Ever since the release of the Resident Evil 3 remake earlier this year, fans of the survival horror franchise have been wondering which game will be re-imagined next. Although there is still no official confirmation from Capcom, several leakers are claiming that Resident Evil 4 will be Capcom’s next remake after the release of Resident Evil 8 sometime next year. Of course, given the popularity of Resident Evil 4, it is no surprise that this would be the next game that Capcom is eyeing to remake in the future.
But, assuming that Resident Evil 4 remake is in the works, how should Capcom approach its re-imagining? Well, given that Resident Evil 4 will be the fourth major remake of a mainline Resident Evil game, it stands to be one of the best. The reason for this is that Capcom has already remade the first three Resident Evil games, with each game giving the studio feedback from fans and critics on which elements of the remake did or did not work. Now, based on the reception of each of the Resident Evil remakes, here are the lessons that Capcom should implement in the development of Resident Evil 4.
Back in 2002, Capcom developed a remake of the first Resident Evil game, which was led by series creator Shinji Mikami when he was still employed at Capcom. The remake was first released to the Nintendo GameCube, however, which proved to be a fatal move on Capcom’s part given that most Resident Evil games were always released on a PlayStation console. Given this, most fans of Resident Evil were transitioning from the original PlayStation to the PlayStation 2, which is a key factor as to why the game had lackluster sales during its initial release.
Since then, the Resident Evil remake was ported to the Wii before getting an HD remastered version for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. It is worth noting that the only time the Resident Evil remake sold a significant amount of copies was when it was remastered to current-generation consoles. However, despite its lackluster initial sales, the Resident Evil remake is often regarded by most fans as the best one yet, given that it stayed 90% faithful to the original material. There were some minor additions to the game’s story such as the Lisa Trevor storyline, but most of the changes were improvements such as a major graphical overhaul, a new script, and better voice-over, which is a vast improvement over the infamous voice acting of the 1996 original game.
In 2019, Capcom released the Resident Evil 2 remake, and it is evident that the studio learned its lesson when it comes to the importance of platforms this time around. RE2 remake was released to the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Given the wide variety of platforms available, the Resident Evil 2 remake was able to reach every single Resident Evil fan, except for the Nintendo Switch, which is understandable given that the franchise isn’t that popular with most Nintendo players. However, apart from releasing the game on the right platforms, the Resident Evil 2 remake was heralded for staying true to the essence of the original game. Interestingly enough, the RE2 remake is not a shot-for-shot re-imagining of the original, but it was still able to keep the essence of the first game even if it’s not as faithful as the 2002 Resident Evil remake.
Shortly after its release, the Resident Evil 2 remake received glowing reviews from fans and critics, and it even outsold the lifetime sales of the original game. This goes to show that staying faithful, even when some of the events have been reshuffled, is an important factor for a remake’s success. Another thing that fans loved about the RE2 remake is the addition of new storylines and the re-writing of some of the characters and events that all made sense in the grand scheme of things. In the end, the Resident Evil 2 remake is undoubtedly Capcom’s most profitable yet.
Earlier this year, Capcom released its latest remake, which is a reimagining of the events of Resident Evil 3. Of course, given the success of the RE2 remake one year prior, fans had high expectations on the Resident Evil 3 remake. Unfortunately, when the game finally released last April, fans were a bit disappointed by how far the RE3 remake strayed from the original. Sure, it still retained the basic premise of RE3 but the sequence of events has been reshuffled so much that it is barely recognizable from the original.
However, the one thing that disappointed fans the most is the content of the original that never made it to the remake. Several locations such as the Raccoon City park, the Undead factory, and the Clock Tower were either scrapped, replaced, or unexplored. A few enemies such as the giant worm, spiders, and many more were also not featured in the remake. Of course, the overall plot is still the same, but fans were not happy that the Resident Evil 3 remake was split in two with the first half being the main game, and the second half featuring Resident Evil Resistance, which some fans blame to be the reason for Resident Evil 3’s demise. Despite the criticisms though, Capcom said that while the commercial performance of Resident Evil 3 remake pales in comparison to its predecessor, it is what the studio expected, given that RE2 has always been more popular than RE3.
In the end, if Capcom is truly developing a remake of Resident Evil 4, then it stands to be the best one out of all the remakes, given the experience Capcom has gained with the reimaginings of the first three Resident Evil games. Additionally, the Resident Evil 4 remake is rumored to release at least a year after Resident Evil 8 so Capcom could also use that game as a testing ground on what works and what doesn’t even if RE8 is an original game. As of the moment, it is still unclear where the rumored Resident Evil 4 remake will be released but it is likely that it will see the light of day on next-generation platforms alongside the PC.
Resident Evil 4 is rumored to be in development.
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