Resident Evil 7: biohazard

Resident Evil 7 is an absolute triumph that honors the series' legacy in almost every way imaginable. But it also stands confidently on its own as an amazing piece of interactive horror.

Perhaps Resident Evil 7's most intriguing quality is how it plays around with the idea of retracing your steps.

After years of stagnation, the stage was ripe for a revamp and revitalization, and on that front, Resident Evil 7 succeeds wildly. It wisely swaps its continent-crossing conspiracies for a provincial tour through a solitary dilapidated homestead in Louisiana. It cleaves away its bloated, lore-laden mythology for a brand new cast of characters who don't require hours of poring through fan wikis to decipher their motivations. And most significantly, Resident Evil 7 tosses aside the series' once revolutionary third-person camera perspective for a dreadfully immediate first-person view.

Resident Evil 7 can occasionally frustrate with excessive boss fights and patronizing puzzles, but it’s still a scary and violent blast of survival horror that paints a bright future for the franchise. Bloody, tense, and exciting throughout, Resident Evil 7 is exactly what the series needed. Full of dread and brimming with anxiety, the series that started it all has finally found itself after decades of wandering.

It's a minor miracle that Capcom was able to bounce back from the atrocity that was Resident Evil 6 with a taut, uncompromising horror story that borrows the best bits of the series while pushing forward in welcome new directions. There might be a number in the title, but don't let that throw you...Whatever your relationship is to the series, Resident Evil 7 is sensational video game horror.

A bold and successful reinvention of the franchise. It confidently blends together the old and the new, combining the best of the series with more modern first-person exploration games. It’s a complex mystery that balances terror, action, and exploration almost seamlessly. And despite standing on its own quite well, it ultimately ties itself into the existing — and incredibly convoluted — Resident Evil mythos in a satisfying way.