A newly found secret in Resident Evil 6’s more action-oriented story seemingly veered the series away from its horror roots.
Many factors contributed to the success of 2017’s Resident Evil 7, not the least of which was Capcom’s decision to return the focus of the series to horror rather than the action-heavy themes of Resident Evil 5 and 6. The shift of gameplay to first-person, as opposed to Resident Evil 4’s established third-person camera, while dramatic, also made for a refreshing experience for RE veterans. However, while most fans will celebrate Resident Evil 7’s technical achievements and the return to horror, one of the most underrated contributions to its success lies with the presentation of its villains. Unlike the mindless monstrosities and power-driven egos of earlier titles, RE7 villains, like Miranda and the Baker Family, often had disturbing and tragic dimensions to their characters. This approach provides opportunities for carefully placed visual secrets that could potentially reveal more about the villain's personalities and habits.
Reddit I_Bought_At_The_Top discovered one such humanizing secret about Resident Evil 7’s final boss Eveline. In the Old House section of RE7, where protagonist Ethan Winters must acquire a D-Series arm, Ethan will come across a drawer filled with sneakers of unfortunate victims. As the Old House is where Eveline once resided, it's possible that she had a penchant for sneaker collecting. Interestingly, the shoe models were identified by I_Bought_At_The_Top as Jordan 4s, indicating that Eveline had good taste in athletic footwear. I_Bought_At_The_Top jokingly priced the collection at roughly $6000, while several comments pondered why anyone would wear expensive sneakers in swampy terrain.
Resident Evil 7's Eveline Was A Fan Of Jordans
The overall design of Resident Evil 7 has produced many secrets for players to discover. Even Resident Evil 7’s weird theme song contains a deeper meaning for Ethan Winters and the overall plot. Though how she acquired it may be morbid to think about, Eveline’s sneaker collection adds a human element to the tragic bio-experiment that would be impossible to do for iconic abominations like the Nemesis or Mr. X. However, due to the more humane presentation of RE7’s villains, visual call-outs, like Eveline’s sneakers, can serve as insight into her child-like, yet self-destructive, innocence. This isn't to say that visual backgrounds were never utilized in such a manner in previous entries, as one of the more memorable settings from the original Resident Evil 2 was the taxidermy and torture rooms of Chief Irons, which hinted at his sadistic and corrupt nature.
It's fairly common that many of the best games still have a few secrets to find years after release, and Resident Evil 7 is no different. With Resident Evil 7 as one of Capcom's best-selling games, it's no surprise that players continue to find little Easter eggs like Eveline's sneaker collection within its horror-ridden homes. After the continued success of Resident Evil villains with Lady Dimitrescu and her brood, hopefully Capcom can continue the trend established by the tragic Eveline and the rest of the Resident Evil 7 antagonists in its next big entry.
Sources: I_Bought_At_The_Top/Reddit