Guide

Default layout per the official Switch 2 manual (there is no button remapping):

• Left stick: walk. Click: sprint.
• Right stick: look. Click: crouch or stand.
• ZL: aim. ZR: attack or fire. ZL + ZR with the knife: strong stab.
• L (hold): guard.
• R: quick heal (weakest item first; never Herbs).
• Y: reload. X: inventory. A: action. B: cancel.
• Left stick down + A: 180° turn.
• D-pad: the 4 slots of the inventory's top row (quick slots).
• ZL + X: switch ammo type (Handgun Ammo or Enhanced Handgun Ammo; Flame Rounds, Neuro Rounds…).
• Remote Bomb: ZR places it, Y detonates it.
• −: map (L and R move to Files). +: pause.

In other guides, "L1" is your L, "L2+R2" is ZL + ZR and "R1" is R.

• Aim Type: Trigger Style (press to aim, press again to stop) or Hold Style (hold ZL).
• Gyro: available, with separate X and Y sensitivity. It works well on the Pro Controller. On Joy-Con 2 the horizontal axis behaves like a steering wheel: you roll the controller instead of turning it. There is no mouse mode and no touch controls.
• Picture: HDR looks washed out. One review recommends turning it off and picking the Rec.709 SDR color space (sRGB is the default). The game is very dark: raise the brightness a notch if you can't read the corners.
• Performance: targets 60 fps, with no graphics modes and no 30 fps option. Handheld looks blurrier. The only dips reported were in the Yard.

• You only save manually at the Tape Recorders in safe rooms. On Easy and Normal they are unlimited; on Madhouse each save uses a Cassette Tape.
• The autosave is a separate file you can also load. Madhouse has far fewer.
• If you die, you go back to the last save or autosave. You lose what you picked up since.
• Some bosses let you retry from the start of the fight, with a "Manage Items" screen that works like an Item Box.
• Every game over lowers the hidden rank (the game gets a little easier). In a timed run, retrying adds time: load a manual save instead.
• The chapter 1 Guest House has no Item Box. The first one is in the Main House Laundry Room (chapter 2).

You start with 12 slots (3 × 4). The top row is for weapons and doubles as your D-pad quick slots. Each Backpack adds a row of 4: with all 3 you reach 24. The inventory is real time: the game doesn't pause while you sort items, check the map or read.

How much fits in one slot:

• Handgun Ammo 30 · Enhanced Handgun Ammo 20 · Shotgun Shells 30 · 44 MAG Ammo 20 · Machine Gun Ammo 300 · Burner Fuel 500.
• Flame Rounds 5 · Neuro Rounds 5 · Remote Bombs 20.
• Gunpowder 10 · Solid Fuel 5 · Herbs 5 · Supplements 5 · Psychostimulants 5.
• First Aid Med 3 · Strong First Aid Med 3.
• Antique Coins and Cassette Tapes: no limit.

All Item Boxes are linked. You can't store the Eveline Tissue Samples or the E-Necrotoxin. Mia's box on the ship is separate; when you go back to Ethan, everything Mia had goes into his.

Combine from the inventory (Combine tab, with L and R), anywhere:

• Herb + Chem Fluid = First Aid Med · + Strong Chem Fluid = Strong First Aid Med.
• Gunpowder + Chem Fluid = 10 Handgun Ammo · + Strong Chem Fluid = 10 Enhanced Handgun Ammo.
• Solid Fuel + Chem Fluid = 100 Burner Fuel · + Strong Chem Fluid = 2 Flame Rounds.
• Supplements + Chem Fluid = Psychostimulants · + Strong Chem Fluid = 2 Neuro Rounds.
• Gunpowder + Handgun Ammo = 5 Enhanced Handgun Ammo.

Separating Agent undoes a craft and gives the fluid back: Chem Fluid from 1 First Aid Med, 10 Handgun Ammo, 100 Burner Fuel or Psychostimulants; Strong Chem Fluid from 1 Strong First Aid Med, 10 Enhanced Handgun Ammo, 1 Flame Round or 1 Neuro Round.

Can't be crafted: Shotgun Shells, 44 MAG Ammo, Machine Gun Ammo and Remote Bombs.

Health isn't shown on screen. Open the inventory (X) and check Ethan's watch (the Codex): a green wave, then yellow, then red; a jagged red line means you are about to die. Near death you also move much more slowly.

• Ethan has 1000 max health. Each Steroids adds 100 and also heals you fully: with all 4, 1400.
• Herb: a small heal (about 1/4). First Aid Med: roughly half. Strong First Aid Med: everything.
• Partial regeneration if you aren't hit for a while: on Normal, up to about 1/4 of the bar; on Easy, up to half; on Madhouse, almost none.
• Each Stabilizer speeds up reloads: ×1.2 with one, ×1.4 with both.
• There is no poison or bleeding. According to a datamine, there are no invincibility frames after a hit: an enemy can hit you twice in a row.

• Hold L: damage drops to 1/4.
• With The Secrets of Defense or The Essence of Defense in the inventory: 1/8.
• With both: blocked hits do nothing.

While guarding you move slowly, see less and can only crouch. Each guard stops one hit and some attacks still stagger you. Grabs can't be blocked, except the Fat Molded's.

Cases worth knowing: Mia's chainsaw charge in the attic (0 damage and she is stunned), Eveline's shockwaves in the finale (you must block them) and the Crawler Molded's double lunge (don't block it: the second hit always lands; shoot it).

• ZR without aiming: a wide swing.
• ZL + ZR: a two-handed stab, slower, stronger and with more reach.
• The Chainsaw and Circular Saw keep cutting while you hold ZL + ZR.

What the Knife is for: breaking crates, smashing Mr. Everywhere, clearing spiders off doors and cabinets (the stab reaches them before they can bite) and killing Flying Bugs in one hit.

Trick: a well-timed swing can hit twice (a window of about 1 second). In the Morgue you can kick the body bags into Jack to stun him.

Crouching (click the right stick) lets you through gaps and under some attacks:

• Jack's overhead shears strike in the Morgue.
• A Molded's overhead swing: crouch and strafe toward the attacking arm.
• The Fat Molded's horizontal vomit (strafe right for the vertical one).

Jack in the Main House either patrols or tracks you. Enough damage knocks him down and he gets up after a while; he can't be killed in these stretches. He won't follow you into the sitting room or the Processing Area. Knocking him down relies on stun damage that attack coins don't boost.

Some roaming enemies leave an area after certain events: sometimes it pays to run past and come back later.

The game keeps a hidden meter from 0 to 9999 that tunes the difficulty. Normal runs from 3000 to 6999 (ranks 3 to 6) and starts at 4800.

• Rank 3: you deal 130% damage and take 70%.
• Rank 4: 100% and 100%.
• Rank 5: 85% and 125%.
• Rank 6: you deal 70% and take 150%; Molded move 21% faster.

It goes up when you deal damage, when an enemy misses (+150), when you blow off the head of a Molded above half health (+300) and when you first reach the Main Hall (+1000). It goes down when you take damage and with each game over (−1000 on Normal).

Enemy health doesn't change with rank, and neither does the damage that knocks down or removes limbs. The upshot: if you play cleanly you sit at rank 6 from the Garage on, and late Normal feels harder.

Difficulty is picked when you start a file and can't be changed later.

• Easy: same enemies and key items as Normal, but you deal far more damage (ranks 0 to 2: 120% to 240%), take less and regenerate more.
• Normal: this guide's baseline. Finishing it gives The Secrets of Defense.
• Madhouse: tougher, faster, more aggressive enemies, and more of them; Crawler Molded show up much earlier. Items are remixed (less ammo, more Separating Agent) and some keys are moved. Each save costs a Cassette Tape (there are 30) and autosaves are rare. 33 Antique Coins in other spots and new cages in the Main Hall. Only 5 Lock Picks for 8 locks.

Specific Madhouse changes: Jack roams the house endlessly after the Garage; the Garage Car Key is in a locked toolbox (the pick is on the shelf); there are 2 Fat Molded in the barn; there are tripwire bombs on the Salt Mine ladder after the last two Fat Molded; the Grenade Launcher is in the Trailer.

At the VHS players in some safe rooms you play a moment from the past as whoever filmed it. What you do on the tape can change the present.

• Derelict House Footage (chapter 1, Clancy): you can't die. Your only chance at Antique Coin #1.
• Mia (chapter 2, Recreation Room): Marguerite can catch you. It shows the Old House before you get there.
• Happy Birthday (chapter 4, attic): you can't die. It shows the Party Room solution.
• Old Videotape (chapter 6, ship): mandatory; a normal game over, and you can't quit halfway.

Players: Guest House Living Room, Main House Recreation Room, Zoe's Trailer, Testing Area Office and the ship's Security room. Tapes can be replayed.

RE7 has no merchant, no money and no weapon upgrades. The only things you can buy are in the birdcages, with Antique Coins.

• Easy and Normal (18 coins; Zoe's Trailer): Steroids 3, Stabilizer 5 and 44 MAG 9. Total 17.
• Madhouse (33 coins): also, in the Main Hall, Scorpion Key 3, Iron Defense Coin 7 and Assault Coin 8 (+15% damage). Total 35: not enough for everything.

Unopened cages show up once more in the Swamp Mine Office in chapter 7, keeping whatever you already paid. After that there is nothing left to buy.

The Switch 2 Gold Edition includes 6 Supply Boxes, 5 coins and Madhouse unlocked. Everything appears in the Item Box (the first one is in the Laundry Room, chapter 2).

• Recovery Set: 2 Herbs, 1 First Aid Med and 1 Strong First Aid Med. Coin: Defense Coin (slightly less damage taken).
• Handgun Set: Gunpowder, Handgun Ammo and Enhanced Handgun Ammo. Coin: Attack Coin (+6% damage per a datamine; the wiki says +8%).
• Shotgun Set: Shotgun Shells and 1 First Aid Med. Coin: Instinct Coin (more knockback).
• Action Set: 44 MAG Ammo, Flame Rounds, Solid Fuel, Gunpowder, 1 Herb and 1 Lock Pick. No coin.
• Chem Fluid Set: Psychostimulants, Chem Fluid and 1 First Aid Med. Coin: Universal Coin (+2% damage, some defense and knockback).
• Burner Set: Solid Fuel and Burner Fuel. Coin: Reload Coin (faster reloads; stacks with the Stabilizers).

Each coin takes 1 slot and only works while carried; their effects stack and a coin goes back to the box if you discard it. They work in the campaign and in Not a Hero. Each Supply Box is single-use and may not come back in a new file: open it when it helps most. The exact amounts in 5 of the 6 boxes are unconfirmed.

The standard Molded has 3000 health before the Boat House, on every difficulty.

• Handgun to the head and back off: the first shot makes it reel, then it closes in.
• Point-blank shotgun to the head: a one-shot kill. The 44 MAG takes off a head or a limb in one shot.
• Overhead swing: crouch and strafe toward the attacking arm. Extending arm: sidestep or crouch, or it grabs and bites you.
• Without legs or arms they still lunge to bite.
• With a Remote Bomb equipped, let it grab you and press ZR: you stuff the bomb in its mouth. Detonate with Y for an instant kill.
• Skipping them is often better: some vanish if you lead them away from where they spawned.

Blade Molded: its blade arm shields the head, and it has triple health on the head and limbs. It never grabs (the bomb trick won't work). Its swing can sever your leg. Shotgun to the head.

Crawler Molded: 900 health, fast, runs along walls. Its short swipe is easy to block; don't block its double lunge: shoot it. Crouch to line up headshots (2 or 3 handgun headshots on Normal) or use the shotgun up close.

Fat Molded: slow and very tough (10,000 health for the barn one). Shoot it while it idles and it vomits back. Horizontal vomit: crouch. Vertical or close vomit: strafe right. If it charges, shoot its legs or block: it runs faster than you. Its grab can be blocked. It explodes on death: step away or block. Neuro Rounds stun it and the P19 Machine Gun does double damage to it.

• Flying Bug: 150 health and little damage. When it hovers still, it is about to attack: hit it then. Killing one with the knife gives the "Things Got Personal" challenge.
• Bug Swarm: surrounds you and blocks your view. Kill the source (the nest or Marguerite), not the swarm. The Burner is the best weapon against it.
• Nests: 2400 health and armored. Burn them for a few seconds, step back while the fire eats the armor, burn again and finish with a close shotgun blast. They keep spawning swarms until destroyed.
• Spider: they cover doors and cabinets and only bite up close. Clear them all with the Knife stab (ZL + ZR, it outreaches them) or the Burner.

Jack (Main House, chapter 2): he doesn't die. Block his hits, shoot him in the head to knock him down and get away. He comes through doors and walls; only safe rooms, the sitting room and the Processing Area stop him. He leaves the house once you take the shotgun.

Marguerite (Old House, chapter 3): she patrols with her lantern and covers doors in insects. If you want the "Back Off, Mrs. B!" challenge (making her flee), it is only possible in that stretch: save on reaching the Old House, bring the Burner for the swarms and a shotgun or handgun for her head. She soaks a lot of damage.

• No source records enemies dropping items: count only on what is placed on the map. What you spend doesn't come back.
• Shotgun Shells: can't be crafted. Save them for close Molded and bosses from chapter 2 to 5. The P19 Machine Gun carries chapter 7.
• Burner Fuel: don't craft more after chapter 3. A Separating Agent gets the Chem Fluid back from leftover fuel.
• Enhanced Handgun Ammo triples the damage of the handgun you already carry: it is the best damage upgrade in the game.
• Bosses come with ammo placed in the room: search the arena before spending yours.

From Lucas's Testing Area (chapter 4) onward:

• Rigged crates: they explode when broken, knock you down and deal heavy damage. Sometimes you can hear ticking up close. With Psychostimulants (or the X-Ray Glasses), a crate with no dot is a trap. There is one more in the Salt Mine, at the top of a staircase.
• Tripwire bombs: shoot them from afar or avoid them.
• Party Room keypad beam: if you stay at the keypad too long, it kills you. Enter a code and step back.

The "Happy Birthday" tape in the attic shows the Party Room solution: watch it before you go in.

• Jack in the Garage: take the Car Key from the workbench, start the car and run him over (on Madhouse the key is in a locked toolbox; the pick is on the shelf).
• Jack in the Morgue: grab the Chainsaw as soon as he opens the cage; chainsaw against shears cancel out. Kick the body bags into him and crouch under his overhead strike.
• Marguerite in the pit: shoot her in the head before she releases insects; the Burner clears the swarms. If you keep crouching and standing, the flying insects barely hit you.
• Marguerite in the Greenhouse: shoot her while she leaps at you to knock her back, and while she lays nests to interrupt her.
• Mutated Jack: he grabs you at the end: press the prompt to inject the Serum, or you die.
• Eveline: block the shockwaves and advance between them.

If you die to a boss, "Manage Items" on the retry screen lets you reorganize your inventory like at an Item Box.

There is no chapter select. These cut-offs lose collectibles for the whole run:

• Leaving the Guest House basement with Mia (chapter 1): you lose Files 2 and 3.
• The "Derelict House Footage" tape is the only chance at Antique Coin #1.
• Finishing the Boat House (chapter 5) takes you off the estate: you lose everything in the Main House, Yard, Old House and Testing Area, including the 3 Treasure Photos.
• On the ship, coins #15 and #16 can only be picked up before Mia reaches 1F.
• Mr. Everywhere #20 only exists on the chapter 8 return to the Guest House.

Unopened cages come back once in the Swamp Mine Office (chapter 7). Destroyed Mr. Everywhere count across playthroughs.

• Reloading a gun, then switching to another of the same ammo type: the loaded rounds stay in the first one. Empty the magazine before switching.
• Taking the M37 Shotgun with nothing to put back: the Display Room locks until you place the Broken Shotgun or the Model Shotgun in the statue.
• Sprinting next to a Molded or aiming at it too long: a guaranteed counter.
• Emptying the magazine into Jack while he hunts you: he always gets back up.
• Breaking every crate in the Testing Area: some explode.
• Expecting R to use Herbs, or burning the Strong First Aid Med with R by accident.
• Mixing up Normal and Madhouse coins: the coin challenges are per difficulty and Madhouse coins are in other spots.

• Pausing stops the clock. Menus, the map and saving don't.
• Dying and retrying adds time: load a manual save.
• Almost all cutscenes are unskippable. Only the one after the Old Videotape, the endings and the credits can be skipped.
• Optional phone calls can be ignored.
• Run past most Molded (but not right beside them).
• In the Garage, use the car on Jack.
• Safe room as a reset: when you step in, Molded despawn (they may be back when you leave) and Jack stops following you.