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“ Resident Evil 7's strongest moments in VR were the ones where it just let me exist in its world.

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“ Resident Evil 7 in VR gives me confidence in the future of virtual reality.

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As someone who was initially skeptical about how a full-length, entirely VR-optional game would work in VR, I was surprised to discover that it was actually… pretty good!Resident Evil 7 avoids this trap by focusing mostly on its powerful, dreary atmosphere — something I have a feeling a lot of horror games that go the VR route will end up doing. Not only is this enough to make Resident Evil 7 a consistently strong, fun, and impressive demonstration of VR’s capabilities, but it allows it to avoid an over-reliance on VR-specific mechanics and thus remain fun on a traditional display as well. And that might just be the thing that will give Resident Evil 7 longevity as a VR game — the fact that it can be played both ways.I was worried that Resident Evil 7 would fall victim to 3D movie syndrome. When 3D in movies became a trend, it wasn’t uncommon (and still isn’t) to see a movie in 2D and be able to immediately identify what moments were designed to make 3D movie goers feel like the extra money they paid was justified: an explosion might cause debris to fly at the screen or an object might bounce right into the audience. In 2D, it looks lame.Resident Evil 7's strongest moments in VR were the ones where it just let me exist in its world, free of distractions. Standing in the dimly lit yard outside the Dulvey house or slowly making my way down a dark hallway, physically leaning to glimpse around a corner, were much stronger representations of the magic VR can work, and are pleasingly abundant in Resident Evil 7.A host of adjustable options ensure that that VR magic isn’t ruined by physical discomfort — another reason Resident Evil 7’s VR experience is such a good example of how to do AAA VR right. Smooth camera controls in the Beginning Hour demo made some (including me) feel sick in VR, but Resident Evil 7 lets you disable that in favor of incremental rotations. What you’d think would be a jarring way to move around is surprisingly comfortable, making longer play sessions in VR a possibility.Simply being present in a strange new place, with comfortable controls, and customizable settings, is enough to make Resident Evil 7 a strong full-length VR game experience — especially given it’s one of the first. As someone who was never particularly excited about VR, this was a pleasantly surprising element of an already surprising and fun game that gives me a lot of confidence in the future of VR.

Chloi Rad is an Associate Editor for IGN. Follow her on Twitter at @_chloi