Resident Evil 7 displays both confidence and humility – a tricky blend to achieve. It hasn’t stubbornly ignored successful trends that have fuelled modern horror games – like the widespread shift to first-person – nor has it simply mind its own reservoir of images and characters to create new terrors. For the first time in years, the series has looked outside of itself and this has resulted in a meaningful evolution of the series. But this isn’t a departure, far from it; this is a homecoming. Resident Evil 7 breaks its recent traditions in order to better serve the original design. Once again, you’re alone in a sprawling gothic house, surrounded by terrible things, and you have to survive. It feels at once both old and new, familiar and unknown, and – for the first time in years – like the most interesting and exciting horror game around.
