I'd like them to move on. Jake&Sherry was great, but they can (and will) do something new and great.
Anyway what I most want to see is Dead Rising/Dead Space/Arkham Asylum/classic REesque game world instead of linear levels. IMO they should set the game in a Neo-Umbrella Facility. The leaders behind the organization have retaliated against the face of BSAA by capturing Claire. Chris learns of it and Barry Burton, Jill Valentine, Rebecca Chambers and Leon Kennedy (Or Carlos, Sherry, Sheva, a new guy etc. whatever fits story and gameplay niches) accompany him along with other troops to assault Neo-Umbrella's base. They manage to infiltrate the facility and soon things go really bad with lockdown going in effect, monsters starting to roam around and squadmates being seperated from each other.
Each hero (Claire too, who is extra solo without contact to the other heroes and even less weapons) has their own campaign and they are solo most of the time. The facility is huge with tons of corridors and rooms. Heroes have different equipment and abilities (Barry has physique, Rebecca has science skills etc.), but everyone starts scarce. The heroes keep in contact through radio and occassionally meet up or assist each other in some way. But soon each are again doing their own objectives so they can survive and escape. Bit by bit the story unravels and previously locked passages open, with more and more dangerous creatures and environmental hazards becoming apparent. Plenty of puzzles, keys to collect etc. Secret rooms and lots of collectibles from figurines to data files. And a co-op mode in which you aren't just slaying zombies side-by-side, but moving around the facility and communicating with each other. The Jake&Sherry imprisonement was a great taste of this and I want to see more of it. And finally while characters share much of the story and game area, each have their unique scenes.
The facility is also used to contain samples of all the viruses. That means all the classic enemies will be back: T-zombies, Las Plagas, Majini and J'avo; dogs, spiders, moths, snakes; Lickers, Nemesis, Tyrant, Reapers, Hunters, Novistadors, Albinoids, Garradors, Rasklapanjes and so on. There are a handful of new species too.
I'd also like to scale back on the streamlining a bit. I preferred RE5 inventory and I think something like it would suit well this more profiency-based game so you can't carry all weapons along with lots of ammo and other items. The game should also encourage more scavenging from tables, cabinets and armed corpses instead of having weaponless enemies and large generic boxes be the main source of items. There were a few cabinets with ammo early in RE6 and I loved that detail. In general I'd like more investigation options, which were very much gone in RE6. Weapons should also be found by the player instead of just giving them. Weapon upgrades should return whether there is a shop or not. Ally A.I should also be believable again, not immortal with infinite ammo.
That's my dream idea for RE7.
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But seeing how they set Jake on a pedestal I don't doubt he'll be back. Middle-east hasn't been featured in RE yet so it makes even more sense. I don't have much preference on what his campaign is, but I could see him continuing his mercenary career, just with more modesty and empathy. He is capable of taking down monsters alone. The perfect match-up for that is Ada Wong. In co-op they can both be semi-supernatural monster slayers (afterall the Dante comparison is very apt because DMC was originally supposed to be a sequel to RE), and Ada can easily give Jake a goal and an excuse to join her on a grand quest. I wouldn't consider it out of question Jake injects himself with a virus that boosts his powers while swearing he won't become like his father, but in his sense of strength and witnessing the terrifying situation of current world he is struggling to do the right thing. Ada is a great counter piece to that, willing to do harsh choices but generally has good intentions.
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As hidden extra hardcore bonus I'd like to see a small urban campaign played as unknown newcomer or maybe Ashley. A small city suffers a zombie outbreak that is somehow related with the scenes in main campaigns and the player ends up in the middle of it. The character isn't an athlete and is terrible in melee combat. He also has little experience with weapons and no easy access to them. For him/her running away from zombies is often the best option. He isn't there to save everyone or to stop the outbreak, he just needs to stay alive.
She was mentioned in re6 also maybe as a hint... could be wrong again
