After I started watching all the spoilers I've started thinking that the game may be a memorable experience but not a great game. If the rest of the game plays out like the intro and tanker scenarios the game will be a considerably drab Resident Evil game.
Based on all the footage leaked thus far it seems *extremely* linear because all the footage has shown that the player is always required to complete one specific step before moving onto the next specific step. And that wouldn't be so bad if the game had a lot of action and combat encounters that allowed different tactics (like RE4 and RE5) but it doesn't look like it does. From a progression standpoint RE games have always been linear but the best ones had either (a) strong combat encounters or (b) linear gameplay that allowed a small amount of variety in tackling objectives. What I'm referring to there is how classic RE games played out with items like keys. Certain keys opened multiple rooms which gave the player *some* choice in going about the completion of the game. Sometimes that resulted in skipping scenes or items (usually weapons). Ultimately it resulted in a lot more running around but the order of operations was up to the player.
RE7 footage has unfortunately shown that the player has to open drawer A for Key 1. Then opens the door with Key 1 but is stopped by a cutscene. Then the player runs back to another room triggering another cutscene. And finally when the player has actually resumed control of Ethan the player has to travel to room X then to Room Y in that order.
That sounds like a poor man's Resident Evil. Being able to explore areas in a somewhat unlinear fashion and eventually finding your way forward is something I feel is key to classic Resident Evil. I'm concerned that's not present in RE7. And if it isn't and what we have something *extremely* linear then I don't see how the game could be seen as a strong entry in the series.
But hopefully the other chapters/sections are stronger and are more akin to classic Resident Evil games.
(And if any of that sounds like rambling then my bad. I'm up typing this at 2am when I should be sleeping.)
I need to stop peeping in this topic, I may be seriously spoiled eventually. I've been lucky so far.
Anyways, did see your post. And while I can't say as I've been avoiding the spoiler footage, I think it might be a lot less scripted pathway than you think it is.
Firstly, I do know for a fact a number of scenes are completely optional/contextual. The early examples we know of is Jack breaking through the wall, destroying the table, or cutting off your foot in the first area, both of which are actually not scripted events but contextual. I hear some are far more common to occur and some far rarer to happen.
The next thing is the game has a high number of secrets and things to discover. The few I know is that there's a number of optional weapons to get by doing side-quest things, the pump shotgun, machine gun, grenade launcher, and double barrel shotgun I know are all completely optional weapons you can obtain by doing optional things, and there's probably more I don't know about on-top of that.
The next thing is many situations have multiple solutions to them. The one I know most in detail is the first boss battle, but I hear many boss battles and bits are designed like this. In the Garage Fight, you can kill Jack simply by shooting him enough. Hell, you can also knife him to death. You also can get the keys and kill him with the car. Or Jack will grab the car from you if you let him and trigger a scene. There's also one other method involving the environment I know of.
A lot of people who played the 3-5 hours and watched others played also reported various scenes they saw happen to others never happened to them, and they tried playing in different playstyles than others, and RE7 accommodated different sorts of playstyles to different situations rather than having one solution to any given situation.
It'll be linear in that you have goals, but it's not akin to an on-rail shooter and that's not too far off from what the rest of the series does anyway. You get a key that opens up multiple doors or a single door, and eventually you need to go through that door to progress, but there's a lot more going on between A and B than just a straight path, and a lot of things off to the side. In RE7's case, there's also a lot of optional things to do and context-sensitive situations that can trigger based on players options at any given moment.
I won't know the full extent, nor will anyone I guess, until we have more of a formulated opinion, but it really doesn't seem to me that RE7 is any more linear than any other RE game. In many ways it provides more options than many RE games actually from what I know. But that's not to say it's a game of freedom and do anything you want, it is a campaign game with set points that are going to happen. But that's on par with the rest of the series. Even the classics had very scripted moments especially when transitioning between areas.