A Familiar Number
Resident Evil 7 Secrets and Easter Eggs
This neat little easter egg was first found in Resident Evil 7’s Beginning Hour demo, but it’s still a pretty cool one that deserves a mention here. When you pick up the Derelict House VHS tape in the Guest House, the startup screen features a short series of numbers, as you can see from the image above. That string of numbers and letters actually matches the product ID of Resident Evil: Director’s Cut on the PS1. This re-release of Resident Evil was special, not just because of the added Arrange Mode, but also because of the Resident Evil 2 demo that it came packed with.
Fans are still speculating about why Capcom opted to include this nifty little reference in the game. Could they possibly be hinting towards an upcoming gameplay reveal of the long-awaited Resident Evil 2 remake?
Clancy Javis (L)
Resident Evil 7 Secrets and Easter Eggs
When playing back the Derelict House footage, players take control of Clancy Javis as he walks through the Guest House with Pete and Andre. Unfortunately, as the trio scout out the house for a new episode of Sewer Gators, Andre quickly goes missing. Upon further investigation of the basement, Clancy finds Andre hung on a pipe, dead. He’s soon attacked by a possessed Mia Winters, and the footage ends there. That’s all we know about Clancy…
Until we find another note in the basement that contains a list of names. Presumably, these are the names of all the poor people kidnapped by the Baker family. All of them are dead, but we find a curious entry that says: “Clancy Javis (L).” Could this mean that he’s alive? Well, we’ll have to play on to find out.
Clive is Alive
Resident Evil 7 Secrets and Easter Eggs
You know who’s actually still alive and kicking in the RE universe? Clive O’Brian, that’s who. The man made his first appearance back in Resident Evil Revelations as the head of the BSAA. He was also the superior of Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine. After uncovering a conspiracy plot that tied Clive to a bioterrorist organization, he resigned from the BSAA. Since then, he’s spent his time writing a new detective novel.
As it turns out, Clive actually got published. His new book, The Unveiled Abyss, can be found in the living room of the Baker residence. Good going, Clive.
Arklay Mountains
Resident Evil 7 Secrets and Easter Eggs
From the big creepy mansion to the obvious throwback shotgun puzzles, Resident Evil 7 takes a lot of cues from its original predecessor. However, the biggest reference to Resident Evil comes from this beautiful painting you can find in the main house of the Baker residence. It’s a painting of the Arklay mountains, which hides the Spencer mansion and a secret lab for Umbrella corporation. This is where the first Resident Evil game took place, and it saw protagonists Chris, Jill, and Barry explore the mansion to uncover a bioterrorist plot from Umbrella.
The series has come a long way since that outbreak in the Arklay mountains, so it’s always nice to look back at it every once in a while.
Reporter Ashcroft
Resident Evil 7 Secrets and Easter Eggs
Here’s a neat little throwback for fans of the severely underrated Resident Evil: Outbreak. Alyssa Ashcroft was one of the playable characters in Outbreak, and she worked as a reporter for The Raccoon Press. Though she can be really pushy and aggressive when trying to get a story (or whatever else she wants, really), Alyssa has proven to be a caring person when it comes to helping those in need. She’s also super self-centered and thinks she’s drop-dead gorgeous, so she’s kind of a love or hate character, really.
In Resident Evil 7, we find out that Alyssa is now a reporter for the Dulvey Daily in Louisiana. Players can find a newspaper in the Baker residence with a headline and article penned by Alyssa as she reports on the number of people who have mysteriously gone missing in the past couple of years.
The Dummy Finger
Resident Evil 7 Secrets and Easter Eggs
The Dummy Finger was a big deal back in the days of the Beginning Hour teaser demo. Players could find the item relatively quickly in the demo but were unable to figure out what to do with it. With the next two demo updates, we were finally able to attach the Dummy Finger to a celluloid hand, and use it to solve a series of cryptic puzzles that detailed the murders of the other people who were kidnapped by the Bakers.
In Resident Evil 7, Capcom includes the Dummy Finger in an optional, but extremely intense, VHS tape segment. This time around, the Dummy Finger can actually be used within the game itself, and it’s a required item for solving one of the most disturbing puzzles in the game.
Raccoon City Continues to Suffer
Resident Evil 7 Secrets and Easter Eggs
On the wrecked ship, players can find a magazine on a table that features an article about Raccoon City and its survivors. Now, we all know Raccoon City has seen some shit. In Resident Evil 2, the entire city was set ablaze as Leon and Claire struggled to find Chris Redfield and get out of there. Then, in Resident Evil: Nemesis, we learn that the city and its T-Virus infection had gotten out of hand, so the government nuked the whole place.
The article headline reads: “16 years since the nightmare of Raccoon City, the survivors are still suffering.” It’s a relatively small Easter egg, but it’s definitely a dark one. Even after we’ve long moved on from our adventures in that iconic city, its surviving citizens clearly haven’t.
A Special Handgun
Resident Evil 7 Secrets and Easter Eggs
Before you read any further, do be warned that this entry contains major spoilers for Resident Evil 7’s ending.
During your final boss fight with a horrifyingly mutated Eveline, Ethan receives a call from an unknown person, and has a gun dropped down to him. The gun is called the Albert-01R, and it’s pretty damn effective against BOWs. Upon defeating Eveline, Ethan soon comes face to face with the man who dropped him the gun, and it’s none other than Chris Redfield. Or at least someone claiming to be him. After completing the game once, you’ll unlock the Albert-01R for subsequent playthroughs.
However, if you take a closer look at the gun, you’ll see that it’s actually a modified Samurai Edge handgun. The Samurai Edge itself was a modified version of the Beretta 92F handgun, and it was specially designed for members of S.T.A.R.S. This was a handgun used by Chris, Jill, Wesker, and Barry (though he really just stuck with his magnum for the most part). With the Albert-01R being a modified Samurai Edge, coupled with the S.T.A.R.S. logo etched on the side of it, there are a couple of conclusions we can draw from this. The first is that the man who gave us the gun is actually Chris himself, and for reasons yet unknown to us, he’s now working with Umbrella.
The second conclusion is a little more sinister. There has to be a reason why the gun is called the Albert-01R. It’s a clear reference to Albert Wesker, the series’ iconic villain. Now, I’m not suggesting that Wesker is back yet again (he can’t possibly survive two rockets to the face, right?), but perhaps the “Redfield” that we saw was actually a Wesker clone. Either way, these are very obvious and direct references to Wesker himself that can’t really be ignored. We should find out more about “Redfield” in the upcoming Not A Hero DLC this spring.
What other secrets and Easter eggs have you uncovered in Resident Evil 7? Feel free to sound off in the comments down below.
For more tips, tricks, and information on Resident Evil 7, be sure to check out our ever-expanding wiki guide.
