The recent release of Resident Evil Village has certainly been a success for Capcom, but not without criticism. Indeed, just in of story content, complaints have ranged from ludicrous plot twists to Ethan Winters being a bland protagonist. The game also veers away from the "pure," less combat-driven horror seen in Resident Evil 7 - which, combined with some other releases, may suggest that Capcom is trying to wedge too much into the RE branding.
It might be easy to forget that Capcom used to have other horror titles under its belt, like Clock Tower 3 and Haunting Ground. Resident Evil has been so overwhelmingly successful that, since 1996, it's been rarer for there to be a year without a new entry in the franchise. Indeed the biggest gap came only in 2013 and 2014, when the backlash to Resident Evil 6 forced Capcom to rethink where it was headed.
The result of that pause was the story of Resident Evil 7. The early portion of the game - with its emphasis on shock, mystery, and exploration - is usually considered to be the best part, a much-needed breath of fresh air in design. Things falter somewhat towards the end, perhaps not too coincidentally as more of the Resident Evil universe's conspiracies and bioweapons make their way into the story. Likewise, Resident Evil Village players have sometimes said they prefer its more supernatural aspects, for instance wanting to see more of Lady Dimitrescu - who, despite Capcom's marketing, isn't the game's major antagonist.
Horror Doesn't Just Need To Be Assigned To One IP
If Capcom had been willing to experiment and take horror beyond Resident Evil, RE7 and Village could've been truly original games and avoided the hard turns they took. Similarly, perhaps the company wouldn't be trying to cram multiplayer into formats like Resident Evil Re:Verse - the RE branding will certainly attract some players, but it's doubtful that that a horde of people are demanding deathmatches between Chris Redfield and Ada Wong. Capcom is arguably in serious need of a new franchise if it wants to be seen as innovative, since its biggest names are all decades old.
It's also a matter of fact that some gamers find the Resident Evil universe badly written, or at least too campy. Child-sized Spanish castle lords and unstoppable mutants with fedoras can be fun, but they're not especially scary. It's time Capcom stretched its creative muscles and gave players something as terrifying as P.T. or the Amnesia games - if it's well-made and well-marketed, there's no reason it can't be as successful as anything with the RE label slapped on it.
