The tale of the family man (Resident Evil 7 story recapped)

     Happy halloween, my friendly goblins and ghouls, and though the spooky holiday is still a few days off, it's that time of year again to tell a tale. A tale that's sure to frighten and delight the living and dead alike, and shake you down to the core of your being. Okay, it's not going to be that scary, as I'm not a very scary guy, I just wanted to channel a bit of Vincent Price there to get us appropriately in the mood. Last October, I talked about the stories of the first three games in the Resident Evil series, and today, I'm going to jump a good bit farther. I would tell the stories of 4, 5, and 6 today, but honestly I haven't played those in a long time and I want to keep it fresh, meaning that today I'm talking about Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Resident Evil 8: Village. As you may recall, the first three games were all centered around the Umbrella Corporation, a pharmaceutical company that created a virus that turned people into zombies. 7 and 8 actually take place after the fall and closure of Umbrella, and the story revolves around a family. Ethan Winters and his wife Mia seem like the ordinary family, but it becomes apparent through all the trials and tribulations that Ethan goes through in these few games that you can't judge a book by its cover. It's time to grab your popcorn, because we're descending into the weird and bone-chilling world of the most recent games in the franchise.

    We first join Ethan as he drives down an empty road in Dulvey, Louisiana. His wife, Mia, went missing three years prior during a babysitting job, but she suddenly messaged him and told him to pick her up from this location. He arrives at the Baker family estate, and finds her trapped in a cage in the basement. She's shocked to see him, and quickly tells him that he shouldn't have come to this place. It's not too long before we realize what she meant. Mia suddenly goes crazy and cuts off the hand of our protagonist with a chainsaw, giving Ethan little option but to respond with a little self defense, firing on and supposedly killing his murderous wife. He turns away, understandably horrified by what has happened, then notices that she wasn't in that spot where she fell anymore. Ethan hears, "Welcome to the family, son," and is knocked unconscious. Jack Baker, the patriarch of this family, has entered the scene. Ethan wakes up just in time for dinner, and lucky for him, Margueritte, Jack's wife, has prepared a very special feast. The family reattaches Ethan's hand and it's here we see the family for the first time, sitting around the table. Jack and Margueritte I've already mentioned, but Lucas, the son, is also here, as well as the grandmother, who says nothing. It's immediately clear that something crazy is going on, because Lucas's hand is cut off by Jack, and it's treated as if it's a mild annoyance for him that simply happens sometimes. They try to force Ethan to eat some of the mold or whatever that the mother has prepared, and after he refuses several times, Ethan escapes his confines after the family rushes off, and it's here that the game truly begins. Ethan has to escape from this crazy family, and somehow save Mia, if she's still alive somehow. Ethan overcomes insurmountable odds in his quest to save his wife, though he does meet one ally along the way, Zoe, who is the daughter of this family, who acknowledges that things are definitely not as they seem, and that some major change has overcome her family. 

    Ethan has to fight and face the many challenges that the Bakers themselves pose. Margueritte has the ability to summon bugs and transform into a bug-like form, Jack has rapidly changing powers that evolve him throughout the course of the game, while Lucas is a Jigsaw-esque psychopath who forces the hero to play a deadly game to get an important ingredient. On top of the family, there aren't traditional zombies in this Resident Evil game, but instead "Molded," creatures created by some dark ooze around the multiple houses that make up the Baker Estate. Ethan learns from Zoe that the family has been infected by some crazy mold parasite that has also effected Mia, which is why she went crazy in the beginning of the game. Ethan is able to find the ingredients to make a cure for the evil mold and makes enough for two doses. Initially he's going to give one to Zoe and one to Mia, but after he's forced to use one during the last confrontation with Jack (thus finally killing him), he has to make a choice. His wife, or Zoe, who has risked everything to help him out. The canonical choice is that Ethan uses the cure on Mia and unfortunately has to leave Zoe behind. 

    The man and his wife escape from the estate in a little boat, but the mold suddenly takes form and sweeps Ethan up, beaching the boat alongside a giant ship. It's here that the player takes control of Mia, who has to go search for Ethan who has been captured by the parasite somehow, and during this portion, we see a flashback of Mia's "babysitting job." Mia was not entirely truthful with Ethan from the beginning, and actually works as an agent for New Umbrella, a foundation dedicated to fixing the world that the Umbrella Corporation broke. She was on this mission when the mold escaped confinement and their ship went off course and crashed into the land near the Baker estate. It's here where we meet the greatest twist of all, Eveline, also known as the grandmother from the Baker household, who has been present in many of the most horrifying scenes as just an onlooker is actually the manifestation of this mold. She's been controlling all of the members of the Baker household and was not actually a person this whole time, but a hallucination. Ethan meets the actual Bakers in some mental purgatory and they explain that they weren't in control of their actions, then he's freed by Mia, who is once again enveloped by the mold, leaving Ethan to take down Evie once and for all, in the house where this whole situation began. Ethan wins against this mold beast with some help from Agent Chris Redfield of New Umbrella (sound familiar?), and Ethan and Mia fly into the sunset on a helicopter. They're both treated for their wounds, and as part of the cover up, Ethan and Mia begin their new lives somewhere in Europe. Happily ever after, right? I'm sorry to say, dear friends and readers, this is not the end. The challenges of Ethan Winters have only just begun.

    Ethan and Mia have a hard time ahead of them, and because of that... I'm going to be covering it next week! That's right, this horror post just became an anthology, dear listeners, as next week I will be recounting the tales of woe that face Ethan and his small family as they begin anew in the European countryside. I hope you'll come back next week for the other adventures and horrors awaiting the Winters family, I know I'll be waiting on the edge of my seat!

    Thanks so much for reading this post, my spooky and scary friends. Have you played any Resident Evil games, or are there any spooky games that you love playing, especially in the month of October? I'd love to hear about them! I have only really gotten into them in the last few years or so, but I'm definitely excited for what the future holds, especially with the remake of Silent Hill 2 and all of the other Silent Hill games that were announced last week, as well as the Resident Evil 4 remake that's coming next year. I hope you have a very happy halloween, and I'll see you back here next week for another chronicle of fright. Until then, I'm Jonathan, your Self-Proclaimed Host... your... Ghost Host.