Summary
After a period of widespread assumptions, Capcom has recently officially announced that the next major installment inResident Evilis under way. Over the course of the past few years, the developer has continued to produce acclaimed remakes alongside new entries, and it’s no surprise that fans have been awaiting word on what the future would hold forRE. Following in the wake of the successfulRE4Remakelast year,Resident Evilis now gearing up for its forthcoming mainline entry.
Along with the announcement, it’s known thatResident Evil 7’s director, Koshi Nakanish, is taking over duties forRE9. This may provide some clues as to the direction that fans might expect it to take. However, bothRE7and its sequel,Village, were less focused on the big picture and told more intimate tales. If the franchise aims to build upon and outdo its predecessors, then, it should look to encompass a much larger and expansive story forResident Evil 9.
According to a prominent leaker,remakes ofResident Evil 0andCODE: Veronicaare supposedly next in line for release, withRE9being possibly delayed due to this.
Resident Evil 9’s Narrative Needs to Go Big or Go Home
Resident Evil 7 and RE Village Were Smaller Scale Stories
Resident Evil 7is often pointed to as the turning point for revitalizing interest in the series by returning to its survival horror roots after a string of lesser received action-oriented titles.RE7brought a few shake-ups, not least of which was the switch to a first-person perspective. It also introduced a completely new protagonist,Ethan Winters, for a tighter narrative.RE7was largely confined, like Ethan himself, to a single claustrophobic location, and explored Ethan’s personal journey to find his missing wife, Mia. While this served well as a horror experience, it was at the end of the day a more limited scope.
Resident Evil Villagewas more open thanRE7comparatively, honing in on the second chapter of Ethan’s journey, while tying a little more into the overallRElore. Still, it maintained a narrower focus, and even main villain Mother Miranda’s motivations were not geared towards world domination or destruction, as was often previously the case. With theShadows of Rose DLCcapping off the Winters' family saga, the stage is set for either more new characters or some ofRE’s biggest figures to return in a grander storyline.
How Resident Evil 9 Could Greatly Up the Narrative Stakes
With the above being the case, speculation abounds on howResident Evil 9intends to move forward. If rumors ofResident Evil 9being fully open-worldturn out to be true, then it opens up a lot of possibilities for the series to pull from its past while heading again into uncharted territory. Part of what made titles likeResident Evil 2andNemesiseffective was the sense of ticking time bomb dread they contained, and that the viral outbreak would spread uncontrollably, overtaking the entire world if not stopped. This was even explicitly stated in-game, as a nuclear strike was heading towards Raccoon City in both.
Resident Evil 9could look toRE2for inspirationthen, when it comes to presenting a truly apocalyptic vision for its narrative. By weaving together some existing threads and expanding them outward to encompass another potential global catastrophe, it could bring back and elevate that sense of urgency that was utilized to great effect previously. This could also provide ways to continue to iterate on gameplay, such as having multiple protagonists and scenarios, alaRE2’s Leon and Claire paths; showing the nature of the threat from multiple angles on a larger scale as the stakes grow increasingly dire. Such a move could giveRE9’s story the weight it needs to feel as epic as its expectations currently are, and capture the feeling of the older titles while evolving it for the next generation.
Resident Evil 4
WHERE TO PLAY
Survival is just the beginning.Six years have passed since the biological disaster in Raccoon City.Agent Leon S. Kennedy, one of the survivors of the incident, has been sent to rescue the president’s kidnapped daughter. He tracks her to a secluded European village, where there is something terribly wrong with the locals.And the curtain rises on this story of daring rescue and grueling horror where life and death, terror and catharsis intersect.Featuring modernized gameplay, a reimagined storyline, and vividly detailed graphics, Resident Evil 4 marks the rebirth of an industry juggernaut.Relive the nightmare that revolutionized survival horror.
