Highlights
- Resident Evil 9 needs to improve character relationships to match its cinematic evolution and compete with other games in the genre.
- The series has struggled with forced and underdeveloped friendships, making it hard for players to connect with characters on a deeper level.
- Resident Evil 4 set a good example with Leon and Ashley’s natural and evolving relationship, showing that there is potential for improvement in future games.
With Resident Evil 9 on the horizon, longtime fans of the seminal survival horror franchise are surely wondering how it will add to the already stellar lineup of modern Capcom games. Indeed, the studio behind IPs like Resident Evil and Devil May Cry has been churning out hit after hit these past few years, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t a few rough areas that need to be sanded down.
Pretty much every Resident Evil game manages to set an enthralling stage. The convoluted, B-movie quality of the series’ lore is propped up by unforgettable characters like Ada Wong, Leon Kennedy, and Chris Redfield (alongside some more milquetoast ones like Ethan Winters). What these characters lack in depth and complexity is made up for with campy charm and heroic antics, and the franchise has produced more than a few gaming icons during its nearly three-decade run. At the same time, the often surface-level portrayals of these characters can make it hard for them to connect with each other, which is a problem when the story seems to want them to.
How a Resident Evil 5 Remake Could Iterate on Co-op Mechanics
A Resident Evil 5 Remake is likely in the works at Capcom, and if that’s the case, it needs to significantly improve the original’s co-op mechanics.
Resident Evil 9 Has to Land Its Interpersonal Relationships
Resident Evil’s In-Game Friendships Are Often Weak
From hard-hitting dramatic series like The Last of Us to more light-hearted fare like Ratchet and Clank, plausible, captivating relationships abound in gaming. But Resident Evil can sometimes feel behind the times in this regard, as the chemistry between many of its lead characters can often feel forced and awkward, even as the series grows more cinematic and high-fidelity.
In the Resident Evil 2 remake, for instance, Claire and Leon only cross paths a few times and only briefly, but the tone of their interactions seems to suggest that they care for each other the way close friends would—the game gestures towards bonds that haven’t been formed. Resident Evil 3‘s Jill and Carlos have a similar dynamic, where their closeness feels a bit unnatural.
But nowhere is this befuddling approach to character interactions more apparent than in the Winters games. In Resident Evil Village, Ethan meets a woman named Elena who, after less than 10 minutes of screen time, dies in a fire. This is tragic, of course, but Ethan acts personally affected by it, screaming “Why does everybody keep dying on me?” and the whole scene has the tone of a much more intimate, moving loss.
Though their
time in
Resident Evil
is brief, Mia and Ethan
are fairly believable as husband and wife (if a bit underdeveloped), but the latter’s relationship with Zoe falls victim to the same pitfalls as the aforementioned bonds: it’s forced and not properly developed, which causes issues when the game wants players to be torn between saving her or Mia.
Building Better Relationships in Resident Evil 9
Resident Evil is not bereft of good character dynamics, despite some notable awkwardness. Leon and Ashley in Resident Evil 4 is probably the best relationship in the series, as their interactions feel natural and understandable, and they have a good bit of chemistry to boot. More importantly, they are given time to develop a relationship, as they are together for most of the game and rely on each other in clear, direct ways; when Ashley is worried about Leon and vice-versa, it’s palpable, as the game builds their connection over the course of several hours.
Last year’s Resident Evil 4 remake evolves Leon and Ashley’s relationship, making it even more relatable, natural, and balanced, so perhaps Capcom is moving in the right direction when it comes to character interactions. If Resident Evil 9 can translate some of RE4‘s strong narrative qualities, giving in-game relationships room to grow naturally rather than asserting their importance, then its story could be all the better for it.
Resident Evil 4 Remake
A remake of 2005’s Resident Evil 4, Capcom’s game follows Leon S. Kennedy as he heads on a mission to save the President of the United States’ daughter from the Los Illuminados cult. Blending survival horror and third-person shooter gameplay, Resident Evil 4 (2023) will build on the success of 2019’s Resident Evil 2 and 2020’s Resident Evil 3 remakes.
- Released
- March 24, 2023
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
- ESRB
- M for Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- How Long To Beat
- 16 Hours
- Metascore
- 93
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
