The Death (& Return?) Of Capcom

[Spark Of Spirit]

The thing is, RER was a step in the right direction from 5 (what little I played of it), but then with the sequel they threw out the stuff everyone liked from the first game. They didn't even offer it to fans who bought the original game.

Resident Evil is horribly mismanaged as it is. If the next game isn't a homerun, it will quickly join Onimusha and Viewtiful Joe in the dead franchise pile.

[talonmalon333]

What is the reception for Revelations' sequel?

From what I hear, they really want to return to the series roots of survival horror. Perhaps the RE2 remake is a way for them to test the waters there. It's true that they've said quite a few times in the past that they want to make scary games again, but after 6's poor reception and weak sales, perhaps they really want to return to form with RE7.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Everything I heard about with Revelations 2 was a step down with the first. Which is amazing, since the problems with the first game were so easily fixable.

[Foggle]

It's similar to Final Fantasy. Storylines thrived on a balance between lightheartedness and seriousness. But when Square heard fans screaming about how dramatic FFVII was (particularly because of Aeris' death), they dropped the lighthearted parts and made VIII overly moody and melodramatic. Though that was more than a mere franchise crash and was basically an entire genre crash. And yes, I blame FFVIII for killing the JRPG. That game can go die in a river.

Uh, I dunno, I think you might have your genres reversed here. I can easily list 50+ amazing JRPGs released since FF8, but I'd be lucky to even count half that high for great horror games released since the end of the PS1 era.

What is the reception for Revelations' sequel?

Lukewarm. Diehard fans love it just like they did 5 and 6 (probably because Claire and Barry are in it), but it's rare to see anybody have any real feelings toward it one way or the other. It's competent, but otherwise not notable, like RE0.

I watched about half a playthrough of the game before I got bored. It's basically an amalgamation of ideas copied from The Evil Within and The Last Of Us slapped together without any sense of artistry. The level design is really dull and the gameplay mechanics look like a step back from even its portable predecessor.

[talonmalon333]

Uh, I dunno, I think you might have your genres reversed here. I can easily list 50+ amazing JRPGs released since FF8, but I'd be lucky to even count half that high for great horror games released since the end of the PS1 era.

And there's got to be at least double that many released before FFVIII. The SNES alone was full of them... The JRPG genre has been known for being in a lull for quite a while now.

Also, I didn't say the survival horror genre has been hugely successful lately. Horror in general isn't a genre visited so much because it's not the biggest money maker. Though I suppose RE4's changes did kind of cause horror games to be less frequent than ever, sleeper hits aside.

Lukewarm. Diehard fans love it just like they did 5 and 6 (probably because Claire and Barry are in it), but it's rare to see anybody have any real feelings toward it one way or the other. It's competent, but otherwise not notable, like RE0.

I watched about half a playthrough of the game before I got bored. It's basically an amalgamation of ideas copied from The Evil Within and The Last Of Us slapped together without any sense of artistry. The level design is really dull and the gameplay mechanics look like a step back from even its portable predecessor.

The big fans loved RE5 and 6? I honestly didn't know that. I just assumed most fans loved REmake and RE2 and RE4, liked RE3 and CV, accepted RE0, and hated RE5 and RE6.

Also, I'm susprised Barry is in it. I figured that by now he's, like, sixty years old.

[Foggle]

And there's got to be at least double that many released before FFVIII. The SNES alone was full of them... The JRPG genre has been known for being in a lull for quite a while now.

There are just as many good JRPGs on the PS2 and PSP as there are on the SNES and PS1 tbh, not to mention all the great PS1 RPGs released after FF8, including its own sequel. The only lull I can think of has been on home consoles during the HD generations (which is more due to development costs than genre stagnation), and even then, we've still gotten plenty of classics, like Lost Odyssey, Xenoblade Chronicles, Demon's Souls, Nier, and others. Just because the last few Final Fantasy games haven't been all that doesn't mean the whole genre is in peril. Heck, I can name 7 excellent PS2 JRPGs from the Shin Megami Tensei franchise alone.

The big fans loved RE5 and 6? I honestly didn't know that. I just assumed most fans loved REmake and RE2 and RE4, liked RE3 and CV, accepted RE0, and hated RE5 and RE6.

I'm talking about the crazy people who think the series peaked at Code Veronica, believe the franchise as a whole has good writing, loved the story in Umbrella Chronicles, hate Shinji Mikami for "ruining Resident Evil", consider RE5's plot "brilliant," and argue that RE6 is an "underrated gem." I'm not kidding. These dudes really exist, and they're 100% serious.

[Rynnec]

JRPG's are doing just fine. The media just wants you to think otherwise because FF is the only JRPG franchise they really know about.

[talonmalon333]

I'm mostly talking about the HD generation. I didn't say FFVIII killed the genre right away because I know of some great JRPGs on the PS2. I just think it's been a slow crumble, and that the root of it is FFVIII. After that game seemed to please Square so much, they kept the stuck-up and joyless tone of that game with the following games (aside from IX which is intended to be a homage to the classics, and can hardly be called FFVIII's own sequel), and naturally, a total juggernaut like Square can make a big impact on the genre. You pinpoint development costs as the cause of the drought, but I do think it has more to do with the template simply being polluted by Square, along with perhaps the fact that WRPGs evolved more in the HD generation than JRPGs did.

I'm talking about the crazy people who think the series peaked at Code Veronica, believe the franchise as a whole has good writing, loved the story in Umbrella Chronicles, hate Shinji Mikami for "ruining Resident Evil", consider RE5's plot "brilliant," and argue that RE6 is an "underrated gem." I'm not kidding. These dudes really exist, and they're 100% serious.

Oh wow. Where do I even begin here? Like, I'm kind of impressed.

who think the series peaked at Code Veronica

Probably the most understandable part of this list. But no, just no. CV has too many parts that are just dreadful.

believe the franchise as a whole has good writing

Well, I guess RE2 had a decent story for its time, and RE4 works in a tongue-in-cheek way...

loved the story in Umbrella Chronicles

Ugh, that was the single biggest poison in the entire series. It ruined everything it touched. You know how much I hate how, during RE1's mansion incident, that terrible Russian villain was at the mansion doing stupid anime stuff?

hate Shinji Mikami for "ruining Resident Evil"

Yeah, I guess that's a fair thing for them to say. And everything that came after Mikami is fine.............

consider RE5's plot "brilliant,"

It was low tier action movie schlock masquerading as a conclusion to the Wesker and Umbrella storylines. Nothing made sense, and it's a shame because those plot threads deserved to end with some dignity. It just felt like they went so off track.

[Spark Of Spirit]

If your horror franchise has the main character punching boulders, chances are you're not doing something right.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I've gotta laugh at those who blame Shinji Mikami for ruining Resident Evil since the franchise kind of wouldn't even exist without him. Do those people literally just hate the series starting from the first game (which Mikami directed)?

And those bitching about RE4 don't even deserve to be taken seriously in any regard. That game saved the franchise and kept it relevant in the mainstream market. It's everything that Capcom did in Mikami's absence that hurt the series.

[Foggle]

I'm mostly talking about the HD generation. I didn't say FFVIII killed the genre right away because I know of some great JRPGs on the PS2. I just think it's been a slow crumble, and that the root of it is FFVIII. After that game seemed to please Square so much, they kept the stuck-up and joyless tone of that game with the following games (aside from IX which is intended to be a homage to the classics, and can hardly be called FFVIII's own sequel), and naturally, a total juggernaut like Square can make a big impact on the genre. You pinpoint development costs as the cause of the drought, but I do think it has more to do with the template simply being polluted by Square, along with perhaps the fact that WRPGs evolved more in the HD generation than JRPGs did.

It's hard to decipher why, exactly, JRPGs stopped being so prominent on home consoles during the HD generation, but the reason I feel like it has more to do with development costs is because they've lived on through portables ever since. Then again, FF7 is still one of the most expensive games ever made, so maybe the big budget JRPG has entered a lull...

Ugh, that was the single biggest poison in the entire series. It ruined everything it touched. You know how much I hate how, during RE1's mansion incident, that terrible Russian villain was at the mansion doing stupid anime stuff?

The reasoning has something to do with their hate-boner for RE4 and how it killed off Umbrella in the opening text scroll. Now, that's at least somewhat understandable, but I feel like none of these people actually remember anything about the game, because the whole Ada/Krauser subplot revolved around Wesker trying to start his own successor to Umbrella with him at the center.

Speaking of Wesker, everything in UC relating to him is bad on an unprecedented scale. It was like a 12-year-old's fanfiction. They could have just said, "Oh yeah, he escaped from the mansion when Chris & Jill weren't looking and started taking experimental drugs," but no, instead they turned him into a Gary Stu - literally God - who purposefully let the Tyrant attack him so he could be granted immortality?? Ugh it's so fucking bad.

Oh yeah, not only do the people I'm referring to actually like these plot developments, I've seen some of them insist that they were somehow completely planned out since 1996, and therefore do not count as retcons... yeah...

Yeah, I guess that's a fair thing for them to say. And everything that came after Mikami is fine.............

It's such a fucking disgusting accusation, because they really go in-depth with their hate for the man. They try to downplay his role in creating and shepherding the series, discredit the directorial work he did on RE1 and REmake, accuse of him killing the entire survival horror genre... I mean, I'm not even going to pretend to know the amount of work he actually did on any of his games, but it's pretty apparent how much love and effort he & his team put into what they make. REmake, RE4, & Vanquish are some of the most polished games I've ever played, RE1 is a brilliant directorial debut, and God Hand & The Evil Within display an unfathomable level of creativity. P.N.03 aside, you can always tell when you're playing a Mikami game due to how the core systems work, the pacing, the boss fights, and the way everything congeals together. The dude's a legend, and anyone in the game industry will tell you as much. Not to mention that Resident Evil really would have died without him. He's confirmed in interviews that, had he not made RE4 the way he did, Capcom would have been dissatisfied with the game and ended the series.

It was low tier action movie schlock masquerading as a conclusion to the Wesker and Umbrella storylines. Nothing made sense, and it's a shame because those plot threads deserved to end with some dignity. It just felt like they went so off track.

No, see, it had all been planned out since 1996. Just like how MGS4 was actually written in 1987 and Tetsuya Nomura has stacks of finished Kingdom Hearts scripts up until KH15 lying around his house...

I've gotta laugh at those who blame Shinji Mikami for ruining Resident Evil since the franchise kind of wouldn't even exist without him. Do those people literally just hate the series starting from the first game (which Mikami directed)?

And those bitching about RE4 don't even deserve to be taken seriously in any regard. That game saved the franchise and kept it relevant in the mainstream market. It's everything that Capcom did in Mikami's absence that hurt the series.

Of his RE games, they seem to (begrudgingly) like REmake, but not the other two.

Anyway, yeah, it's been stated multiple times that Resident Evil would have ended if RE4 didn't turn out so well. He literally saved the series, but no, he apparently killed it with TPS gameplay instead. Ridiculous.

[Spark Of Spirit]

JRPGs went to portables last gen. That's because Japanese gamers seem to prefer them there. There were a lot of great ones, too. Unfortunately, Capcom didn't capitalize with Breath Of Fire VI like everyone was hoping for, but SE, Atlus, and other companies took to it like a duck to water.

The HD games like Valkyria Chronicles simply didn't sell, as good as they were. I'm still sore over never getting VC3 for my PSP, but since it seems like the series is already dead, it hardly matters now.

[Foggle]

Breath Of Fire VI

why god why

The HD games like Valkyria Chronicles simply didn't sell, as good as they were.

And what a masterpiece that game was! VC deserved to sell millions, as did Nier.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Breath Of Fire VI

why god why

This is the kind of thing that people hate Capcom so much for.

[talonmalon333]

It's hard to decipher why, exactly, JRPGs stopped being so prominent on home consoles during the HD generation, but the reason I feel like it has more to do with development costs is because they've lived on through portables ever since. Then again, FF7 is still one of the most expensive games ever made, so maybe the big budget JRPG has entered a lull...

I mean, WRPGs did fine this generation, and I'm sure they cost no less than JRPGs.

The reasoning has something to do with their hate-boner for RE4 and how it killed off Umbrella in the opening text scroll. Now, that's at least somewhat understandable, but I feel like none of these people actually remember anything about the game, because the whole Ada/Krauser subplot revolved around Wesker trying to start his own successor to Umbrella with him at the center.

Umbrella's stock prices crashing was a bit anticlimactic, but it made sense. I mean, businesses die out, particularly if, well, they cause an entire city to die. I was willing to accept that, after Raccoon City's destruction, the world would turn on Umbrella. Besides, thanks to RE4, I didn't even think Umbrella's end would be permanent. He planned to bring it back, so it's not like the story was over.

Speaking of Wesker, everything in UC relating to him is bad on an unprecedented scale. It was like a 12-year-old's fanfiction. They could have just said, "Oh yeah, he escaped from the mansion when Chris & Jill weren't looking and started taking experimental drugs," but no, instead they turned him into a Gary Stu - literally God - who purposefully let the Tyrant attack him so he could be granted immortality?? Ugh it's so fucking bad.

To be fair, that was all story introduced as far back as CV.

But I think it's funny that, in Jill's scenario in REmake, Wesker actually does set off the self-destruct system and escapes. REmake actually retconned the fact that, in the original RE1, Wesker died in both Chris and Jill's scenarios. They should have just went with that retcon. Simple and easy to accept.

Oh yeah, not only do the people I'm referring to actually like these plot developments, I've seen some of them insist that they were somehow completely planned out since 1996, and therefore do not count as retcons... yeah...

How could those people think the series was planned from the start? I mean, Wesker literally died in the first game. There's no getting questioning it. He, the bad guy, was dead. I can imagine they considered the possibility of sequels, but if the whole thing was planned, it would not have gone down the way it did.

Resident Evil is full of plot holes and dead ends. If there was any plan from the beginning, that fact wouldn't be so obvious. Maybe they should have set up a game plan when it was clear that the series was getting big.