I wouldn't necessarily say the B-team... after all, in Mikami's words Code: Veronica is the true sequel to RE2, and they still kept him on to produce as well. Nemesis was meant to be a gaiden story, if I'm not mistaken. Code: Veronica pushes the tech and the envelope further than Nemesis with true 3D environments, specular effects, an all new locale; by comparison Nemesis is not at all a bad game, but it certainly reflects fulfilling an obligation to get another game out.
I wouldn't necessarily say the B-team... after all, in Mikami's words Code: Veronica is the true sequel to RE2, and they still kept him on to produce as well. Nemesis was meant to be a gaiden story, if I'm not mistaken. Code: Veronica pushes the tech and the envelope further than Nemesis with true 3D environments, specular effects, an all new locale; by comparison Nemesis is not at all a bad game, but it certainly reflects fulfilling an obligation to get another game out.
I wouldn't necessarily say the B-team... after all, in Mikami's words Code: Veronica is the true sequel to RE2, and they still kept him on to produce as well. Nemesis was meant to be a gaiden story, if I'm not mistaken. Code: Veronica pushes the tech and the envelope further than Nemesis with true 3D environments, specular effects, an all new locale; by comparison Nemesis is not at all a bad game, but it certainly reflects fulfilling an obligation to get another game out.
If anything, I view Nemesis and Code Veronica as a double-feature RE3 in terms of the franchise kinda like how Death Proof and Planet Terror equally make up Grindhouse. It's a double feature but not in the typical "A Movie/B Movie" format.
Both Nemesis and Code Veronica have what are arguably the two most important events of the entire plot of the series; the final destruction of Raccoon City and the return of Albert Wesker.
Code Veronica also seemed to be the start of the "Umbrella's Downfall" story arc that was hinted at in RE3's epilogues and largely cut short and dropped in favor of RE4 and the resulting "Action Era" of RE with most of the finer details being tucked away in the Chronicles side games and a few DLC's for RE5.
For all the flak it gets, I liked Survivor despite its flaws. It was a good side game and was the real "B Team" title of the RE3/Code Veronica era.
I'm still stumped as to why they aren't doing a Code Veronica remake, but are skipping to an RE4 remake, although I have some theories as to why they're remaking RE4 specifically as opposed to CV or even a second RE1 remake on the RE Engine.
It's pretty obvious that Resident Evil 8: Village takes a lot of its cues from RE4's spooky European Gothic setting (Code Veronica also had a weird Gothic vibe to it as well in many parts) and RE4 is the most successful of the series and one of the most influential titles in the franchise alongside the original RE1 and RE2.
But while RE4's influence on the wider gaming industry is considered mostly positive, its impact on the series as a whole was mostly negative and I think Capcom is trying to do a soft retcon of the "Action Era" of RE via RE7 and the RE2 remake.
RE4's the kind of game where the only way a remake can even work is if you focus more on the story and tone being rewritten into a more horror-style vibe.
To pull that off, you'd also have to retell RE2 to explain Leon and Ada's backstory plus an RE2 remake was a holy grail among the fans for years, and I still think the RE3 remake was probably meant to be a story DLC for the RE2 remake but it got spun off into a stand-alone game to help prop up the Resistance Mode.
If I was going to do an RE3 remake, here's how I would do it...
1. Keep the RE Engine gameplay, but extend the Clock Tower segment into more than a boss arena with Nemesis's new form. The Hospital/Laboratory segment is fine as it is, although I'll admit I would've loved to have seen the Dead Factory given a proper remake.
2. I actually kinda liked the way they handled the RPD in the RE3 remake by having Carlos go there instead of Jill since even in the original RE3, it's made clear that Chief Irons had it out for Jill and any of the S.T.A.R.S officers left in the city. Unless Jill thought Irons was already dead and needed to get some kind of supplies or ammo over there, there's no reason for her to return to the RPD.
3. Don't introduce Nemesis in the opening sequence at Jill's apartment. Instead, just allude to his presence or even leave hints that he's been casing the place while he's on the prowl for the other S.T.A.R.S officers still alive in the first part of the game, but keep the part from the original about Brad more or less leading Nemesis to Jill.
4. As for Nemesis's introduction, I'd introduce him about half an hour or an hour into the game itself when you're mainly working with Brad (and maybe also some of the other RPD guys) on a way to get out of the city. Instead of Nemesis killing Brad in the original, Jill and Brad split up with the Nemesis going after Jill. We don't see what happens to Brad until after Carlos goes to the RPD.
5. Keep some of the iconic weapons from the original RE3 like Jill's Samurai Edge and having the Magnum be a Smith & Wesson revolver instead of a Desert Eagle.
6. Bring back The Mercenaries and do it in a modernized version of the RE3 style where you had to rescue survivors to extend the time and get more ammo and healing items. I'd even have the item dispensers from Ghost Survivors or item drops from taking down Nemesis (or maybe even Birkin and a nerfed Mr. X since this is a non-canon side game) and while Carlos, Nikolai, and Mikhail will all be playable again, I'd also include Tyrell since he plays a bigger role in the remake and maybe even Murphy too.
7. Show Nicholai escaping the city, with the implication that he's being rescued by Wesker and the H.C.F and given that Nicholai is a smug and cunning little bastard, maybe he already has a second vaccine sample that Jill does not know about and that he hands to Wesker.
8. Have it to where Barry's on the rescue chopper that picks up Jill and Carlos, but instead of him piloting the chopper to rescue Jill specifically, he's already been picked up by the military or the Feds so he can help testify against Umbrella and likely has some sort of files or other evidence that helps prove the link between Umbrella and the Raccoon City government and info on the Mansion Incident.
9. Bring back the Epilogue files but maybe do them a little differently. Jill's gets unlocked through beating the story, and the others get unlocked from beating Mercenaries so many times. I'd have epilogue files for all the characters that got one in RE3 but also include new ones for Carlos, Rebecca, Nicholai, and Wesker. Wesker's file would be the last one unlocked, of course
Resident Evil died when they took away the fixed camera angles for most screens. Gone are the days of effective mood lighting and of being genuinely surprised by something coming out of the dark.
If anything, I view Nemesis and Code Veronica as a double-feature RE3 in terms of the franchise kinda like how Death Proof and Planet Terror equally make up Grindhouse. It's a double feature but not in the typical "A Movie/B Movie" format.
Both Nemesis and Code Veronica have what are arguably the two most important events of the entire plot of the series; the final destruction of Raccoon City and the return of Albert Wesker.
Code Veronica also seemed to be the start of the "Umbrella's Downfall" story arc that was hinted at in RE3's epilogues and largely cut short and dropped in favor of RE4 and the resulting "Action Era" of RE with most of the finer details being tucked away in the Chronicles side games and a few DLC's for RE5.
For all the flak it gets, I liked Survivor despite its flaws. It was a good side game and was the real "B Team" title of the RE3/Code Veronica era.
I'm still stumped as to why they aren't doing a Code Veronica remake, but are skipping to an RE4 remake, although I have some theories as to why they're remaking RE4 specifically as opposed to CV or even a second RE1 remake on the RE Engine.
It's pretty obvious that Resident Evil 8: Village takes a lot of its cues from RE4's spooky European Gothic setting (Code Veronica also had a weird Gothic vibe to it as well in many parts) and RE4 is the most successful of the series and one of the most influential titles in the franchise alongside the original RE1 and RE2.
But while RE4's influence on the wider gaming industry is considered mostly positive, its impact on the series as a whole was mostly negative and I think Capcom is trying to do a soft retcon of the "Action Era" of RE via RE7 and the RE2 remake.
RE4's the kind of game where the only way a remake can even work is if you focus more on the story and tone being rewritten into a more horror-style vibe.
To pull that off, you'd also have to retell RE2 to explain Leon and Ada's backstory plus an RE2 remake was a holy grail among the fans for years, and I still think the RE3 remake was probably meant to be a story DLC for the RE2 remake but it got spun off into a stand-alone game to help prop up the Resistance Mode.
If I was going to do an RE3 remake, here's how I would do it...
1. Keep the RE Engine gameplay, but extend the Clock Tower segment into more than a boss arena with Nemesis's new form. The Hospital/Laboratory segment is fine as it is, although I'll admit I would've loved to have seen the Dead Factory given a proper remake.
2. I actually kinda liked the way they handled the RPD in the RE3 remake by having Carlos go there instead of Jill since even in the original RE3, it's made clear that Chief Irons had it out for Jill and any of the S.T.A.R.S officers left in the city. Unless Jill thought Irons was already dead and needed to get some kind of supplies or ammo over there, there's no reason for her to return to the RPD.
3. Don't introduce Nemesis in the opening sequence at Jill's apartment. Instead, just allude to his presence or even leave hints that he's been casing the place while he's on the prowl for the other S.T.A.R.S officers still alive in the first part of the game, but keep the part from the original about Brad more or less leading Nemesis to Jill.
4. As for Nemesis's introduction, I'd introduce him about half an hour or an hour into the game itself when you're mainly working with Brad (and maybe also some of the other RPD guys) on a way to get out of the city. Instead of Nemesis killing Brad in the original, Jill and Brad split up with the Nemesis going after Jill. We don't see what happens to Brad until after Carlos goes to the RPD.
5. Keep some of the iconic weapons from the original RE3 like Jill's Samurai Edge and having the Magnum be a Smith & Wesson revolver instead of a Desert Eagle.
6. Bring back The Mercenaries and do it in a modernized version of the RE3 style where you had to rescue survivors to extend the time and get more ammo and healing items. I'd even have the item dispensers from Ghost Survivors or item drops from taking down Nemesis (or maybe even Birkin and a nerfed Mr. X since this is a non-canon side game) and while Carlos, Nikolai, and Mikhail will all be playable again, I'd also include Tyrell since he plays a bigger role in the remake and maybe even Murphy too.
7. Show Nicholai escaping the city, with the implication that he's being rescued by Wesker and the H.C.F and given that Nicholai is a smug and cunning little bastard, maybe he already has a second vaccine sample that Jill does not know about and that he hands to Wesker.
8. Have it to where Barry's on the rescue chopper that picks up Jill and Carlos, but instead of him piloting the chopper to rescue Jill specifically, he's already been picked up by the military or the Feds so he can help testify against Umbrella and likely has some sort of files or other evidence that helps prove the link between Umbrella and the Raccoon City government and info on the Mansion Incident.
9. Bring back the Epilogue files but maybe do them a little differently. Jill's gets unlocked through beating the story, and the others get unlocked from beating Mercenaries so many times. I'd have epilogue files for all the characters that got one in RE3 but also include new ones for Carlos, Rebecca, Nicholai, and Wesker. Wesker's file would be the last one unlocked, of course
Resident Evil died when they took away the fixed camera angles for most screens. Gone are the days of effective mood lighting and of being genuinely surprised by something coming out of the dark.
A certain magic was indeed lost when they moved away from fixed camera angles and I really don't know why fixed camera angles are so taboo for games now.
But RE2 Remake is still close enough to the original formula to make me happy.
Especially considering that tank controls aren't a necessity anymore. I really don't mind tank controls at all, but for people who used to complain, more modern control schemes have become available in the significant amount of time since the first survival horror games were released.
I think it's somewhat of a compromise in artistic vision. Each of those camera angles had to literally be lovingly hand-crafted and personally rendered out, essentially; the scenario writers knew at any given time what the player would see or not see, and how to effectively both scare the player and convey a sense of agency to them. Even more modern examples, like Silent Hill 2 and 3, worked well when the player was forced into a certain perspective, often using this notion for effective frights or disorienting sensations.
I'm trying to comb through IPs I never touched and are worth getting to know. Old RE seems way too clunky, new RE seems way too cinematic, but the remakes are also like what.. 3-4 hours long? What's a good starting point between actual RE narrative and not a glorified shooter, without going too far?
I've got revelations 1 and 2 for some reason, and Ive heard since theyre made for 3DS they're pretty forgiving. I'm no scrub but sounds like a decent place to start. Thoughts?
I'm trying to comb through IPs I never touched and are worth getting to know. Old RE seems way too clunky, new RE seems way too cinematic, but the remakes are also like what.. 3-4 hours long? What's a good starting point between actual RE narrative and not a glorified shooter, without going too far?
I've got revelations 1 and 2 for some reason, and Ive heard since theyre made for 3DS they're pretty forgiving. I'm no scrub but sounds like a decent place to start. Thoughts?
I'm trying to comb through IPs I never touched and are worth getting to know. Old RE seems way too clunky, new RE seems way too cinematic, but the remakes are also like what.. 3-4 hours long? What's a good starting point between actual RE narrative and not a glorified shooter, without going too far?
I've got revelations 1 and 2 for some reason, and Ive heard since theyre made for 3DS they're pretty forgiving. I'm no scrub but sounds like a decent place to start. Thoughts?
I agree start with REmake if you want the more classic style of game play and if you like that you could try the Outbreak games if you want smaller scenarios with the RE formula.
Revelations 1 was the 3ds game that got ported and Revelations 2 was made for consoles and pc. I'd say they are both worth playing though.
Here's the rub on the 3rd person fixed camera. Its a product of its time. 3rd person fixed camera horror is a product stemmed from technical limitations. Capcom even once tried to conceptualize the original Resident Evil as first person survival horror shooter.
In this era of technological advancements (in terms of videogames) fixed camera horror is obsolete, heck, REmake2 just proved that. Heck, even in PS2 era, you can do 3rd person controllable camera horror just fine. Sure, you can still make a fixed camera horror if you want to, but why? the answer would be just for hipster nostalgia.
3rd person fixed camera is like the genre of games that is best laid down to rest like the obtuse adventure games with those horrible "push look and talk for many times until you trigger events" stuff, single-stick top down shooters, FPS that you cant look up and down and many more
Here's the rub on the 3rd person fixed camera. Its a product of its time. 3rd person fixed camera horror is a product stemmed from technical limitations. Capcom even once tried to conceptualize the original Resident Evil as first person survival horror shooter.
In this era of technological advancements (in terms of videogames) fixed camera horror is obsolete, heck, REmake2 just proved that. Heck, even in PS2 era, you can do 3rd person controllable camera horror just fine. Sure, you can still make a fixed camera horror if you want to, but why? the answer would be just for hipster nostalgia.
3rd person fixed camera is like the genre of games that is best laid down to rest like the obtuse adventure games with those horrible "push look and talk for many times until you trigger events" stuff, single-stick top down shooters, FPS that you cant look up and down and many more
I think there is more then just hipster nostlgia to it. A clever dev could use the fix camera to better focus what the player should be looking at.
Give them that little invisble nudge, and hints so they wont completely be lost on where they should focus the attention.
Best would likely to be a mix of third and first person segments. Have the main focus be first person, while have say rooms you enter viva a loadscreen when opening a door. Send you to a third person fixed camera angle.
It wouldn't be perfect, but a 3rd person fixed camera has its uses.
Here's the real rub. Any Dev wanting to use 3rd person camera is as Exbein said; going for the Nostalgia points over function.
Here's the rub on the 3rd person fixed camera. Its a product of its time. 3rd person fixed camera horror is a product stemmed from technical limitations. Capcom even once tried to conceptualize the original Resident Evil as first person survival horror shooter.
In this era of technological advancements (in terms of videogames) fixed camera horror is obsolete, heck, REmake2 just proved that. Heck, even in PS2 era, you can do 3rd person controllable camera horror just fine. Sure, you can still make a fixed camera horror if you want to, but why? the answer would be just for hipster nostalgia.
3rd person fixed camera is like the genre of games that is best laid down to rest like the obtuse adventure games with those horrible "push look and talk for many times until you trigger events" stuff, single-stick top down shooters, FPS that you cant look up and down and many more
I do think there is a way to make fixed angles work; the early Silent Hills mostly utilized fully controllable cameras, where you could keep it behind you or swivel it side to side to see what's around you. It only used fixed angles to emphasize something in the environment, like a crucial puzzle piece or something of interest. In the cases where it wasn't used for emphasis, it was used to build tension. My personal favorite moment was from SH1 when Harry's running down the last hallway and the camera's right behind his back. It's not due to technical limitations either since you have free control of the camera 95% of the time so it makes those moments actually mean something.
So apparently in RE8 is a mini boss who is screaming for help while he is attacking you similar to the nightmarish Scagdead enemy from Revelations.
Ugh these kind of enemies always make me feel bad for killing them. They are victims of unethical experiments. BTW I think this is one good way to make people feel bad for the person they have to kill. It's not guilt tripping like in TLOU2.
So apparently in RE8 is a mini boss who is screaming for help while he is attacking you similar to the nightmarish Scagdead enemy from Revelations.
Ugh these kind of enemies always make me feel bad for killing them. They are victims of unethical experiments. BTW I think this is one good way to make people feel bad for the person they have to kill. It's not guilt tripping like in TLOU2.
Birkin did this in the remake if I'm not mistaken. During the first fight with him, you can hear him screaming for help amidst his roars or you can hear him calling for Sherry.
Personally I always found it way scarier than the mindless creatures of the series, because it shows they have a modicum of self-awareness but are unable to act on it, which is not only tragic, but utterly terrifying as well. Plus, as you said, it drives home the whole idea of unethical experiments and how that's the central theme of the series (not so much with Birkin though since the events of 2 are mostly his fault).
The Surge did that fairly well. Most of the enemies were locked into their exo-suits, and literally incapable of controlling what they did as a result. Later foes were cybernetic implants effectively dragging corpses around due to the humans long since expiring from injury.
