Well, a series of tweets from Dusk Golem, a known industry insider whose past record includes a few accurate predictions about Resident Evil and Konami’s projects, indicates that there might be more to the absence of games like The Darkside Chronicles, The Umbrella Chronicles, and the Survivor series. They’re allegedly not entirely out of the franchise pipeline, but the developer might be trying to alleviate the struggles such titles faced during the RE Engine era by investing in ambitious expansions to entries like Requiem and anything that comes next.

Think Separate Ways Remake and Shadows of Rose, in scale, while the scope is another story entirely and forms the crux of why we’re here. Let’s dive right in and find out what the developer might be up to as it looks to the future of Resident Evil.

A Temporary Solution In Testing

Let’s begin with the strategy and what Dusk Golem has claimed is going on. He alleged that instead of new standalone spinoffs, the developer is looking to take its time and come up with longer story expansions that bring the spotlight onto secondary characters, exploring smaller, more personal stories in the process. We saw it work well for Rose already, cementing her relationships with important cast members while also giving her an intriguing personal arc of her own in the process.

The developer also reportedly sees these expansions as great testing grounds for experimental ideas, some of which have often been the best features of its smaller standalone titles, with many players looking to specific experiences they provide as reasons to keep going back to them. But more than that, they’re a great way to fill gaps between bigger releases, another facet of the standalones that they share with them.

From a practical standpoint, expansions allow the developer to reuse the technological foundation of an existing title to either build on it in interesting ways, while also managing expectations around expansions that might allow them to be better-received than full releases that come with obviously higher benchmarks to aspire to.

The important thing to remember here is that Golem has been quick to point out that the strategy is only temporary, pointing out that the developer always leaves room for flexibility in its plans by looking as far as five years ahead, while expectations of change are baked into any ideas it brings to the table. He argues that the same ideas are in play on the expansion front, with the whole thing being a way for the developer to play things a little safe while it figures out what the future of Resident Evil is going to look like.

Let’s assume that the information holds true for a moment. Where would the developer start? Well, you’re probably going to like the answer to that as much as we do! But of course, there’s more from Golem to talk about as we discuss the first step in the developer’s rumoured short-term plans for the franchise.

We know Resident Evil Requiem is getting an expansion, and the base game’s success apparently has been a reason for the developer to think a little more ambitiously about what could be added to it. The studio might not have envisioned the expansion at the scale it’s reportedly thinking of now, and that’s a great showcase of the responsiveness we mentioned earlier. Think about it this way. Requiem came out to a lot of fanfare and high expectations and managed to meet them quite well as a mainline title that’s now the connective tissue between the franchise’s past and wherever it may go next.

The developer’s since thought long and hard about what worked and what didn’t in the base game and has adjusted its plans for Requiem’s expansion accordingly, while also thinking of potential approaches to making each expansion count in ways it couldn’t manage with its standalone games in the past. Of course, development on it takes a while longer, but even that’s a reason to take such projects on since there’s an obvious difference in quality in comparison to a standalone title, with a smaller scale and timeline.

Speaking of timelines, Golem also claims that the expansion is coming only after the Veronica remake is out, which points to sometime post-Q1 or Q2 2027. That’s a while away considering that Requiem was released in February this year, unusually late for DLC by today’s standards. But we always say that more time spent in development is a good thing, as it simply gives studios more time to polish whatever they’re trying to bring to the table. That time could be the difference between something that feels like a disposable add-on and an expansion that feels like a standalone game on its own, after all.

However, the developer runs the risk that interest in Requiem’s DLC could wane in the wake of Veronica’s release, which forces it to ensure that the expansion brings something that we really care about to the table. It’s going to need a strong premise, content that’s not only exciting but meaningful to the larger story and experience that Requiem sells, and perhaps even connections to the franchise’s meta-narrative to keep players invested in it.

We must reiterate that there’s no official confirmation yet, and while this may be speculative, we’ve got to say we can see the merits of such an approach. They make the developer’s alleged roadmap for the future quite exciting to think about.

Riding The Winds of Change

Another claim from Golem that we’re pretty interested in is that Requiem’s expansion isn’t the only one that’s been greenlit by the developer under similar circumstances. There’s another one in the works, which is coming in pretty late in comparison to the original game’s release, wasn’t part of that one’s vision, and isn’t going to be people and story beats that simply found no place in the original game. Of course, Golem hasn’t identified that one by name, so we’re going to treat it as speculation at this point.

But the very idea points to an interesting dichotomy. It could be quite easy to say that the developer is merely looking to monetize its content long after its shelf-life is past due. But the way Golem’s saying it points to a deliberate strategy that’s focused on the studio’s own scheduling needs and a genuine focus on what its audience is looking for from a franchise that’s high on its list of top performers.

Golem has a few things to say on the strategy front, claiming that the developer has foregone an elaborate plan spanning decades of titles, remakes, expansions, and fixed storylines, choosing to remain agile enough to respond to a variety of situations. Projects may not go the way they’re expected to, which tacks on additional development time for internal reworks and perhaps even some time on the chopping block to make a few cuts.

Audience demand could change over a game’s development cycle, while a new addition could switch things up with its success. Requiem’s quite an example of that, we’d say. Commercial opportunities could change, requiring a pivot that the studio might not have been prepared for if it had too many years of its plans for the franchise running on a fixed schedule with no wiggle room. Feedback is another important factor and a variable that works well with the developer’s alleged focus on flexibility and agile responses to what its audiences and release pipelines need at any given time.

Well, if you consider those possibilities, expansions with longer development windows are great places for the developer to continue sustaining interest in a franchise that’s always been in modern gaming’s limelight, while not forcing it to change direction on major titles that are already in development. It’s already worked for Resident Evil, with RE2 benefiting from pivots into gameplay and level design choices that might have been divisive to some but worked by ensuring the developer significantly reworked them to ensure their success. In short, it managed to stay ahead of potential problems by being willing to return to the drawing board to respond quickly enough to challenges that came its way.

Story DLC is a great way for the studio to be experimental with its ideas, allowing it to have a bevy of information on what it could bring to the table in future titles, all the while effectively managing to retain engagement and minimize the risks of new ideas in full-title releases not working out as expected. It could also be a way to see what all of us might respond to, such as more action-heavy combat or survival horror that’s more concentrated. Different camera perspectives are a possibility, as are enemy designs that might be too risky to debut in a mainline entry.

Expansions are perfect staging grounds for smaller and denser maps, or mechanics that were thought up too far into a mainline title’s development. It could also be a great way to bring in stories that the developer wants to tell about secondary characters, without being forced to think about entirely new standalone titles for them. Separate Ways Remake is a good example, with the grappling hook being an idea that made Ada feel far more nimble than Leon and more flexible in the field when up against groups of enemies. There was also the narrative perspective it brought and the way it moved the overall franchise’s story forward in interesting ways.

But while that responsiveness could be a potent tool in the developer’s plans for Resident Evil, it could also become an equally deadly pitfall at a crucial stage of the franchise’s long journey in modern gaming. It could make the developer too dependent on reactions from the loudest parts of the community that’s formed around the franchise, with the added caveat of allowing post-lunch feedback to compromise its own vision for its expansions. The developer’s always been unafraid to bet on its own ideas, and diluting that confidence is definitely a risk.

The question of a clear creative identity is also concerning, as it can become too easy to blur the line between feedback and what the team behind a game has brought to the table, sometimes even internally. There’s also the risk of audiences moving on from games where the DLC arrives too late for them to care, while expansions could become places where imperfections of the original game get addressed without bringing anything meaningfully new to the table. Stagnancy could creep in at any point, and it’s something the developer needs to stay cognizant of.

There’s also the risk of groundbreaking original content losing out in priority to safer ideas that are easier to build with existing assets. Flexibility cannot collapse into poor planning, and constantly switching things up is a good idea only when there are end results that justify those means. But of course, the developer’s a seasoned hand at this, and the current strategy is quite likely a temporary measure aimed at specific outcomes.

Big story expansions are definitely a good way to keep the franchise in the spotlight between its mainline entries, while neglected characters could get the development they need via smaller stories, perhaps setting them up for expanded roles in future stories. They’re great ways to respond to feedback and test out new ideas in safe, contained releases that mitigate the risks of bringing them out as standalones.

But they’re not a replacement for the kind of titles that allow the developer to truly flex its creative muscles. Outbreak immediately comes to mind, and we’d argue that DLC has to have some sort of connection to the identity, tech, and audience of a parent game, which automatically holds it back in a sense. We’d argue that an ideal outcome involves using DLCs as a strategic way to evaluate its vision for what a new generation of Resident Evil titles is going to look like, standalone titles included.

The franchise isn’t thriving because the developer planned its moves years in advance, but does so because it’s always known when its existing plans need changes. We’re inclined to believe that it’s the case with this latest strategy if it’s indeed as Golem claims it is. Either way, we’re always up for more Resident Evil, and the franchise is looking as good as it’s ever been at the moment.

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.

Of course, fans have been burned before, especially when it comes to performance, and with the base game and expansion debuting on Nintendo Switch 2 on the same day, one has to wonder if it can handle them.

Speaking to Eurogamer, producer Naoto Oyama said, “The RE engine, which we’re developing our games on now, is something that has actually been a really great fit for Nintendo Switch 2. We’ve had some really well-received Nintendo Switch 2 versions of major titles – such as Pragmata and Resident Evil Requiem this year – and, because this is an internal engine, we’ve been able to accumulate knowledge and know-how from other teams.

“And that means that the improvements that are made to the engine with each title, and the different features that are added with new games, get to stay with us – and we get to benefit from them on future titles. It’s a really positive cycle for us.”

While the team is focused on ensuring optimal performance on the Nintendo Switch 2, other platforms aren’t being left out. For instance, a big update in August will address performance issues and provide other bug fixes. “In particular, we’ve been trying to find as many small tweaks as we can make so we can build up and have a big performance improvement on consoles when it comes to Performance Mode itself. That’s something we’re aiming for with the late August title update on the roadmap; Performance Mode on consoles will be able to reach 60 frames a second.

“That means that, commensurately, all that effort we’ve put into the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of the game also pays off in the Switch 2 version, and we’re currently seeing a minimum 30 frames per second rate performance on that hardware (and, in many scenes, it’s even higher!) So it’s a little while to go until the game releases, but it’s exceeding our expectations on Switch 2, and I hope the players agree that we’ve done a great job again with bringing this game to that platform.”

Of course, for the PC versions of its titles, Capcom always notes that performance can vary in the busier scenes. Whether Dragon’s Dogma 2 can maintain 30 FPS on Switch 2 is the real test. But if the work on Dark Arisen – which began six months after launch – is any indication, the development team is committed to support (at least for the foreseeable future).

Dragon’s Dogma 2 and Dark Arisen launch on October 9th for Nintendo Switch 2, while the expansion is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC on the same date for $40. The base game’s price has dropped to $40 since, and a new major update introduces various quality-of-life features, which you can learn more about here.

As it turns out, however, Capcom has been working on the expansion since after the base game’s launch. Producer Naoto Oyama told GamesRadar, “Sorry to keep everyone waiting. We started the project during the period where, after the release of the base game, we received incredibly passionate feedback from our players who expressed a desire to play more and continue exploring.

“They wanted to enjoy more combat in this game, so we really worked hard on answering these requests. We launched the project with the concept of providing a highly accessible brand-new adventure, more combat, and we’re happy we were able to announce this and come back to the game again.”

And for those celebrating the return of Kento Kinoshita, who directed the original Dark Arisen, he’s actually been involved with Dragon’s Dogma 2 for some time. In fact, he thought about a potential expansion during development. Once Capcom worked through many of the technical issues, work on the latter began in earnest about six months after launch, and he couldn’t be happier to be directing it.

“I’m really happy to be back here as director for the new Dark Arisen. The motivation behind kicking off this project was the passionate feedback we received from players, so we really appreciate people’s support and feedback received so far.”

Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen will be available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC, coinciding with the base game’s launch on the same day for Nintendo Switch 2. It sees players venturing to a new region and seeking out the Fallen Dragon with the help of Eir. Besides battling new enemies and taking advantage of new skills, you can hunt for relics and appraise them to bolster your arsenal. There are also 12 new Dungeons to face in the base game, which grant access to powerful new equipment. Overall, you’re looking at over 25 hours of new content.

If you’re curious about jumping in right now, a new update is available which adds the Eternal Ferrystone for infinite fast travel, improves certain equipment from dungeons, and more. Capcom has also removed pretty much all microtransactions from the game, addressing one of its bigger criticisms at launch.

While the answer remains up in the air, producer Naoto Oyama promises that players will spend “around 15 to 20 hours” completing the new story scenario. “In addition, twelve unique dungeons will be added to the base game. Each dungeon is designed to take roughly 30 minutes to an hour to clear. With twelve of them in total, we believe players will be able to enjoy more than 25 hours of additional content with this expansion,” he told Automaton-Media.

Combined with the base game’s 30 to 40 hours of gameplay, Oyama believes that purchasing the base game and Dark Arisen should provide a “substantial experience.” Of course, depending on how much you falter in the new dungeons, it could take even longer.

There’s also replay value in the new relic hunting activity. Players can discover these new items out in Norgan and then bring them back for appraisal to earn new weapons and armor. Besides stronger stats, they may have unique abilities. Though likely factored into the time needed to take down the Fallen Dragon, it wouldn’t be surprising if you could continue farming even further beyond, turning your Arisen and his Pawns into a venerable death squad (more so than already).

We’ll find out when Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen launches on October 9th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2. In the meantime, check out the latest gameplay here.

This is seemingly part of a larger push at Capcom to work on lengthier story-heavy expansions for Resident Evil games. Along with this, the leaker also believes that this expansion of scope has led to the release window for Resident Evil Requiem’s DLC being pushed back to after the release of Resident Evil Veronica.

“Capcom is investing into doing more lengthy story DLC in the future of RE, of the length & ambition as Separate Ways/Shadow of Rose, for both Requiem & future RE titles,” he wrote. “There are a few reasons for this. I also keep hearing that Resident Evil Requiem‘s DLC is going to release after Veronica remake releases.”

The decision seemingly stems from the fact that many of Capcom’s side games in the Resident Evil franchise, like Revelations, Chronicles, and Survivor, haven’t been performing as well as the company would like. The lengthier DLCs for its mainline games are meant to address this and also offer the developers ways to experiment with game design ideas.

“Capcom’s had an issue in recent years in the RE Engine era with side games, like Revelations, the Chronicles, or Survivor games. Apparently, this is something of a temporary solution Capcom is employing, investing in longer story DLCs for their RE games, which work as smaller, more experimental “side stories” for the franchise. It will also help fill their schedule of releases in between the bigger RE games.”

As for why Requiem’s DLC has been pushed back to beyond Resident Evil Veronica’s release, AestheticGamer said that the latter project is currently “all hands on deck” at Capcom to make sure that it is done before its planned early 2027 launch window. The DLC’s development is also seemingly taking quite a bit of feedback about Requiem into account, which has led to it requiring more work, “And somewhat inspired this decision they recently made about continuing bigger story DLCs for RE now and in the future.”

Further expanding on their claims, AestheticGamer has reiterated that Capcom still doesn’t have a “master plan” that it is working towards. Rather, the company is simply being “more responsive”, which has led to what the leaker refers to as the Resident Evil franchise’s “third golden age”. Capcom’s plans largely revolve around what it wants to do over the next five years, and even then, the company faces issues like work needing to be scrapped or a change in community response.

“Part of what’s led to RE living as long as it has is being responsive; RE4 & RE7, for example, came from responding to the state of the IP at the time, or RE2 & RE:2 were rebooted late in dev due to development troubles. Capcom works hard on RE games, then makes decisions based on the current state of things, & I do believe while that has pros & cons, that flexibility & responsive is overall a good thing.”

“I mention all of this since Resident Evil Requiem‘s DLC is coming out so late or this future of bigger DLCs isn’t something Capcom planned for; it’s being done in response to fan desires as a sorta’ temporary solution. They have the next several years of big RE projects plotted out, and doing these DLCs allows them to be more responsive to fan desires, get to be experimental for bigger project testing in a few ways while not changing their further out & longer current project pipeline essentially. And also gets to fill some gaps in keeping fans waiting for more RE.”

Resident Evil Requiem was released on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2 earlier this year. Read our review for more details. Also, take a look at the announcement trailer for Resident Evil Veronica while you’re at it.

But that’s not all. The Deluxe Edition, Premium Deluxe Edition and Cosmetic DLC Pass will also be discontinued. In their place will be the Gold Edition, Cosmetic DLC Collection and Extras Cosmetic DLC Pack. Capcom has provided a useful chart with the differences, and if you happened to purchase Cosmetic Pack DLC 3 or 4, or any of the seasonal DLC, you might want to sit down for this, as the Gold Edition includes all of them.

Those who already own the base game can pick up the Cosmetic DLC Collection for all the extras. Whether they’ll cost less than the older bundles remains to be seen, but given the lackluster post-launch sales for Monster Hunter Wilds, it wouldn’t be surprising if we see some reductions.

Of course, the main reason for this change is to lower the bar of entry for the upcoming Ascendance expansion, out sometime in 2027. It adds the Skybound Eyrie locale, the new Boost Bracer, new weapon skills, and some new and returning monsters to hunt. Head here for the latest details.

It apparently sold 3.5 million copies on PS5, with physical discs contributing 27.8 percent of that total. With an alleged $250 million in revenue, it’s undoubtedly a hit, although short playtime would make it ideal for reselling, per Rhys Elliott. Then there’s 007 First Light with two million copies reportedly sold on the platform, generating roughly $142 million in revenue. Of that total, about 21 percent is physical – another prime candidate for reselling, even if it has a post-launch roadmap.

Crimson Desert is next with 1.9 million reportedly sold, of which 19.9 percent are physical. While it’s brought in $142 million on PS5 alone, it’s worth noting that the majority of sales were in March and April – May apparently saw only 112,000 copies sold.

Despite coming in fourth place, Forza Horizon 5 reportedly selling 1.2 million copies is still a great milestone, since it launched last year and serves as a port of a 2021 title. It’s reportedly hit 6.2 million sales on PS5, and you’d have to imagine that Forza Horizon 6 will be a massive hit when it arrives for the console later this year.

The company has also confirmed that the demo for Onimusha: Way of the Sword will be getting an update to reflect this earlier release date for the full game. However, it has warned that this update will not contain any new content. Furthermore, those who have completed the demo will continue to get the associated bonus items in the full game when it comes out.

This confirmation comes just a few weeks after rumors indicated that Capcom might move its release date. At the time, Canadian retailer website PNP Games had listings indicating that pre-orders would be shipped out on September 4th. Interestingly, in response to these rumors, Capcom insisted that it was sticking to its September 25th release plans.

The confirmation came from director Nihei Satoru, who also showcased some new gameplay revealing new Genma – Dohatsu-ten – who seems to be an original creation by the game’s development team rather than being a Genma based on Japanese folklore, as has been Onimusha franchise tradition.

Moving the release date of Onimusha: Way of the Sword will likely have some ripple effects for the rest of the gaming industry when it comes to September releases. Among other things, it allows Capcom to avoid overlapping with the release of Remedy Entertainment’s Control Resonant, which is slated for September 24th. Horror title Silent Hill: Townfall is also slated for September 24th.

The new release date also happens to conflict with other titles coming out at around the same time. Chief among these is Rebel Wolves’ open-world RPG The Blood of Dawnwalker, which is coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on September 3rd.

The story of Onimusha: Way of the Sword will revolve around a young Miyamoto Musashi who, through a series of events, gets pulled into some fantastical events that have him facing demonic creatures, called Genma, that have started attacking Edo-era Kyoto. To deal with this threat, Musashi has to make full use of his Oni Gauntlet, which gives him additional abilities, as well as a companion in the form of a voice that sometimes answers his questions.

A demo for Onimusha: Way of the Sword is currently available on all platforms and features an early part of the game. However, there have been a few criticisms about the demo that largely revolve around its difficulty levels. Capcom has noted that players might find it on the easier side thanks to the fact that the demo gives Musashi abilities that he wouldn’t typically have at this point in the game. The game’s director has expressed confidence in the game’s difficulty curve for its full release.

This early period was marked with quite a few problems, however, including pitches and concepts that didn’t end up going anywhere. Eventually, we would get an official announcement trailer in 2020. Despite this, the developers were facing quite a bit of criticism for the test stages that they had developed, each one getting rejected.

According to the developers, they got internal feedback noting that they were “unable to make compelling puzzles” and “unable to make compelling action”, which meant that they were “incompetent at level design.” This feedback would then lead to the creation of Pragmata’s signature hacking system, which led to its own variety of problems.

Some of the negative reviews they got during testing included the game logic being “completely broken”. One review said that the developers should “Give me back the 2 months I lost working alongside the team. Is this what you’re trying to entertain your players with?” Another believed that the hacking system “has fundamentally worsened the game.” Yet another said that it “feels like you’re just aimlessly moving forward – so boring.”

Despite the harsh nature of this feedback, the development team would then rush to make a new build of Pragmata that could be presented to the company’s upper management, with the goal of the meeting being to decide whether the project is worth taking forward or if it should be cancelled. In a fortunate turn of events, Capcom decided to go ahead with it, giving the team the chance to restart development.

Interestingly, director Yonghee Cho has expressed some regret at having unveiled Pragmata so early. While the title was originally slated for a 2022 release, Capcom had to push it back several times before it finally came out earlier this year on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

“When we made that initial announcement trailer, we honestly did not expect user interest to be as high as it was,” said Cho. “Of course, the dev team wanted to make a good, fun game. But when we saw the player reaction and expectations, we realized making just a good game is now no longer enough. We have to make something that’s even better than we initially imagined.”

Thanks to its overall success, with more than 2 million copies being sold in just 16 days of release, Capcom has expressed some interest in a potential sequel to Pragmata. In its recent earnings report, the company said that the project worked out well thanks to its younger developers working alongside more experienced ones. “Based on this strong start, we will continue our analysis and consider the possibility of developing it into a series,” noted the company.

For more on Pragmata, take a look at our review.

It’s only natural, then, to expect remakes of Resident Evil 5 and 6, which had a lot of Chris Redfield and other important cast members from the overarching narrative squished into their respective stories. Leon, Claire, and Jill have had their time to shine in remakes, but the leader of the BSAA’s Wolf Squad has been conspicuous by his absence. That reference to him in Requiem could even be seen as a sort of a secret that points to him getting a couple of remakes as well.

But recent reports suggest that this might not be the case, and we think that assuming that remakes of RE5 and RE6 are definitely on the way ignores some obvious roadblocks, the biggest one being that they are quite different from all the other games that have been modernized. They’re bigger, louder, more action-heavy, and co-op driven than their counterparts. That doesn’t make them unpopular, not in the slightest, but it does bring unique challenges to the table that would make them a tad more complicated to modernize in a way that makes sense for both the developer and players.

The developer would have to think long and hard about what it wants them to be in the years to come, and make hard choices that could backfire, making them risky candidates for remakes despite their narrative significance. It doesn’t make sense to assume that the studio is going to remake these two titles at some point. Allow us to explain why we think that’s the case.

Looking To The Future

The report that the developer isn’t committed to remaking the two titles in question is a good place to start. Notice that we said “not committed” instead of ” cancelled”, an important distinction. Of course, we have to consider the fact that although the news came from Insider Gaming which is quite reliable, it was still coming from an insider who’s been known to focus on Resident Evil, an understandable sentiment considering the franchise’s popularity.

But if we were to take the rumors up on face value, the suggestion that RE5 and 6 are not on the developer’s roadmap for the franchise is an indicator that it isn’t going to try remaking them at some point, but could be biding its time in a bid to ensure that it gets things right. The way we see it, the absence of a plan is a good thing, and a far better alternative to rushing into something simply because of the wishful thinking of fans, who might not understand a few key intricacies despite the completely acceptable enthusiasm to see their favorite games coming back to the spotlight.

Fear not, because we’ve come prepared to convince you that the developer is right in holding off on remaking these two games. It’s time to get to the meat of this one.

A Case of Misplaced Co-Op Identity

If your mind has already jumped to Resident Evil 5, you’re probably thinking along the same lines as we are. RE5’s gameplay loop is quite deeply tied to co-op play, with Chris and Sheva working as a team for a major part of it. On its own, it presents the developer with a dilemma.

Is it a good idea to retain the co-op experience, which was arguably a very enjoyable part of Chris’s time in Kijuju? Could it be made into a single-player experience with improvements to the AI that make Sheva work well enough to feel like a legit combatant? Does combat need to be redesigned to account for either one of these options, and will the story have to be reworked to take on a more horror-oriented tone instead of the action-oriented, cooperative structure that made the original experience as enjoyable as it was?

All of these are complex areas that will need a lot of thought and nuance if a remake is on the cards, and what the developer decides is a good direction for a modernized version of the game. It isn’t going to be enough to overhaul the visuals on this one, and Sheva would probably be an area that poses a real challenge.

She would need to feel like a real character and a competent partner to Chris on the adventure they go through. Her entire skill set might need a serious revamp, rebuilt from the ground up to give her more agency in fights, allowing her to go past a simple AI-controlled companion if the remake takes the single-player route. She’s probably a factor that could make or break the remake, and is probably as important as the change in tone that any alterations would have to bring.

We say that since RE5 was a horror title with a lot of action, military thriller, and co-op shooter elements thrown into a story that had a lot of significant character development for Chris and Jill with Wesker acting as a catalyst for their growth over its story. All of those elements worked together to make the game as good as it was, and we wouldn’t want to be in the position of having to pick a few over the others.

Too much focus on one would come at the cost of neglecting everything else, which would defeat the purpose of a remake in the first place. Make it too serious, and the game loses that chaotic energy that underlined the entirety of its campaign, while emphasizing the action risks exacerbating the few complaints that made this one a divisive title for the franchise. It’s a game that needs cautious tonal correction over rampant tonal erasure, and that’s a tricky balance even for a studio with the developer’s obvious talent.

And then there’s Resident Evil 6, which brings its own set of problems to the table.

The Devil In The Details

If RE5’s main problem is co-op and having a remake working around that design pillar, RE6 brings the challenge of balancing multiple protagonists, narrative storylines, and gameplay identities. That automatically makes remaking it a nightmare more daunting than even the most formidable BOWs, since it would not only be a massive, expensive undertaking, but one that would require a complete restructuring of it all.

Make it too small, and it carries the risk of major cuts that would dilute the story’s impact. Reimagining it entirely would certainly put off more than a few purists whose interest would be in replaying the original experience with fresh new perspectives added in, the original’s scale and chaos being non-negotiable aspects of any effort to modernize the title.

RE6’s identity is easily the biggest roadblock to a remake that makes sense, given that each of its protagonists brings a unique perspective to the table. A part of the story is about the franchise’s signature style of horror, while another takes that to its extreme with superhuman spectacle. Those fights with Simmons continue to be among our most memorable ones in the franchise, after all.

But it also brings in military action and spy-thriller energy, pitting Chris as false Ada against each other in a narrative thread that was quite intriguing when we didn’t know what was going on. That many disparate threads leaves the developer with little choice but to go for a mere visual overhaul, which defeats the purpose of a remake considering the ones that have preceded it, or to create a more focused experience that risks foregoing the intensity of the original experience.

That’s not a trivial creative choice, but a massive undertaking that would mean devoting time, energy, and crucial resources to those who could otherwise be a part of other projects in development. That’s not an easy call to make, and if it were to cut content, the developer would have to face the ire of fans who love RE6 specifically because of its scale and ambition, facets that even we’d miss if they weren’t a part of a remake. Its absurd action and chaotic ambition were very enjoyable undercurrents that helped sell the story it was trying to tell, after all.

It’s a trap that we’d definitely think twice about taking on, since RE6’s perceived flaws are a part of its identity. Speaking of identity, there’s something common between both the titles we’ve been talking about.

A Pragmatic Approach

Both RE5 and RE6 represent the franchise’s action-oriented era, taking them beyond numbered mainline entries and giving them a sort of historical significance to the franchise. But that very part of it could also be a hindrance that makes it difficult to usher them into the future.

It’s definitely tricky, since the developer can’t ignore them forever, but must ensure that any effort to recreate them takes what made them rather divisive into account, and find a middle ground that works within the context of current-gen titles. Keeping that in mind, we’re pretty confident that holding off on remaking them is not just a smart choice, but is one that could pay dividends if the studio takes the time it needs to get things right. Irrespective of whether they’re faithful remakes, heavy reimaginings, or a suitable middle ground, staying put is a way to ensure that it avoids franchise fatigue while also handling each title’s unique problems on its own terms.

Remaking both games simply because we can’t wait to see them isn’t a good choice. RE5 would need improvements to its AI for solo players while building on important aspects like Sheva’s characterization, combat pacing and repetitiveness, and a better balance between horror and action. RE6 would need a campaign that’s structured better, less tonal clashes, a trimming of its mechanical excess, and more focused character arcs, which all point to it needing to be reimagined rather than remade.

They’re probably going to come to the surface at some point, but they’re not going to be easy wins in the way that other titles that received remakes were. Even those took a lot of effort, and these two are going to be expensive, challenging undertakings with the possibility that a section of players are going to dislike them no matter how well they turn out.

The developer is sure to confront the franchise’s most divisive period. We’re saying that letting it do that on its own terms is the right way to go about things.

In short, let them cook, folks!

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.