Resident Evil has been around for a while, hasn’t it? The scope of its story has gone far beyond Raccoon City’s now-desolate boundaries, while the conflicts that stemmed from Umbrella’s apathy and The Connection’s meddling have snowballed into interesting stories in their own right.
Through it all, we’ve seen many faces old and new, and some of them have even risen to the ranks of legends in the gaming world. Honestly, we never thought about it all coming to a close, if we’re being honest with you. Greed is permanent, after all, and BOWs are a useful tool in serving it when they’re in the wrong hands. This then necessitates action from those with good intentions, and the circle continues.
Or so we thought. However, Jun Takeuchi, executive producer on the franchise, has pointed to a different plan in place for the cast we know and love, in an interview with Yahoo Japan (via IGN). It seems that Requiem has been more than just a celebration of a franchise that has withstood the test of time, and fans who have stood by it through thick and thin.
We’re diving into what was said, what it could mean, and what we hope it brings, so jump right in for another return to a world that still has a lot to give.
A Path Forward
It’s important to establish exactly what Takeuchi said before we allow our minds to wander into what the end of Resident Evil’s current timeline could bring to the story. Discussions about Code Veronica’s place in the wider story quickly veered into how the changes made in remakes, and what they could reveal about Spencer.
That soon became a conversation about how the story grew with successive games instead of it being a planned franchise from the beginning, and that RE2 Remake was the beginning of a ten-year branding strategy. Placing the remakes in the context of that bigger picture, he went on to tell that Requiem marked the end of that exercise, leaving the franchise’s story right where it was intended to be.
More importantly to our discussion, he said he expects a resolution to that story over the next decade, and that there are multiple titles to come as a result of that. There’s no precise final title, or even a window to go on, or any indication of what could come for the people at the center of those new stories.
Well, those new stories and games are a while away, and it’s time to give in to the temptation of our own imaginations. We’ve got some thoughts on what could happen, and some strong opinions on what should too.
An Intricate Web of Possibilities
Requiem’s ending makes a lot more sense when we look at it through the context of this new information. Why is that, though? Well, it leaves Leon and Chris in reasonably good places, with both men poised to take on roles they might have never imagined they’d have to, leading a new generation of characters with a BOW-sized bone to pick with Umbrella and The Connections.
We felt Jill and Claire were conscious, courtesy of their absence in the story other than those references, but perhaps Requiem was not the game to take their respective stories forward. But it isn’t too hard to imagine a path where The Connections lead all four characters to further discoveries about Umbrella and Spencer’s legacy, and perhaps even other plans the man had in case his little stunt with Elpis didn’t work.
We’re almost entirely convinced that there’s more of the antivirus lying around somewhere, and that it’s a very strong plot device that can easily bring all of the various characters and factions together across multiple titles. But how would the franchise address the greed and apathy that lie at the center of any plot involving BOWs? How would Resident Evil allow Leon, Chris, Claire, and Jill to finally bring a close to the war they’ve been fighting for such a significant part of their lives?
We’re going to leave the resolution of that particular quandary to the franchise’s writers, but the more interesting question to us is if any of these four core characters can actually leave their fight behind once it’s over. Their efforts to ensure nobody suffered the fear, terror, and after-effects of Raccoon City and all the subsequent experiences they’ve had have taken over their lives, after all.
We’re very interested in the epilogues that could arise from an end to their stories. Will Leon ride off into the sunset, perhaps with Ada Wong joining him for a well-earned retirement? Will Chris and Claire find peace at the end of a road that’s seen them take different stances as solutions to a common problem?
There’s Grace, Rose, and some of the other interesting people we’ve met over the years to consider too. Are they going to take over the fight from the ones they’re learning the art of fighting BOWs from? Takeuchi’s assertion about the story being part of a plan makes us feel it’s quite convenient that Grace and Rose have spent a fair bit of time with Leon and Chris, respectively.
And while Grace’s mind is her most important weapon, we can’t ignore the fact that Rose might be packing some serious firepower the next time we see her. Could Elpis take that away from her? Would she give up her powers willingly, or perhaps turn on her allies to protect them? There’s the potential for a great rise to heroism or a tragic downturn to villainy there, and we think her arc could go either way.
Of course, all of this is speculation about things that could happen over the next ten years of Resident Evil. But what about the things that are already in place in the remakes?
Altering Timelines Ever So Subtly
RE3 Remake is a great place to examine how the remakes have been setting up potential story threads for future titles to pick up on, changing little details to better fit the story that the franchise is trying to tell. Take Nemesis’s ability to create parasite-infected zombies, which the monstrosity didn’t have in the original version.
It’s a great showcase of how the developers explicitly changed something up to make Nemesis better fit in with the franchise’s overarching narrative while still preserving the original game’s unique vibe.
Another one is that post-credits scene where an unknown party picks up the damaged vaccine container, which immediately adds a new dimension to the story that the original didn’t have. With Requiem effectively bringing Raccoon City’s role in the narrative to a close in order to take the franchise to new places, having something that has clearly survived the city’s devastation is very interesting.
Could that vaccine have any connection to Elpis, perhaps as a way to recreate its formula? “Time will tell’ us about the identity of the mysterious individual, but patience isn’t a strong suit of ours when the possibilities of this little change are so compelling. Alas, it’s the only choice we have at the moment.
However, those changes are very important when seen through the lens of what Takeuchi has stated. There are just a couple of examples, and it’s hard not to think of each little detail as a potentially large story beat that’s coming later down the line. However, it’s best to just enjoy it all as it comes to us in this case.
The Final Page Of A Very Entertaining Book
It’s incredible to think that there’s still more Resident Evil to come, and that many of us are probably going to be distinctly middle-aged. But as far as a meaningful conclusion to the franchise goes, we just know that it can’t just be another outbreak and another big bad to take down.
It needs to bring things full circle for the people we’ve invested our time and emotions into, and showcase who they become in the aftermath of a fight they’ve devoted themselves to. Whatever’s next must also feel like a satisfying resolution to the unique problems each of them has faced, and align with their own perspectives as much as it can.
It also needs to give us resolutions for the people who might still have some fight left in them, but no foes to take on. The new generation of heroes that the franchise has steadily been introducing could either have a new fight to take on, or perhaps their whole lives in front of them depending on how well the old guard is able to handle whatever comes. But there’s no denying that the conclusions to their respective stories need to be as great as the people we already know.
That’s a tricky feat for anybody, but we’ve got faith that the team behind the franchise is already hard at work crafting the second part of a story that feels like it’s just getting started. We’re certainly locked in for the ride, though.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
