Congratulations, you just beat Resident Evil 7.
The credits are rolling and other then trying the game in VR after seeing a video about
it on the internet, you’ve experienced all there is to the game.
Right?
Wrong!
Because you just unlocked madhouse difficulty and it's much more than just a difficulty
bump.
It changes the game and plays with your expectations in some pretty cool ways.
I can’t resist a promise like that so let’s find out how different Madhouse really is.
By the way I am going to talk openly about the first section of the game up until you
leave the main house so if you don't want to hear any spoilers or you want to experience
madhouse blind, pause this video, subscribe so you don’t forget, play the game, and
then come back and watch.
Let’s do this.
The first and most important difference you’ll notice is when you get to your first save.
Saves in madhouse are limited just like in the original Resident Evil, except instead
of finding ink ribbons you appropriately use cassette tapes.
You’ll always find several tapes next to every save along with some scattered around
the estate.
But even with this relatively generous supply, you're still forced to save more sparingly
than you did in normal mode.
Autosaves are less frequent but not gone completely.
They will still happen in certain story moments to save you the frustration of having to watch
unskippable cutscenes over and over again.
Your first real challenge comes from the Mia chainsaw fight which is significantly harder.
It only takes 2 hits to kill you and even worse Mia has a much larger health pool.
With only 27 bullets every shot counts.
I frequently found myself running out of ammo and having to switch to the hatchet, which,
against a chainsaw…
well…
I had to do this fight 8 times.
It's a brutal opener but the fight is important because it teaches you two things that will
help you survive Madhouse; dodging enemies, and nailing those headshots.
After the dinner scene you have to avoid Jack like usual.
While in normal I could cheez it and run from Jack, hiding becomes so much more important
due to his increased damage.
Ok time for the garage fight.
Just gotta pick up the car key and… huh.
In a devious twist you must now find a lockpick to open the box that holds the key.
In the main hall things start getting real different.
There are now 3 of those cages that take Antique Coins.
Two of them feature new attack and defense boosts but the third has the Scorpion Key
in it, which was originally in the basement.
If you have enough antique coins to unlock the Scorpion key's cage right away, you can
use the key to bypass this shadow puzzle, quickly get to the next save room, and get
the shotgun early.
But on the other hand you don’t actually need the key to progress and I want to save
my coins, so let's go upstairs.
Oh right, remember how Jack shoots himself and then dramatically reveals he’s still
alive in the bathroom?
That doesn’t happen here.
He shows up pretty much right away and he’s pursues you more aggressively.
You know what?
Screw it!
let's just uh, let’s try the key.
Awe shoot.
Come on.
Ok just gotta run to the save room and eeeeeeeee
And there's the next big change, enemy placement has moved and later game enemies now show
up right away.
This makes the basement trek terrifying all over again, as you never know what will pop
up and when.
Fighting the molded is tough since they now soak up way more bullets.
I wasted all my ammo on just two of them.
Although this does make getting that critical headshot all the more satisfying.
However the game actually balances this increased difficulty out really well, as the basement
has fewer enemies than it did on normal.
The basement is also where I put the saving system through its paces.
You're given just enough cassettes to feel like you can waste 1 or 2 if you need too
but not so many that it removes the stress of choosing to save.
If you play smart it won’t lead to frustration.
You should always save in a new slot though just in case you need to reload.
Item placement has also changed as well.
There are more coins to make up for the extra cages but their locations are moved around.
Major items like repair kits and even some weapons have been moved and made available
earlier.
Basic items like ammo boxes have fewer bullets and you’ll find far more Separating Agent
instead of Chem Fluid.
This means you’ll have to make tough choices like sacrificing bullets so you can create
medicine.
And this is when it clicked for me that madhouse isn’t some brutal difficulty designed to
be punishing and “Harder”, but instead changes up the way you play Resident Evil
7.
Enemy encounters are less frequent but much harder.
Later game enemies show up earlier but so do advanced weapons.
Limited saves add stress but you can manage that stress by saving strategically.
I also understand now why madhouse is unlocked after you playthrough the game once.
The foreknowledge of upcoming events like bosses is important in helping you decide
when to use a save.
But at the same time this knowledge is also used against you as the game plays with your
expectations in smaller ways like enemy placement so it can surprise and scare you all over
again.
So if you feel the desire to start playing Resident Evil 7 again like I did, give madhouse
a try.
It does a great job making the experience feel new again.
Plus beating it unlocks infinite ammo which makes for some wonderful catharsis.
I love talking about both Resident Evil 7 and games that have cool alternate modes so
if you want see more videos like this, make sure to like it and subscribe to our YouTube
Channel.
Also if you want to see more Resident Evil 7 videos, I put out one about what it's like
to play the whole game in VR so check that out.
Thanks for watching.