Capcom made a bold move to swap the over-the-shoulder action they had spent the last decade iterating on for the lumbering first-person perspective employed here, but hoo boy did it pay off. Resident Evil 7 is a shock to the system, a reminder of how scary survival horror can be when the focus is placed on atmosphere and helpless desperation above all else. I'm fully used to the campy B-movie vibes of other entries in the series, so to see this one riff on completely different horror reference points (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, found footage films etc) with a more naturalistic approach is so refreshing. Make no mistake, this is still Resident Evil through and through—just seen through a different lens, dunked in shit and left to sit in its squalor.

I loved just about everything served up here and found it so, so compelling through to the end (yes, even the maligned third act, though the time spent on the Baker estate is inarguably stronger). It's rare for me to railroad games from start to finish like I did here, but this kept me locked in its chokehold for a couple of days until it was over. The best of the Resident Evil series always find a way to do me like that, and this experience made me realize how much I treasure these games for it.