History YMMV / ResidentEvil7Biohazard

** Even though he's the main character in a DLC chapter, Joe Baker is becoming one of the popular ''[=RE7=]'' protagonists. He's RatedMForManly personified by punching damn near everything, eat bugs for recovery, wrestle, hunt, and spear gators, and tears and punch ''[[spoiler:his infected brother]]'s head'' clean off. Arguably, he is perhaps one of the few people who will beat the shit out of the Molded without worrying infection.

** A late game decision [[spoiler:[[MultipleEndings changes whether you get the good or bad ending]]]]. This isn't exactly something new for the series, but the problem is that [[spoiler:it's a SadisticChoice between curing Mia or Zoe of their infection, except choosing to cure Zoe leads to her getting killed very shortly after and Mia eventually dying anyway, compared to the good ending having Mia survive and Zoe's fate be ambiguous.]] Fans haven't been pleased with this, given how pointless it is and the fact that despite wanting to [[spoiler:save Zoe, who has helped you throughout the game, the story considers her 'condemned' alongside her family and her sole ulterior motive of wanting to escape when she's inches away from it [[ShaggyDogStory as a vain hope]]]].

** The Connections. Are they another pharmaceutical company as evil as Umbrella used to be, or are they not as evil the game implies? Both [[spoiler:Mia]] and Douglas are shown to be very decent people before Eveline went on a rampage. On another hand, they collaborated with ''Albert Wesker'', along with HCF, to produce E-Series [=BOWs=] whose powers involve assimilating enemy soldiers and hired Lucas to watch over Eveline. BSSA and Umbrella higher-ups even sent Chris to capture Lucas to question about them.

* HilariousInHindsight:
** It turns out that the "Kitchen" demo was a preview for the game. What was the name of the engine used for "Kitchen"? The ''RE'' Engine.
** Peter in Clancy's tape snarkily calls Jack "Hillbilly Joe" before Andre corrects him. In fact, Jack's brother Joe ''does'' exist, and he's an actual hillbilly.

* CompleteMonster: [[PsychopathicManchild Lucas Baker]] was known as the "Bad Seed" of [[Characters/ResidentEvilTheBakerFamily the Baker family]]. A [[TrapMaster brilliant, yet malicious, inventor]] who once trapped a childhood bully to starve to death in the attic, Lucas liberated himself from Eveline's control but found he enjoyed his new powers and ability to "cut loose"--regularly capturing others and putting them in his {{Death Trap}}s to test them out, Lucas also makes sure it's impossible to escape the traps so even if one solves them, they'll still die painfully. When Chris Redfield goes in, in the ''Not a Hero'' DLC, Lucas captures three of his soldiers and has Chris experience their deaths before trying to kill Chris as well. A complete destructive hedonist with no regard for anyone, even his own family, Lucas is a unique glimpse at a twisted, inventive SerialKiller in the world of ''Resident Evil''.

* CompleteMonster: [[PsychopathicManchild Lucas Baker]] was known as the "Bad Seed" of [[Characters/ResidentEvilTheBakerFamily the Baker family]]. A brilliant, yet malicious, inventor who once trapped a childhood bully to starve to death in the attic, Lucas liberated himself from Eveline's control but found he enjoyed his new powers and ability to "cut loose"--regularly capturing others and putting them in [[TrapMaster his deadly traps]] to test them out, Lucas also makes sure it's impossible to escape the traps so even if one solves them, they'll still die painfully. When Chris Redfield goes in, in the ''Not a Hero'' DLC, Lucas captures three of his soldiers and has Chris experience their deaths before trying to kill Chris as well. A complete destructive hedonist with no regard for anyone, even his own family, Lucas is a unique glimpse at a twisted, inventive SerialKiller in the world of ''Resident Evil''.

* CompleteMonster: [[PsychopathicManchild Lucas Baker]] was known as the "Bad Seed" of [[Characters/ResidentEvilTheBakerFamily the Baker family]]. A brilliant, yet malicious, inventor who once trapped a childhood bully to starve to death in the attic, Lucas liberated himself from Eveline's control but found he enjoyed his new powers and ability to "cut loose"--regularly capturing others and putting them in [[TrapMaster his deadly traps]] to test them out, Lucas also makes sure it's impossible to escape the traps so even if one solves them, they'll still die painfully. When [[Characters/ResidentEvilChrisRedfield Chris Redfield]] goes in, in the ''Not a Hero'' DLC, Lucas captures three of his soldiers and has Chris experience their deaths before trying to kill Chris as well. A complete destructive hedonist with no regard for anyone, even his own family, Lucas is a unique glimpse at a twisted, inventive SerialKiller in the world of ''Resident Evil''.

* CompleteMonster: [[PsychopathicManchild Lucas Baker]] was known as the "Bad Seed" of [[Characters/ResidentEvilTheBakerFamily the Baker family]]. A brilliant, yet malicious, inventor who once trapped a childhood bully to starve to death in the attic, Lucas liberated himself from Eveline's control but found he enjoyed his new powers and ability to "cut loose"--regularly capturing others and putting them in [[TrapMaster his deadly traps]] to test them out, Lucas also makes sure it's impossible to escape the traps so even if one solves them, they'll still die painfully. When [[Characters/ResidentEvilChrisRedfield Chris Redfield]] goes in in the ''Not a Hero'' DLC, Lucas captures three of his soldiers and has Chris experience their deaths before trying to kill Chris as well. A complete destructive hedonist with no regard for anyone, even his own family, Lucas is a unique glimpse at a twisted, inventive SerialKiller in the world of ''Resident Evil''.

* CompleteMonster: [[PsychopathicManchild Lucas Baker]] was known as the "Bad Seed" of [[Characters/ResidentEvilTheBakerFamily the Baker family]]. A brilliant, yet malicious, inventor who once trapped a childhood bully to starve to death in the attic, Lucas liberated himself from Eveline's control but found he enjoyed his new powers and ability to "cut loose"--regularly capturing others and putting them in his [[TrapMaster death traps]] to test them out, Lucas also makes sure [[KaizoTrap it's impossible to escape the traps]] so even if one solves them, they'll still die painfully. When [[Characters/ResidentEvilChrisRedfield Chris Redfield]] goes in in the ''Not a Hero'' DLC, Lucas captures three of his soldiers and has Chris experience their deaths before trying to kill Chris as well. A complete destructive hedonist with no regard for anyone, even his own family, Lucas is a unique glimpse at a twisted, inventive SerialKiller in the world of ''Resident Evil''.

* CompleteMonster: [[Characters/ResidentEvilLucasBaker Lucas Baker]] was known as the "Bad Seed" of the Baker family. A brilliant, yet malicious, inventor who once trapped a childhood bully to starve to death in the attic, Lucas liberated himself from Eveline's control but found he enjoyed his new powers and ability to "cut loose"--regularly capturing others and putting them in his {{death trap}}s to test them out, Lucas also makes sure [[KaizoTrap it's impossible to escape the traps]] so even if one solves them, they'll still die painfully. When [[Characters/ResidentEvilChrisRedfield Chris Redfield]] goes in in the ''Not a Hero'' DLC, Lucas captures three of his soldiers and has Chris experience their deaths before trying to kill Chris as well. A complete destructive hedonist with no regard for anyone, even his own family, Lucas is a unique glimpse at a twisted, inventive SerialKiller in the world of ''Resident Evil''.

** The implicitly supernatural tone of the game isn't new since ''Resident Evil 4'' was conceived with hallucinations/supernatural foes in mind. For that matter, the idea of exploring a haunted house calls to mind the original game's own SpiritualPredecessor, ''VideoGame/SweetHome'', whose titular location was called "The house of residing evil."

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** Although debates are still going on about it (albeit not nearly as much since the game's release), the return to the foreboding, unsettling nature of "{{survival horror}}" that defined the earlier ''Resident Evil'' installments prior to ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' is what many longtime series fans have been clamoring for.
** The game has no [[PressXToNotDie quick time events]], after ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil5 5]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil6 6]]'' abused them to the point of [[ScrappyMechanic being annoying]].
** Due to the lack of any sort of combat in early marketing, fans were worried that the game might be taking a page too many from the likes of ''VideoGame/{{Outlast}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Amnesia|TheDarkDescent}}'' by being just as combatless as said games. Their worries were eventually assuaged as the game does indeed feature combat (both firearm-wise and melee-wise, but mostly the former) and the classic herbs health system.
** The existence of mossy, zombie like monsters which regenerate in the house relieved fans who were worried that the franchise's signature usage of bizarre mutant creatures would be replaced entirely by visually normal humans with ImplacableMan features.
** ''End of Zoe'' [[spoiler:resolves the BrokenBase described below and finally give Zoe a deserved HappyEnding thanks to the combined efforts of Joe and Umbrella, with Ethan checking up on her as soon as possible via phone after informing the soldiers of her condition]].
** A very common complaint was the lack of a proper final boss, with the fight between Ethan and [[spoiler:Eveline]] coming off as rather lackluster to some. [[spoiler:''Not a Hero'' and ''End of Zoe'' gives us fairly epic, and proper fights with Lucas and the Swamp Man, respectively.]]

* IdiotPlot:
** The beginning ''reeks'' of this. Upon receiving an email from his wife, who's been missing and presumed dead for three years, Ethan goes to a ranch in the middle of nowhere, ''by himself'', to find her (and only tells one person, by the way). Upon seeing clear signs that she's in a '''''lot''''' of trouble, like an abandoned van, ominous messages, and a horrific effigy made of cow carcasses, Ethan does ''not'' turn around, get back in his car, and notify the authorities. Instead, he wanders further onto the property, and for his trouble, gets his hand cut off and then gets captured by the serial killer clan keeping his wife hostage. The game's entire plot hinges on Ethan being too stupid to leave and come back with half the cops in Louisiana.
** The encounter with the police deputy, David Anderson. David, who is investigating a missing persons case, finds someone in the building associated with that case seriously injured and begging for help and refuses to take him seriously, not calling in for backup or to radio in his findings, and then tells the same possible victim to go wandering through the building with its possible aggressors to meet him in the garage. The only reason it's not entirely one-sided is that Ethan insists the deputy give him his gun.
** ''End of Zoe'' in spades. To summarize: [[spoiler:Joe "saves" his niece from two Blue Umbrella soldiers who were trying to cure her, then goes on a lengthy fetch quest to make another cure for her that ends in nothing, but the deaths of two innocents and his own brother.]] The game then ends with the exact same situation the protagonist tried to prevent in the intro.

** Despite the fact that he's a sadistic, murdering monster who enjoys coming up with horrific death traps and [[spoiler: is very much NotBrainwashed, unlike his parents]], Lucas Baker has managed to rack up a nice fanbase that is in no small part divided between players who think he's fun as a BlackComedy {{T|heTrickster}}rickster villain... and those who try to downplay or distract from his awfulness by suggesting that his murder of a classmate as a child didn't really happen (largely due to it being an AmbiguousSituation and the lack of said classmate's remains in the attic where he supposedly died), that everything he does goes back to his having been bullied for being eccentric as a kid, that he was a victim of ParentalAbuse (for the record, Lucas mentions mild physical punishment for fairly trivial rude behavior in ''Daughters'', but Jack's uninfected character is portrayed as kind and warmhearted, if conservative and strict), that the need to [[spoiler:keep fooling Eveline into believing he's brainwashed]] is the sole or primary motivation for his torture of others (or that his brain was warped by the infection so that he stayed crazy and murderous even after [[spoiler:breaking free]] ), and so forth. He's even commonly shipped with Ethan, despite Ethan having nothing but contempt for Lucas and Lucas's interest in Ethan being so limited to leading him to his death that he ''ragequits his role in the game'' once Ethan outsmarts him; and Clancy, despite their interactions likewise consisting exclusively of one of them tormenting the other for kicks.

** Despite the fact that he's a sadistic, murdering monster who enjoys coming up with horrific death traps and [[spoiler: is very much NotBrainwashed, unlike his parents]], Lucas Baker has managed to rack up a nice fanbase that is in no small part divided between players who think he's fun as a BlackComedy {{T|heTrickster}}rickster villain... and those who try to downplay or distract from his awfulness by suggesting that his murder of a classmate as a child didn't really happen, that everything he does goes back to his having been bullied for being eccentric as a kid, that he was a victim of ParentalAbuse (for the record, Lucas mentions mild physical punishment for rude behavior in ''Daughters'', but Jack's uninfected character is portrayed as kind and warmhearted, if conservative and strict), that the need to [[spoiler:keep fooling Eveline into believing he's brainwashed]] is the sole or primary motivation for his torture of others (despite his own all-out laughing ''glee'' as he carries it out and the elaborate lengths he goes to to set up "games"), and so forth. He's even commonly shipped with Ethan, despite Ethan having nothing but contempt for Lucas and Lucas's interest in Ethan being so limited to leading him to his death that he ''ragequits his role in the game'' once Ethan outsmarts him; and Clancy, despite their interactions likewise consisting exclusively of one of them tormenting the other for kicks.

* CompleteMonster: [[TrapMaster Lucas Baker]] was known as the "Bad Seed" of the Baker family. A brilliant, yet malicious, inventor who once trapped a childhood bully to starve to death in the attic, Lucas liberated himself from Eveline's control but found he enjoyed his new powers and ability to "cut loose"--regularly capturing others and putting them in his {{death trap}}s to test them out, Lucas also makes sure [[KaizoTrap it's impossible to escape the traps]] so even if one solves them, they'll still die painfully. When [[Characters/ResidentEvilChrisRedfield Chris Redfield]] goes in in the ''Not a Hero'' DLC, Lucas captures three of his soldiers and has Chris experience their deaths before trying to kill Chris as well. A complete destructive hedonist with no regard for anyone, even his own family, Lucas is a unique glimpse at a twisted, inventive SerialKiller in the world of ''Resident Evil''.

** The second boss fight with [[RecurringBoss Jack Baker]], where he picks up [[ChainsawGood a pair of chainsaws]] [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext that have been stylized]] [[ImprobableUseOfAWeapon to resemble hedge shears]], and Ethan fights him off [[UpToEleven with a chainsaw of his own]].

** Even ''[[BoringButPractical Psychostimulants]]'' count as this; because of the game's graphical system, the fact that every collectable icon or object with an item inside of it lights up with a marker whilst using them is a massive help in tracking down collectibles and valuable ammo. As an added bonus, [[spoiler: it lets you avoid Lucas' booby-trapped boxes, as they won't display the marker]]. It's no wonder the X-Ray Glasses, which give you permanent Psychostimulant vision, are restricted to having successfully completed a speed run first. Once you get the glasses, psychostimulants are still useful, because you can combine them with separating agent for an easy source of chem fluid.

* SpiritualAdaptation:
** The ''Beginning Hour'' demo is basically a less cerebral ''[[VideoGame/SilentHills P.T.]]''

* CrazyIsCool: While he may be slightly divisive, there's no question that Joe Baker qualifies as this, as a badass old man who's lived out in the bayou alone, implicitly throughout the entire years-long nightmare his brother's family was going through, has mastered the art of killing molded with his bare hands, and ''will'' employ it liberally for the sake of saving his niece.
** The second boss fight against Jack Baker. Three words: ''[[ChainsawGood Chainsaw]]. [[SerialEscalation Scissors]]. '''[[RuleOfCool Duel]].'''''

* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Lucas Baker]] was known as the "Bad Seed" of the Baker family. A brilliant, yet malicious, inventor who once trapped a childhood bully to starve to death in the attic, Lucas liberated himself from Eveline's control but found he enjoyed his new powers and ability to "cut loose"--regularly capturing others and putting them in his {{death trap}}s to test them out, Lucas also makes sure [[KaizoTrap it's impossible to escape the traps]] so even if one solves them, they'll still die painfully. When [[Characters/ResidentEvilChrisRedfield Chris Redfield]] goes in in the ''Not a Hero'' DLC, Lucas captures three of his soldiers and has Chris experience their deaths before trying to kill Chris as well. A complete destructive hedonist with no regard for anyone, even his own family, Lucas is a unique glimpse at a twisted, inventive SerialKiller in the world of ''Resident Evil''.

* CompleteMonster--''Not A Hero'' {{DLC}}: [[BigBad Lucas Baker]] was known as the "Bad Seed" of the Baker family. A brilliant, yet sociopathic, inventor who once trapped a childhood bully to starve to death in the attic, Lucas liberated himself from Eveline's control but found he enjoyed his new powers and ability to "cut loose"--regularly capturing others and putting them in his {{death trap}}s to test them out, Lucas also makes sure [[KaizoTrap it's impossible to escape the traps]] so even if one solves them, they'll still die painfully. When [[Characters/ResidentEvilChrisRedfield Chris Redfield]] goes in, Lucas captures three of his soldiers and has Chris experience their deaths before trying to kill Chris as well. A complete sociopath with no regard for anyone, even his own family, Lucas is a unique glimpse at a twisted, inventive SerialKiller in the world of ''Resident Evil''.

* CompleteMonster: Lucas Baker, the BigBad of the ''Not A Hero'' {{DLC}}, was known as the "Bad Seed" of the Baker family. A brilliant, yet malicious, inventor who once trapped a childhood bully to starve to death in the attic, Lucas liberated himself from Eveline's control but found he enjoyed his new powers and ability to "cut loose"--regularly capturing others and putting them in his {{death trap}}s to test them out, Lucas also makes sure [[KaizoTrap it's impossible to escape the traps]] so even if one solves them, they'll still die painfully. When Chris Redfield goes in, Lucas captures three of his soldiers and has Chris experience their deaths before trying to kill Chris as well. A complete destructive hedonist with no regard for anyone, even his own family, Lucas is a unique glimpse at a twisted, inventive SerialKiller in the world of ''Resident Evil''.

* UncannyValley: Mia's face in some cutscenes has an unnatural look to it. Some gamers have gone so far as to say that Mia looks ''scarier'' than the monsters. [[spoiler: And this is before she's revealed to be infected.]]

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: [[spoiler:Eveline]] is, at her core, a child who just wants a family, and [[spoiler:was engineered by an amoral B.O.W. manufacturer to seek one out as a way of propagating]]. Unfortunately, her "just wanting a family" is an understatement on par with saying Jeffrey Dahmer just wanted [[ALoveToDismember companionship]] and [[ImAHumanitarian a nice meal]], and her desire has quite a large, gruesome attached cost in terms of death and human suffering. Personality-wise, her [[SmugSnake supreme smugness]], viciousness, and obvious sadistic pleasure in the torment she inflicts severely undercuts the sympathy that her tragic background bought for her, and when she wails [[ItsAllAboutMe "Why does everyone hate me?"]] in the end, many players [[ShutUpHannibal had a list of very compelling reasons ready to go]]. Even if [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds she was just made that way and might not have control over it]], [[spoiler:[[SympathyForTheDevil just like Jack seems to think when not infected]]]] putting her out of her misery [[ShootTheDog still seems like the best option at this point]].

* VanillaProtagonist: One of the common complaints about Ethan is that he isn't interesting enough to be considered as the protagonist, in contrast to fan-favorites Chris Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy, as well as one-time protagonists such as Billy Coen, Carlos Olivera, and Jake Muller. ''Village'' would rectify this by making him emotive enough so he'll have a better reason to rescue his missing daughter.

* WhatAnIdiot:
** [[spoiler:Lucas made a VHS tape documenting the solution to his Birthday deathtrap puzzle and didn't even bother changing the combination of the lock that the video tape shows the combination for. Sure enough, Ethan gets his hands on the tape and [[DungeonBypass bypasses all of his traps]], including the combination lock.]] This tape is also [[spoiler:in Lucas' bedroom attic, which he ''directs you to go up to'' for a keycard.]]
** The demo protagonist in the True ending. [[spoiler:Really? Going to the police while you have LSD on you? Though this could be explained as either him being too shook up from his time in the house to remember or one of the Bakers planting it on him just in case he escaped and tried to snitch.]]

** The Bakers' status as [[spoiler: GoodAllAlong grays out a bit considering the possibility that they knew that their son murdered another child and chose to cover for him and sweep his problems under the rug rather than allow said other child's parents any restitution or closure. Even Zoe, the most innocent of the family, has been accused of being more interested in using Ethan to escape than helping her fellow victims of Eveline]].

*** Another one dealing with Lucas, [[spoiler: his much more subdued portrayals in places before he became infected leave it unclear if he was always a cruel monster at heart who used his family's infection as a chance to finally drop his MaskOfSanity, or if he really was once a fairly normal, but still troubled, kid whose mind and personality were irreparably warped by Eveline's influence, even after he broke free of her control]].