4/5 ★ – jake84's review of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard.

Resident Evil 7 is the most glaring departure in the main series since Resident Evil 4. Like the fourth one, it’s also one of the best. I get why some people shun it, because it’s not like what came before, but what we get here is by far the scariest installment of a hugely successful survival horror franchise. It is one of the most frightening games ever created, the switch to first person proving to be the right move. And the bayou is far removed from the Raccoon Cities and laboratories we’ve seen (too) often. Ironically, it is when RE7 decides to become a Resident Evil game that it faulters. It is detrimental to the game that the story has to become bigger and sillier during the last third. When it abandons the southern Gothic in favor of a huge ship it becomes all too familiar and more run-and-gun. And the end boss is just, uh, not great. The game is front-loaded, but holy hell, is it a good front-load.