Resident Evil 7 Buyer’s Guide

Resident Evil VII: Biohazard is reaching near Watch_Dogs levels of lunacy with the number of editions that will be available at launch, and a lot of them are exclusive to specific retailers. I figured that I’d take the time to finally make that flowchart I threatened in previous posts about the game’s collector’s editions, and try to help you guys out in choosing which edition to get. Some are pretty pricey, mind. First I’ll list each edition and include with an image and descriptions, but if you just want the flowchart, scroll to the bottom.

Standard Edition: $59.99 (Available Anywhere)

This is the most basic edition available. It can be purchased anywhere and comes with nothing but the game itself. Pre-ordering, however, nets you a small collection of in-game consumables ranging from ammo, herbs and health kits, fuel canisters, and even some stuff we don’t really know what they do yet. You also unlock the Madhouse difficulty from the word go, which otherwise you’d need to beat the game at least once to get. We don’t know much about Madhouse, other than the game’s producer has teased that saving will become less forgiving.

(Store Page)

Steelbook Edition: $69.99/£54.99 (Exclusive to GAME Stores in the UK)

Stepping it up both a notch (and ten dollars), the steelbook edition is exclusive to the retailer GAME in the United Kingdom, at least so far. Obviously, the biggest draw is the fun steelbook packaging, which displays RE7‘s spooky glif artwork on the outside, and the full artwork of the Baker family and Andre sitting around the dinner table on the inside. The steelbook edition also nets you the Action pack, which contains a full set of Magnum ammo, lockpicks, gunpowder, a green herb, and a grenade, as well as the aforementioned Madhouse difficulty. You’ll also get the pre-order bonuses on top of all this, if you choose to pre-order.

(Store Page)

Deluxe Edition: $89.99 (Available Digitally on PC/PS4/XBO, Exclusive Physically to Gamestop)

Jumping up to 90 bucks, the Deluxe Edition is able for pre-order digitally on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or PC, but if you want a physical version of this edition, you’ll have to go through GameStop. This edition not only comes with the game, some fancy red box art, but also RE7‘s Season Pass, which includes three DLC packs (we don’t know too much about them just yet, other than Pack 1 includes four short side-stories, and the second and third add on two entire extra episodes to the main story). The Season Pass can obviously be purchased separately once the game comes out, presumably for around $30-40.

(Store Page)

North American Collector’s Edition: $179.99 (Exclusive to Gamestop)

Oof — for those who got some money to burn, the $180 Collector’s Edition is simply nutso no matter what country you’re in, but let’s start with the North American version. On top of the game itself, you’ll get some special packaging, a steelbook box for the game, a replica dummy finger (from the Begining Hour demo) USB stick (4gb) complete with VHS tape case to store it, a glossy print-out of the Baker dinner table image, a replica of the demos “I’ll dash you against the stones” note, and finally, a music box shaped like the Baker Mansion. The music box lights up and plays a jingley version of the game’s creepy take on Go Tell Aunt Rhody. This edition can only be bought from GameStop, and does not appear to contain the Season Pass.

(Store Page)

Europe’s Collector’s Edition: $100/£79.99 (without game) $149.99/£119.99 (with game) (Exclusive to Gamestop)

Europe’s Collector’s Edition is quite a bit different than NA’s. For instance, it can be bought without the game (I guess in case you want the Collector’s Edition stuff, but are buying the game itself digitally). This edition comes with a steelbook case for the game, bonus cover art for the standard game case, a replica Dummy Finger USB stick (16 GB this time… although it looks kind of… bad… [no word as to whether the 4gb one looks the same]), a 20th Anniversary Art Book, the Survival Pack DLC, 5 lithographs (shiny print-outs of in-game screens), and a replica 7″ Baker Mansion. This mansion doesn’t light up or anything, but it looks cool.

(Store Page)

Australia’s Collector’s Edition: $219.99/$299.99 AUD (Exclusive to EB Games)

Hoo boy, if you thought America and Europe’s Collector’s Editions were pricey, Australia’s $300 AUD is nuts, especially seeing as it is more or less exactly the same as the European CE, just with the steelbook switched out for another DLC set. The game also seems to (by default) come with that special slip-cover for the regular packaging, which is actually kind of awesome looking. Out of nowhere, it also includes Resident Evil 4 HD. Uh… cool, I guess? Seems like a remarkably random choice of game to stick with RE7, but maybe there’s some story cross-over we don’t know about? Still, though, that price point — ouch.

(Store Page)

Japan’s Collector’s Edition: $149.99/16,490円 (Available Anywhere in Japan)

While America, Europe, and Australia are all getting more or less the same types of things in their Collector’s Editions, Japan’s is totally bonkers, including nothing from any other version. It comes with a bag of coffee, a replica in-universe coffee mug (it’s also heat-sensitive, and grows creepy black stuff all over it when you fill it with hot liquid), a packet of Rosemary seeds (since that’s the plant RE7‘s green herbs are based on), and a collector’s mini-soundtrack featuring 5 tracks from the game both on Vinyl and mini CD. Oh, and lest I forget this is also the “Grotesque Version” of RE7.

In Japan, Capcom has some pretty strict rules about gore and violence in their games, and their versions are often heavily censored compared to ours. It’s why player decapitations aren’t possible in RE5 and 6, because it would make the online component different by region. However, they’re bending the rules a little bit with RE7, which is getting both a standard, censored version (rated CERO D), as well as a CERO Z rated, uncensored version called the Grotesque Version. Don’t worry, the rest of us are getting the uncensored version only, but it’s cool that Japan gets an option as well. This is why Lucas’ hand getting cut off in the Bakers trailer looked so weird, as it was the censored version.

(PStore Page)

That’s all folks! If you would rather a simplified graph, here’s that: