Good news for fans of the original Resident Evil games, as Capcom states that the demo isn't proof that the company has turned Resident Evil 7 into a simple ghost story.

At Sony's E3 press conference just over a couple of weeks ago, the company announced that PS4 gamers could already play Resident Evil 7, in the form of the game's demo which is available now on the PlayStation Store. The game has a rather different approach to the franchise, something that Capcom want to make clear is not representative of the full game.

During a recent Q&A with producer Masachika Kawata and director Kōshi Nakanishi, the company announced that although the game appears to be heading in a different direction to the previous titles in the series, Resident Evil 7 will not be dropping all of its old conventions.

"In the 20 year history of Resident Evil, you know that the key pillars of the game are fear and horror, exploration of the environment, puzzle-solving elements, resource management, and combat against enemies," the director stated. "Those are all in this game, but we wanted to start off with the first two - horror and exploration - and get you experiencing those two pillars up front."

Nakanishi added that just because the other components that make up the Resident Evil series aren't present so far, that's not to say that they won't be in the full game. Capcom simply wanted players to focus on the message of horror coming home in the demo. The director also commented that it's frustrating to have to hold back footage of the game, but assured long-term fans that the company "haven't just thrown out Resident Evil as it exists and turned it into a ghost story."

Apparently it will all make sense in the end but we'll have to wait to learn more about the upcoming title. Combat is just one of the things teased in the game's demo, with a secret axe being available to those who know where to find it.

While the axe appears to be useless in the game's demo, it was likely placed there to reassure fans that they will not always be fully defenceless in the game upon its release. Firearms and herbs are also confirmed to be present in Resident Evil 7, though Capcom has stated that the former will be in short supply.

In the Q&A, the duo reiterated that quick-time events will not make an appearance in the title, something that the developers believe should leave a lot of fans relieved. Although QTE are commonplace in the Resident Evil series, removing the feature for the seventh main series title may prove to be the right move as the game begins to adapt to what the company believes horror fans are looking for.

Resident Evil 7 will be available for PS4, PlayStation VR, Xbox One, and PC on January 24, 2017.