Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is set to launch Tuesday, January 24 and, I don’t know about everyone else, but I AM PUMPED. In Resident Evil 7, Capcom is pulling all of the stops to ensure that this sequel will bring back all of the fantastic horror elements of the original games.

But, wait! Before I go into a ramble about how bad I want to play this game, there is a more specific reason for this post. PARATEXTUAL ELEMENTS, we’re going to discuss them. By golly, did the marketing team for this game do a FANtastic job. It has been a long time since I have seen so many people (including myself) excited about a new Resident Evil game. “But Haleigh, how does this relate to paratextual elements?” Well, I’m glad you asked. For those who don’t know, paratextual elements are the texts surrounding one specific text such as those little game handbooks no one actually reads, strategy guides, the synopsis of the game on the back of the case (that you also probably didn’t actually read, who does?), AND, in this specific case, marketing used to promote said game. I know what you’re thinking, “But Haleigh, are trailers for a game really considered paratextual elements?” Yes, they are and here’s why…

“While TV credit sequences and trailers are two different elements of two different industries, they can both be considered in Gerard Genette’s terminology: a paratext, framing devices that are not always considered the primary object of attention but that form a network of elements that combine to inform and shape the interpretation of the text” (this article).

Boom. So the marketing that was created to promote Resident Evil 7 is used to inform people about the game and shape interpretations (and expectations *don’t let me down Capcom*) for the game. Anyways. Let’s get to it.

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The above picture is the first piece of marketing I ever saw for the game in question. It doesn’t say a whole lot about the game, but it still got me kind of excited. The Resident Evil franchise is one of the first I ever got into (thanks for letting four year old me watch you play dad), so its probably a given that I’d be interested to know more about it. From the picture I did gather that the marketing team got creative with the “EVII”, so that’s nice. I also took careful notice of the picture of the person next to the text. It does not give anything away about the game just by looking, but it looks kinda creepy and its cool. Moving on.

This is the trailer for the game.

I tried to just put the video in the post, but I couldn’t get to work so if you haven’t seen the trailer, go ahead and hit that link because it’s really good. Back to paratextual elements. With knowing little to nothing about the game, watching the trailer immediately showed me that I would be playing from a first-person perspective in what seems to be an old, rundown farmhouse. A minute into the video, viewers will see a newspaper that says “Ghosts Sighted in Bayou”, which gives future players the info of where this creepy farmhouse is. Throughout the video, it flashes between scenes of the playable character walking through the farmhouse to pictures of dead bodies, pieces of dead bodies, and the fairly gross items/trash laying around said farmhouse. There is also scenes where the playable character is shown being chased, dragged, and beaten which leads to the information that you probably won’t actually have a weapon for a majority of the game. To add to the creepiness factor of the video… The song playing in the background is an old American folk song called “Go Tell Aunt Rhody” (This is the original song). The original is actually about Aunt Rhody’s goose dying and this can be related back to that whole being stuck in a creepy farmhouse deal.

Those pictures above are from my personal camera roll. Not only did the marketing team release really good videos and pictures/posters to promote the game, but they also traveled the US in those sweet Umbrella vans to promote. On November 5th of last year they were in Oklahoma City near Penn Square Mall. Not only did I get some really cool *signed* posters, but they also had a VR demo for Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. I consider that little teaser of a demo to be a paratextual element, because it promoted the game and showed me a little more what it was going to be about.

Unlike the other Resident Evil games, Capcom has done a pretty good job at not over-sharing what 7 is going to be about and what will happen in game (kudos Capcom). By analyzing the paratextual elements surronding Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, I actually know very little about the game other than the setting and ~possible~ plot points, which has kept me fairly interested in what’s going to happen. I’m excited to play. Tuesday can’t come fast enough.