How fan complaints led to Capcom taking Resident Evil back to its roots

Resident Evil 7 releases next week, and with it comes a new perspective for the venerable survival horror series. The single-player mode be played entirely in first-person, and the emphasis on scares and puzzles also marks a return to the series' roots. But why did Capcom decide to abandon the escalating action focus of more recent Resident Evil games in favour of tension and resource scarcity? In a new GameSpot documentary, several developers said that after Resident Evil 6 it felt like it was time to dial things back.

"After our sixth Resident Evil, we got a lot of feedback from fans," executive producer Jun Takeuchi said. "I think a lot of [people] loved the game. Of course at the same time, we know there's feedback that people thought we're going too far down the road of action horror rather than survival horror.

"That was great timing because, internally, we also felt, this is the time for us to just take a step back and re-evaluate what survival horror means to us and what Resident Evil means to us."

At Capcom, several developers including director Koshi Nakanishi felt it was time to look at the series and try to figure out what makes a Resident Evil game. Series producer Masachika Kawata noted how the directors of Resident Evil 4 completely changed the series' formula by throwing out all preconceived notions of what the series is and going with something new. More than 10 years later, Kawata says Capcom wanted to go with that approach again.

Despite going back to the series' roots, Kawata said that adopting the first-person perspective delivers a "heightened immersion" to the horror. Takeuchi said that "going back to [its] roots wasn't synonymous with just turning back the clock on gameplay systems or choices of camera systems."

"The most natural evolution in my mind was how do I get [players] to feel this direct sense of fear and atmosphere of the fact that this character is very much in danger?" he said. "For me, first-person perspective was a very natural fit for the future of survival horror while remaining true to the series roots."

During the time between Resident Evil 6 (2012) and now, independent developers have taken the horror genre in new directions. Games like Outlast, Amnesia, and Slender revitalized a genre that had become more action-packed than scary with games like Dead Space 3 and Resident Evil 5. 

Takeuchi said that it's been a "positive experience" watching these indie horror games rise to popularity, but he believes that there aren't many games that are truly like Resident Evil. His reason? It's a survival horror game, while many indie titles are purely horror. The difference, he explained, is that horror games are focused on how much they can scare the player, while games like Resident Evil want to scare you, but also give you the means to fight back.

"Even with limited sources, you're going to be able to face your fears and overcome them at some point."

The full GameSpot documentary talks more about how the original Resident Evil influenced future developers and how Capcom is reinventing the series. You can watch all of it here. Resident Evil 7 launches on January 24. For more on Resident Evil, check out our story on how Dead Space would have been System Shock 3, if not for Resident Evil 4.

On top of that, we recently ranked all the Resident Evil games on PC, from worst to best. Check that out, and make sure to tell us why we're wrong in the comments.

Latest in Resident Evil
Resident Evil Re:Verse
Resident Evil Re:Verse is reversing right off Steam, as Capcom claims it has served its 'original, celebratory purpose' despite mostly negative reviews
Resident Evil Village - Lady Dimitrescu
Terrifyingly good Humble Bundle deal nets you 11 Resident Evil games for less than the price of Resi 4 remake
Chris Redfield fights a zombie in 1996's Resident Evil.
I spent the last week roaming the Spencer Mansion and I'm here to tell you not to sleep on the new GOG release of 1996's Resident Evil
Resident Evil 7
Capcom announces the next mainline Resident Evil is in development, and the great news is it's being helmed by Resident Evil 7's director
Resident Evil 1 zombie
GOG is bringing the original Resident Evil trilogy back from the dead, and to digital PC storefronts for the first time
Box art for the original Resident Evil, showing a man with a weird face holding a shotgun.
A PEGI rating for the OG 1996 Resident Evil has me once again preparing to enter the world of survival horror
Latest in News
An Enshrouded player in a recreation of Erebor from The Lord of the Rings
Kings under the Mountain! 33 Enshrouded players spent 10,000 hours to recreate this iconic location from The Lord of the Rings
A mech awakens.
Mecha Break developer is considering unlocking all mechs following open beta feedback
Lara Croft Unified Art
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened