The Resident Evil Retrospective Part 3-Rebirth of Evil

While it sold well, Resident Evil 6 was a failure with critics and the fanbase.  The near universal consensus was that the games had strayed too far from their survival horror roots and had become all out action blockbusters on the scale of Gears of War or Call of Duty.  And when one of your protagonists is capable of punching enormous boulders while inside a dormant volcano…well let’s just say it was time for Capcom to seriously reconsider their approach for the next mainline entry.  Because it’s Resident Evil, a 7^th game was inevitable.  The only question was, how would Capcom go about righting the wrongs of the last few games and return the franchise to its glory days of Resident Evil 4?

 
The answer came in 2016 when Capcom released the first trailer for Resident Evil VII: Biohazard.  Instantly, there was a very different vibe to the game than previous entries.  There were no series regulars present and the imagery of a very haunting Louisiana bayou indicated this would be a more down to Earth entry for the series.  Finally released in early 2017, RE7 followed a new protagonist, Ethan Winters, as he traveled to Dulvey, Louisiana in search of his missing wife, Mia.  Once there, however, Ethan discovered horrors beyond his imagination as a new kind of bioweapon had overtaken a local family, the Bakers, driven them insane and produced other unspeakable evils that Ethan had to fend against.  For the first time since Resident Evil 4, RE7 changed the perspective of the player, moving things to First Person.  This was highly praised as the terror being in your face made the game more scary and downright terrifying, especially during the Baker Family Dinner sequence.  Ethan was also a normal guy, very much an unlikely hero stuck in the ultimate nightmare and not a super skilled agent like Chris Redfield or Leon S. Kennedy.  Much to Capcom’s delight (and relief), their gamble with these changes worked.  Resident Evil VII: Biohazard received positive praise and was hailed as one of the best games of the year.  The Bakers have gone down as some of the scariest villains in video game history and every hailed the game as a return to form for Resident Evil.  Further DLC was created and released to tie up several loose ends from the campaign and featured the full return of Chris Redfield, who had a brief cameo at the end of the main game. 

So RE7 was a much needed success.  While Capcom set to work on Resident Evil’s 8^th mainline entry, interest was also being shown in revisiting some of the older chapters of the franchise and making some…tweaks.  There had already been a Remake of the first Resident Evil (Resident Evil Remake) for the Gamecube in 2002, months before the release of Resident Evil Zero.  But Capcom had bigger plans in mind.  They weren’t just interested in making the games look prettier, they wanted these games to define “Remake.”  Sure enough, they did just that.  In 2019, Resident Evil 2 Remake was released and the game took the community by storm.  Capcom had used the RE Engine that had been used to create Resident Evil VII and applied it to this project, along with eliminating the fixed camera angles of the original in favor of the now standard third person, over the shoulder camera.  The story of Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield’s long night in Raccoon City was given new life, new terrors and new scenes to expand on plot points and tighten their bonds with Ada Wong and Sherry Birkin respectively.  The game also gave players the dominating, Mr. X, who took the internet by storm with his imposing, indestructible figure as he stalked both Leon and Claire through Raccoon City.  Much like RE7, RE2 Remake received immense critical praise, if not more than 7 with many calling it one of the best Remakes and one of the best entries in the entire franchise.  It was a game that stayed true to its roots with setting and characters while merging new innovations from the franchise to form a near perfect game, many said was the best since Resident Evil 4.  A year later, Capcom tried to repeat the same success with an arguably rushed release of Resident Evil 3 Remake.  Unlike it’s predecessor, however, while the game did receive praise for its visuals and nice handling of Jill Valentine and her partner, Carlos Olivera, it received criticisms for a greater emphasis on action and the omission of popular sections from the original game like the Clock Tower.  Still, RE3 Remake did well enough to ensure Capcom wasn’t done with these Remakes just yet…we’ll come back to that. 

Just after RE3 Remakes release, Resident Evil: Village was announced as the continuation of the main storyline.  Once again, players found themselves in control of Ethan Winters, picking up his story three years after the events of RE7.  While living a peaceful life in Europe with Mia and their newborn daughter Rosemary, Chris Redfield and his team abduct Ethan and Rose while seemingly killing Mia in the process.  Things only go from bad to worse when Ethan finds himself stranded in a town overrun by monsters and a cult of powerful overlords who want Rosemary for their own nefarious ends.  Early previews for the game gave fans callbacks to Resident Evil 4’s unique European settings and the inclusion of new monsters like Werewolves and potentially Vampires excited many.  None though, not even Capcom, could anticipate the impact of one particular newcomer.  Lady Alcina Dimetrescu took the internet by storm, becoming as popular as RE2 Remakes Mr.X, if not more popular.  Her imposing height, figure and personality made her an overnight sensation…so it caught many by surprise that Lady Dimetrescu wasn’t the main villainess nor was she in the game for very long.  Despite this, Resident Evil: Village, replicated the critical and commercial success of RE7, earning many Game of the Year awards and hailing it as an improvement over its predecessor.  After a series of stumbles, it looked like Resident Evil was back where it belonged, at the top of the Horror Survival Mountain. 

And right now, that position seems to be secure and is ready to become more so.  As I said above, Capcom’s not done with Remakes yet.  After years of speculations following RE2 and RE3 Remakes successes, Resident Evil 4 Remake was officially announced in Spring 2022 with a release date of March 2023.  The first previews show that it will be as different a game to its original version is its preceding Remake brethren.  But, like those games, RE4 Remakes looks to retain the same atmosphere, characters and nicely balanced horror and action elements that made Resident Evil 4 a legend in the first place.  Will it all pay off?  Is it possible to make an already perfect game better?  Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure: Resident Evil 4 Remake is one of the most anticipated games of 2023…the pressure is on for Capcom. 

However, while this marks the end of our look at the history of the Resident Evil Video Games, there’s still one more side of the franchise I wanna touch on before we close out this retrospective.  From live action blockbusters to CGI bloodfests to two Netflix original series, our final chapter of the Resident Evil Retrospective sees the games come to life on the big and small screen.  Successfully?  Find out Next Friday right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.