Next Resident Evil to be more 'focused'

Capcom's Christian Svensson says that future Resident Evil games will have "a bit more focus - as opposed to trying to be all things for all people."

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Resident Evil has fallen on hard times. After Resident Evily 6 garnered mixed reviews and poor sales, Capcom was left searching for answers. Whether it was the mass-market appeal or Resident Evil overload, the company seems to have decided on at least one fix: make the experience more focused.

"We have a couple different sets of Resident Evil fans," Capcom's Christian Svensson told Rock Paper Shotgun. "We have those who love Resident Evil 1, 2, 3, Code Veronica, and Zero, and then we have those who came along during the RE4 era and like things a little more action-oriented, and RE5 even more [action-oriented]. And then RE6 was even more action-focused than that."

"The hard part is taking all these things and figuring out how to make something for everyone," he continued "That was especially the aspiration of RE6. I don't know that it worked out exactly the way we hoped, but moving forward, I think you're going to see a bit more focus - as opposed to trying to be all things for all people."

Resident Evil 6 featured various campaigns built for the different kinds of fans, but the result didn't seem to completely satisfy most players. It seems from Svensson's comments that future Resident Evil games will pick one direction for the series to go, and then stick with it.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    February 14, 2013 3:30 PM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Next Resident Evil to be more 'focused'.

    Capcom's Christian Svensson says that future Resident Evil games will have "a bit more focus - as opposed to trying to be all things for all people."

    • reply
      February 14, 2013 4:32 PM

      RE Revelations seemed to be a step in the right direction. Need to get back to stop & pop zombie action. Hell, just make an HD remake of the first 4 games.

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        February 14, 2013 5:01 PM

        I haven't played RE 6, and have no plans to, and this is really saying something coming from a die-hard fan of the series. They need to make a game that'll illicit emotion through gameplay, atmosphere, and a simple theme . I want to play a game that is rewarding to complete. A game that asks if your gaming experience should be like mountain climbing: beyond hardships lies accomplishment ,or hiking: the destination can be reached quite comfortably.

        I agree with you about Resident Evil Revelations, it was a great game, but still was built around the new idea of what RE is. Action takes precedence over all and it sucks the sense of mortality out the game. It is a far cry from where the series began. And you could run and shoot with the circle pad pro (which I've never used it) .

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      February 14, 2013 5:18 PM

      The problem is that they are too many people trying to analyze something that isn't there. The game didn't sell because of a split in fan base, it was because of sub-par games. Create a game that they want, not what they believe the fans want.

      I've loved all of the great Resident Evil games. Not the first person rail shooter, not operation raccoon city, not RE5.

      I don't know if they have to go all Japanese or what, but something is poisoning the series.

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        February 14, 2013 7:30 PM

        Truth. Give me a RE2 REmake for starters

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      February 14, 2013 7:32 PM

      The RE series fucked up when it went all action-y with RE4. The RE 1-4+Code Veronica were the best examples of what the series should be.

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        February 15, 2013 6:17 AM

        Sorry, but no. I love the classic RE games. I still replay them every year or so, but they were so inaccessible to new gamers. Those games were successful in a time when selling in the hundreds of thousands of units was considered profitable. Now you've got to sell in the millions. RE6 sold 4 million and it was considered a disappointment.

        RE4 was exactly the direction the series needed to go. It was eerie and tense, and every decision you made still boiled down to survival-oriented concerns: targeting the legs to stun enemies and knock over a group, using the knife on downed enemies to conserve ammo (a viable tactic in 4, unlike in the previous games), and taking advantage of your environment to hop through windows, barricade doors, knock down ladders, etc.

        RE5 was where the series slipped up. RE5 lacked the tense atmosphere of survival horror games and gave the player more ammo than he knew what to do with. It was an action game, not an action-survival horror game. RE6 was even worse. It was twitchy, distracted, and suffered a huge identity crisis. RE5, in comparison, was a great game.

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          February 15, 2013 8:18 AM

          I respectfully disagree!

          RE4 was a misstep in the evolution of the series due to it's higher reliance on actiony gameplay and less on the survival horror element. Sure there was more environmental interactivity, and that's certainly a good thing!, but there was an over reliance on action focus at the expense of the more classic gameplay.

          I didn't have any problem with the tank controls, but I can see how that could turn people off. I didn't have a problem with the move away from pre rendered backgrounds, to a movable camera setup (Code Veronica did that very well), but I just disliked RE4 and how it fundamentally altered the series asthetic and core gameplay and turned it into a series that wasn't fun for me anymore. I didn't get eerie and tense at all, just bland and forced. Like it was trying too hard. And QTEs suck balls, period.

          Code Veronica should have been the template going forward, but it wasn't, and that's unfortunate. It was a good evolution of the series that changed elements while still keeping the RE feel and atmosphere rather than turning it into something it isn't and slapping the Resident Evil name on it.

          And the knife was always a viable option in the previous games! I've witness my good friend/fellow Shacker take down dogs and zombies numerous times with just his trusty knife! ;)

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      February 14, 2013 7:33 PM

      [deleted]

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        February 15, 2013 5:51 AM

        They couldn't even get the camera right. Could you imagine if the original Resident Evil had a camera patch months after release?.... It is unfathomable.

        The powers have realized that there is serious money in gaming, more so than movies (which have been gutted of all creative art), and their cancer is spreading. Boards of people led by Christian Svenssons and Jay Wilsons contemplate consumer bases and profit margins while art and emotion is thrown by the wayside.

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      February 15, 2013 12:37 AM

      You cant please everyone, if you try you will fail... RE6 is so poor Capcom!

      The very limit of action should be RE4

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