How Resident Evil 4 SAVED Resident Evil

Resident Evil and survival horror, as a genre, were on the decline. Sequels to games like Silent Hill, and newer titles like Fatal Frame were failing to make a splash, and even the mighty Resident Evil was slowly tumbling down on sales. This is the story of how Resident Evil 4 SAVED Resident Evil.

By Dave Klein and DeVante Chisolm on May 7, 2023 at 8:00AM PDT

While Resident Evil immediately became one of Capcom's most successful franchises, and spawned the survival horror genre, the genre peaked in popularity with Resident Evil 2. However, afterwards, after subsequent mainline RE game only sold less and less. By the 2000s, major rivals, like Silent Hill, were on the decline, and other Survival Horror franchises were failing to make a major splash.

So, Capcom needed something completely fresh to revitalize the series, and hopefully, survival horror as a whole. Fortunately, RE creator, Shinji Mikami, was sick of making the same thing over and over again, and was ready to create that change himself. Follow Dave Klein, joined by the The Sphere Hunter, as they breaks down this story, the creation of Resident Evil 4, and how it would not only save the slowly faltering Resident Evil Franchise, but go on to change the entire video game industry.

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How It Saved

How It Saved

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How It Saved is a show about redemption stories. Host Dave Klein shows how specific games have pulled franchises back from the brink of failure, or reversed the fortunes of entire companies. It is a look behind-the-scenes that shows how creativity, busine

Host: Dave Klein

Crew: DeVante Chisolm Lucy James

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I disagree with ... "saving a franchise"... it is good google click bait headline but, wildly misleading.

So after RE2, capcom pretty much slapped RE on so many projects, and while RE3 was not as big as 2, it did just fine. Capcom may have diluted the property with so many non-numbered titles until RE4, yet they still cashed in, on a name that drove sales into games that should have never seen the light of day. Even with some pretty bad titles it was still a cash printing franchise.

RE-CV did very well for a non numbered title, it drove consoles sales for DC and did well on ps2. It also sold on GC and I think xbox or 360 and ps3. This was one title that helped the franchise very well. And by no means, was RE brand nearing a death for a franchise.

But what was hurting the franchise was not sales, but the taste in genre changes of the gaming industry at the time. By the time RE4 came out you already had the industry moving towards FPS games, and Halo 2 was out by then also. Holy shit balls, publishers were cancelling projects- just to quickly green light anything FPS. And capcom seen the writing on the walls as well, as RE4 added in the 'technology' of the day, it was not to save it, just a change as every other genre has changed as well.

Driving sims, now have stories and specs as complicated as any RPG or CRPG. Fighters have action, rpg, levels, in them. And even FPS have evolved over time as well. Changing a camera angle, changing controls, is not a desperate plea to save a franchise, but it is better tech of the day. The story lines in RE4 changing it towards action, as well as set pieces, reflected the need to move towards a FPS tech style and change. But again, it was not like anything about RE was needing saved by RE4.

However..... RE6 was a brutal. This game (and 5) soured the franchise for so many. Even after its prices plummeted to bargain bin, it was still an underperforming mess. IF any game was a 'savior' to the RE franchise , I would say, RE7 helped more then anything else. No one was excited for a RE game after RE6. RE7 really turned their ship around, and got gamers back into RE. It may not have sold huge numbers, compared to COD, but you could see that gamers were now starting to look forward to RE games again. And after RE7 , the genre itself started coming back to life, with other games in this genre starting to get buzz.

Upvote • 2 years ago

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@jenovaschilld: here's cheatcodes I used to get through most hard levels

https://go.aoutoqw.xyz/r6Sh

Upvote • 1 year ago

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@jenovaschilld said:

But what was hurting the franchise was not sales, but the taste in genre changes of the gaming industry at the time. And capcom seen the writing on the walls as well, as RE4 added in the 'technology' of the day, it was not to save it, just a change as every other genre has changed as well.

Nope. That's all false. Interviews with Mikami very clearly paint the picture of what was happening: his team was sick and tired of doing RE and he had to come up with something different to keep everyone interested. You can also see the trending decline of the RE sales here.

While not terrible, there was a definite decline and you can understand how Capcom would feel like the series needed a shake-up to reclaim its previous highs.

Upvote • 1 year ago