For many ardent fans, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard's switch to first-person proved a bigger fright than the game itself – but as reviews proved this week, the change works better than it has any right to. Even those that enjoyed Resident Evil 6 would struggle to argue against the staleness that Capcom's flagship franchise has exhibited of late. And yet the latest title feels both familiar and fresh all at the same time – an impressive achievement from a publisher that can't seem to do anything right at the moment.

The big question is: what direction should Resident Evil take moving forwards? We'll need to wait for commercial data, but critically there can be no question that Ethan Winters' adventure has been a hit; the Metacritic's riding high, and similarly the consumer reception has been overwhelmingly positive. It's the best Biohazard since Shinji Mikami was at the helm, and we're yet to see anyone adamantly disagree.

It's too early to be speculating about new Resident Evils, but we reckon that there's more that can be done with the first-person perspective

But does this mean that Resident Evil 8 should be first-person as well? If you look at the trajectory of the mainline series, Capcom has dramatically reinvented it every three entries, so does that mean this is the formula that the firm's going to peddle until Resident Evil 10? We don't know so much about that, but it's clear that there's mileage in the format for at least another game yet, so why fix something that's clearly not broken?

While it's perhaps a little too early to be speculating about new Resident Evil games, we reckon that there's more that can be done with the first-person perspective; the new game starts so strongly that we want more of that, and perhaps less of the uninspired final act. We'd also argue that the VHS system is underutilised a little in the campaign; while it looks like the DLC is going to flesh that idea out, there must be a ton of ideas here that the publisher left on the cutting room floor.

But this article isn't strictly about our opinion: we want to know what you think. So, should Resident Evil stick with the first-person format for the time being, or do you want to see a change in the next game? If you're voting against the latest release's direction, we want to know why – and what type of title you'd prefer? Blend some herbs in the comment section, and remember to drop your vote in our poll.

Should Resident Evil remain first-person for now? (93 votes)

  1. Yes, this is very much the best format for Biohazard right now51%
  2. I don’t really know18%
  3. No, I’d prefer a different type of game moving forwards, please31%

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