Resident Evil’s Demo Is Holding Tight To Its Remaining Secrets (If They Even Exist)

Just after Resident Evil 7 was announced at E3, Capcom released a free demo for PS Plus subscribers — a 20 minute experience that was noticeably more P.T. than Resident evil. Players quickly discovered two endings and a few secrets — however no one has yet managed to achieve the first and only objective assigned to you in the demo: get out of the house.

The question remains: is there actually a ‘good’ ending to the demo, or at least another ending that hasn’t yet been found? The team of sleuths who originally dedicated themselves to finding new endings to the demo now mostly just want to know whether there is anything left to find.

The main arguments for there being more content involve two items that you can pick up — an axe, and a ‘dummy finger’. So far no one has discovered a use for either of these items, leading some to expect that there has to be more to it. Of course, if it was a regular demo it would be more likely that these two items were simply relics from the larger game, unused within the scope of the demo. However Capcom has come out and said that the demo is entirely separate from the full game, giving credence to the theory that these items have a use.

In fact, Capcom is generally being pretty tight-lipped about the demo. They’re saying just enough to inspire speculation, while not really confirming or denying anything. Capcom Germany has been one of the most vocal teams when it comes to the demo, and the following appeared on their community blog. If anyone can provide a better translation than Google, feel free to put that in the comments.

Offen gesagt, wir haben uns wegen diesem Item in der Bruchbude buchstäblich einen Wolf gesucht. Wir wissen momentan nicht, wofür dieser Gegenstand gut ist. Oder ob er überhaupt eine Funktion hat. Gleiches gilt für die Axt – man kann zwar mit ihr eine Schaufensterpuppe zertrümmern, aber was dann?
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Wir versuchen es derzeit für euch herauszufinden, sitzen aber im gleichen Boot wie ihr. Denn die Entwickler in Japan haben einige Geheimnisse in dem Teaser versteckt, die nur sie selbst kennen und nicht mal uns verraten haben. Manche davon habt ihr bereits enthüllt, manche Antworten werden sich auch erst ergeben, wenn ihr das fertige Resident Evil 7 spielt.
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Und manche Geheimnisse wurden sicherlich noch nicht aufgedeckt. Wir finden es jedenfalls großartig, wie viel Enthusiasmus und Einsatz ihr bereits in der Demo zeigt und können es kaum erwarten, alle Geheimnisse mit eurer Hilfe zu lüften. Auf jeden Fall bleiben wir zusammen dran. Oder sagen wir es mal mit den Worten des Typen, der euch nicht aus dem Haus heraus lässt: Welcome to the family!
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Frankly, we literally wanted a wolf for this item in the dump. We currently do not know what this subject is good. Or if he has any function. The same goes for the ax – though you can smash with her ​​a mannequin, but then what?
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We are currently trying to figure out for you, but in the same boat as you. Because the developers in Japan have some secrets hidden in the teaser that only they know themselves and do not even tell us. Some of you have already revealed some of the answers are also only arise after you finished the Resident Evil plays. 7
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And some secrets were certainly not yet been revealed. We find it in any case great, how much enthusiasm and commitment shows her already in the demo and can not wait to uncover all the secrets with your help. Anyway, we stay together it. Or let’s put it in the words of the types which can not be you out of the house: Welcome to the family!

Players have also pointed to scenes in the trailer as being evidence that there are demo endings that are yet to be discovered. While the trailer is a mix of scenes from the demo and from the full game, some of them almost certainly depict the character from the demo — such as the scene with the demo’s main enemy dragging someone along by the leg, someone who is wearing the same clothes as the playable character in the demo.

As for the evidence that there isn’t anything more to the demo, well… the most telltale bit of evidence is the fact that no one has finished it. While it’s definitely the P.T.-esque elements that have people convinced there’s more to this demo, you have to remember that P.T. was also solved in less than 24 hours. Everyone knew it could be solved, but no one knew how to actually do it.

Some of the most determined fans are over on the Resident Evil subreddit, and these fans have tried everything. Literally everything, from talking into a microphone and adjusting the audio settings and PS4 system date to axing every single surface in the house.

So far the game has two (or four, depending on how you look at it) different endings. The first is what most people will get on your first playthrough — you explore the house, pick up the boltcutters at the back door, open the locked cupboard, pick up the VHS, play the VHS, find the back door key and (spoilers) get punched out just as you get that glimpse of freedom.

The second ending leads on cleverly from the first — you land back at the start of the demo, go straight to the secret lever in the fireplace that the VHS showed you in your first runthrough, and end up finding a fuse instead of a key. The fuse activates a staircase which lowers down from upstairs, letting you up to another level. On this level is a barricaded door, a ringing phone and a picture of an Umbrella Corp helicopter. Once you answer the phone, you get one of three cryptic messages from a female voice, before the same man from downstairs punches you out for a game over.

So depending on whether you count each phone call as a separate ending, these are the two or four different endings that have thus far been discovered. Players also found out that you could unlock a drawer within the VHS world to unlock an axe for the regular world, though have yet to find a practical use for the axe aside from demonstrating a combat system.

One interesting secret spotted by eagle-eyed fans was that a string of numbers and letters on the VHS screen matched up perfectly with the serial number for Resident Evil: Director’s Cut, which came with a demo for Resident Evil 2. While some are taking it as a hint for a potential RE2 remake, others went so far as to insert that very disc into their PS4s when those numbers came up, hoping it would unlock something new (spoilers: it didn’t).

Subsequent discoveries from players have turned out to be false alarms — there’s a way to avoid being attacked by the enemy after picking up the phone which is almost certainly a glitch, and a few players found that the barricaded door in the upstairs area occasionally failed to spawn in, revealing a large, empty room beyond. No one has been able to find a way to access this room, however, and it’s generally agreed that it was most likely created just for the trailer, especially as its size and shape doesn’t seem to match the layout of the house.

Imgur user wheresbarry has even put together a great NES-style manual for the demo, detailing everything that is known for sure about the world, the game, its characters and its endings (click through to enlarge).

Whether there’s more to be found or not, fans are getting impatient and even angry. If it turns out that there was never anything else to find, then a lot of people have wasted a lot of time playing this game over and over again. Reddit threads formerly devoted to discussing theories and findings have now started to advise players to let the hype die down, in the hopes of getting Capcom to release a hint or two to stoke the fire.

Unfortunately all that initial excitement has turned out rather anticlimactic in the end, and the PS4 community is slowly drifting away from the demo and its secrets. The demo is due for release on Xbox and PC at an unspecified point, and that seems to be what players are waiting for — whether Capcom plans to update the demo once it’s out on all platforms, or whether the PC release will just result in the demo being datamined for all its secrets. We’ll get a definitive answer eventually, but it may not be the ones players were looking for.

Do you think there is more to the Resident Evil 7 demo? Do you have any theories of your own? Let us know in the comments!


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