Will future Resident Evil tiltes return to survival horror?

[News Bot]

The series retro fits things all the time into its past so there's no reason why monsters & scary things can't be entered into the timeline.

It doesn't. And it's pretty clear about when monsters start being a thing.

[Jimmy_Jazz]

Yes it does. Wesker's resurrection at the end of 1 was added to the timeline in CV whilst his relationship with William Birkin added in 0. None of those things were part of 1&2 when they were originally released.

As for 'pretty clear'. Well, it's pretty clear on when the T-Virus outbreak occurred and the world went to shit after that. But the Progenitor and Uroboros viruses emerge in RE's timeline in the 1960s whilst hunters and zombies date back to the 1980s (at least from the timelines I've read / played / seen). And during this time, several characters you meet or hear about have also been injected by a virus at some time or another. Stories could be told about these events or during these periods without disrupting future events.

And even if the dates are slightly off or those tlimelines drawn to sensible conclusions, it's not impossible to think of other interesting ways to do this.

But as I said, it's possible, but I doubt it would be popular.

[blackpower]

then the events of Resident Evil 0 is rebirth are considered alternatives for older titles for psx?

[biohazard_star]

The problem is that RE1/Zero already established that the Arklay/mansion incident is the first time STARS encountered BOWs. All of the STARS members freaked out and acted like this is their first time encountering BOWs, which is why a lot of them got wiped out. The writers would have a hard time explaining why they acted that way, unless you also retroactively introduced a crappy ass "Wesker and Umbrella gave them amnesia drugs!" plot into play.

[Jimmy_Jazz]

STARS team as a whole yes, but Wesker, no, and Barry's full knowledge on Umbrella is unknown. You could have a game in which Barry discovers what Umbrella was up to before being blackmailed by Wesker. That could be the catalyst to STARS being formed. Or even have a game in which you control a younger Wesker.

Plus, who says it has to focus on BOWs??? You had Chris leaving the airforce abruptly due to disagreeing over methods and could do s Jacob's Ladder influenced psychological horror about experiments on soldiers set in the early 90s. That'd be one for all you hookman fans out there!

Regardless of your thoughts on the ideas above, the upcoming Arklay TV is a prequel and is going to be exploring the run up to the Arklay Mansion incident, although I don't know if it's intended to be canon or not. Unless it has an all new cast, it's probably going to be exploring some of these ideas, although in much more subtle ways.

[News Bot]

Yes it does. Wesker's resurrection at the end of 1 was added to the timeline in CV whilst his relationship with William Birkin added in 0. None of those things were part of 1&2 when they were originally released.

As for 'pretty clear'. Well, it's pretty clear on when the T-Virus outbreak occurred and the world went to shit after that. But the Progenitor and Uroboros viruses emerge in RE's timeline in the 1960s whilst hunters and zombies date back to the 1980s (at least from the timelines I've read / played / seen). And during this time, several characters you meet or hear about have also been injected by a virus at some time or another. Stories could be told about these events or during these periods without disrupting future events.

And even if the dates are slightly off or those tlimelines drawn to sensible conclusions, it's not impossible to think of other interesting ways to do this.

But as I said, it's possible, but I doubt it would be popular.

Wesker's resurrection was never "added" because whether he died or not was left unknown in BIO1.

The Uroboros Virus didn't exist until 2006. The Progenitor Virus was discovered in the 1960s but fundamentally could not create a B.O.W. That was the entire reason behind development of the t-Virus. The Progenitor Virus could only affect ancient organisms, while modern organisms would die upon exposure due to a lack of genetic compatibility. There are stories you could tell about test subjects, but those would be limited to files like the Keeper's Diary or supplemental material like Wesker's Report II. No video games can be made from them.

The dates aren't slightly off though. They're in a whole other solar system.

STARS team as a whole yes, but Wesker, no, and Barry's full knowledge on Umbrella is unknown. You could have a game in which Barry discovers what Umbrella was up to before being blackmailed by Wesker. That could be the catalyst to STARS being formed. Or even have a game in which you control a younger Wesker.

Plus, who says it has to focus on BOWs??? You had Chris leaving the airforce abruptly due to disagreeing over methods and could do s Jacob's Ladder influenced psychological horror about experiments on soldiers set in the early 90s. That'd be one for all you hookman fans out there!

Regardless of your thoughts on the ideas above, the upcoming Arklay TV is a prequel and is going to be exploring the run up to the Arklay Mansion incident, although I don't know if it's intended to be canon or not. Unless it has an all new cast, it's probably going to be exploring some of these ideas, although in much more subtle ways.

We know why S.T.A.R.S. was formed already. To deal with increasingly complicated crime (urban terrorism, cyber crime, new narcotics, etc) in Raccoon City as a result of the city's sudden growth due to Umbrella's presence.

The series has already established that Chris left the USAF because he was a virtuous asshole that wouldn't let civilians die. Having him be the basis of some psychological chemical-induced breakdown would be extremely silly given how he acts later.

There is no Arklay TV series and even if there were, it has no relation to the games beyond very superficial connections.

[Deathlygasm]

Wait whats thsi arklay tv series?

[Jimmy_Jazz]

whether he died or not was left unknown in BIO1.

It wasn't left unknown, there were two very distinct outcomes, either he died or he lived. CV added in the twist that he injected himself with a version of the T-Virus many years later. And I've got no idea which game introduced the idea that he was also a product of a Spencer experiment. Was that CV or later?

But it doesn't end there. Many of the relationships between characters of the first 2 RE games were fleshed out and developed during the sequels and REMake. Kevin and Leon meeting, Barry's friendship with Kendo etc.

The dates aren't slightly off though. They're in a whole other solar system.

I quickly googled a single take on the RE timeline to fill in the gaps of my fragmented knowledge and ended up using this

http://residenteviltimeline.tumblr.com/

Is there a better one I can use? And have you considered taking your page and creating a definitive timeline that anyone can refer to?

No video games can be made from them.

Haven't you ever seen Jurassic Park? Abit of DNA splicing can cover that.

We know why S.T.A.R.S. was formed already

That's the given reason, but it's no coincidence that Wesker rose to the top.

The series has already established that Chris left the USAF because he was a virtuous asshole that wouldn't let civilians die.

He also worked with Barry in the USAF, there's no reason that Barry couldn't be the centre of a game set during their time together instead, and Chris is a supporting character.

extremely silly

And Resident Evil doesn't do extremely silly right ;-)

I get you Newsbot, your heart is in standing by and promoting the official canon to the exact word. But for those of us who think the official canon is bogged down in with its own history, we are going to speculate about challenging that history in favour of more interesting games, scenarios and characters. And if you look at RE, other franchises and even Hollywood you'll see that nothing is too good for a spin-off, reboot or a canon adjustment.

There is no Arklay TV series and even if there were, it has no relation to the games beyond very superficial connections.

Apologies, the last I read of this was over the summer, I hadn't realised that the pitch had vanished. But without knowing what was originally planned it's impossible to know if the connections were superficial or not. I did notice talk of another company wanting to make an RE show. I guess we'll have to wait until after the final RE film comes out to see if any of those plans resurface.

[Rombie]

I totally get where both parties are coming from, but as defensive as you're being NB he does have a point. I mean at any point should they want to retcon something, or add additional 'unknown' background it's totally up to the developers to do so and it could change little or a lot for later canon.

Take for example Barry. Wesker's overall threat to Barry is directed at his family as you find out in the original game, but then you could say and base a game around the full extent of that not being know. There isn't anything stopping Capcom from making a new game set some months before the Mansion incident and basically placing Barry in as a main character in yet another unknown Raccoon location that Umbrella had that Wesker has set up, kidnapping his family, and basically slightly retconning the idea of how Wesker managed to used Barry in the first place into another enemy filled game. It doesn't massively change the situational dynamic, other than making Wesker look even more threating and Barry pushed to a point of no choice, basically less weak willed.

As an idea it works because you can then say Barry feined his knowledge of what was going to happen to the STARS members under Wesker's orders but could be used to explain simple things like why he had his magnum in the Mansion, took a Lock pick for Jill, and knew so early on that Acid rounds were good against the enemies to be faced as examples. That's more plausable an idea than how Rebecca goes from gung-ho monster fighter in Zero to how she is in RE1. Yet that exists in the series canon.

I don't expect anything like this personally but I'm very much able to consider the possibilities. I mean look at all the stuff added to the background of the game between Zero's events added and things that were included in the Umbrella and Darkside Chronicles events... or areas and locations that weren't previously shown or known... they can easily rewrite areas of backstory when wanted and could find justifications in stories for more prequels as much as most people probably wouldn't want it.

[Guest]

Wesker's resurrection was never "added" because whether he died or not was left unknown in BIO1.

Uhhh...


And if you check his corpse, it says "What a miserable death...", not "He's still breathing... he'll probably come back to get revenge."
There was never an indication or whatsoever in RE1 that might have implied in the slightest Wesker had survived the incident.

[Grem]

As much as I like the idea of Wesker's fate being unclear in RE1, It's pretty obvious there was nothing to suggest that Wesker could have survived. It's not like Ada in Bio2 where it was hinted that she survived.

You could say that there's no canon scenario in RE1 and that the real events are never shown, but still, he dies in both scenario.

Strangely, in Remake they gave him an escape in Jill's scenario. Which is weird since in the canon Wesker was impaled by Tyrant anyway.

[Lanzagranadas]

The only way Wesker could be impaled by the Tyrant in Jill's scenario is if Barry dies before reaching the lab, or dies later in the save room, because if Barry is alive he lefts Wesker unconscious with his Magnum and Wesker never sees the Tyrant. So either way Jill's scenario doesn't represent the true flow of the events, Chris' fits better, since you can see impaled Wesker wheter Rebecca is alive or not, although it's known it's actually a mix of both.

[Guest]

The only way Wesker could be impaled by the Tyrant in Jill's scenario is if Barry dies before reaching the lab, or dies later in the save room, because if Barry is alive he lefts Wesker unconscious with his Magnum and Wesker never sees the Tyrant. So either way Jill's scenario doesn't represent the true flow of the events, Chris' fits better, since you can see impaled Wesker wheter Rebecca is alive or not, although it's known it's actually a mix of both.

He can still be found lying dead on the power generator room after that.

[Rombie]

Uhhh...


And if you check his corpse, it says "What a miserable death...", not "He's still breathing... he'll probably come back to get revenge."
There was never an indication or whatsoever in RE1 that might have implied in the slightest Wesker had survived the incident.

Both NB and Lanza mean in general canonical terms. Between what you mentioned and the appearance on the floor in the power room in other endings is true, but then so is the seeming character deaths/survival as well though out.... in much in that the 'endings' available in RE1 for example don't actually match the developers canon... because all of the characters who survive the 'mansion incident' don't do so in the one single ending or can be killed under your choices, yet in canon all manage to escape. If that makes sense.

But I'm with you on Wesker. Aside from odd fan conspiracies about one of the files in RE2 and the odd 'fan wishes' during 1999 no one really expected him to return later prior to CV because the outcome of his demise seems set no matter which ending you had. But again this is exactly why I feel like Jimmy is right and the staff can change things at their whim. Hell Wesker's reappearance in CV wasn't even really explained at first either, it wasn't till extra additions and backstory went in that explained more.

[Burt Mustin]

Strangely, in Remake they gave him an escape in Jill's scenario. Which is weird since in the canon Wesker was impaled by Tyrant anyway.

The 'retconning' of 1 goes back quite far- in CV, Wesker is of course revealed as 'resurrected'; no indication prior was given to this, as pointed out already. And Welsh on a PU podcast (ironically) mentioned no plans at the time for Wesker to return. It was a death scene...until CV came along.

The original also alluded to how the outbreak occurred on the mansion premises...a leak/malfunction involving the Tyrant experiment. However, 0 negates this in it's own way with Marcus. Point is, this shit happens within the series if/when a particular team sees fit, it just isn't something they tend to make habit out of, as NB has often said in past. Personally don't think the way they went about Marcus and 0 was very creative, and had the game as a whole experience been superior I would have minded it less. The idea that all these creatures that try to kill you in 1, lead back to the last enemy you fight, made the ending of the game that much stronger as the final in-game shot faded on the Tyrant corpse.

And +1 to the Rom/J_J post...If a team goes about a ret/change in a way that makes things potentially much more interesting (and not simply a product of dull rush), and done very sparingly, fine. But that's a card that has to be well conceived and thought out before being pulled.