20 Years On Capcom Can't Escape the Shadow of Resident Evil 4

Is Leon S. Kennedy Resident Evil’s astir fashionable quality due to the fact that helium starred successful 1 of the champion Resident Evil games of each time? Or did helium prima successful 1 of the champion Resident Evil games of each clip due to the fact that he’s the series’ astir fashionable character? I’ll ne'er cognize for sure. Nevertheless, ever since his archetypal time connected the occupation astatine the Raccoon City Police Department backmost successful 1998, Leon’s power implicit the Resident Evil bid has lone grown to the constituent that his popularity threatens the aboriginal of the series… again.

When Resident Evil 4 deed shelves connected January 11, 2005, everything we knew astir Resident Evil was upended. The series’s celebrated fixed camera position gave mode to a afloat 3D camera, and the infamous vessel controls were replaced with fast-paced enactment and melee combat. And Leon Kennedy, who was introduced to the bid successful Resident Evil 2 arsenic a fresh-faced rookie constabulary officer, was promoted to a concealed cause enactment leader tasked with rescuing the U.S. President’s girl from an evil cult. Leon became much Ethan Hunt and little Ash Williams.

Credit: Capcom

Resident Evil 4’s presumption arsenic a Hall of Fame video crippled is undisputed, but the 2005 merchandise besides caused Capcom to participate a play of being mislaid successful the wilderness. The overwhelming occurrence of Resident Evil 4 shifted the bid towards a much action-focused tone, astatine the disbursal of its fearfulness elements. Resident Evil 5 took america to Africa, wherever Las Plagas-infected militia troops engaged successful car chases and gunfights. Resident Evil 6 pushed things to the adjacent level, with Call of Duty-like thoroughfare battles and explosive level crashes. But portion these games followed the blueprint acceptable by Resident Evil 4 to tremendous fiscal success, fans weren’t wholly satisfied with the wide absorption of the franchise. It progressively became wide that turning Resi’s erstwhile mundane cops into MMA-trained ace agents had eroded distant the series’ core.

To rediscover the fearfulness astatine the bosom of the franchise, Capcom efficaciously rebooted Resident Evil successful 2017 with Biohazard, the series’ seventh mainline game. It ditched Leon and galore of the franchise’s iconic (now incredibly powerful) characters successful favour of chartless newcomer Ethan Winters who, contempt a astonishing resilience to a assortment of gnarly manus injuries, was fundamentally an “everyman”. Resident Evil 7 besides adopted a caller first-person position that not lone enactment players straight face-to-face with the game’s galore scares but besides restricted Ethan’s moveset — determination would beryllium nary roundhouse kicks here. This caller look led to income occurrence and the commencement of a caller storyline focused connected the Winters household (with an occasional cameo by bequest quality Chris Redfield.)

During the epoch of Resident Evil 7 and Village, determination was small request for Capcom to revisit the much action-prominent plan of Resident Evil 4. That’s apt because, portion Leon mightiness not person been astatine the forefront of the bid during this time, helium was inactive hanging astir acknowledgment to remakes of older games. Resident Evil 2 reinvented the PS1 classical successful a guise that much intimately resembled the over-the-shoulder, gun-heavy plan of Leon’s astir celebrated adventure, portion the Resident Evil 4 remake replicated the original’s equilibrium of fearfulness and suplex tackles. But arsenic clip has gone on, it’s go wide that fans person been getting antsy to spot Leon header a caller adventure, not conscionable retread aged territory.

Earlier this year, Capcom yet announced the highly anticipated Resident Evil: Requiem, and erstwhile again, the workplace debuted a caller protagonist: FBI expert Grace Ashcroft. But if you look astir the net for accusation connected Requiem, you’ll spot the sanction of Leon S. Kennedy brought up truthful often that you would deliberation helium was the main quality of the upcoming game. That’s due to the fact that rumors, some important and otherwise, assertion that Leon volition look successful Requiem successful immoderate capacity, whether that’s arsenic a 2nd protagonist, cameo, oregon adjacent the concealed star, depending connected who you ask.

Capcom, for its part, seems adamant that Grace Ashcroft is the look of Requiem, and determination is capable accusation astir her to judge this. Unlike Ethan Winters, who was a implicit chartless erstwhile helium debuted successful Resident Evil 7, Grace Ashcroft is the girl of writer Alyssa Ashcroft, a playable quality from the Resident Evil Outbreak games. This makes Grace thing of a bequest quality successful her ain right, giving her greater value and stronger ties to the wide canon of the series.

Also, during the Capcom Showcase, Resident Evil: Requiem manager Koshi Nakanishi straight addressed immoderate of the online rumors surrounding Leon Kennedy being the game’s concealed protagonist, saying, “We ever thought astir making Leon the protagonist, but making a fearfulness crippled based astir him is difficult… No 1 wants to spot Leon frightened by each small thing. So he’s really rather a atrocious lucifer for horror.”

Having played a portion of Requiem, I tin corroborate that Capcom is continuing the revised look it introduced successful Resident Evil 7 and putting a batch of accent connected fearfulness successful the caller game. One of the standout details is however Grace audibly reacts to antithetic leap scares passim the demo, which efficaciously ratchets up the tension. Nakanishi makes a bully constituent astir Leon being a atrocious lucifer for this benignant of game: by this constituent successful the series’ timeline, which is 30 years aft the events of Resident Evil 2, Leon is simply a seasoned who has nary problems facing disconnected against adjacent the scariest monsters.

Even the determination to support the series’ real-time timeline feels designed to get fans utilized to the thought that their beloved characters look a ticking clock. Even if Leon Kennedy does look successful Resident Evil: Requiem, it’d beryllium arsenic a subordinate of the aged guard. After all, helium volition beryllium astir 50 years aged erstwhile the events of Requiem instrumentality place, and portion I’m definite helium tin inactive roundhouse footwear a zombie astatine that age, having him property successful real-time since his instauration successful 1998 feels similar a deliberate effort to enactment Leon person to status than successful the heavy of the action.

I deliberation there’s plentifulness of country for Leon Kennedy to look successful Requiem arsenic a seasoned seasoned helping the caller protagonist, akin to Chris’ relation successful Resident Evil Village. But the occupation is however the Leon rumors person sucked up truthful overmuch of the oxygen astir Resident Evil: Requiem, truthful overmuch truthful that immoderate fans of the bid are outright disregarding Grace arsenic the game’s protagonist. There’s a bully accidental Leon could look successful Requiem, but Capcom’s attraction to item connected Grace tells maine that developers are rather passionate astir her arsenic a character. It indispensable beryllium a small frustrating to spot fans brushwood her speech for an unconfirmed quality by Leon.

But Leon and Resident Evil 4’s grip connected the newest crippled isn’t conscionable constricted to which characters fans privation to see. Resident Evil: Requiem made waves erstwhile it announced that, successful an effort to entreaty to each Resident Evil fans, determination volition beryllium the enactment to play Requiem successful some the scarier first-person position introduced successful Resident Evil 7, oregon successful the iconic third-person perspective.

My concern, and thing I noted successful my preview, is that switching betwixt first- and third-person perspectives has an contiguous interaction connected however scary the crippled is. That wider viewing space reveals threats that would different spell unseen, spoiling leap scares and instilling further fear-conquering confidence. And for a crippled that’s supposedly focused connected horror, arsenic Nakanishi claims, having an enactment that instantly dampens the panic feels similar it undermines the director’s goals.

Just similar successful the aftermath of Resident Evil 4, Capcom finds itself again successful a presumption of balancing giving fans what they want, betwixt the imaginable quality of everyone’s favourite zombie-hunting cause and the prime to play successful some first- and third-person, and pushing some the plan of Resident Evil and the communicative of Raccoon City guardant done the usage of a caller protagonist and modern timeframe.

If the developers of Requiem judge that the crippled tin beryllium scary and compelling successful some first- and third-person, past I look guardant to seeing that for myself adjacent year. Similarly, if they consciousness that Grace Ashcroft tin transportation the adjacent mainline Resident Evil crippled arsenic the protagonist, I’m adjacent much excited to find retired however she fits into the communicative of Raccoon City. After successfully reinventing Resident Evil with Ethan Winters’ communicative and establishing a slower, creepier plan that straight opposes the high-octane fearfulness enactment of Leon’s travel to Spain, fans should widen Capcom the payment of the uncertainty astir Grace, Leon, and Requiem. And for the developers, I anticipation they prosecute their imaginativeness for the Resident Evil franchise without compromise.

Because the past clip Capcom chased the shade of past Resident Evil games, it took years for the franchise to find its mode backmost again.

Matt Kim is IGN's Senior Features Editor.