SolidSnakex
Member
There's a clear trend in sales data after RE2 release. RE3 and CV (the ones that weren't exclusive to GC) each have sold considerably worse than the previous installment.
..and then RE5 comes around and doubles or even triples the sales of classic RE titles.
Am I really having this discussion right now?
RE6 has sold sold less than RE5, so should that mean that Capcom should look into completely changing the formula? RE3 was widely viewed as not being as good as RE2, so it's not at all surprising that it didn't sell as well. And Code Veronica was initially a Dreamcast exclusive. That's the really unfair part of judging the performance of traditional RE games. RE3 was the last traditional RE made with the PS platform in mind. And that's an important note because PS platforms were by far the most popular at the time when the traditional RE's were still being made.
So, we really don't have a good idea of how a traditional RE would've done had the series stayed on the most popular platform. For example, the remake of Resident Evil on the Gamecube sold 1.3m copies while the much hyped and beloved RE4 sold 1.6m on the same platform. That's not much of a gap. The way that Capcom moved RE around in terms of platforms is one of the most mind-boggling decisions. I guess Mikami had full control over the series, and his dislike of the PS2 was well known.
I think nostalgia makes people think the retro RE's were good by today's standards. The controls were awkward, the writing was laughably bad, and the visuals aged poorly. Silent Hill has been a better horror story every step of the way, while RE has had the better gameplay.
The controls were awkward, but they worked within the rest of the limitations of the game. It's not like they ever put you in an unfair situation where you felt overwhelmed because of the controls. The game was designed around them. With that said, I don't think that they need tank controls if they were to make a game that was more in line with the classic series. They certainly could and I wouldn't mind, but there's no reason why it'd be required.
As far as the writing goes, do you consider the writing in the current games to really be so much better than they were in the old games? If anything they were better back then because there wasn't so much insane shit going on in it.
The Evil Within is a good example of the insane places RE would have to go in order to hold up as a horror title. At which point it stops being RE and more Silent Hill.
TEW really doesn't sound anything like SH. There have already been action sequences described that are nothing like you'd see in SH games. And even if that were what it'd be come, i'd say that's a far better option than what it has become, which is nothing more than an action game in a horror skin.