The reason why the developers chose the fungus as a new pathogen also has to do with the first game, since the first game was mysterious, and the players did not know whether science or black magic created these creatures. Therefore, the developers chose a new unexplored pathogen to have a ghost angle, for example.
Sorry for replying to this again but can ı ask why this cant apply to any game in the series, assuming that said entry would be the 1st one that person plays? Like ı started the series with re6 in 2013 for example and the story aspects felt mysterious at the time. You started the series with re4, did the story aspects of that game feel mysterious to you?
Also about re7, if you think chosing a new pathogen for the cause of the outbreak can make it feel like re1, then why cant this apply to re4? Not including sugimura's scripts but the final one mikami adapted. Neither re4 nor re7 bring back a virus part of progenitor, they completely rely on original means as the cause for their outbreaks.
I even remember seeing iwao's statement where the essence of bio according to him is the fear of losing free will. I think this apply to re4 and re7 fine, it's just that ı'm deeply nostalgic towards progenitor and ı want to see that as the cause for the outbreaks, even mixing other pathogens with it to take new angles from it.