Resident Evil 3’s Minor Nemesis Background Change Was To Connect It More To RE4

While we’re waiting for the rumored Resident Evil 8 to be revealed, let’s take a bit of a step back for a minute and look at a game was released this year, the remake of Resident Evil 3. While the overall reception to that game was more mixed than the last two games in the franchise, it did well for itself, and is a very solid title in its own right. Like the remake of Resident Evil 2, the game kept the broad strokes of the event in line with the series ongoing established canon, but fans noticed there was a minor change to Nemesis, and while you probably had a suspicion why, it’s now been confirmed.

In an interview with PlayStation Blog, the development staff talked about making Nemesis, the iconic creature from the third game. While the bulk of the interview is about Nemesis being added to Resistance, they do talk about the change to the monster’s background in the main story. One aspect of the creature’s origin that was altered was that a parasite had been used in its creation. Those who are longtime fans most likely perked up when they saw the word ‘parasite,’ and yes, the point of it was to bring a more direct connection Resident Evil 4‘s enemies, which were infected by Las Plagas.

“We inevitably decided on [Nemesis’] final ability due to the presence of Ganado in Resident Evil 4. Ganado are humanoid enemies that are created through being infected with the Plagas parasite, the original basis for NE-α.

“We wanted NE-α infected enemies to be visually similar to the Plagas-infected Ganados as a means for fans to piece together how Nemesis fits within the whole Resident Evil franchise.”

If you’re unfamiliar, RE4‘s story was ultimately a huge departure from the previous titles, featuring parasites inside of a traditional ‘virus.’ While the Las Plagas was brought into future titles in various forms, 4‘s plot has always sort of stuck out in its relation to the other mainline games that came before and after.

There are some pretty reliable rumors that a Resident Evil 4 remake has been in the works since 2018 and is slated to release sometime in 2022 or 2023, so making a more direct connecting tissue than previous titles also makes a degree of sense here if that ends up being the case.