Resident Evil 7 Biohazard

The first couple of hours of Resident Evil 7 are the most surprising and mysterious experience the entire franchise has to offer. Then the game becomes more predictable and closer to the standards of the series, and by the end, unfortunately, it loses momentum. However, it still feels like a breath of fresh air for the Resident Evil franchise.
The game's DLCs are mostly redundant, unnecessary, and skippable.

After the excess of Resident Evil 6 that reportedly took one of the largest development teams in the history of Japanese games development, it only makes sense that the series would revert back to its survival-horror roots. With the advent of Twitch scare cams and the success of Outlast, it's hard to call the conversion to first-person, stealth-based horror brave or innovative. But it is effective.

Throughout RE7, I was left feeling the development team found ways to push old tropes into a contemporary horror game, rather than blazing a trail with a singular vision at the forefront. The lack of confidence is best represented by the plot and gameplay that ping-pongs between every horror trope of the past decade. Just when you think you've seen it all, the game manages to sandwich in a Saw-inspired area of puzzle-based death traps and -- my most hated horror cliche -- an evil child that cackles like they hid the babysitter's car keys. Not only does this not feel like Resident Evil. It doesn't feel like anything. It's a fun house horror museum with every turn reminding you of the superior horror franchise it is ripping on.

Luckily, the core foundation of Resident Evil is beneath it all. Conserving ammo, slowly clearing out rooms and finding the relief of save rooms still holds its appeal, after all these years. And yet, none of these things are better here but they are serviceable and comforting in their familiarity. One big issue I have with the game is the layout of the map that opts to spread the playable space across multiple areas instead of one central location that you master over the course of the game. This would be acceptable if any of the locations were interesting but it starts with an ugly, dull house and only gets less interesting as things progress. I always loved how RE games paired horror with ornate, beautiful locations. This new aesthetic of decay amps up the horror but it also removes the game from what makes the series special and creates fatigue.

I could go on about the hit-and-miss boss fights, hastily designed final act and stealth sections don't compare to Alien: Isolation, but I don't want to give the impression that this is a bad game. It's a better game than Resident Evil 6 which is what matters to most fans. But it's also a less ambitious and interesting one, despite the change of setting and perspective.