Resident Evil 8 goes Mercenary

 My extraction point!

So a big surprise for me to hear about randomly whilst I was otherwise occupied, is that Resident Evil had another showcase event just the other day. (Actually, as of the writing of this blog it was just a few hours ago.) And my first reaction is; wow, really? I'm not trying to tell these guys how to do their marketing job at all, I would never presume like that, it just feels like the Internet just got done with their horny jail sentence after getting up close and personal with the ravishing Lady Dimitrescu. (Savour these moments of blissful ignorance until the actual game comes out and she mutates into a horrifying worm-monster-thing at the end of the real game. Mark my words) And now we have yet another event to talk about, just after the unsuccessful beta for RE:Verse. (Didn't get invited to that one, but I heard all the horror stories. Not the 'good' kind of horror either) Maybe the guys over at Capcom are just really invested in making this game as much of a cultural icon as possible to guarantee success. It just rubs me wrong, is all. (I see events getting strung together like this and I start to think of the grand con that CDPR pulled from Cyberpunk. Makes me nervous)

Alongside all the confusing new announcements was a VR mode- coming to Resident Evil 4? Yeah, you heard me right. Not coming to the Resident Evil 4 Remake we know that they're working on, but the original Resident Evil 4. (Or a VR approximation of it.) Mechanically I can actually understand why this is the case. Resident Evil 7 was surprisingly well received on PSVR, and that game worked so well because it was already first-person. But if the team wanted to go back and retrofit some of their old games to capitalise on that same success, they'd be limited due to the camera and prop restrictions of the original games. (Plus, those games look dated as heck nowadays. No one wants to get up close and personal with those models) Now Resident Evil 4 isn't exactly a spring chicken, and this VR footage really does show the age of the game we're working with, but it is the first game in the series to feature a free camera and thus all the assets of the game have already been designed to be viewed fairly up close. I'm sure some extra work had to be done here and there (such as texture upscaling) but the potential was sure and there. 

My only question is why. Why do this and why now? Why, when everyone's waiting on that stupid Resident Evil 4 Remake announcement that they're literally just holding over our heads now? Why, when they themselves should be preoccupied with launching Resident Evil 8 in the best state that it can be? Why? Well, let me tell you. Because they know full-well the similarities between 4 and 8, and Capcom want everyone thinking of the good vibes that RE4 left them with when they hear about the new title. They want Resident Evil: VIIlage to wear the skin of Leon Kennedy such to the point where you think the two games are the same. Maybe you'll even buy 8 thinking it was 4 remade, because you'll get them that confused in your head. How do I know this so certainly? Because the other thing they announced was the return of a feature all the way back from Resident Evil 4 in 'The Mercenaries'. (Yes, I know the debut was actually from 'Resident Evil 3: Nemesis', but 4 gave it the pizazz which made it so beloved. In RE3 it just seemed a little confused.)

As they explained in the announcement; Resident Evil 4 The Mercenaries was a mode wherein Capcom took locations from the main game and turned them into a time-trial mission wherein you had to murder zombies in an arena. It was super rudimentary and designed to just be icing ontop of the cake (unlocked after the game was finished) but it proved to be a really enduring mode that let people just rip into zombies in the way that they always wanted to. In fact, it slightly reminds me of the Raccoon City Survivors DLC for Resident Evil 2 wherein you cosplayed as other characters for challenge runs. The only difference here, and it seems to be a difference that this iteration of the mode will have with the original 'The Mercenaries' too, is that due to the First-person nature of the game there won't be any unlockable characters. That sucks because I always felt like RE4's The Mercenaries was the first time that Capcom showed how aware they were of their fan's antics by making fan-favourite side character H.U.N.K unlockable despite having literally nothing to do with that game's story. (Even Wesker has more of a reason to return, being an iconic main villain. H.U.N.K just sort-of exists)

Resident Evil 8 offers to bring this mode back to us with it's original name, and perhaps with it's original premise of just killing things in a small arena for points. (The original Nazi zombies, if you will.) However, I get the sense that what we're really looking at are battle gauntlets that will derive their challenge through ammo scarcity and enemy bombardment, similar to the RE2 DLC. I say this because, new to this mode, the team have decided to implement the main campaign's merchant as a shop to access 'between areas'. This does give an actual value to the points gained throughout the game for once, and also borrows a mechanic from 'The Raid' mode which was tacked onto Resident Evil Revelations 1 and 2. A reminder that this game started life as 'Resident Evil Revelations 3' and that Resident Evil keeps recycling the same minigame and changing it's name for some reason. (Damn, they're giving mercenary mode the Chris Redfield treatment...)

The only real big addition to this mode would really just be the abilities that can be picked through in order to change up the gameplay, but I have to be honest and say that they don't really seem all that amazing from what I've seen so far. These abilities are gained by smashing these glowing orbs throughout the map, at which point they'll offer 3 ability slots to choose from. (No word if these are randomised or not, but if they are that would automatically generate a little bit of replay value) We've seen abilities that make you move faster, make specific weapons hit harder, deflects slightly stronger; nothing really mind blowing. In fact, all thats on offer will only really be worth it if the stat increase is literally crazy. (I'm talking x2 on handgun damage or something) So does that sound to you like enough to make this mode a 'richer experience' than it's been previously? Take out characters and shove in abilities to make up for the absence? Hey, it's up to the individual; I guess.

Apart from that this event was really just used to shove a brand new trailer down our face where it was revealed (at least to me. Maybe I don't pay all the attention to this game) that there'll actually be multiple werewolves in the game. (So there goes my theory that the enemy werewolf is actually Chris serving the 'stalking mega threat' for this game in the vein of Mr X, Lisa Trevor and Nemesis.) We got another shot of Lady Dimitrescu getting all up in the protagonist's grill wherein she... drinks his blood. (Yeah, she really chews on it. Kinda gross, not gonna lie. Attraction slowly fading) And that there would be actually three demos coming our way before launch. Three, huh? For a game coming next month? Seems a little excessive. (If you're reading this on the day it publishes, the second demo is literally out right now.) And one's coming out one day before my birthday? What a nice present- wait, it's for Playstation only... Seriously, Sony? You asshats are buying DEMO exclusivity now? What has the other two thirds of the gaming community done to offend you so? Why won't you let us have any freakin' fun?

Regardless, it won't be long now until Resident Evil 8 is in our hands and the journey of one man will come to an end, according to the marketing slogan. (It's definitely Chris. It has to be. Capcom can't keep regenerating him into other actor's bodies forever) It certainly feels a little strange to have a game like this so close, as though these sorts of games usually release at the end of their respective years, which they actually do- for various boring corporate reasons. (Plus, this is a horror game that isn't coming in anywhere close to Halloween. Maybe they really don't want competition, I dunno.) At least, for me, I can breath a little easier knowing that a family of games I love is soon to grow just that little bit larger, because it gives one of those little things to look forward to in life that we all long for. God, this year is looking dry. Post May is going to be just a gaming wasteland...

25 years of Resident Evil

 Village of the damned?

You know, for a while there I was starting to feel as though Resident Evil had silently rebooted itself without telling anyone. Ever since Resident Evil 7 Biohazard came back into the fold (or, if you will, Biohazard 7 Resident Evil) it felt as those the modern team working on these games were interested in making a horror game, but not necessarily one locked to the Resident Evil canon. I mean just look at the RE7 game, it's entirely first person instead of the over-the-shoulder third Person cam that Capcom themselves helped pioneer with RE4, there are literally no traditional zombies in the game and the only returning member of the classic alumni was the one man with a season-ticket to his plastic surgeon. In many ways the game was unrecognisable from what Resident Evil had to offer, and yet it bore that name and, presumably, the same team, so I let it slide. Yet as more RE games have come to be remade it has served to really highlight the disparity against these two halves of the franchise and make me really wonder if they'd ever come together. Well, for VIII it would appear that they have.

In celebration of 25 mostly active years in the gaming world, Resident Evil greeted fans with a rather meaty reveal of every single upcoming project they have for us to sink our teeth into. (Except for Resident Evil 4 remake, there's some stuff happening with that. I'll talk about that another time.) All of that was mostly fluff to the Internet, however, because what we wanted was that gameplay for the brand new Resident Evil and I'm happy to note; that's exactly what we got. Oh, that and a brand new meme revolving around a "big" character to chew on. Only this time instead of the man-brink chonkers Chris to set our hearts aflame, it's this just unreasonably tall powdered vampire lady called Lady Dimitrescu. (Guess we've got Hachishakusama in our Resident Evil now...) She's ah... she's really caught the Internet's attention alright. Her and her entire clan of 'daughters' (see: coven of murderous vampire girls who seem to turn into bats but other than that are sensibly scaled.) Yes, there's certainly some domme fantasists who are getting exactly what they want right now, providing what they want is to be munched down on by a bunch of messy eater vampire girls. (They could at least wipe their mouths, the blood is getting all over their garments. Gosh.)

So, yes. We are absolutely looking at vampires in a Resident Evil game, alongside the werewolf which, as I noticed during the event, appears to be superimposed over Chris. (Whatever that foreshadows. I say, pretending that it's not a clear indicator we're getting another 'stalker' character this game to join the ranks of Mr X and Nemesis) It's the height of surreal, for me, to see these traditional monsters thrown into my favourite zombie franchise that I can't help but wonder if it's yet more evidence of Resident Evil drifting away from what it once was. But given the chance to see the rest of the footage (In which it seems we are getting zombie-like enemies) I'm starting to come around to it. (Plus, just logically, RE6 literally showed off a fledgling zombie apocalypse, I'd imagine the creatures must have lost their 'bite', so to speak, within the modern RE world.)

As for the gameplay itself, do you even need me to tell you that it looks as fine as Italian wine? That RE engine has never failed to disappoint. (except for in relation to the gore in Resident Evil 3 remake, but it seems I'm the only one who noticed how much that was tuned down.) Every time I see the inside of that castle I yelp like a schoolboy at all the finery, the light sources, the chandelier, the pure soul of 'ornate' which oozes out of it; the whole place looks gorgeous and it's the power of the RE engine that brings all of that to life. I'm honestly so very impressed with the versatility of this engine, and I salivate everytime I see another glimpse of her talents in action. The general internet may be infatuated with the tall vampire lady, but I'm all about that engine, and that ain't no lie.

Combat was also shown off in the footage, wherein we learnt that living through life and death against some of the most terrifying monster imaginable has really rubbed off on old Ethan Winters. That's right, baby, this time our boy has really stepped up his game and bought the ability to thrown up his hands in front of his face and limply push back against people. (Huh.) Although that will really help out against the new crowds of enemies that we see in this game that appear to take a leaf out of Resident Evil 3 Remake's book. There's even some of those universal exploding red barrels, which says to me that RE8 is committing to a more action-orientated gameplay direction as opposed to the relatively slow-burn pace or RE7. (Although maybe not as breakneck paced as RE3R was. I think people want their game to last longer than 8 hours afterall. Well, unless you're a reviewer, but who really cares about their pathetic whingeing anyway?)

What really stood out to me, however, was the way in which the inventory system has been remodelled in order to resemble an attaché case, similar to Leon Kennedy's inventory system in RE4. (Which they invoked by name, by-the-by) This means that new items and guns will be represented as a certain size in your inventory, requiring the player to reorganise or reshuffle things in order to fit the new stuff in. Or, in the worst case scenarios, end up leaving something behind. That alone is an example of how this game, even when it feels as little like Resident Evil as possible, brings it back and returns to the experience I love. We have the inventory system, the glorious residence that I'm sure will be dripping with puzzles and, of course, the return of the weapon merchant! Only, rather than a dubious trenchcoat wearing man who chooses to know us only by the moniker of 'Stranger', this here's an absurdly large gentleman known as The Duke. (What is it with this game and skewered dimensions, is that going to be a theme or something?)

Throw all of that atop of the new destructible environmental objects (full of treasures, Zelda style) and the collectibles we'll see around the map, and Resident Evil VIII is looking to be the RE4 of it's line. That is: a weird and wonderful entry that just somehow seems to get mostly everything right. (Except Ashley. Screw Ashley.) I know that seems like a premature diagnosis, we've only seen a sliver of gameplay and they seem to be wanting to take things mostly seriously, but I'm just picking up this whiff of silliness from the whole affair. I mean, the impetus of the plot appears to be Chris just breaking into your home and nicking your baby daughter; ain't that just the slightest bit whacky? (Makes me wonder if the team had seen all those memes about "continuing the Redfield line". Maybe Chris got fed up and decided to steal himself a heir.)

Of course, this all comes with a little bit of a grimace because this is a modern AAA videogame so of course it does. And I'm not just referring to the utterly gross and tone deaf way in which the presenter told us all to get ready for preorders. (I've already clicked on your 15 minute ad, thank you very much, I don't need you bending me over a barrel too.) Those special editions, my god. Why does every big budget game feel the need to throw 20 versions of their game at us? What do they get out the deal, more purchases? Are there folk out there seriously buying two copies because they missed out on the unique weapon attachment in another bundle? (I hope not) And also, it kinda looked like the hardest difficulty setting was locked off to one of those bundles. I hope I'm seeing that wrong because I do not play Resident Evil on anything short of nightmare and you better not be trying to pull one over on me, Capcom. I will be very upset if that's the case.

But aside from that slight unpleasantness, I'm practically abuzz with Resident Evil 8 and am currently so glad that this side project got promoted to a numbered entry. I've really come around to this expansion of the Resident Evil mythos and appreciate the directions we're going in now. From here, literally anything can be on the table and that's exciting! Are we going to get a Cthulu virus out of the franchise? Probably not because the Lovecraft estate famously has terrible taste, but the possibility is still there. From here I hope that future Resident Evil games might reunite us with some of our heroes we haven't seen a great deal of, (What is Rebecca up too? Seriously?) but I suppose that's what the remakes are for, huh?

Is there too much Resident Evil coming our way?

Do you ever feel overwhelmed?

So Resident Evil is back. I'm not just talking about in relation to the games either, it seems like we're on the cusp of a whole wave of brand new Resident Evil content to coincide with the new decade, showing how Capcom are ready to thrust their old golden franchise back into the public consciousness. We have the animated movie which purposes to tell the further extended stories of Claire Redfield and Leon Kennedy, (Something we've wanted in game form for so long it's almost insulting to see it in offered like this) the upcoming Netflix show which will tease two brand new members of the extended Wesker family; (Am I going to start having to carry a Jojo-sized family tree for this franchise?) and finally a full movie reboot which already has me puzzled as to exactly what it is they think they're adapting. They've already cast Jill Valentine and Claire Redfield as two people of similar age despite the fact that Claire is meant to be a college student whilst Jill is a veteran special police-force operative. And that's not even taking into account the fact that they've cast Claire at all considering she wasn't even invented until Resident Evil 2, and both Jill and Chris aren't in Resident Evil 2. Although on the plus side they did announce that Chris Redfield will be played by one of the Amell brothers which seems like a good choice, as long as the studio is ready to replace his actor every movie.

In front of all of this ancillary zombie content, however, is a Resident Evil game that seems poised to steer the franchise decidedly away from zombies, ironically enough. It's almost as though Capcom is pulling in several different directions with no idea which one is the right way, only just about making it work through the merit of having at least three different branches for the company to pursue; the TV licencing team, the reboot team and the bold-new direction team. To be absolutely clear; this is the kind of nonsense that got Resident Evil into the state it was in before 6, so I just hope they manage to keep things somewhat coherent before history ends up repeating itself. But enough gloom from my end, let's talk about this new Resident Evil and how curious it is.

We know the thing started life as Resident Evil Revelations 3 before being deemed so off-kilter that it needed to be promoted to a mainliner in order to make sense. For those unfamiliar, each one of those 'Revelations' games seemed to take place in a classic horror location and tried to tell a very contained story using one of the Resident Evil alumni, from the first one which was with pre mind-control Jill and set on an abandoned ship at sea (which the Resident Evil franchise had already technically done before, but nobody ever counts the 'gun survivor' games) and the second being with Claire and set in an island with an abandoned prison. (Which, again, was done before in Code Veronica.) Now we're looking at the very next Resident Evil game coming from this pedigree, and in that vein 'Resident Evil VIIIage' (as it's stylised) will take place in what looks to be a rural village full of non-zombies. (And they're releasing this back-to-back with the Resident Evil 4 remake? Things are gonna get confusing...)

That being said, retreading ideas and concepts isn't necessarily bad, and whereas Resident Evil 4 is renowned for devolving (or evolving) the series from mostly-serious to quantifiable insanity, RE8 appears to be a lot more measured in it's approach. For one, they aren't going back to the linear world design which was reinforced by Resident Evil 4 and arguably initiated from the rather linear Resident Evil 3. We aren't losing the newfound love for Resident Evil puzzles and ponderous slow gameplay; in fact, from the little helping of footage and interviews I have seen it appears as though the team are doubling down on those very aspects. One conversation I heard specifically played up the dynamism of the world that they've created in a manner that almost made it sound like players would be presented with open ended puzzles. (Although, admittedly, he may have just been talking about the ways in which players can deal with enemies.)

I, for one, am actually excited by the prospect of going back into a traditionally spooky environment like a village surrounded in woods, as there is quite a lot that a good horror director can do with that. Even a number of beginner developers understand the power of placing the player in a 'lost in the woods' position that combines the fear of the unknown with the fear of being in an almost entirely hostile environment. Mix that natural fear with an actual talent for manipulation through sound, obfuscation and a hint of actual peril for the player (as opposed to just a woods of jump scares) and this could really make for a genuinely terrifying Resident Evil experience. (Which would absolutely make up for the distinct lack of scariness that this franchise exhibits sometimes. RE3 barely made me whimper.)

However if there is one misgiving I am having, and I realise that this is quite a pre-emptive gripe to develop, it's for the concept. As far as we can tell right now, the game revolves around Chris Redfield and his new 'reformed' Umbrella, turning evil for whatever reason and becoming the antagonists of the game. Now I'm not about to raise my fist in the air and shout about how "Chris would never do that, I'm literally shaking right now", but this 'twist' (which has been practically screamed from every trailer) just oozes this contrived sense of 'good guy turns bad' which doesn't feel remotely earned. Like him all you want, Chris Redfield is hardly the most interesting and developed character of all time. In fact, he's so generic that Capcom keep radically changing his design from game to game hoping to land on something that sticks, so for that sort of undefined character to suddenly switch to the side of evil doesn't really feel like an upset as much as it feels like "Oh, so that's what he's doing this week? This guy really needs to find a hobby and stick to it."

Aside from that mild story issue I will say that the game looks great as a Resident Evil old school fan. Despite being set in a village, there is a prominent castle in the middle of the town which, as far as I can tell, seems to be where the majority of the classic Resident Evil puzzle-solving gameplay will take place. Even from the slight snippets I've seen, you can identify all the lavish and gaudy interiors that seem to be inspired by the gothic decadence of the Spencer Mansion. (Yeah, I always bring it back around to the original, baby!) I'm already loving the pristine chandeliers, carpets and bookcases; can't wait for them to be ripped apart by some terrifying monstrosity as it rips through a wall. Although speaking of monstrosities, I wonder what this game will have in store? The werewolves certainly will be a threat and the supposed vampire-lady has to be a boss, but who will be the every day enemies that litter the grounds? I suppose we'll have to wait and see.

The next generation of gaming looks to be resplendent with quality titles on the horizon and I'm as hyped about that as anyone. Seeing Resident Evil and Final Fantasy both share space on the same gaming 'stage' is literally like a dream to me, what a meeting of titans! I'm not quite as optimistic about the slew of ancillary Resident Evil content coming our way, (Okay the show seems to be okay but the movie is a hard pass) however if this bring the best out of the series than I suppose I can stand it all. Yes, I'm still hung up over the impending Resident Evil 4 remake, (you guys are making a big mistake there, I'm telling you!) but the chance to see Leon Kennedy rendered in the RE Engine seems like a risk worth taking. Every downside to Resident Evil's future seems to have a balancing force and I'm currently just breaking even in terms of excitement. So is Resident Evil doing too much too fast? Yes, and I'm certain it's going to have ramifications, but for now I'll go full ostrich and stick my head in the ground if it gets us RE8. (God I hope the RE4 remake isn't trash)

Resident Evil 8: Village

My, my Chris; how big you've become!

Thus we reach the time, as always we must, where I talk about one of my greatest guilty pleasures of all time. Yes, it's no secret that I inhale as much Resident Evil content as I can legally get my hands on, I'm a RE fiend, I IV that zombie stuff directly into my bloodstream, so it's with no lack of excitement that I cover the one game that still stands between us and that Resident Evil 4 remake that literally has me biting my nails nervously. (Please don't be a train wreck, pretty please!) Today I want to cover the dark horse of the PS5 reveal event, the title which stole my heart more than any other, the one and only; Resident Evil VIII: Village. (How very both foreboding and cliche all in one neat little package)

So as we settle into this let me tell you, dear reader, that Resident Evil has been a big presence in my life pretty much ever since I started gaming. Back when I was far too young to be playing this kind of stuff, me and my father both got together to plough through 'Resident Evil 1' back in the day (90% certain we never reached the end) and we even tried our hand at 'Resident Evil 2'. (As I recall we got to the Licker and then gave up.) Fast forward many years and I returned to the franchise through the Nintendo Wii port of 'Resident Evil 4' (which I loved) and even played and enjoyed RE5 for what it was. (The game wasn't half bad.) After that I sort of fell off the wagon as the series drove itself off a cliff, and only when 'Resident Evil 2 Remake' danced it's way onto shelves did I spark back up my interest once more. Now I've pretty much played ever mainline entry in the franchise, (Which grants me enough knowledge of the series to question why we're moving to a remake of Resident Evil 4 when 'Code: Veronica' is still a thing) and I drool over the prospect of a Netflix show; so the next main line entry aught to have me doing cartwheels, right?

Well it's been a very long while and I actually still haven't got around to REVII, so watching this is kinda of liking seeing a long-estranged family member and kinda recognising them whilst also finding them totally unrecognisable. And that may come because this game proposes to follow the tale of Ethan, the protagonist who was introduced in VII, or maybe because this trailer has made some questionable choices for the franchise. (I know the leaks called this 'the most extreme departure from the franchise ever' but I'm a little concerned with everything I've seen so far.) Which isn't to say that I'm at all repulsed by what I'm seeing, just that I'm a little cautious to see how everything will play out. (Maybe when I get around to VII things'll clear up a lot more for me.)

So the first thing to note about Resident Evil VIII is it's perspective. Yes, yet again this will be a game that takes place in entirely first person. I have to admit that on the topic of technical capabilities, this does impress me as I'm still blown away at how the RE Engine is capable of rending high quality third and first person gameplay without major switch ups. Usually the choice of perceptive has a serious influence on the direction and focus of the design process, but this engine is so versatile that these games are even capable of sharing assets between themselves. (And only weirdos like me notice when the underground area of the Raccoon City Police department has books about the Louisiana Bayou for some reason.) Functionally the use of first person perspectives works wonders in putting the player in the shoes of the character, which is great for horror situations as one-to-one parity between viewer and victim is sought-after, but I do fear it does disconnect the protagonist from the story. Ethan just seems so milk toast next to Leon Kennedy, Jill Valentine or Chr- well, we'll get to him later. My thoughts; I appreciate the purpose of first person but I fell in love with third person Resident Evil, so I feel a little let down already.

What Resident Evil VIII's trailer does get right, however, is that classic dilapidated Resident Evil atmosphere that we know and love oh so well. Much of the ruin captured in the Baker Family Ranch is reflected in the environments that we see, with homes that look untouched and filthy, ramshackle defences and mechanisms, (in stark contrast to the oddly advanced mechanisms from early games) and that great dim lighting the RE engine pulls off so well. The village, however, has a great much more variety to it with wide open outside spaces, the likes of which we haven't really seen since Resident Evil 5. (And 6, arguably, but I don't count that as a real game.) There is still that sense of rustic isolationism, however, as this here village looks to be remote AF. I get the sense that there might even be a bit of pagan culture entwined into this entry, though it's hard to pin exactly why. Perhaps it comes from the way some side characters dress, the general 'cult in the middle of nowhere' vibe, or the old crone half-way through the trailer who straight up looked like she'd just popped over from 'Things Betwixt' in Dark Souls 2.

"But hang on", veterans of the franchise might be saying. "This isn't the first time that Resident Evil has taken place inside of a village and, whatsmore, the last time they did there weren't any actual zombies, just angry cultists." (In fact, if you think about it, Resident Evil 4 is about an American agent going into an eastern European town and brutally murdering all of the natives under the the defence of "They were monsters. Probably.") So are Capcom going to pull the same thing here? Just how far afield is this Resident Evil going to go from the norm? How about as far as feasibly possible! Yeah, you already know; Resident Evil 8 got Werewolves, baby! And, in fact, that buxom white-clad lady from the trailer? If you pause during the scene of her close-up it very much looks like she's leaning into one of the character's bloody stumps and drinking the blood. So we've got Vampires too. Yahtzee!

In all seriousness, however, I must say that as a series purist who loves what the team have done in bringing Resident Evil back to it's routes; I am unfathomably hyped about this wild card turn for the franchise. As much as I love RE zombies, it's a formula that would get stale on it's own and the games have already sort of leaned away from it as things have gone on. (Are Hunter Gamma's even zombies? Not really.) Going far afield from what we know just means that we have literally no idea what awaits us in terms of scares, and just imagine what the inevitable transformation boss at the climax will end up looking like! (My money is on the white-dress lady getting mutated; she seems to spend so much time on her appearance that the best irony would be her morphing into a hideous monstrosity.) And yes, I am sad to see the zombies go to the wayside, but I have faith in the team to still put the RE engine's enviable gore system to good use here. (Even if it was noticeably toned down for RE3. In fact, they have to make up for that, I was a little disappointed.)

That's really all there is to talk about. There isn't anything else of note in the Resident Evil 8 trailer at all so you can all stop looking at me lik- Okay. We have to talk about it. The elephant in the room. We have to talk about- Chonkers Chris. I mean, really; are you guys at Capcom okay? You've been working with roughly the same cast of characters for 24 years and yet you still can't settle on a single look for Chris Redfield: it's laughable at this point. Chris has gone from looking like the most stereotypical block of polygons you can imagine In Resident Evil 1, to mister spiky-hair conventionally-handsome in Resident Evil Code Veronica, to a steroid-abusing bodybuilder in Resident Evil 5, (Punch that boulder, Chris!) to a normal looking guy in Resident Evil 7. And now, out of nowhere, Chris has evolved into a literal brick s***house. The man looks like a walking rectangle, here to blot out the sun. And that's not to say that none of the other characters have been redesigned over the years, of course they have, but they remain somewhat recognisable. I am being 100% deadly freakin' serious with you when I say that I did not know this was Chris until Ethan addressed him by name, same as at the end of Resident Evil 7. The man is a gosh darn chameleon, he sheds skins between games. I don't even care that he's apparently the badguy now, this whole shifting looks thing is just too damn funny. If Chris comes back in Resident Evil 9 as a black man, I won't even bat an eye at this point.

In conclusion, Resident Evil 8 looks dope. I want it. Graphically the game looks stunning, but then so does everything on the RE Engine, so I won't reward that as a point towards the Playstation 5 just yet. In concept it looks exciting, and might just give the RE franchise the kick in the head that it needs in this late stage of it's life. And in sheer meme value, the title has already delivered with Chonkers Chris: the world's grumpiest boy. I suppose it's hardly news to announce I'm all aboard the RE hype train, I practically have a permanent residence there, they reserve a carriage for me and everything. But regardless, I am absolutely sold with everything I've seen so far and barring some kind of horrific news regarding exclusivity (Don't you dare, Sony) I'm happy to endorse Bloodborne Evil: 8. I wait with bated, anxious, breath.