Capcom is on something of a roll right now. Its Monster Hunter: World is the bestselling title ever for the company, the Mega Man revivals are doing a particularly great job of igniting interest in the upcoming Mega Man 11, Street Fighter continues to dominate the fighting game scene, and its 2019 Resident Evil 2 remake is set to be one of the biggest games of next year. I played it at E3 and it’s good. Very good. Capcom knows this, which is why it’s already looking forward to doing more remakes once RE2 releases.
I’m definitely the type of gamer who’d rather have a new title than a remake, but I can’t resist a top-to-bottom makeover of a classic title from eras passed. The amount of passion I see in the Resident Evil 2 remake shows me Capcom is serious about revisiting the games of its past and not content with simply upscaling one to 1080p and calling it a day. If it truly wants to continue down this path of wholeheartedly remaking games instead of just remastering them, I’m all for it. And thanks to suggestion by Brett Makedonski, that’s the topic of Destructoid Discusses Question of the Week. I want to know what games our staffers think Capcom should target next. For me, I think it should stay in the Resident Evil family and give us a complete reworking of Resident Evil Gaiden.
Taking a traditionally 3D game and turning into an 8-bit 2D Game Boy Color title, one that successfully captures the essence of the franchise, is a daunting task. It can be done — look at Metal Gear Solid: Ghost Bable — but it can also crash and burn. Resident Evil Gaiden is an example of the latter. Released in 2001, it features Barry Burton and Leon Kennedy infiltrating the cruise ship Starlight to investigate whether there is a new bio-organic weapon aboard.
The game was an absolute waste of money. It didn’t understand what it meant to be a portable game, offered none of the scares the franchise is known for, and changed combat to a weird, video-golf inspired shooting gallery. It’s a pretty goddamn pointless game, one that earns its Gaiden title well. But it has a good story, which is, at this point, the only thing keeping me playing RE games. Its story too many people missed before and one I think could be well told using the gorgeous Resident Evil VII engine.
Arguably one of the better-looking games of this generation, RE VII revitalized the franchise in a way nobody thought Capcom ever would. Its sales were lower than the action-packed atrocity that is Resident Evil 6, but Capcom doesn’t seem to mind that. It just wants to make good games, and taking the story from Resident Evil Gaiden and telling it in that engine could make for a good, if not absolutely great game.
Too often, remakes are wasted on games that were good when they launched and are still good today. It’s why we don’t need a remake of A Link to the Past for instance. History is littered with bad games that could have been good if they didn’t fall victim to either publisher demands, poor hardware, or simple mismanagement. Those are the games that need a remake most, a second chance to get things right. On the Dreamcast or GameCube or PlayStation 2, Resident Evil Gaiden could have been as memorable as Code Veronica. It’s time to give this oft-forgotten entry in the RE franchise another shot.
Source: Destructoid If Capcom wants more remakes after Resident Evil 2, it should focus on these classic titles