Remember guys, a lot of people are comparing this to PT. The reason PT was so indepth and nuanced was because PT was they only thing that was being developed at the time. Chances are, Beginning Hour is a slice of RE7 that was taken out the game and turned into a demo area. This is not new, and is a norm in creating demos. PT is different in that it wasn't a slice of Silent Hills from before it got canceled. They were given free reign to create a proof of concept for a SH reboot. Thus, it's all closed within itself, and sustains itself as a game.

Beginning Hour seems different. Chances are the "Red Door" at the end of the TV Hallway/Staircase, the boarded up doors leading to the rest of the attic/basement, and the missing present-time ladder are areas that are closed off for this demo build. However, this leaves the question of the Axe and Finger. The Finger isn't used anywhere, and the Axe isn't something you get on first glance (it requires some convoluted steps). In my personal opinion, these are probably just items they forgot to edit out/despawn when they shipped the demo. The finger is probably just a key item that you use later on in the full RE7 build that is cut off in the demo build. You probably set it on fire, melting the celluloid, and it turns into a nail or key. The axe is probably a self-defense weapon that you can normally get in the full RE7 build, and they just overlooked or didn't mind having the past-present mechanic be on display in the demo build. A lot of things seem to suggest that the game isn't supposed to progress beyond what we've seen (the fact that getting Family'd is basically unavoidable and items are rendered unusable). Capcom does not have the time to devote to creating some kind of PT-esque picturesque trailer for RE7 with ship-date in a little over 6 months away. The mysterious items and seemingly useless interactables are probably just that: spooks and random things they peppered in for atmosphere, as well as items they forgot to disable in this demo build. Then again, who knows. We still have plenty of time to dig. If we get a PC demo as well, we can datamine and see what Capcom is up to with Beginning Hour.