If you thought that the Resident Evil series has become too scary, you’re not alone. Original Resident Evil 2 director (and notorious internet curmudgeon) Hideki Kamiya recently expressed his view that Capcom had become “completely numb” to how scary they’ve made the series.
In a recent interview with Video Games Chronicle, Kamiya stated that he was being “one hundred percent serious” when he had mentioned back in June his idea of a “cozy” Resident Evil spin-off, where a retired Leon Kennedy walks his dog, grows vegetables and goes fishing. This comes after footage back in March of this year showed members of Kamiya’s newest development studio Clovers Inc. playing Resident Evil Requiem, with Kamiya off to the side commenting that Capcom should make a ‘non-scary’ mode.
“Speaking about that tweet the other day, specifically, I’ve never been a fan of horror. I mean, even from the time I was young, I could never handle it,” explains Kamiya. “I don’t like horror, and I don’t like scary things. I’m not able to make it through scary movies, and that was even the case back in the day.
“But nowadays, with how photorealistic and high-fidelity video games have gotten, the amount of crazy, horrifying things that people are able to put on the screen is absolutely insane, and I think anybody who’s on the Resident Evil teams at Capcom, at this point, they must all be completely numb to how scary the thing they’re making is.”
Kamiya then went on to again express his desire for Capcom to make it so that their games can also be enjoyed by people like himself, who can’t handle scary games.
“And so, it’s not a joke. I legitimately wished it would include some kind of non-horror mode for people like me, because I talk to folks who are on the Resident Evil teams at Capcom just privately, and I tell them that their games are way too scary, and they’re like, ‘what, come on, they’re not that scary’.”
Kamiya further explained his position, stated that he isn’t calling for Capcom to tone down the scares by default, but rather he argues that the horror elements could be treated like other optional elements of a game. He pointed to his Bayonetta series as an example.
“[Bayonetta is] obviously a game that at its core is an extremely technical action game targeting the most advanced action game players, but I also wanted anybody to be able to pick up the game and enjoy it, which is why we included the Very Easy Automatic mode,” he explained.
He stated that Capcom doesn’t have to do anything “super elaborate” when it comes to making future entries in the series more accessible. Something that would tone down the gruesomeness of the zombies, or lessening the oppressive darkness in the environments.
“I think even just making a few tweaks like those, it would make it so that somebody like me could make it all the way through the games. Oh, and no blood!”
Resident Evil Requiem is available on the Nintendo Switch 2, PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, and the Xbox Series. Meanwhile, Zach Cregger‘s take on the franchise with his Resident Evil film arrives September 16.
