One of the most ambitious sequels ever made helped restore the honor of a seemingly dying franchise, and I’m, of course, referring to Capcom’s Resident Evil 7. The seventh major entry in Capcom’s storied horror series  revived the world of survival horror five years ago, and not a day goes by that many fans of the franchise were grateful for that sequel’s existence.

Released in January 24, 2017, RE7 was a fresh entry into the long-running Resident Evil franchise that needed some course correction following the release of several entries that placed more emphasis on action rather than survival horror. After the mixed reviews and criticism following the release of Resident Evil 6, Capcom decided to go back to their roots and deliver a game that was all about immersing players in a horror setting, where you had to think on your feet, solve puzzles, and conserve ammo because danger was at lurking at every corner and there was no guarantee of getting out alive on the first try.

Taking inspiration from Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead movie franchise, and presented in a similar fashion to Konami’s ill-fated PT game demo, RE7 is played entirely in a first-person perspective and is primarily set in a derelict plantation located in Dulvey, Louisiana where mysterious virus has leaked and turned its victims in molded monstrosities and creatures. Players take control of Ethan Winters — a man who is desperately searching for his missing wife Mia after she goes missing for a couple of years. Entering a mysterious house and finding his wife locked in a basement, Ethan soon discovers that things are not what they seem as he is violently attacked by a possessed Mia and subsequently captured by the residents of the house known as the Baker family.

First teased as a VR demo called KI7CHEN, RE7 would get its full reveal on E3 2016 and would get several demos released that would serve as prequels that were set years before the main game and featured characters who were victims of the Baker family. The game holds the distinction of being the very first game to use Capcom’s new proprietary RE Engine — an in house developed video game engine that began as soon as work started on the project back in 2014. The new engine allowed for higher framerates, smoother animation, better lighting, and realistic graphics that pushed the boundaries of the game — leading to it being used in several other Capcom games such as Devil May Cry 5, Monster Hunter World, the Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes, and even a direct sequel in Resident Evil Village.

To say that Resident Evil 7 was a huge success would be an understatement — it single-handedly brought the franchise back to prominence and helped Capcom deliver one of the most impressive games ever made for PC and the eighth generation of consoles that it was released in. The game would also bring back fan favorite character Chris Redfield and connect it to the larger RE universe, with the story continuing in RE Village which once again had Ethan Winters as the main protagonist. If there were any Resident Evil games you needed to play to get you into the world of survival horror, this and Resident Evil Village would be good places to start — and you can check out our review for that equally impressive sequel here.