Just got Resident Evil 7 platinum and I'm honestly pretty conflicted about it. I feel like I'm maybe too harsh. (Keep in mind I've only played Resident Evil 7 base game, all the Resident Evil prior to it and not 7 DLC's or 8 or 9)
I'm pretty conflicted about Resident Evil 7.
The beginning of the game is almost perfect. The atmosphere of the Bakers' house is phenomenal, and the three main antagonists are all intimidating, memorable, and charismatic. During the first few hours, the game does an amazing job at creating tension and constantly making you feel like you never know what's going to happen next.
Unfortunately, the game gradually falls apart during the second half. Eveline is a cliché and boring antagonist, the final boss is probably one of the worst in the series and requires virtually no strategy or skill, and the final area feels rushed and generic while dumping a lot of lore on you in a very short period of time.
It's especially disappointing because if the game had maintained the quality of its first five hours all the way to the end, Resident Evil 7 would probably have become my favorite game in the serie
Ethan is a pretty interesting case. The fact that he's just an ordinary guy obviously makes his journey more heroic, but he barely talks aside from insulting and screaming (I don't remember him saying a single interesting thing between the swamp and Evie's encounter in the guest house). He also rarely seems interested in understanding what's happening to him or why any of this is happening in the first place.
This actually works fairly well during gameplay, since his silence helps reinforce the feeling of isolation and makes you feel more like you're in his shoes. However, whenever he talks to Zoe or Mia, his lack of personality becomes much more noticeable. He sometimes feels more like an empty shell than an actual character.
The Bakers, on the other hand, are one of the game's biggest strengths. Jack, Marguerite and Lucas all have very different personalities and presences, and their encounters are some of the most memorable moments in the game.
The atmosphere is probably what RE7 does best. The soundtrack is excellent, but it's mainly the sound design and ambient noises that make the game so oppressive. The Bakers' house constantly gives you the feeling that something could happen at any moment.
The puzzles are also very well done and provide a good change of pace from the exploration.
Combat, however, feels much weaker to me. I often feel like my attacks have very little impact, and getting the flamethrower and grenade launcher fairly early, along with their relatively abundant ammunition, significantly reduces the feeling of vulnerability that the game otherwise tries to create.
The Madhouse difficulty partially fixes this by making resource management much more important, but the fact that it's locked behind a first playthrough is a shame.
Thankfully, the bosses are much more interesting. They're generally fun, stressful and memorable. Unfortunately, they almost completely disappear after the Bakers' house, and Eveline doesn't really feel like a proper boss to me.
This is probably my biggest problem with the gameplay.
Capcom really dropped the ball when it comes to the enemy variety. There are basically four different types of Molded, most of which have very similar and fairly unmemorable designs, and you end up fighting them over and over again.
The contrast with the Bakers is particularly noticeable: the bosses all have their own identity, while the standard enemies mostly feel like they're there to fill the combat encounters.
It's especially disappointing considering that this is the only Resident Evil game that barely uses actual zombies. I really wish there had been more enemy variety.
The story is clearly trying to take a more serious approach than some of the older Resident Evil games, but it unfortunately suffers from quite a few consistency issues and leaves far too many things unexplained.
Zoe casually sewing Ethan's hand back on, her living in a trailer without anyone seemingly paying much attention to it, Blue Umbrella, the police officer investigating disappearances but not believing Ethan when he tells him what happened to him despite Ethan being visibly injured...
Some of these things can obviously be explained or expanded upon later, particularly through the DLCs and Resident Evil Village, but I find it pretty frustrating that you have to rely so much on external content to get a more basic understanding of what's actually going on.
Overall, Resident Evil 7 is an extremely frustrating game.
It starts with a first half that is easily a 9/10: an incredible atmosphere, an amazingly designed Bakers' house, memorable antagonists and a genuine sense of tension.
Then the game gradually loses what made it special. The enemy variety becomes repetitive, the combat lacks impact, Ethan remains underdeveloped, and the story becomes increasingly confusing. The final section is, for me, a massive disappointment, with a generic area, a huge amount of exposition and a particularly underwhelming final boss.
It's really unfortunate, because Resident Evil 7 had everything it needed to become my favorite game in the series. But with a first part I'd give a 9/10, a second part around a 6/10, and a final section I'd put around a 2/10, I can't really give it more than a 6/10