The player controls Ethan Winters as he searches for his long-missing wife in a derelict plantation occupied by an infected family, solving puzzles and fighting enemies.

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.

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.

There, he learns that Eveline is a bio-organic weapon capable of infecting people with a psychotropic mold that gives her control over her victims' minds, resulting in their insanity, superhuman regenerative abilities, and various mutations.

Using the lab equipment and Eveline's genetic material, Ethan synthesizes a toxin to kill her, and proceeds through a series of tunnels that lead back to the Baker house.

Clancy was a cameraman who worked with "Sewer Gators", a web series where producer Andre Stickland and presenter Peter Walken explored haunted houses.

[22] The game was directed by Koshi Nakanishi, who previously helmed Resident Evil: Revelations, leading a development team numbering at about 120 staff.

This technology developed over half of the general assets of the game, but posed a problem in researching the setting of Louisiana because its considerable demand for equipment made it unviable for transport, which required Capcom to model by hand.

[24] According to Jun Takeuchi, the high-ups at Capcom wanted Resident Evil 7: Biohazard to be a live service game with online multiplayer and microtransactions.

[26] In October 2016, Capcom launched a 10 part video series called The World of Resident Evil 7, teasing pieces of the game's contents.

[34] Purchase of a GameStop-exclusive Collector's Edition included an eight-inch model of the Baker mansion, which when opened functions as a music box playing the main theme rendition of "Go Tell Aunt Rhody", a mannequin finger-shaped 4 gigabyte USB flash drive contained within a VHS tape box, a SteelBook case containing the game, a lithograph of the Baker family, and a note.

[35][36] The UK version added the Survival Pack: Action Set DLC, a 20th anniversary artbook and a seven-inch replica of the mansion, but did not feature the music box.

It makes use of found footage and first-person narrative as it tells the story of a young woman by the name of Mia hiding from an agitated old lady holding a lantern.

The first DLC pack was the Banned Footage, a series of bonus modes where the player controls Clancy Jarvis, a camera operator who was abducted by the Bakers some time prior to the main game.

1 also includes "Ethan Must Die", an extremely difficult mode where the player must unlock the greenhouse and defeat Marguerite inside while utilizing randomized weapons and items found throughout the main house to deal with enemies and booby traps along the way.

[65] On December 12, 2017, Capcom released five DLC packs for $0.49 each (or $1.49 for all five in a bundle), each containing a special coin that granted a buff while in the inventory, such as enhanced damage, reload time, or health.

[69] The Season Pass, released on launch, contains both volumes of Banned Footage, End of Zoe, and the Recovery Kit - it was included with the Gold Edition of the game.

[72] Shacknews noted that Beginning Hour had several similarities with Sweet Home (1989), the Capcom horror game that inspired the original Resident Evil (1996).

Furniss' apprehensive expectations of how the story would unfold were subverted to his liking, deeming the result a blend similar to the horror and comedy found in The Evil Dead films.

[80] Writing for Game Informer, Andrew Reiner commended the "tense, unsettling, overly gory" atmosphere for providing a competent introduction to Resident Evil 7.

Using the Baker family to multifarious ends of gameplay was complimented as a logical extension of the established world; the interactive VHS tapes were approved of for the same reason, said to serve "beautifully as both a narrative device and a way to break up Ethan's exhausting mission".

[82] Leon Hurley, writing for GamesRadar+, was of the opinion that, while the "gore and guts" were sparingly effective, a number of his most favorite moments had to do with investigating the "beautifully designed" Baker house.

[83] Giant Bomb's Dan Ryckert referred to Resident Evil 7 as the reinvigoration of earlier components in the series while at the same time yielding a fresh outlook with a yet-unrivaled story.

[84] Chloi Rad of IGN endorsed the pervading tone of eeriness in the game, owed entirely to the plantation, which she thought was "one of the creepiest single settings since the Spencer Mansion".

Kelly saw the regular state of vulnerability he was faced within the game as one of its greatest strengths, giving credit to the visuals and audio for adding to the "rumbling sense of dread".

He cited issues with the PlayStation VR, including the prospect of sacrificing graphics for improved aim and immersion, as the resolution would decrease while in virtual reality.

[79] Carsillo disliked the inventory system because its restricted capacity left weaponry and ammunition with the same amount of space as other items critical to story progression.

[83] Rad criticized Resident Evil 7 for its dependence on "overplayed tropes about rural America" which came to resemble a cartoon, and the puzzles were appraised as the sole shortcoming of the setting.

[106] In May 2017, Capcom gave the game a lifetime sales forecast of ten million units, citing favorable reviews, marketing and downloadable content as contributing factors.