Resident Evil 7 is both a reinvention of the franchise, and a return to form… or so i've heard, since the only RE game i've played before this is 5. I'm very familiar with the other games, but only in theoretical study, rather than any hands-on experience

Environmentally, we've scaled all the way back down from globe-trotting corporate conspiracy, to a more intimate, domestic horror. The setting is just a family home in the swamps of Louisiana, and Ethan (the player character) explores the house in old-school RE style, with puzzle doors and shadow plinths. The family living there has been corrupted by a loose bioweapon, and each member seems to have their own themed area of the house and boss fight(s)

The reinvention comes mostly from the perspective change, which is now first-person, and the game makes sure to never cut away from that until the very end - even in cutscenes. This amplifies the claustrophobic terror quite well, but not as much as Alien: Isolation (thank the lord). Since Resident Evil has always been a game with guns, this transition is pretty seamless as well

Guns and ammo - resources in general - and inventory space are also back to being limited, which is a classic technique for adding that low hum of anxiety all the way through. You'll spend a lot of time scrounging for ammo and meds (or scraps to craft them), and then short sharp bursts of tense action when the monsters jump out

I enjoyed my time a lot here. Technically, by my personal rules, this one isn't beaten (yet), but since i finished the main campaign i thought i should write it up anyway. Once i get round to buying the DLC, maybe we'll see about a proper beating