Resident Evil 7 has always been one of my favorite games in the series not only for its own merits, but also for its place in the progression of the series itself. This was the first real outstanding title coming out of a sort of "dark ages" in the Resident Evil series starting around the late '00s and lasting basically until this game released in 2017. There were a few decent games to come out in that time, but it was a rather bumpy time to be an RE fan. But even more surprisingly, RE7 is a genius blend of familiar and strange that ties back to the series' roots while also taking it in totally new directions. While there are some few things I—and many others—can take some issue with, the game has a been a knockout hit for fans old and new for a number of good reasons.
The ways in which this particular title differ from its predecessors are pretty apparent from the beginning. For one, this is the first mainline title in the series to shift to a first-person perspective. Though the Survivor and Chronicles implemented something similar to an extent, RE7 takes this format to a whole new level. Further, the story hook of a backwater old house in the swamps of Louisiana was a rather big departure from the suburban haunts, sprawling metropolises, and a variety of planes, trains, and boats of other RE titles. There's a clear nod to various non-zombie horror films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, and any number of found footage horror movies that were so numerous in the decade leading up to this game's release. While the monsters of Resident Evil had already taken many different forms, RE7 seemed to be dispensing with the groaning zombies the series was known for in favor of a family of outlandish superhuman sadistic rednecks. While this is only partially true and RE7 features its own variety of new staple enemy type in the form of the mold monsters, the focus is still primarily on the monstrous Baker family who will taunt, threaten, terrify, and torture our hero throughout the game's events. Which brings us to the last major departure of note: we are introduced to our faceless protagonist Ethan Winters, who is a totally new character to the Resident Evil universe and—unlike protagonists in basically every prior mainline game since the first one—has no ties to any other characters or events in prior games in the series. Ethan is simply here trying to find his wife Mia after receiving a cryptic disturbing video message warning him to stay away with all the strength of reverse psychology.
However, while these differences were striking and numerous, leading to much skepticism as the game was on its way, it ended up being a return to form in some important ways that call back to the roots of the series, from a time before it strayed rather far following the great success of Resident Evil 4. The most important callback to me is the focus on the kind of gameplay loop present in the original PS1 titles. Capcom finally brought us back to the concept of a creepy haunted house full of secrets, puzzles, traps, and terrors that elicits a thrilling paradox of dread and curiosity, pushing the player to want to explore while also making such exploration a frightening thought. This is achieved through various locks and keys, several puzzles, minimal resources, a few jumpscares, and a winding but thoughtful map for each of the areas. Further, enemies are much more scarce but also more threatening than they have been in the more action-based titles. The game definitely at times leans into the bombast of the more recent games preceding it, but for the most part, it relies much more on the classic tension that I fell for with the series origins and it delivered for me in a way I really didn't expect.
The story of the game can be a bit hit-or-miss but I often find it much stronger than it may appear on its face. Though there are almost no ties to the lore of previous games at least until the end, though even that bit is often criticized for feeling a little forced, I personally find the story at the very least engaging. In this game, Ethan is seemingly personified to be a "blank slate" type character, one who intentionally doesn't have a lot of defining characteristics or personality; he's mostly just an average Joe trapped in a terrifying position with a tie to a loved one keeping him going. With the shift to first-person, the aim here is to immerse you more in the story and feel a touch more like you are experiencing the story rather than merely witnessing a distinct, fleshed-out character's journey. While I generally would prefer more characterization, given the outlandish and over-the-top cast otherwise, I actually don't mind this format too much and feel like it works at least reasonably well. I sympathize for Ethan and Mia and want to see him succeed, even if I couldn't really tell you much about who he is as a person. The Baker family is also central to the story as the game's mystery plot suggests that something must have gone wrong to make this rural family become such evil residents™. The story throughout the game is fairly simple as Ethan attempts to fight or circumvent the various members of the twisted Baker family while also uncovering the mystery behind their apparent transformation and his wife's disappearance. I do agree with the general consensus that the story (and gameplay) gets kind of weak near the end of the game, but on the whole I think it's actually pretty strong with some ridiculous but enthralling characters and set pieces throughout.
The gameplay excels in several ways. As I've already discussed, RE7's move back to a slower-paced tension-driven gameplay loop I found really satisfying and I felt right at home constantly managing resources, getting down the map layouts, and bouncing between keys and locked doors to progress. Despite the first-person shift, the game still manages to feel very Survival Horror. Ammo is scarce, enemies are tough and unpredictable, making expending what little you have all the more a tough choice. Though as is usually the case in these games, you do eventually obtain a reliable loadout, for a good while, there's a healthy balance of helplessness that ups the horror element generally without ever feeling too frustrating. As well, the areas feel thoughtfully-designed, varied, intricate, and are a real disturbing pleasure to explore. Some of the later segments I do agree are weaker than the opening, though for the most part, I never find any part of the game "bad." There are well-paced and iconic boss fights that do well to blend gimmicks like weak points with the established game mechanics to still feel like your general abilities are being tested while also incorporating what's fun about a boss with unique mechanics.
The presentation of the game is fantastic. This wasn't the first test run of the RE Engine, but it was the first RE game to employ it and it is unsurprisingly a great fit. While the engine works well in its third-person instantiations, it really brings this game alive in first-person quite nicely and I expect the game wouldn't be nearly as effective had it been built otherwise. Environments are gruesomely detailed and evocative. Combat is smooth despite the built-in friction of horror-style shooting gameplay. Optimization and just overall experience are really seamless, making it all the more easy to get wrapped up in the game’s tale. Beyond that, the actual art and atmosphere for the game are great for illustrating the rather gross and disturbing environments.
RE7 eventually released a huge variety of DLC. Not only are there quite a few of them, but they are all extremely different from each other. Some are essentially mini-games both silly and grim, others fill in some lore gaps and side stories to the Baker incident or just plain expand on the Baker family antics. It's hard to even summarize or speak broadly about all the different additions. However, I can say, on the whole, while the base game is the main attraction, these DLCs definitely add something of value to the game. Few feel like an immediate extension of the core gameplay, but they each add interesting elements and change up the gameplay enough that you're never bored. Plus, if some of them aren’t your thing, the rest are likely to be different enough you might still enjoy them.
My most recent playthrough of the game was during the intersection of my annual Spooktober horror gaming challenge and my 2024 RE series playthrough. While I hadn't played this particular title in a good while, there was a time I knew it like the back of my hand and by this point, I've probably completed the game at least a good 8 times, playing well beyond beating Madhouse mode and obtaining the platinum trophy. So I figured to change things up, I'd play it in VR, using the mod for the PC version to play it on my Quest 2. And well, this really delivered perfectly on the fresh experience I was looking for. Though it was partially because I hadn't played it in a while, the VR experience really took this title to another level. It's undoubtedly one of the scariest games I've played in VR and was a really cool way to experience this particular game. I did have a couple qualms with it. For one, this was probably the most motion sickness-inducing game I've played to date in VR and even with bonine, I couldn't play for very long stretches at a time. The other issue was that at least for me, I had some difficulties with the controls in the modded version. For instance, I could never figure out how to get the map to work, which added an immersive challenge to the game I mostly didn’t mind, but also meant that by the third act, I ditched the VR and switched to keyboard and mouse at the monitor given the complexity of the later areas' map layouts. Still, I highly recommend giving the VR mode a try if you're able, whether you're new to the game or not. It's extremely satisfying as a horror experience and as a VR experience.
As I said at the beginning, while I do love this game, I partially love it for its importance to this beloved series. It's such an interesting entry in that it really feels like Capcom listened to its core audience in a way that's actually rather surprising given that Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6 were still very commercially successful games. I don't want to repeat too much of what I said in my review of RE6, but it is simply really cool to see a developer willing to go back to its roots that I personally was really craving even when financials might have favored something more like the previous mainline game. What we got was something really special with RE7 that ultimately paid off as I believe this is now one of the top couple best-selling games in this massive series.
My other Resident Evil reviews:
