Resident Evil 7: Part 11

These molded keep popping up and I keep putting them down. In these types of games the setting of every enemy encounter is not designed randomly. If they wanted you the devs could put you in dire situations with enemy placement. But they are nice and almost every enemy encounter provides you with room to maneuver and engage each enemy on your terms. Which is important since if you engage an enemy as soon as it appears you are most likely not engaging it on your terms.

We sort of run into Jack again near the end of this clip. He takes the dog head thingy we need but doesn't see us behind the shelves. Taking a quick look at the map I can see what room he's in. Before I approach the big red doors I notice some shot gun shells on the ground and that gives me pause. This was another kind gesture by the developers. Putting the shells there signals to the player that while they could go through into the boss fight, the shotgun is now available if you can figure out how to get it.

Little design choices like this are a subtle way of guiding the player without the player feeling like they are being guided. It doesn't break immersion by throwing up a text box before entering the door that says something like "Maybe I should find more firepower before going in there," and it makes the player feel like they figured something out on their own. This is what I mean when I say the devs trust the player to figure things out.

On top of all this, choice is not removed from the player here. I could go through the door and fight Jack. This choice also tells me two things: that the fight will be harder than it needs to be, and that its possible to beat him without the shotgun.

It's the little design choices that matter the most.

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