On June 29th, Capcom announced Frank West’s return for Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster. After its incredible presentation of its reimagined gameplay and quality-of-life improvements during the July Capcom Next showcase, Resident Evil 7 Gold Edition was announced for Apple iOS. The game’s director Koshi Nakanishi unexpectedly told the viewers, “We are making a new Resident Evil Game.” What made Nakanishi answer this question?
The Flawed Resident Evil Village
When Resident Evil Village (RE8) was released in 2021, RE fans were hyped for the isolated environment and the new enemy types. Directors Morimasa Sato and American Young took the chance to expand on the Resident Evil lore, creating a story where scientist Oswell E. Spencer was inspired to create his pharmaceutical company Umbrella. Village succeeded in improving on the game mechanics inspired by RE2 Remake and RE4.
The game missed the opportunity to create two different timelines. In RE7, players were given a unique choice to save Chloe or Mia from the Megamycete infection for two endings. Saving Mia will have Ethan holding her hand in the helicopter. Saving Zoe will result in Ethan being rescued alone. Resident Evil Village could have been more successful if Sato and Young explored a split timeline to see how Ethan goes through loss without sacrificing his Megamycete mutation.
Resident Evil 9 Rumors
In the past year and 5 months, the Resident Evil community has been investigating for any proof of Capcom developing the Resident Evil 9 game. The rumors emerged on May 11th, 2023 with the Centre of Evil YouTube channel reporting the new game’s cast will feature returning assets of Resident Evil Village and Jill Valentine being the playable character. The rumors were debunked immediately since the latest game released was Resident Evil 4 Remake. Rumors continued from June up to April 2024.
Then on May 3rd, a game developer and horror enthusiast, Dusk Golem, posted the following information on Twitter (now X):
“RE9 started early development in 2018 as a possible foundation for RE8. Village soon became RE8 and both Resident Evils have been under development ever since. The RE franchise usually makes games in batches for a timely release every few years. RE2, RE 3, and RE4 Remake followed the same result.”
Dusk Golem predicted RE9 should be announced at Sony’s May 2024 State of Play after 7 years of development. They were a month off as the project was confirmed at June 30th’s Capcom Next showcase, but no finalized title.
Resident Evil’s Next Chapter
With the new Resident Evil game underway, the possibilities for its story are endless. Resident Evil Village ended in the DLC where Rose’s consciousness faces the trial of the Purifying Crystal to weaken her Megamycete powers. The Winter Family saga ends here, or so it seems as she’s Chris Redfield’s partner for special assigned missions for her powers to be used. While fans are excited about the new Resident Evil, they are also worried.
Possible Cooperative Campaign
This franchise isn’t afraid of having multiplayer with the first title being RE Outbreak, a game where survivors must work together to escape Raccoon City. To this day, the last Resident Evil co-op campaign was the polarizing RE Revelations 2. Classic fans did not enjoy this game for its gameplay left out key elements such as partner characters cannot revive the main characters. Newcomers loved it for the story and multiplayer modes.
Knowing Resident Evil Village’s development team left Nakanishi with an idea for a co-op campaign, it can work with two character sets between Chris and Rose. Chris would represent the newly implemented RE4 Remake gameplay. Rose’s Megamycete powers can assist Chris with her extensive spore reach and other powers can be explored during development.
Horror Or Action?
Resident Evil 6 and RE3 Remake are known to have the third-game curse. It began with the negative reception of RE3 due to its action-focused gameplay. Veterans and newcomers later praise it for the Nemesis actively responding to the player’s control input and branching story paths after the failure of the remake. RE6 received the same treatment but is now enjoyed by its online multiplayer community.
With what could be RE9, it’s somewhat hard to tell if it will succeed or become another unexpected flop. Resident Evil Village became the game that broke the franchise’s third-game curse for its writing and story pacing. The plot could be exciting with Chris’ former employer, the BSAA becoming the new villain organization.
The End Of Chris Redfield
Originally, RE6 was supposed to be the franchise’s end. It was also supposed to end Chris Redfield’s story as his BSAA partner, Piers Nivans would have been the start of Resident Evil’s next generation alongside Sherry Birkins and Jake Muller. This later changed during development, resulting in Chris losing another person to Neo-Umbrella’s bioweapons. This caused Chris to join Blue Umbrella, hunting bioterrorists and containing viral infestations worldwide.
After discovering the BSAA had sent a zombie soldier to assassinate Chris, Mia, and Rose, Chris is on high alert for what will come after them. Now in 2037, the next Resident Evil may truly be the end for Chris Redfield. The former STARS member had never settled down or stopped fighting against bioterrorism since the 1998 Spencer Mansion incident.
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