Resident Evil 5's sales success guarantees a sequel, but producer Jun Takeuchi says he still won't be returning for the sixth installment. In an interview with Xbox World 360 magazine, Takeuchi admitted that the “shadow” of Resident Evil 4 creator Shinji Mikami put him under “extreme pressure."
"Yes, it's true we did feel extreme pressure - and Mikami-san's shadow - after Resident Evil 4," he told Xbox World [thanks CVG]. "However, because we were creating the sequel to this huge franchise we wanted to make our fresh direction clear." Mikami left the company in 2007 and recently announced the startup of a new studio called Tango.
Takeuchi said he was looking to take a sabbatical from the series in order to work on newer IP like Lost Planet. "Personally, I don't think I'm gonna deal with Resident Evil 6 at all - as far as the series is concerned I'm not planning to return until at least two more Olympics have passed!"
Whether this is good news or bad news depends on how much you enjoyed Resident Evil 5. Fans remain divided on the new mission-based gameplay found within the title - and the more questionable DLC costume choices.
2 Comments
May 8, 2010
Trying to equal or surpass Mikami on a RE title is not going to be easy for even the very best developers out there. So I think Takeuchi done well enough considering the pressure he was under. Trying to create a decent sequel to the much loved RE4, using the same sort of game mechanics was not going to be easy. I don't blame him for not changing the formula, this was beyond his control I feel, and even Mikami said Capcom could get away with one more RE title like RE4.
What I do object to is the way they seemed scared to go back to making the game scary, and instead chose to try and win over the Gears of war crowd by making the game very similar to a lot of games already out there such as ...Gears of war. The thing that makes RE special is the atmosphere, the pacing, the feeling of not knowing what is coming next, and of course the enemies. These things were all over the place in RE5, it didn't know what kind of game it wanted to be. Action or horror, and it ended up feeling nothing like RE.
Capcom took a chance on not reinventing RE with RE5, and it payed off for them as the game sold very well, but I get the feeling they were lucky, people who bought it thought they were getting a better game than they actually did. It looked like RE4, so it had to be fantastic right?.
I think Capcom know they have to put a lot more thought into RE6 than any other RE game to date if they want it to remain as one of the most loved franchises in gaming. The series is in the same trouble as when RE0 came out and people were saying how dated and familiar it all felt. Capcom need to take a gamble and reinvent the series so it raises the bar again. You cannot do that if you simply try and build on RE5 game mechanics. We need CHANGE. Capcom have the talent, the money, to make RE fresh and the best in the survival horror genre. RE5 was a good try at making RE into a action game that the casual shooter crowd would enjoy, but you're flogging a dead horse, it's time to move on or lose your core fanbase and the series true identity. Don't try to turn RE into something it's not supposed to be or you're going to regret it eventually.
May 9, 2010
what ever happened to the Resident Evil for PSP that got confirmed at 2009 E3? haha