Week 07 - Reflection

While the game we chose was Oregon Trail, a survival education game made in the 1970s, I decided to use a similar game that uses the same mechanics. Resident Evil, coining the term “survival horror”, combines elements of resource management and dilemma to simulate a truly horrific environment. Puzzles and other mechanics were implemented that helped the game stand out during the 90s, however, it was the resource management that propelled the game to earn the survival horror title. Unlike other games, in which you’re given adequate resources to tackle any problem, Resident Evil flips this on its head by giving players fewer resources.

In Avalanche Reviews' retrospective of the Resident Evil series, he begins by diving headfirst into what my series truly stand out in gaming history. The Resident Evil retrospective series isn’t his first encounter with survival horror as he’s covered games such as Silent Hill, Parasite Eve, and Onimusha which all have walked in the shadow of Resident Evil. The reputation he establishes for himself is not being a survival horror expert, in which he’ll promptly direct you to his many deaths on stream, but rather an individual with a deep love for the survival horror genre.

As Avalanche Reviews states in one of his later videos, “the classical survival horror died in the wake of cheap jump scare tactics”. He comes from a place that watched the survival horror genre come to wake and evolve as time went on. For Avalanche Reviews, the survival horror genre was never about zombies or killer corporations, rather it was always about resource management. Deciding when to engage in combat, avoid combat, or use your last medicine was at the heart of the survival horror genre.

Based on his reputation and viewpoint on the genre, he certainly gained an infamous reputation compared to his competitor counterparts. In the same vein, another Resident Evil-centric channel by the name of The Sphere Hunter shares a similar viewpoint. Her title among the community, “Resident Evil Girl”, shows that her reputation exceeds beyond superficial praise for the game. She became an ambassador for the series to return to its survival elements routes when the series decided to take a more active approach to game design.

Bringing it back to our prototype for Oregon Trail, we found it best to emulate the reputation and expectations set forth by the Resident Evil retrospective creators. Oregon Trail, by no means necessary, is a survival horror game. The dilemmas and decisions the player is forced to make in that game is a different story. Unexpected scenarios, not having enough food, or even dying of dysentery are all elements that make up an environment in which players are forced to make difficult decisions. Furthermore, it forces the player to think ahead and plan out their journey unlike that of other games.

Overall, based on the feedback we received today, it seemed like everyone enjoyed our take on the game. At first, they may have been a little reluctant, but once they started playing the game it clicked for them. It was really fun to see people liking our take on the game.