Resident Evil 7

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is a survival horror game viewed from the first-person – the second game in the series and the first main line game to use such a perspective. The player controls new protagonist Ethan Winters as he explores the Baker family's abandoned rural estate in Dulvey, Louisiana, to try and save his wife Mia. Ethan can freely rotate the camera around to view his surroundings, move in any direction, alternate between walking and sprinting to cover more ground, and interact with his surroundings to find helpful items such as weapons, ammunition, and healing items. New commands include guarding, allowing Ethan to block attacks to reduce damage, and crouching, which lets him fit through confined spaces or use stealth to evade enemies.

Throughout the game, Ethan confronts various members of the Baker family, as well as humanoid fungal creatures called "Molded", that will attack and attempt to kill him on sight. While Ethan is a civilian with relatively little combat experience, he is nonetheless able to find and use various weapons from around the estate, from melee weapons like pocket knives and chainsaws, to stronger firearms such as handguns, shotguns, and a makeshift flamethrower. Ethan can shoot down the hip or focus through the scope, and move while shooting, but firearms are less powerful than those from previous action-oriented titles – enemies are tougher, can sidestep and block to avoid taking damage, and will not stay down forever, emphasizing use of stealth and fleeing encounters when necessary. Damage taken is shown by the amount of blood visible on-screen, and by a codex on Ethan's wrist shown while navigating the inventory. Items such as herbs and first aid solution can be used to heal.

In 2017, systems engineer Ethan Winters is drawn to a derelict plantation in Dulvey, Louisiana, by an email from his wife Mia, who has been missing for the past three years. Exploring a seemingly abandoned house, Ethan finds Mia imprisoned in the basement. During their escape, Mia suddenly becomes extremely violent and attacks Ethan, forcing him to kill her. After receiving a call from a woman named Zoe offering assistance, Ethan is attacked again by a revived Mia, cutting his left hand off, and then subdued by Jack Baker, patriarch of the Baker family.

He is then dragged to another house where Zoe sews his hand back on. Ethan is held captive by Jack, his wife Marguerite, their son Lucas, and an elderly wheelchair-using woman. Although Ethan escapes his captors, he is repeatedly confronted by Jack, who demonstrates the ability to regenerate from fatal wounds and dismemberment.

Taking inspiration from the films The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), The Evil Dead (1981), and Saw (2004), the developers decided to scale back the game to one location and use a first-person perspective to immerse players and return the series to its roots of survival horror following the criticized reception of Resident Evil 6 and its action-oriented style. Development began around February 2014. According to producer Masachika Kawata, the main playable character would be "totally new" rather than a "superhero" type like Chris from Resident Evil 5 or Leon S. Kennedy from Resident Evil 6.

The game is built on a custom game engine, named the RE Engine, which includes virtual reality (VR) development tools. The decision to make the game first-person was made well before VR was considered; VR development started in October 2015, for which a separate team was created. The introduction of VR demanded that textures be more detailed, discarding flat textures and inaccurate object sizes that had previously been used.

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Shacknews noted that Beginning Hour had several similarities with Sweet Home (1989), the Capcom horror game that inspired the original Resident Evil (1996). These similarities to Sweet Home include the plot of a film crew going to an abandoned house, a paranormal female presence in the house, and a tragic tale involving a family that once lived there. Eurogamer found the element of survival horror in Lantern reminiscent of Alien: Isolation. Resident Evil 7 was well-received for the dissimilarity to its polarizing predecessor, in particular the change from action-oriented combat and effects to an approach more grounded in horror.