Outgrowing Resident Evil

[Wrathborne]

There are 4 problems with the main games in the last decade that I've noticed:

1: Forced co-op. It takes away the solitude, an important aspect of survival horror. Some co-op is always welcome, but when you have your AI partner from beginning to end in the game, thats really taking away from the fear.

2: large scale settings. It removes the claustrophobia, something the series lost 15 years ago. Code V was the last game to really have claustrophobia. The revelations series has done a serviceable job bringing it back, but the main games aren't interested in it. Its not that they need to have the entire game be as claustrophobic as the old ones, but the fact that everything is out in the open world now doesn't make things scarier. It just gives us more shit to shoot at.

3: The stories themselves. Everything is an end of the world-apocalypse-doomsday event that has been created by a conspiracy, on top of a conspiracy, on top of a doughnut. Everyone wants to rule the world, or be a god and its been repeated so many times its just boring as fuck. Chance is a story element in the Resident Evil series that died out almost 18 years ago. Resident Evil 2/3 was the last one to really have it when the rats spread the G virus through Racoon city. Now everything is a terrorist attack that was supported by some evil organization/cult/warlord. It all feels manufactured and soulless. Everything is so overt that subtlety feels like a fresh new concept to the series.

4: The characters. They still aren't written as people or have much depth. After almost 20 years and when the gaming industry is becoming the next big thing in storytelling, we still have the characters who aren't much beyond a cliche in the Resident Evil world. I find it ironic that Capcom apparently modeled Barrys section of the game after "the last of us" but still kept hims character minimal. We should be knowing the characters in the game so much more than what they give us, it would create a stronger connection and make the story so much more interesting.

This combined with the terrible conclusion to the series original story arc in RE5 just makes me sad that I can notice these problems as a player, but the developer either hasn't noticed or doesn't care. I want the series to be as amazing as it used to be, but I'm not sure if that is ever going to happen. Revelations 2 came DAMN close to making this happen, but it fucked up in the end game(mostly due to the story, partially due to the limited budget they had).

[Sly]

MarkGrass : Truer words were never spoken. It takes a lot of guts to admit it. I guess hating is way easier than understanding.

[Brhoom]

I'm fine with the way the series is going, I loved resident evil 4 to pieces and my only complaint was there was no zombies, but the series has not been scary since RE4 and that is my problem with it.
Spoilers:
For example remember when Proto tyrant showed up? A cutscene introduced him (something that I think every new enemy should have) where he was shown to be twitching (aka mentally unstable) and was not talking which made us forget that he is human and that he is a monster that we don't know what he is capable of, and Rebecca was not trying to be an action hero and did not throw a joke like: oh guess boys like me(you get what I'm saying?)
Reisdent evil 4 is good because it did both action and horror at the same time separately and did not try to mix them like the mess that re6 is, re4 freaked you when it wanted to and made the game full of action when it wanted to, sure sometime it tried mixing them and failed horribly ,but many times it managed to scare me and be a good action game.
I'm ok with evolution and yes the series would have died if it was not for resident evil 4 but re5 and re6 are not the evolution that the series needs to go, re4 proved that you can still have a worldwide appeal without sacrificing your older fan base.
And don't tell me about how revelations is horror, it is a great example of bad mixing of horror and action.

[J0shuaKane]

modding is my way of not giving up.

[RaccoonSurvivor]

There are 4 problems with the main games in the last decade that I've noticed:

1: Forced co-op. It takes away the solitude, an important aspect of survival horror. Some co-op is always welcome, but when you have your AI partner from beginning to end in the game, thats really taking away from the fear.

2: large scale settings. It removes the claustrophobia, something the series lost 15 years ago. Code V was the last game to really have claustrophobia. The revelations series has done a serviceable job bringing it back, but the main games aren't interested in it. Its not that they need to have the entire game be as claustrophobic as the old ones, but the fact that everything is out in the open world now doesn't make things scarier. It just gives us more shit to shoot at.

3: The stories themselves. Everything is an end of the world-apocalypse-doomsday event that has been created by a conspiracy, on top of a conspiracy, on top of a doughnut. Everyone wants to rule the world, or be a god and its been repeated so many times its just boring as fuck. Chance is a story element in the Resident Evil series that died out almost 18 years ago. Resident Evil 2/3 was the last one to really have it when the rats spread the G virus through Racoon city. Now everything is a terrorist attack that was supported by some evil organization/cult/warlord. It all feels manufactured and soulless. Everything is so overt that subtlety feels like a fresh new concept to the series.

4: The characters. They still aren't written as people or have much depth. After almost 20 years and when the gaming industry is becoming the next big thing in storytelling, we still have the characters who aren't much beyond a cliche in the Resident Evil world. I find it ironic that Capcom apparently modeled Barrys section of the game after "the last of us" but still kept hims character minimal. We should be knowing the characters in the game so much more than what they give us, it would create a stronger connection and make the story so much more interesting.

This combined with the terrible conclusion to the series original story arc in RE5 just makes me sad that I can notice these problems as a player, but the developer either hasn't noticed or doesn't care. I want the series to be as amazing as it used to be, but I'm not sure if that is ever going to happen. Revelations 2 came DAMN close to making this happen, but it fucked up in the end game(mostly due to the story, partially due to the limited budget they had).

This.

I hate the propaganda style Terrorist storylines which is in every RE game since 4 (CV had a little bit of it with Alexia, but it was still horror forcused with Claire and Zombies, so I'll forgive that)

They had something with Tricell (sure it ain't as good as Umbrella) they could have spread that out over more games and given us another big corporation to be scared of. Bring back Umbrella, and do it properly this time (no RE6 crap)

Forced Co-Op IMO has ruined RE. The only reason why I like RE4 more than 5 or 6 is because it made you be alone - apart from a few sections helping Ashley, but she was useless, so it was scary having to look after her (kinda like Sherry in RE2)
To think, 5 could have been so much better if it had stayed Beta, with Chris on his own and not with Sheva...

Having a super AI person who can assist you at all times is NOT scary. The only time these games got scary is when your seperated from them and are forced to be alone, if only for brief moments. Revelations Jill's sections were better for being alone, and Parker didn't actually impact the gameplay at all, since he always ran ahead and never fought with you.

[Lanzagranadas]

Completelly agree with MarkGrass and Wrathborne.

I saw Co-op in RE5 as a new way to enjoy the experience on the series and I think it actually worked great for that game, I mean, I was really excited with my first Resident Evil experience with a human partner back in 2009, but I didn't expect they would install this forever.
I mean, let's face it, the idea of a co-op RE experience was floating around since the very beginning of the series, it's just that they didn't find the way to introduce it until RE5 came out (albeit they tried something with RE0 partner zapping and the Outbreaks).

The problem is that after 5 Capcom just kept forcing partners in every title for no reason and to make it worse they put God-mode AI partners that don't take damage, have infinite ammo, and don't have an inventory, you can even use them as human shields to escape from risky situations since you don't need to care about their life, they are inmortal; something really dumb that also breaks inmersion, this goes for RER and RE6.
Furthermore, the "Old known RE1/RE2 character + brand new expendable partner" formula is getting too predictable.

RER2 actually made the AI partner make a lot more sense than in RER and RE6, but it's still undeniable that all Capcom does is allways putting a cheap excuse to keep throwing forced co-op everwhere.

[Guest]

Co-op however adds realism. You would never go it alone in an epidemic like that. The other games were (somewhat) different as you started alone and just met up with people in-between. RE5 was so large scale that you could have multiplayer. But yes - I agree it removes the isolation factor.

[Wrathborne]

While this is true, if they had sections of the games where you were solo(Rev 1 did this) that made up for it. Co-op also kind of ruins boss battles I have to say, I appreciate the help but the fact that its always there does minimize the threat. Still Rev 2's system was better suited for bosses as the partner never melees in and its just whoever has the guns.

[Guest]

At the time, I loved RE5. Now? Just nah. I don't hate it completely or anything, but I can never really get into it. Unlike RE4 as well, I felt under-powered much of the time as there did not seem to be as many treasures to be found and it was hard managing two inventories. I'm guessing you both were not supposed to waste ammo. One was supposed to be the tank and the other like a sniper or look out person.

No typewriters any more either. It felt like RE in name only. Sheva's A.I. was so bad too, you were almost better off doing co-op. And Wesker? Just not the Wesker I grew up loving since the days of RE.

[VirusPunk]

I could never outgrow it, maybe the new gameplay formula, yeah.. The early games feel as fresh and alive to me now as they did back in 96-97 with the first RE. It's not that I hate the newer games, but for me it's play it once and put it down, never to touch again.

People have been saying the series has been declining since RE4. To me, I feel the series may be coming back, with REmake HD supporting this claim and finally getting the praise and exposure REmake deserves. Also the modding community/indie projects keeps the nostalgia alive even more so for me.

10 years ago we were living in the stone ages as far as modding the old games went, sure we had people with extensive knowledge about hacking the formats, but those few individuals chose not to share it with the rest of us or had limited information. Now, we have tools that allow us to play God with the old RE engines and create anything we desire within them.

I'm just as obsessed with the RE series as I was when I first played them in the mid-late 90's. I don't see myself outgrowing it any time soon.

[Guest]

Well, I was playing Revelations and the only thing I hate is the electronic panel puzzles. I feel they add nothing to the game but frustration. They are easy for a while, but get more awkward later on. I'm stuck on the one where you are next to this pink thing on the ship. It's just after you kill that huge shell covered thing on the deck.

[Deathlygasm]

I don't see myself ever outgrowing the older games either! I can always put any of the ones before 5 in and have a blast!

[Wrathborne]

Its funny how games 1-code V(and REmake) have still remained just as good all these years later, despite the old tank controls. The series days of glory are long gone, but these entries are still at the top of the chart.I appreciated Rev 2 being closer to these games and all but miss just having that one giant mansion with built in lab setting. The single isolated location and claustrophobia it created is something the series needs to return to some day.

[Lanzagranadas]

There are three things that keep killing a true Resident Evil experience for me:

1) Over the shoulder camera.
2) Stupid checkpoints, auto-save and retry bullshit.
3) Partner all the time.

[Wrathborne]

I like the over the shoulder camera myself....though it can get in the way during combat, it's mostly tolerable. I detest the checkpoints, auto save system. I miss the manual ink ribbon save. The Partner popping up every now and then is ok, but if you can go through about 70% of these games solo, that'd be fine with me.