful in many cases) you should remember the codes you got there. You can re use them once you are in the actual situation.
How did the tape end? Did the room explode? If so, itĀ“s no problem on the tape (the one where you have to hide as Mia in the old house only ends with her getting captured) but if you get there later as Ethan you will die. This is an easy mistake I that made me repeat the whole thing a few times, because there are two ways which you can get the cake to burn and one is easily more deadly than the other.
Enough spoilery hints. 
The original has the house with the big staircase in the entry hall. Going through the left door there is the dining room with a long table and a grandfather clock. At one point you have to poison a plant to pass by its tentacles. Later you have to go to the garden and drown a swimming pool to walk through it. At the end you have to enter a secret lab that is located under the house. At the end of the game a selfdestruct mechanism is started from the lab and you have to get out in time.
In RE7 it is those elements carried over from the original (of which it is quite a bit removed) and more so the characters like the crazed patriarch (who shares one more important element with Dr Fred which would be too much of a spoiler at this point) the creepy nurse wife and the grown up psycho son. And a chainsaw I guess.
Another likely more coincidental thing would be the titles which refer to sinister things in old villas.
Maniac = Evil
Resident = Mansion
I also noticed STRONG simiilarities in the overall plot to LovecraftĀ“s Dunwich Horror. But that would also be too spoiler heavy to get into details.
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Maniac Residentā¢
Evil Mansionā¢
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I solved the birthday party for Ethan. Clever. I really loved this part.
Indeed it seems thereās a connection between RE1 and MM. Some of these can be accidental, the grandfather clock is a given, the stairs, dining room. The swimming pool? Itās too much.
RE7, well, I dunnoā¦ I think itās very influenced by Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Evil Dead. All the major elements (and actually much of the look of the game) is in those movies. I havenāt reached the Lovecraft part yet.
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Yeah, if you have done the tape first and remember everything the actual part can be solved short and easy. Otherwise you pretty much have to die and do it again.
I think the sunken ship part should be upcomming for you now, which is the only part I donĀ“t really like mostly because itĀ“s really long and drawn out and that late in the game.
Hey at least it is an actual meal for a change instead of something random like:
Iām glad to report Iāve finished the game. The difficulty was weird, I mentioned I had most difficulty on the start and that really didnāt change until the end. Some of the end bosses were really easy compared to Jack. The ship part was troublesome mostly due to low ammo. Still it took me nearly 15h, more than average it seems, but itās typical for me to struggle at all labirynths (including very simple underground constructions IRL).
One thing that they really messed up was Zoe vs Mia choice. I chose Zoe and it was pointless (besides that I donāt have to play the DLC, as she seemingly died in my story choice).
Overall, impressive game.
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I donĀ“t remember struggling with any bosses except Jake and on easy mode not even really with him. But thatĀ“s fine by me, I loved how they got back to the slower paced horror that they had abandoned for the more action oriented previous games. And a Resident Evil game without Zombies is also something you wouldnĀ“t expect.
Now for the part that reminded me of the Dunwich Horror.
That Lovecraft story is about a reclusive family that has a disfigured son. When he dies he dissolves into a mushy pile of whatever. Several strange occurences like cattle mutilations and strange sounds from the barn lead a group of villagers to investigate. In the end a giant thing that had been hidden in the barn all the time breaks out and wreacks havoc on the countryside. After it is defeated it is revelaed that it was the familes sons twin brother who comes more after his father who is implied to be Yog-Sothoth.
Now in the game we think the family has a mother living with them that turns out to be the daughter in the end. The boss fight involves her growing to a giant shapeless size. I donĀ“t know but that whole thing reminded me a lot of the story of the WhatleyĀ“s in Dunwich Horror.
Am I wrong or DiCaprio says WienerSchnitzel?
On the TWP dev blog there was some chat about that. I played the first Resident Evil years before Maniac Mansion. Then it was a surprise to find out how many things were taken from MM. You could even make a game to find all the locations and similarities with MM. And a guy even made a video on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrYw2aVMMrY (found and posted by @besmaller)
You are not wrong!
IĀ“ve seen quite a bit crossovers due to all those similarities actually, but this one (containg the entire pl
ot, cut scenes and all of the first game) is really amazing!
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