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Capcom should do something radically different with RE5 remake, here's my idea.

I don't hate RE5, I don't love it, imo a lot of the game is just kind of boring to me, you visit a lot of generic locations that feel like you've seen them a million times before in games that don't scream "Resident Evil" to me.

I also hate the way the game tosses Spencer aside like it does, Spencer, the big cheese behind Umbrella, the man who kickstarted the whole events of the series and he's just a throwaway secondary villain we barely learn anything about unlike how we got deep dives into the Ashford family or James Marcus, am I the only one that's always been bothered by that?

That's before you get into the controversy surrounding the game which would be even worse today, instead I think Capcom should sidestep the issue and take the opportunity to deliver a very different RE5 than just following the original game, here's what I would do.

First off expand the DLC Lost in Nightmares to be most of the main game or at least the first third, expand the estate of Spencer and add a lot more backstory to who he is and where he came from, instead have Ouroboros be the main threat, borrow from the original version of RE4 and even Devil May Cry, here's how I'd start the story...

Chris and Jill infiltrate Spencer castle, while Spencer can still be a sickly old guy in a wheelchair, have him be a cocky mother fucker who's throwing a masquerade ball made up of investors and other top level former Umbrella staff, he's reassuring everyone that despite the bumps in the road, his dream of world domination is not dead! Umbrella will rise again! But uh oh, Wesker attacks the castle with Ouroboros, infecting everyone in the castle save for Spencer himself.

When someone gets infected with Ouroboros, they become like something between a zombie and a ganado, zombie like in appearance, leaking gross black ooze, but with a lot more intelligence like a ganado and able to use simple weapons, so the primary enemies in this first act would be the party goers, who would be dressed in masquerade clothing and masks, think something along the lines of Mardi Gras meets Eyes Wide Shut, not unlike the Marionettes in Devil May Cry, very creepy in appearance and Spencer's staff who he would have dressed in 1600s/1700s style outfits, as Spencer would essentially like LARPing as someone from that era, the walls would be lined with medieval era weaponry as decoration the infected would grab hold of and attack you as well as knives, anything they can get their hands on, but they also would be willing to rip you to shreds with their bare hands or snap your neck, Spencer could have a special lab facility in his home filled with nasty creatures that get loose in the chaos like Lickers, Hunters, giant spiders, regular zombies or even never before seen T Virus experiments.

Ultimately Chris and Jill confront Spencer and have a proper showdown with him this time around, Wesker does arrive however and now Africa is kind of like the equivalent of Antarctica in Code Veronica, we avoid the whole African cities and villages and whatnot and jump straight to the ancient ruins where the T Virus flower was originally discovered and it's nearby Umbrella facility, the third act would be Wesker's onship facility (less like a generic cargo ship this time and more like a floating ultra high tech lab) and then the showdown with Wesker at the volcano and boom, we're done.

That right there would be a lot more interesting than the boring cities, mines, oil facilities etc of the original game, maybe it's Chris and Jill the whole time, maybe Sheeva returns and joins Chris when he does travel to Africa, maybe it's just Chris this time and we drop the co op angle, either way I hope Capcom takes this opportunity to really rethink the game and deliver a much more proper finale the story arc of Spencer and Wesker.
 
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Robb

Gold Member
I wouldn’t mind any of that. RE5 need some major ‘adjustments’ if they want to catch my interest.
 
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Mr.Phoenix

Member
So basically they should make a new game and call it RE5 remake?

Well... that would be the only thing that could save that game.

If you ask me.. the RER thing should stop at RE4. let them make somethng new. Okami... or a new breath of fire.
 

Kakax11

Banned
I know, right? Sheva is so fine, not generic video game babe fine, but cover of vogue and on the runway in Paris or Milan fine, like she is such a baddie it makes zero sense 😆

Well, who's the streamer Capcom will use to play her?? like they did with other females in the remakes
 
I love RE 5, and wouldn't mind if a hypothetical Remake was radically different from the Original. Even implementing some of the stuff you mentioned.

You can only do better then the Original. As much as I love, a Remake could ONLY improve it.
 
What's controversial about RE: 5? I just played it. Seems like a more action-y evolution of 4 with some CO-OP tacked on.
As far as I know:

Some not so well aged "racism" and bad representation (I think it's massively overstated, personally... Not a big deal at all, but to each their own).

The fact that the game completely abandoned its horror elements (RE 4 was an action game with some genuinely scary and nerve-wracking sections. RE 5 is straight up A action game, with NONE of the above)

And The Co-op, made it look like the single-player was forced in. And the Co-op is the objectively better version of that game.

Which for a single-player centric series, was controversial and a bad implementation of it.
Even though it wasn't exactly new, cuz RE Zero and 4 played with the Co-op concept.

It was a risk that went well on the Co-Op side, because again, it's genuinely great. But the single-player feels like an afterthought.

I think that's about it...
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Really though, RE1 could use a remake. I know there already is one that people love (it's great), but it's completely different and inconsistent from what they've now done with 2-4.
 

intbal

Member
No. It should be the same as the original.
But with Sheva in a G-String and Chris in a MAGA hat.
Then let the media burn itself to the ground in rage.
 

SHA

Member
Something radically different?
They should remake Code: Veronica X instead.
They run multiple surveys so we pick something different, I don't remember exactly when it happened, but the series haven't just changed from re4, they also changed the series origin, it's not the same when you look back from documents or playing remakes and playing the original series, it's not the same and at least you should know the difference, you know you could watch some yt videos talking about things Capcom wants you to forget about RE.
 
I agree with the DLC being included in the main game. I feel like it should be used as a longform prologue and also be used to introduce Wesker to new RE fans who have only played the remakes.
 
As far as I know:

Some not so well aged "racism" and bad representation (I think it's massively overstated, personally... Not a big deal at all, but to each their own).

Some of the reactions may've been called for (like the part where all the villagers of one place are dressed in tribal outfits; while that is still a thing with some tribes in Africa, they only seemingly do it for ceremonial purposes).

But many others weren't, and felt like white and ultra-progressive Americans projecting their viewpoints of racism onto a Japanese video game product.

The fact that the game completely abandoned its horror elements (RE 4 was an action game with some genuinely scary and nerve-wracking sections. RE 5 is straight up A action game, with NONE of the above)

It didn't completely abandon them; there's the one mission in the village where you and your partner are running back and forth along two ends trying to survive a wave for what feels like 10 minutes of enemies relentlessly coming, which was tense. Then the part where you encounter the lickers underground and have to fight them off while you get on the elevator and ride it.

Those were genuinely tense, scary moments for me. The game just didn't have enough of them.

And The Co-op, made it look like the single-player was forced in. And the Co-op is the objectively better version of that game.

This part is 100% true. Nothing an AI rework for Sheva can't fix.

Which for a single-player centric series, was controversial and a bad implementation of it.
Even though it wasn't exactly new, cuz RE Zero and 4 played with the Co-op concept.

It was a risk that went well on the Co-Op side, because again, it's genuinely great. But the single-player feels like an afterthought.

I think that's about it...

Yeah, that about sums up the main issues. It's still a great game, but a redesign of some of the missions and making Sheva's AI a lot better would immediately catapult the game into greatness.
 
It always cracks me up when people complain about this game but have no problem with every other game out there that has you genociding white males exclusively. Pretty hypocritical.
 

Apocryphon

Member
RE5 was objectively worse than 4 by an order of magnitude, but still better than 6.

I like OPs suggestions. Same general plot and characters, mixing up the locations and enemies in a more sensible and logical narrative that would feel much more like RE4 than 5 did.

DLC as an extended prologue would be great, I like that a lot. Though personally I feel like they could easily drop the co-op element. I never liked Sheva and have always preferred Jill’s as a character.
 

Reaseru

Member
It always cracks me up when people complain about this game but have no problem with every other game out there that has you genociding white males exclusively. Pretty hypocritical.
Or the other 4 or 5 previous games of the same franchise, where the only black person the protagonists kill is Marvin (for good, since he became a zombie).

The original game took a lot of heat in 2009. I don't want to imagine what would happen with the remake of RE 5 these days. Ooof...

CAPCOM should focus on remaking Code Veronica. Of all the RE games that should get an update, the adventure of Claire Redfield in Rockford Island is the one that truly needs it.
 
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hollams

Gold Member
I've played through the game about 4 times each with different people and loved it. It's a great co-op action game but not any real horror.
 

ShadowLag

Member
I like the way you think OP, but personally I'd have them stick to the original as much as possible in terms of plot... just heavily improved and changed where necessary. I think a remake of this game with a better writing and direction team combined with modern visuals and gameplay using the same overarching plot would already feel radically different enough.

A remake of the Lost In Nightmares DLC sized as a single chapter as the game's opening would be a great way to give it the context the original didn't have at the start. Maybe remove some pointless boring chapter (of which there are many, for sure) to make way for that.

They have to keep the core of RE5 intact though; which I believe to be:
  1. Two player coop start to finish
  2. Chris and Sheva vs. Wesker
  3. "Fear in daylight"
  4. Action focused
  5. Coop Mercenaries
Without these things, you're not playing RE5.

#1 In terms of the coop, they must:
  • Keep and improve upon the real-time inventory sharing mechanics; giving stuff to your partner is important
  • Keep and prioritize good online modes and split-screen; keep the ability to drop in/out of hosted online games at will
  • Improve the in-game communication feature, ie the voice commands like "wait", "go", "help me", etc. - add more options here and make it more streamlined

#2 Sheva has a lot of potential as a character. I liked her, but she was clearly an afterthought to the story writers. Give her more time to shine and show us why she's unique in both story and gameplay. Perhaps even give her her own chapter? Also:
  • In addition to generally improving the AI for your single player partner, they should create a "stance" system for them; a mini-menu you can call up during gameplay that allows you to select between aggressive, balanced, defensive, or passive mode.
  • Add the ability to switch to your partner during gameplay, just like RE0.
  • This is a game where your AI partner can die and end the mission, not like modern games where partners are magically indestructible and invisible. Keep the original philosophy and make the mentioned changes to iron out the kinks that cause dumb game overs that aren't the player's fault.

#3 The "fear in daylight" concept was something they advertised early on but they either dropped it or just didn't deliver on it properly. They should bring this concept back and make it work.

#4 They should keep the game action oriented, but it needs to be balanced much better with horror elements. I think the RE4 remake is the PERFECT game to look at in terms of improving this area.

#5 It would be a literal crime against humanity to exclude this from the base game. People still play RE5 mercs with each other online to this day. God tier coop fun with a buddy, and the leaderboards are eternally enticing for the hardcore of us.

Yeah. Hope we get it some day!
 
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Some of the reactions may've been called for (like the part where all the villagers of one place are dressed in tribal outfits; while that is still a thing with some tribes in Africa, they only seemingly do it for ceremonial purposes).

But many others weren't, and felt like white and ultra-progressive Americans projecting their viewpoints of racism onto a Japanese video game product.
I get what you mean, and I agree.
I guess my biggest annoyance is people assuming malice from those things. Like the devs of Capcom were actively trying to represent African people badly and in a racist way.
And the whole "white people mowing down african folk" narrative has always been weird, to me. Again, just assuming a lot of malice from their part.

But I think pointing out they made mistakes on that area, is completely fair, and I totally hope the Remake does a better job. If there will be a Remake that is.
It didn't completely abandon them; there's the one mission in the village where you and your partner are running back and forth along two ends trying to survive a wave for what feels like 10 minutes of enemies relentlessly coming, which was tense. Then the part where you encounter the lickers underground and have to fight them off while you get on the elevator and ride it.

Those were genuinely tense, scary moments for me. The game just didn't have enough of them.
I understand. They weren't for me, specially compared with what RE 4 had, but I can see that.

Oh, ACTUALLY! Let me back off that, because I remembered something. That one creature that looks like a huge cockroach. That one-hit KOs you if it grabs you.
I think it was an actual Cockroach. That was genuinely scary for me, and anxiety inducing.
But yeah, I wish there was more of that in RE 5.
This part is 100% true. Nothing an AI rework for Sheva can't fix.
Totally. Sheva is a great partner for Chris, and unfortunately her AI, and the whole "babysitting her inventory" stuff, made some people hate her in a drive-by way.
Yeah, that about sums up the main issues. It's still a great game, but a redesign of some of the missions and making Sheva's AI a lot better would immediately catapult the game into greatness.
120%.
 

Fbh

Member
I've played through the game about 4 times each with different people and loved it. It's a great co-op action game but not any real horror.

This.
I get why people didn't like it but it's a really fun co-op action game the likes of which we don't get very frequently anymore (as Co-op in the AAA space has primarily shifted to GAAS loot crap or games inspired by Left4Dead).
If they remake it I'd be fine with a fairly straightforward remake.
 

bender

What time is it?
Tack an a multi-player invasion system so the boulder can have his revenge on Chris.

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For everyone saying RE5 doesn't need a remake, it does, the original game is flawed and a remake is a great opportunity to improve it.

This isn't just about the graphics, the original does still look ok, but this is about making it a better game.

For everyone saying Code Veronica needs a remake, I agree, but a remake of 5 will probably happen sooner or later.
 
Bumping this to add that some of my ideas could also be used in RE9.

Reveal The Connections HQ to be an utterly extravagant Italian palace, or if not Italian, have it a castle that's the Spencer family's ancestral home, the home we see in RE5 was one of Spencer's homes, it was not THE original home (why would he not be hiding out somewhere other than his main home?

Spencer might be long gone and his lineage gone, but the family palace remains, filled with secrets and information about who Spencer was, how he discovered the village, what lead to him to discover the T virus and why did he develop such an obsession with it all, this could be the HQ of The Connections they could made up of former high ranking Umbrella staff and surprising high prolife figures in business, military, government and media from all over the world who sympathetic to their cause and gathered to celebrate an utmost decadent masquerade ball

Then someone or somehting crashes the party, maybe when Chris learns the BSAA has been controlled by The Connections all along HE unleashes a new strain it, infecting anyone as he infiltrates to take down their leader, there could be the whole plot theme of "beware when fighting monsters that you don't become one" and Chris asks himself if he's going too far and become just like Wesker?

Eventually you'd make your way down into the depths of the castle where you find an old alchemy laboratory, turns out Spencer's assester was also interet=sting in such things and created proto-Tyrant esque homunculi and other proto BOWs.

You could even see Bas Reliefs on the old stone walls (or medieval tapestries maybe) depitcing at what first glance looks like King Arthur, but he's got Wesker's face! and Merlin but he looks Saddler!

Yes, it turns all along the Spencer family has dreamt about creating master race ruler to rule over mankind.

Ultimately you make your way to the heart of the complex and learning the shock truth of the whole series' and it could either way, maybe Chris confronts Spencer who's not really dead after all, Wesker killed a clone, a decoy or he simply used his super science together so he got better (after all Wesker survived getting slashed by a Tyrants claw)

Or it could be someone new, the leader of The Connections who reveals, they are a Illuminati esque secret society who have been a rival to Umbrella and Chris, my boy, you were always our aset, you were always seen the right man for the job taking down Umbrella, you've been our puppet for your entire life.

Chris is flabbergasted, because the man before him... IS HIS OWN FATHER! "join me, my son! Now that we wiped those other idiots out, join me and we'll rule the world together!

After Chris shouts "no!" he does what has to be done, turning his father into a monster, killing him and then making the HQ explode, cue ending scene narration as Chris talks while flying away in a helicopter Jill brought him "for over 25 years bioterrorism has been a threat to the world I've been fighting it just as long, I never could have imagined the evil of our world would have such deep seeded residence, but now maybe, maybe the world can finally be free to choose it's own destiny" while Chris and Jill exchange knowing glances.

BOOM, fade to black, Resident Evil 9 title card and the series over with, let's all pack it up.
 
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