The “Resident Evil” franchise has finally made its way back to horror following the seventh installment in the series. The previous two games leaned towards action as Capcom heavily emphasized the combat aspects of the game. However, fans loudly expressed their interest in another horror game, and Capcom gladly obliged. Following the success of “Resident Evil 7,” there’s a good chance that Capcom will move the series towards that direction.
Series creator returns to his roots?
Shinji Mikami is an iconic creator who has worked with various horror projects such as the “Resident Evil” franchise.
He was responsible for plenty of games under the series back when he still worked for Capcom. However, he ultimately decided to leave the company following the release of the fourth game. It was after Leon’s game where the series decided to fully embrace its action-packed scenes filled with explosions and gunfire. The series hadn’t been the same until the seventh game came along, and even then, many fans believed that Capcom took a surprising turn of events in terms of gameplay and overall style.
In line with this, PCGamesN recently spoke to Shinji Mikami at QuakeCon and asked him if he would return to direct “Resident Evil 8.” His response was short and straight to the point, “I might.” While this doesn’t fully assure that he’ll jump back to Capcom and begin directing the game, it’s good to know that he’s open to the idea of pitching in.
Right now, Mikami is focused on his upcoming title, “The Evil Within 2,” which is slated to release this October. While the first game received generally mixed reviews for its plot and pacing, there’s no denying that “The Evil Within” was pretty disturbing.
Returning to horror
Just like with the seventh game in the “RE” series, Mikami also plans to take “The Evil Within” back to traditional horror roots.
The first game had large set pieces with hordes of enemies which kind of removed the whole “survival horror feeling.” Because of this, he toned down the hordes of enemies and instead traded it for atmospheric and subtle horror instead. The upcoming title will focus more on exploration than simply having to go from Point A to B.
The lack of exploration in the first game meant that you could easily lose track of collectibles that were easily missable.
The upcoming title will also have some side quests which may lead to some nice loot and unexpected ambushes, so that’s something to look forward to. While fans continue to wait for news about “Resident Evil 8,” they can play “The Evil Within 2” this October 13 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
