As the series has transitioned from horror to action, the enemies have become a mixed bag. Resident Evil has introduced us to some of the most iconic monsters in video games, including the Nemesis, Tyrant, Licker, Regenerator, Chainsaw Man and even the Ustanak. In Resident Evil 6, dynamic mutations were introduced that cause the J’avo to mutate upon taking damage. A couple random mutations could completely turn the tide of battle against you, making each combat scenario unpredictable. It was a neat addition, even though it could lead to some… comical results.
During my time with RE6, I witnessed enemies sprout chicken legs and start hopping around, one mutation grew what looked like a projectile-spewing beehive on the J’avo’s shoulders, another turned the J’avo into a dorky half man/half spider monster. Too many of the mutations were either silly or uninspired. The bosses, while fun to look at, were recycled numerous times in each of the game’s campaigns. In Leon’s story, the same boss returned a half dozen times. It was ridiculous, and it was a theme that was carried over into every campaign.
For Resident Evil 7, I suggest focusing on a smaller cast of enemies that are interesting to fight and please don’t force us to battle the same boss more than twice. After that it just gets tedious. And when coming up with these new bosses, let’s try our best to shy away from the goofy, stereotypical “take over the world” villains. They’re silly and I’ve had enough of them.
When Capcom decided to dumb down Resident Evil so it appealed to the “Call of Duty” gamer they removed the puzzles, ammo and resource conservation, and in the latest game, even the weapon customization was taken out. A series that used to test my skills as a gamer has become more of a “Horror Games for Dummies”. It’s not smart or scary anymore, and that’s worrying to me as a longtime fan.
Thankfully, this is an easy enough issue to remedy. You can start fixing it by bringing back the puzzles. I’m not saying they need to be as difficult as some of the puzzles in the early games were, but something more along the lines of what Resident Evil 4 offered would be a step in the right direction.
Make us strategize. I want to have to keep a close eye on how much ammunition and healing items I have at all times, and I’d like to be rewarded for exploring your beautifully crafted environments by finding rare treasures. In Resident Evil 4 you could sell your treasures for a decent amount of quick cash or you could find the full set — for example, a crown and all its jewels) — for a larger payoff down the road. That introduced another layer of strategy that, for some reason, was taken out in Resident Evil 5.
The most egregious move Capcom’s made in “streamlining” this series has been the removal of weapon customization in Resident Evil 6. No longer could we focus on upgrading specific weapons, we couldn’t even choose which weapons we wanted to keep. A specific arsenal was assigned to each character, and it sucked. I’m the type of gamer who enjoys creating and customizing an arsenal that perfectly fits my playstyle, not the playstyle of a game designer at Capcom who thinks these weapons best fit the situation.
That’s my list. It isn’t everything, believe me, there’s more changes I want, but these are a few I’d most like to see. If none of this is possibel, I’m totally all right with a reboot. Just scrap all the crap that’s been piled onto the Resident Evil universe. Clear the board and start anew. No more Neo-Umbrella, BSAA, Tricell, superpowered baddies, etc. But enough about me; what would you like to see?
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