Summary
2023 has been a strong year for many game franchises, but especially forResident Evil. The long-awaitedResident Evil 4remake was finally released early in the year, establishingResident Evil’s third-person gunplay as the best all over again. Across the year,Resident Evil 4got more updates, filling out its Mercenaries mode and completing its content offering with Ada Wong-focused Separate Ways DLC. Not only that, but theResident Evil 4remake also got virtual reality and mobile versions, complementingResident Evil Village’s VR release earlier in 2023.
Though fans are uncertain whether aResident Evilsequel or remake is next, faith in Capcom to deliver a quality product remains high. Even with its fair share of missteps, theResident Evilfranchise is one of Capcom’s strongestpillars alongsideMonster Hunter, and its contributions to the survival horror and third-person shooter genres cannot be understated. Only a few franchises share the level of industry influence thatResident Evilhas, but that much fame also comes with the pressure to keep performing.
Video Games Wouldn’t Be The Same Without Resident Evil
While plenty ofResident Evilspin-offs have struggled to make a dent in the industry, most mainlineResident Evilgames are exemplary for their genre. Right from the firstResident Evilin 1996, it had a noticeable impact on survival horror. Many action-oriented horror titles from then ontook afterResident Evil’s gameplay, whether that meant tight ammo management, puzzle-solving, or fixed camera angles. The firstResident Evilwasn’t the first survival horror game, but when the similarly impactful Silent Hill was also clearly inspired byREin 1999, it’s hard to deny that it made the biggest splash.
Resident Evil Proved Itself Time And Time Again
Astonishingly,Resident Evilhas kept the streak of redefining game genres throughout its lifetime.Resident Evil 2raised the bar for survival horror past evenRE1, and 2005’sResident Evil 4took a flying leap into the third-person shooter genre and revolutionized it as well. AfterResident Evil 5’s impressive co-op campaign, the franchise suffered several years of setbacks before reinventing itself with the first-personResident Evil 7, andstunning the industry withResident Evil 2’s remake. Now, with theRE2andRE4remakes serving as exemplary survival horror titles, third-person shooters, and remakes, the franchise has reaffirmed its reputation.
A Strong Reputation Is Resident Evil’s Greatest Burden
Fans have plenty of reasons to gush overResident Evil’s accomplishments, but that’s owed in part to the franchise being a chronic overachiever. It’s been the best in whatever genre it adopts for so long that expectations for newREentries have ballooned. Unfortunately, that means that anyResident Eviltitle that fails to excel, even if it’s still good by the metrics of many other games, can develop a bad reputation. That’s part of why fans are keen to seeremakes ofResident Eviltitles with mixed reception, likeCODE:Veronica,RE0, and potentially evenResident Evil 5and6, that bring them up to the series' high standards.
Resident Evil Has Already Suffered From Its Success
Resident Evil 6is the go-to example of a majorREdisappointment, but a more recent and illustrative entry is theResident Evil 3remake. While not a bad game by any means, fans of both the originalResident Evil 3and theRE2remake came away from it feeling burned. The gamecut a lot from the originalResident Evil 3, and didn’t add enough to justify it. High expectations directly led to problems, andResident Evilhas set such a high bar for itself that this is likely going to happen again.Resident Evilhas succeeded many times, but it’s going to be compared to those past successes for the rest of its life.
