Capcom's leaking too?

 This industry needs a plumber

I don't support hacks or leaks or any of that stuff which takes the handiwork of a studio and breaks the carefully woven marketing machine they've constructed around it. If a title is in the works and the studio doesn't want the public to know about it yet there's probably a reason, either because there's some grand reveal in the works or that the project itself is so fragile that any extra voices in the mix could send everything up in the air. Who remembers the 'Batman: The Dark Knight' game which was in the works before Gary Oldman inadvertently gabbed about it and in doing so led to the death of the project and the dissolution of the studio? (Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little there but it's a myth based in truth!) I also didn't even blink an eye when I heard that Cyberpunk 2077 had broken the street date and that gameplay was already out there, who cares, the game is out in no time. That being said, I am only human and every so often there comes a title that's too volatile for me not to look into, a game I've waited too long for, so sorry Capcom, I'm about to look at your leaks a little too unapologetically.

So Capcom recently found their important systems hit with a randsomware attack, and that is just a terrible situation that no one wants to find themselves in. (Trust me, I have experience there) That being said, out of this has come a leak in the form of screenshot documents which label out a bit of a schedule for upcoming Capcom projects, many of which haven't even been announced yet. But it would do us no good to speculate without first accepting that any information we see here cannot be solid by it's very nature, schedules are always prone to changing and even more so when they haven't even been announced yet, so rather than taking this to be a oracle into the future we should see this as a confirmation for projects that Capcom are definitely working on or have at the very least seriously considered. So with that established, let's look.

So curiously enough the list contains 3 Resident Evil titles and only one of them we already knew was coming. Apparently the ill-advised Resident Evil 4 remake is going to be one of four Resident Evil products being made next year, (FOUR!) and if that's true then we can rest assured that Capcom learnt nothing from before and they are very eager to burn out this new renaissance of Resident Evil as quickly as possible. There's Resident Evil 8 which we've known about for a while know for it promises to bring us all our god and saviour; Chonkers Chris, but now there's 'Resident Evil Outbreak', and this one gives me pause. Resident Evil Outbreak was the name of a 2003 spin off game which was made to connect 2 and 3 (even more than they were already connected, taking place on the same night in the same city) with a cast of mostly forgettable side characters but still a few decent ideas for the franchise. This could be a remake of that game, although it's a bit weird given how they've treated Resident Evil up until now.

Capcom have struck proverbial gold in their remake series and it makes sense that they'll want to keep Resident Evil producing income for as long as possible, however up until now they're rather pointedly ignored every side game in the franchise. Most would assume that the first side game which would deserve a remake would be the one game in the series that should have been a main entry all along, Code Veronica, not Outbreak with it's completely inconsequential plotline. That being said, Outbreak does take place within Raccoon City, so it would be a good excuse to reuse a few of the old assets that the team have laying in their back room. And all of this isn't even taking into account 'Resident Evil Hank'. (Yes, apparently that is 'Hank' and not 'Hunk') I don't know what that could even possibly be, but I'm hoping it's a codename cause otherwise that's just silly Capcom, stahp it.

There's also a title called 'Biohazard Apocalypse' which seems like it's a Resident Evil title, only it shares a subtitle with one of those awful live-action movies and I don't know why Capcom would want to invoke their spirit ever. And a Street Fighter 6 which is the only thing in this leak which gives me significant validity doubts due to the fact that we haven't got 'Super Street Fighter 5' yet. Or 'Ultimate Street Fighter 5'. Or even a 'Super Ultra Street Fighter 5 Ultimate: The Final Fighters; Mania Plus'. Yet all of that is just window dressing to me, I could care less. If there's one title amidst all of this that drove me to write this blog, more than any other title possibly could, it's the  Q2 22 promised; Dragon's Dogma 2. (Oh yeah)

So if you're new around here you'll likely me wondering why it is that I care so much about Dragon's Dogma 2, thus I shall elucidate; because it's one of the most underappreciated action adventure games of all time. Dragon's Dogma bought to life this medieval world of gruelling hard-won fights against hordes of classical and varied beasts, all of which encouraged preparation, tactical deliberation and management of tools unlike any other game before it. I cannot tell you another game which has me genuinely checking my curatives regularly in every fight, and bare in mind that I've played every Souls game, not even those duels are so demanding! It's just a whole game built around this delightfully intense and brutal world where moments of reprieve are hardwon and the long walks between fights are actually a relief instead of a burden. Plus the monsters themselves are all spectacularly well-designed both in gameplay and visuals, the balancing allows for styles in customisation and the combat is versatile enough to please many different styles of play. It's a great game which was swallowed under the weight of Skyrim and other flashier titles, which is why I honestly never truly thought we'd see the day that Dragon's Dogma came our way again.

It's been so long without hope that I don't even know what to think now that we're finally looking at a sequel on the horizon (does 2 years away count as 'the horizon?') I mean I thought something might be coming after that Netflix series, but never did I honestly cast it a serious consideration, now I feel caught for words. But if I'm pressed, what would I want to see from a sequel? Well, I would hope that aesthetically the team lean more towards the dark and more creatively free concepts from the Dark Arisen re-release/expansion, as they demonstrated some of the more memorable visual spectacles there. And personally, what I really want to see is a lot more water-based gameplay, such as hunting some creature from the lagoon like a giant razor-toothed Angler Fish or a magic spewing sea turtle, something which completely shifts the balance of gameplay and has the player immersed in the sort of area that they've never been in before, the endless deep.

But who knows how things will end up ultimately settling? Remember that there's already technically been another Dragon's Dogma game that we haven't gotten to play (Dragon's Dogma Online, the Chinese exclusive) so who can say what direction the series has already indicated it's going. (Oh... I just referred to Dragon's Dogma as a 'Series'. What times we live in...) All I can honestly hope is that the spirit of the original game isn't altogether lost, because those moments of long treks across the woodlands may seem boring to some, but they mean all the world to a game that focuses so much on pacing! (Let Death Stranding's success be your reassurance!) Provided these dates are true, then E3 next year (or whatever it's equivalent) will be the time when we finally hear more about this fabled product, and more than anything else Capcom is working on, that's what I'm waiting for. (Don't let me down, guys!)