Let's talk Resident Evil and Capcom: Why the hate?

[nomotog_v1legacy]

My problem with the series is that I think it's time it got a reboot. Give us a new story...

You know, there's something in this. I think Capcom missed the boat by not rebooting Outbreak. With how much fun Left 4 Dead is in co-op and how popular the Resident Evil franchise is, Outbreak just makes sense. Class based co-op with civilians as player characters to boot. Give it Revelations/RE6's control scheme and Left 4 Dead's enemy numbers and it's a recipe for success.

I like the idea of an Outbreak reboot, but it's not the same thing as left 4 dead. The Outbreak files were still firmly rooted in survival horror. Most Co-Op games we have today are shooters. The Outbreak files were more like puzzle games with zombies. Oh boy the idea of a new Outbreak game is a fun one. You could mix in some rougelike elements with randomized levels, so you don't have to include that silly no talking restriction.

Though I think the way to get me excited about a resident evil game would be the return of non-combat items. You know the ammo press, or the backpack, or that herb kit. It would send a single that the game wasn't all about shooting monsters in the face. (Think about it, before resident evil 4, you use to have all kinds of non weapon items, but they have been phased out as the game became more combat focused.)

 

[Azure-Supernova]

You know, there's something in this. I think Capcom missed the boat by not rebooting Outbreak. With how much fun Left 4 Dead is in co-op and how popular the Resident Evil franchise is, Outbreak just makes sense. Class based co-op with civilians as player characters to boot. Give it Revelations/RE6's control scheme and Left 4 Dead's enemy numbers and it's a recipe for success.

I like the idea of an Outbreak reboot, but it's not the same thing as left 4 dead. The Outbreak files were still firmly rooted in survival horror. Most Co-Op games we have today are shooters. The Outbreak files were more like puzzle games with zombies. Oh boy the idea of a new Outbreak game is a fun one. You could mix in some rougelike elements with randomized levels, so you don't have to include that silly no talking restriction.

Well I used Left 4 Dead as an example because it's just the most fun I've had with a co-op game before. But how I envisioned it was pretty much classic Resident Evil + Revelations control scheme. When I said Left 4 Dead's numbers, I meant it. I always felt Raccoon City was a little... empty, especially places that should be full like hospitals and police stations.

Though I think the way to get me excited about a resident evil game would be the return of non-combat items. You know the ammo press, or the backpack, or that herb kit. It would send a single that the game wasn't all about shooting monsters in the face. (Think about it, before resident evil 4, you use to have all kinds of non weapon items, but they have been phased out as the game became more combat focused.)

This is kind of what I wanted when I was talking about a class system. Varying classes having extra tools for utility as well as straight up offence. Either way I think the veer away from highly trained, anti-B.O.W. operatives is the way forward for Resident Evil.

 

[al4674]

I'm also of the minority opinion that the old formula of RE was superb and peaked with RE3/REmake. RE4, while a fun game, had incredibly detrimental effects to the series - from the complete abandonment of survival horror to forced co-op. From this point on, my relationship with Capcom cooled. With RE6 they didn't even pretend that they were sticking to survival horror. So yeah, in all honesty, I've come to dislike Capcom precisely because I feel they've betrayed the series.

I guess they're really confused with the series and they don't want to take any risks whatsoever. I never really understood the backlash to controls of the older RE, because the controls are EXACTLY THE SAME. The difference is that now the camera follows you around. In fact, I'd argue that the over-the-shoulder view is even more tankish in its controls precisely because you're literally like a turret that needs to rotate around its axis just to see what's going on.

The survival horror element is also gone. People who call RE4 survival horror are deluded - how can any game, that gives you a resource incentive to kill every enemy that gets in your way, be a survival horror? In the previous games, killing monsters was only a waste, you got nothing from it. You carefully had to pick and choose, where to waste ammo and where you could out-maneuver your enemies. While with reasonable management you shouldn't have ammunition problems, it's evident that you can't approach the game like a ''KILL ALL MONSTERS 4000'' shooter. In the new formula, killing enemies gives you everything - grenades, bullets, health, points etc. You're worse off if you don't kill everything that gets in your way. It's a bread and butter shooter, where you are actively rewarded for killing your enemies in the most efficient way. I don't even need to talk about co-op.

I don't feel the series has evolved naturally, because the new games are nothing like the old ones. A natural evolution would have been the REmake and RE0, though that game also had its problems. The change was quick and fast and was based on the assumption that opening up the game to a wider playerbase wouldn't alienate the core fans. The assumption was wrong and the over-the-shoulder approach has saturated itself faster than the original formula.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

My problem with the series is that I think it's time it got a reboot. Give us a new story...

You know, there's something in this. I think Capcom missed the boat by not rebooting Outbreak. With how much fun Left 4 Dead is in co-op and how popular the Resident Evil franchise is, Outbreak just makes sense. Class based co-op with civilians as player characters to boot. Give it Revelations/RE6's control scheme and Left 4 Dead's enemy numbers and it's a recipe for success.

Outbreak was an amazing spin off series, even though I never got to play it online it was a nice new experience, working with other AI players as we ventured through the known areas of both Raccoon City and the Arklay area.

I loved them both because being a bunch of civilians in a nightmare that came out of nowhere and having to work together, survive with what you can find, create makeshift weapons out of the few mats that lay around and medicine to slow down the viral gauge from reaching 100% (which I thought was a bit stupid because it forced a time constraint that not many love).

I for one would really love capcom to reboot the series and possibly use Outbreak as a means to restart since now we have a better mutiplayer scene and could do with a more advanced version of co-operation.

I'd also love to go back to Raccoon city, if the game reboot is some entirely new place, new characters and everything then I'd probably drop the franchise like a hat.

 

[stroopwafel]

I don't feel the series has evolved naturally, because the new games are nothing like the old ones. A natural evolution would have been the REmake and RE0, though that game also had its problems. The change was quick and fast and was based on the assumption that opening up the game to a wider playerbase wouldn't alienate the core fans. The assumption was wrong and the over-the-shoulder approach has saturated itself faster than the original formula.

Resident Evil changed b/c the old formula(atleast at the time) was getting stale. You had Resident Evil, then RE2, 3, Code Veronica, Resident Evil Remake, RE0. All these games played more or less the same, so they shook things up with Resident Evil 4. It was a completely different game that not only revolutionized third person shooters but also had a signature style and atmosphere that's barely been matched to this day. Not the awkward puzzles, tedious inventory management, cringeworthy dialogue or B-movie cheese has been the series appeal for me, but rather that haunting atmosphere and never really quite knowing what was around the next corner is what did it for me. And RE4 reveled in this, and was a lot more fun to play as well.

I'd say it was very much a natural evolution of the series, but the thing is Capcom completely misunderstood what made RE4 so good in the first place. That's why we have such garbage sequels to the game.

 

[al4674]

I don't feel the series has evolved naturally, because the new games are nothing like the old ones. A natural evolution would have been the REmake and RE0, though that game also had its problems. The change was quick and fast and was based on the assumption that opening up the game to a wider playerbase wouldn't alienate the core fans. The assumption was wrong and the over-the-shoulder approach has saturated itself faster than the original formula.

Resident Evil changed b/c the old formula(atleast at the time) was getting stale. You had Resident Evil, then RE2, 3, Code Veronica, Resident Evil Remake, RE0. All these games played more or less the same, so they shook things up with Resident Evil 4. It was a completely different game that not only revolutionized third person shooters but also had a signature style and atmosphere that's barely been matched to this day. Not the awkward puzzles, tedious inventory management, cringeworthy dialogue or B-movie cheese has been the series appeal for me, but rather that haunting atmosphere and never really quite knowing what was around the next corner is what did it for me. And RE4 reveled in this, and was a lot more fun to play as well.

I'd say it was very much a natural evolution of the series, but the thing is Capcom completely misunderstood what made RE4 so good in the first place. That's why we have such garbage sequels to the game.

Guess we're just going to have to disagree. I never felt that the old formula was getting stale, especially when REmake innovated and shaped up much of it. It's evident that we like the series for completely different reasons.

In any case, lets hope RE7 is better than RE 5 and 6.

 

[nomotog_v1legacy]

The new games are feeling rather stale as they are now and it really didn't take that long. I think because the newer games are so alike every other game out there. It might be time for a new change. At the very least they need to stop trying to be cool I think is the way to describe it. Everything is just so so over the top from the nutty stupid character designs that include sexy wetsuits, to the crazy backflip finishing moves, to the orbital death rays and rock punching. Things have just gone outright crazy and it's not really charming anymore.

 

[TelHybrid]

Well from my personal experience, I'm unhappy with them for the special edition of Street Fighter X Tekken I got in the mail today.

The contents included are an arcade cabinet shaped money box, an exclusive comic, and extra in game content.

The money box requires assembly and is just cheap crappy plastic, the comic is wafer thin and tiny, and the extra in game content doesn't even include the extra characters on the disc hidden behind a fucking paywall!!

I am very reluctant to support that company again. Fuck them.

 

[Azure-Supernova]

You got that with Operation Raccoon City though.

Except that ORC was trash. HUNK survivng through Raccoon City on his own made an interesting story and could be an interesting survival game (discounting his special mode in RE2). But a whole unit of highly trained mercs? It's the opposite direction of what I was talking about. Outbreak for the most part had civillians as its central characters, with Kevin being maybe the only exception as a cop (not sure if George counted, because he was a security guard). ORC wasn't even developed by Capcom though, Slant Six bodged it by going gung-ho squad shooter.