Resident Evil 4 remake has officially launched.
We hope everyone had fun following the countdown posts and enjoys the game =)
Resident Evil 4 remake has officially launched.
We hope everyone had fun following the countdown posts and enjoys the game =)
This is our last in-universe styled post. It's time to get ready for your mission.
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Today is the last polling question given to the community.
The prompt was:
Resident Evil 4's lifespan seemed to never end due it being ported at every opportunity, and now its been so long its getting a remake. What was your reaction to the remake's announcement?
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Gosetsu
"The announcement delighted me, especially after the Resident Evil 2 remake showed how much a classic can be improved both graphically and in terms of gameplay."
Forerunner
"I've met a lot of newer fans who don't like playing RE4 due to its outdated controls; I'm happy for them being able to enjoy a popular RE title without that handicap."
Ms Snugglebutt
"Due to rumours and rumblings from all sorts of sources, the existence of the project had already lingered in my mind, but I was still caught off-guard when it was revealed, because I didn't expect it to come so soon. Upon seeing the first videos and screenshots of the game, I already had a very good feeling about it. The vibe and the visual aesthetic matched that of the original game, and my, still cautious, optimisim grew with each tidbit and trailer revealed. I rewatched the most recent (3rd) trailer more times than I can count, which is something I haven't done in ages."
Pepsica/A Commissar Caine
"Skeptical at first, but just excited to be getting another RE game, even if it's a remake given how good RE:2 and RE:3 were!"
Armitage
"Optimistic and interested. I was curious how they would adapt RE4's very particular pacing and style to a more modern game."
Doktor Wunderbar
"My first impression was that we didn't need it. RE4's gameplay and graphics were becoming a little dated, but it still holds up much better than Code Veronica, which is in dire need of a remake. But having seen the trailers and gameplay footage, I'm excited to see how this game improves and innovates over the original."
Cardboard Marty
"I was initially pretty "meh" on a remake, but as more media started to come out, I've gotten really excited. The new mechanics and story twists and turns presented look incredibly fun and the game as a whole looks fantastically polished. I'm excited to check it out when it's released!"
Alex Veltro
"I am super excited and cannot hold on any longer!"
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What was your reaction to the announcement? Are you excited for the remake?
Today's post is the final part about RE4's history.
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In the January of 2005, Resident Evil 4 finally released on the Nintendo Gamecube after years of wait and promotions. The game was a hit: receiving scores over 90% from a variety of magazines and websites such as Weekly Famitsu, IGN, Gamespot, Nintendo Power. The only thing that players found slightly confusing was the numerous builds shown off: people expected features or aesthetics no longer in the game—back then the information flow, especially outside of Japan and the US was a lot slower than it is today, so people might’ve gone off the 2003 promos before the game showed up at their local video game or electronics store. Fans of the franchise were also in a little contention over the title—something that has taken a good decade to diminish: feelings of uncertainty or frustration over the full model change moving away from the series’s signature style and gameplay, regardless of the game’s success and insane (re)playability.
However, what probably only a little few people would’ve predicted is the incredible effect the game had on the video game industry in general: it would forever change the third person shooter genre. Beside a few small features of the control scheme, such as the inability to move and shoot at the same time, and the lack of multi-stick controls (movement and camera separately), the game still feels modern and has aged very well. This is further supported by the fact, that to this day, the game endures unabating popularity. The over-the-shoulder POV became an overnight success, for the next few years to come, the most successful franchises of the era and the next adapted it with or without giving credit to the massively popular title.
Among the games inspired by Resident Evil 4, one could find the extremely successful franchise by Epic Games, Gears of War (now developed by the Coalition of Microsoft). Its creator Cliff Bleszinski was quoted praising the game and its influence on the initial trilogy he worked on. Another horror franchise, Dead Space, also cites RE4 as one of its biggest influences that helped push the first game into a more horror-oriented and gory direction over a more standard sci-fi game. God of War’s creator Cory Balrog credited RE4’s gameplay design to be highly influential of the direction and world interaction the series went with. The Last of Us is another game whose developers, Naughty Dog attribute many of its themes, atmosphere as well as its approach to combat to RE4.
The game has also made it near or to the top of many a list worldwide be it “the best games of all time”, “the best horror games of all time”, “the goriest games of all time”, “the best Gamecube games”, and so on and so forth. You’d be hard-pressed to find a related list that does not include Resident Evil 4. With the release of its remake closing in, and the reviews for it also praising it, and with scores in the upper 10th percentile, all signs seem to point to a worthy successor to this beloved title, but even with new spin on RE4 coming out, we can rest assured that Resident Evil 4 (2005) will enjoy the love it deserves in the coming years as well, especially with its 20th anniversary being right around the corner less than 2 years away.
Today's post is another in-universe styled document... or maybe it's the truth!?
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Resident Evil 4 wasn’t just a video game, the merchandise and promotions that ran with it were part of the experience. Today’s post is a quick look over at the various marketing pieces that came along with the game.
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Collector’s Edition
Back before extravagant purchase editions of games, Resident Evil 4’s original collector’s edition simply came with the “Prologue” book… and a T-shirt. The Prologue was a straightforward recap of the series leading to Resident Evil 4. It was a nifty little book anyone could appreciate rather than investing an entire art book.
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Chainsaw Maniac
Remember Flash games? The PS2 version was promoted with an amusing LCD-inspired game where you play as Leon and stop Chainsaw ganado. If you got a high-score, you could win a T-shirt!
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Resident Evil 4 Preview Disc
Another piece of a bygone era, I've noticed a lot of people have fond memories of playing the kiosk demo. At game stores, they would sometimes have demo kiosks with a collection of demos and unique UI. It probably was an intense surprised compared to the usual offerings on the GameCube. I've always remembered the map looked like it was printed on parchment rather than the finalized GPS.
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Mother’s Milk Ad
If you know, you know. One of the more strange TV ads for the game. Also not sure if I can share an image for this one.
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Brady Games Guidebook
Remember guidebooks? This is another item I find others remember enjoyed having. The guidebooks use to have a very immersive feel to them with the page decor and layouts matching the tone and aesthetics of the game. RE4 was also full of secrets like hidden treasures and hidden enemy weaknesses, so the guidebook really gave good info to fans. This specific guide was also what dubbed that extra mercenaries level "Water World".
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NECA Figures
NECA had already had done action figures for Resident Evil, so RE4 being hit had a lot of people interested in the toy line. I think they were highly appreciated because they offered a more detailed look at the cast beyond the GaceCube's 480p output.
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Agastuma mini figures
Only made for the Japanese market, many people were still familiar with these figures because nerd-culture toy stores and card stores would commonly carry these. Many people would get excited to see Japanese merch and would often pick some these up.
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Japanese material
While not likely remembered by anyone overseas, Resident Evil 4 also had a handful Japanese-only merch and promotions. In the least you may have heard of them, but they all still added to the allure of the series. Here's just a quick list;
Incubate - A supplement book that contained a story about the village being assimilated by the cult, and a DVD movie that recaps Resident Evil 4 in a machinima-esque style with unique camera angels.
Biohazard Umbrella Aluminum Box - Remember DVD storage cases? Well there was a Resident Evil branded one.
Leon's Collection - A collection of apparel based around what Leon would wear, including a cologne.
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Resident Evil 4 came just before companies starting investing a lot in physical and viral marketing and narrowing the merchandise to a few premium products, so RE4 sits in an interesting place for having a varied amount of merchandise. Did you have any of these items?
Today's post is a look back at some famous pieces of fan content made in response to the original game’s release. 2005 was a very different time, especially in the sphere of internet culture, so what was made, shared, and remembered back then also provides a nostalgic look at the bygone era.
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AMVs (animated music videos)
Probably the most indicative of the time period, AMVs were a very common type of content made to celebrate media by fans. This was before YouTube would automatically take down all copyrighted music, so you could pretty much see anything set your favorite 2000s music. Although I couldn’t get this webpage to display correctly, here’s a capture of 2006 YouTube to set the mood. Check the following links and enjoy the tunes!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKXWAE8YYxY - Stupid MF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQoAUI84amI - Vicinity of Obscenity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BssOxA_Jpks
- Anime I have become (one of my personal favorites)
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The Xplay skit
Xplay was a television show based around video game reviews and skits. Again, during the 2000s it was basically the only major video-game review show and was being produced before independent essays and reviews were the norm to watch online. While the show did a proper review of the title, RE4 was featured in a few other segments such as a comparison review with other recent releases, top scariest games list, and it had its own second humor-based review which was much more famous. The money shots were the cutaways featuring the Merchant hanging out in the Xplay office with his dialogue limited to the few things he says in-game. What made television skits like these especially funny was the chance to see the humor we were all thinking set to script. The merchant was a meme before internet memes were a thing!
Check out the original skit here and all its 2000s humor;
Link: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x141vd
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Fan names
Resident Evil 4 was so popular, fan-names were used to cover topics of discussion that didn’t have official names. And they were often accepted without question since fact-checking wasn’t a common practice and was hard to do back then. Plus people came up with cool names. Unfortunately, I’m not able to dig up the original webpages for the origins of the following instances, so here’s my best recollection;
Ditman Glitch - The name of glitch found involving using the Striker shotgun to increase moment speed. It was actually named after the user who originally posted it. It was common to "How do you do the Ditman glitch?" on forums and users bemoaning the reposts.
Super Salvador - the origins of the name is entirely unknown (unless someone here knows?). The official name isn't mentioned anywhere in-game, so naturally someone had to come up with something. "Super Salvador" just happened to stick. Another amusing mythos about it is due to the GameCube’s initial poor video quality, many people thought the enemy had a double bladed chainsaw, when it’s really two held together with a chain. This perception has persisted and you’re still likely to hear
Human Unit Never Killed - No, “HUNK” is not even an acronym, but there’s a good chance you’ve heard people casually believe it is. It supposedly originated from the title of a now taken down Let’s Play of the main game. It and featuring Hunk modded into the game as the player character. Game mods themselves were still seen with a lot of interest, but the lack of context given attracted people to watch and ask how to play as Hunk. The play-through also featured taking no damage at all which added to the interest.
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The Death Scene Compilation
For the time it was released, the RE4 raised the bar on the level and amount of brutality that could happen. Someone put together a compilation of possible death scenes and this became a highly viewed and shared video on forums to show off the intensity of the game. It was also fun to watch as a testament of how much detail was put into the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9Y6QUqR8XU
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The Bentley Bros Production Parody
Essentially the magnum opus of parodies, the Bentley Bros’s 20 minute skit with multiple actors, costumes, various locations, and genuinely funny jokes was seen as a huge production of its time, made all the more funny it was humor-based. Again, this was beyond that era’s standards, even 10 minute reviews were seen as large projects. The Bentley Bros remains a touchstone for its effort and genuine funny moment. If not the whole video, skim through some seems and take in the genuine love these fans put into it!
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxVAQYpNmUQ
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Hope everyone enjoyed this brief look back at some well remembered pieces of fan content about Resident Evil 4 !
Today's post is another in-universe styled file featuring communication between spies.
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Today's post is another polling type question with answers from the community. Their prompt was:
Did playing it inspired any creativity from youResident Evil 4 was an experience that stuck with many fans after playing. Did playing it inspired any creativity from you? Have you made any fan art or project, have you replayed it with your own twist? etc.
Cardboard Marty
"It absolutely did! I worked on a series of (mostly unwatchable) short films with tons of RE4 influence under the hood, but I hope to replay it with the RE4 randomizer mod soon!"
Alex Veltro
"As a kid I used to draw Krauser alot. I also wrote poems dedicated to the character."
Ms Snugglebutt
"I played it a few times where I bought every single gun in the game, and maxed them all out, but I didn't allow myself to have more resources beside the guns."
USS Command
"On my 2nd playthrough of the ps2 version I beat the el gigante with just a knife. Sold all my inventory for the new gansgster Chicago Typewrite and was 5 points off. And was too stubborn to reload and just get it later. But was worth seeing Leon play with his hat. I also once played through half the game with no upgrades and just with the guns you find in game."
Forerunner
"Had my experience not been a good one, I probably would have gotten bored of running the Wiki soon after."
ParallelTraveler
"I adored how the weapon were designed and how many of them had unique traits i.e. the Punisher's piercing. I remember I liked coming with concepts for new weapons and what their gimmicks and exclusive upgrade would would be."
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Has Resident Evil 4 inspired any creativity from you?
Today's post is another in-universe styled file. Enjoy
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Today's post is a continuation of "The History of Resident Evil 4"
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Development on Resident Evil 4 did not stop and after the departure of Hideki Kamiya from the team, in fact, it restarted with newfound passion. Resident Evil 3 Nemesis’s scenario planner Yasuhisa Kawamura was appointed as lead planner, with Noboru Sugimura still writing the story. Architectural aesthetics – such as European castles of the middle ages – of the earlier iteration of the game, internally dubbed “Stylish” Resident Evil 4 were partially retained. The basis for these environments was photos taken by the development team in the UK and Spain, and these served as inspiration for most of the assets used for the game up to the final retail version. The main character became Resident Evil 2’s protagonist Leon S. Kennedy who returns after briefly being involved in the background of Resident Evil Code Veronica’s story. While earlier iterations of the game focused on brand-new characters, both 3 an Code Veronica starred a familiar cast, and so did 4 now too—this becoming a pattern for the franchise to follow in the upcoming decades.
Promotion for the project was a lot more involved this time around revealing more and more of the game and its apparent story. The main areas shown off were a castle and an airship, with Leon’s design seemingly influenced by 80s/90s dark horror (a visual style currently in resurgence due to the prevalence of AI-generated art, interestingly enough). Promotion also revealed that the Progenitor Virus was still at the core of the story, and initially, only a mysterious enemy was shown attacking Leon resembling some sort of dark fog infecting him.
Later interviews and enquires to developers revealed that this being was not unlike later appearances of the Uroboros Virus in Resident Evil 5, heavily involving tentacles, although technology was a lot less intricate, so the wriggling feelers were going to be just an animated 2D texture with some bump-mapping instead of actual 3D animation. On top of this, data-mining later demos for the game as well as interviews with voice actor Paul Mercier also revealed the nature of Leon’s infection: his left arm taking the shape of tentacles or “snakes,” and his infected arm needing to be restrained underneath the coat. Similar data-mining efforts also revealed a support character with a design that was later reused for Ashley Graham. Plot points also involved Spencer still (with a model also associated with him), as well as groups such as the USS and HCF.
Capcom kept showing off this build of the game well into the promotion and release of 2002’s Resident Evil (a full remake of the 1996 game), and revealed Resident Evil 4 to be a Gamecube exclusive in the meantime as well. The next bit of new footage came in 2003, with a brand-new area and features: Leon’s design was fairly similar to previous previews although his in-game model got significantly updated. The rolling demo showed off a set of rooms and one new feature of the game: ghostly hallucinations, which were influenced by movies like Lost Souls and Jacob’s Ladder, where Leon experiences the world in two different ways. New enemies were also show off, for example, seemingly haunted dolls, and a possessed man. It was also the first footage of on-screen prompts being used for actions such as picking up items or shaking off enemies.
Later interviews revealed that unfortunately, these ideas where the game can seamlessly switch between two iterations of the world were too taxing for the Gamecube, and the concept fizzled out. The project now was stuck in another rut, and much like most of the earlier iterations, was scrapped to be reimagined from scratch. Kawamura and Sugimura were now gone too from the project. The idea of the game was revived not long after with a more traditional approach to the Resident Evil formula, and an iterative process that took the idea of zombies with a certain twist finally settled on a group of people being infected by a parasite and became puppets to their will (in true Capcom fashion of reusing ideas discarded in the past, parasites were the originally the reason for Resident Evil 1’s infection as well before a virus was brought in). Shinji Mikami stepped in from the role of a producer to write and direct this version of the project and finally put an end to its development, and release Resident Evil 4 as we know it today.
Today's post is another polling question given to the community. Again, feel free to share your own answer too!
Prompt: Resident Evil 4 has many impressive technical qualities for the time it was released. What makes Resident Evil 4 as a game so good? What quality stood out the most? i.e. fun factor, game feel, graphics, mechanics? etc.
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jungle_penguins
"Mechanics of the game stood out. As well as versatility. Things that seem obvious now like destroying certain objects to deal more damage or more precise hitboxes innovated with 4. Most of the game holds up today as a result."
Armitage
"The polish and pacing of the combat. It isn't as flashy a TPS as something like Max Payne. But its slower, more deliberate pace created a kind of languid martial arts gunplay feel."
Alex Veltro
"To me, it's the creepy atmosphere and the character designs and the monsters"
Cardboard Marty
"RE4's gameplay loop is IMMACULATE. Upgrading your weapons, downing enemies in specific ways to execute a melee move, the locations, all of it topped with the replayability was invigorating and exciting! The gun play was just so fun, especially as someone who wasn't extremely familiar with previous titles."
Ms Snugglebutt
"I was immediately blown away by how different it looked compared to the older games, and how much more intuitive the action was. It's also one of the few games where playing on the hardest difficulty doesn't feel artificial and still remains heaps of fun."
Doktor Wunderbar
"RE4 emerged at a time when gaming technology was progressing rapidly, and shooters had a lot of room to evolve. That allowed it to be quite innovative for its time. Additionally, the over-the-top characters and their lines are often delightfully ridiculous, giving the game a bit of the same charm that made RE1 (1996) so memorable."
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I feel the fact specific aspects stand out to different people is a testament to how all encompassing of an experience RE4 is. What made it so good to you?
From Resident Evil 2 to Resident Evil 4, a lot of care was put into reinventing Leon S. Kennedy, and likely a lot more production power than what most fans noticed. His model-esque aura is no mistake, he was crafted that way through a combination of high-profile talent used for his voice actor, face model, and motion capture model. Individually, each component is not a new practice, but put all together for a 2005 game was an especially large amount of attention for a character. As part of our countdown celebration, let’s take a look at the talent behind RE4 Leon.
Voice actor: Paul Mercier
By 2005, Mercier was already an established voice actor across the television and gaming industry. His career started at the beginning of the 90s with minor roles until the turn of the 2000s where one of his more iconic roles was for the character Bear in the .hack series of games and anime. Then he went on to helm higher profile roles such as Jacques Blanc from Onimusha 3 and Faramir in Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth until debuting Leon Kennedy. Mercier brought with him experience, talent, and his rising fame. Needless to say, his contribution was firmly recognized and he even reprised his role for the CGI movie Resident Evil Degeneration and the game Darkside Chronicles. Fun fact, he also voiced the Merchant!
Face model: Christian Duerre
While it's clear a face model was used to better create the graphics for the game, many people overlook Duerre’s name and the fact he has worked as an actual model with some notable industry footing. While it's hard to track model work, surprising finds are his appearance in Vogue magazine, one of the largest American fashion magazines (pictured above) and Calvin Klein, an very large American fashion brand. Evidently Capcom enjoyed working with him, as he returned along with Ashely’s face model for the Wii version commercial (pictured below). So he's got a bit of acting talent as well!
Motion Capture: Teruaki Ogawa
Another level of quality invested into Resident Evil 4 was the motion capture which included new more sophisticated technology than previous projects. Ogawa was both an on-screen actor and familiar with martial arts. Most of his previous work was playing characters in the Super Sentai series which is what was used to create Power Rangers overseas. Feats like Leon jumping out a second floor window then rolling on landing and delivering head-level roundhouse kicks were very much Capcom showing off their tech and Ogawa’s talent.
Bonus: Leon’s Jacket
To top off Leon’s design, of course he had to be given something nice to wear. Leon’s jacket is inspired by WWII era bomber jackets. While these were functional jackets meant for very cold-weather, decades later they adopted into contemporary fashion and made to be more comfortable in casual outings. Leon’s jacket it notably slim fitting on him, so it's definitely designed with aesthetics in mind, Capcom also had produced recreations of the jacket, both faux-leather and real leather versions.
So when you look back at Resident Evil 4 ads and see Leon posed a bit more stylishly than the average survivor in a life-or-death situation, it's likely because Capcom put a lot into crafting our golden boy to bring him to life, and to look good.
Today's post is a polling type question with responses from the wiki community here and on our discord server. Feel free to answer too!
Prompt: Resident Evil 4 is a cherished experience by fans of the series and gamers in general. Do you have a personal connection with the game? What does Resident Evil 4 mean to you?
Forerunner
"Resident Evil 4 was my gateway into the franchise, having previously only seen YouTube playthroughs."
Cardboard Marty
"Resident Evil 4 was the first Resident Evil game I sunk my teeth into. I had played the Resident Evil remake as a kid but I didn't quite understand it, but something about RE4 immediately clicked with me. It opened my eyes to the franchise as a whole and turned me into a dedicated fan!"
Ms Snugglebutt:
"It was the third Resident Evil game I played (after RE2 and RE3). Unfortunately, my PC back then couldn't run it properly (this was the first PC release back in 2007), so I just watched the pre-rendered cutscenes from the game folder, and adored the whole experience to hell and back, and ever since I was finally able to play it, I've never grown tired of it. Played it on countless systems now. In my eyes, it's a game that has so much to offer, and keeps on giving until the last moment."
USS Command
"It's a game I played religiously when I was younger on the gamecube. Then it became a game I played to pass the time as I waited or had nothing else to do. Like had an hour to kill? Re4. Waiting for food? Re4. Then the ps2 version came out and I kinda did the same.:
Doktor Wunderbar
"RE4 always will be bittersweet for me. On one hand, it moved away from the elements that drew me to the series - the Umbrella Corporation's mad-science ethos, the theme of unchecked contagion, the zombies. And it moved the series toward an era of bombastic action and increasingly global stakes, away from the close, atmospheric horror of the early games. At the same time, it reinvigorated a series that very likely would have died if it couldn't reinvent itself. It's thanks to RE4 that we've had nearly three decades of Resident Evil, and it left an indelible influence on both the horror and shooter genres in the process. For that, RE4 will always have my gratitude."
Armitage
"It's just a really good game that has stuck with me."
Today's post is a series of in-universe styled game files. We've always enjoyed the pieces of supplement literature that go with installments, so these are our take on creating our own smaller sized pieces.
The best place to start is the beginning. Our first article is by Ms Snugglebutt on the history of Resident Evil 4. Please enjoy!
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The genealogy of Resident Evil 4 can be traced back to the mid-90s to a project that was internally called “Resident Evil 3.” This project went into production in 1997, before Resident Evil 2 was even released (as it was going through a rough development); it was not officially revealed in any capacity but some Japanese publications were privy to information about it, and its developers such as Hideki Kamiya did reveal some details over the years. Such as it involving brand new characters in the lead, new BOWs, a ship lost at sea, and Hunk returning in some type of role as well. The game’s scenario was written by Flagship’s Noboru Sugimura and was set to release on the PlayStation. The project was becoming more and more ambitious; for example, developers were considering moving away from the traditionally static pre-rendered backgrounds to wide angle renders wrapping around areas (think the Market in Ocarina of Time), and to even fully polygonal environments much like Dino Crisis, and eventually Capcom decided to move the project to the then-upcoming PlayStation 2. Then, as Kamiya recalled in an interview, one day, he came to work and the “3” from the game’s title was gone—now replaced by a “4”: Capcom had decided to give the number “3” to their PlayStation spin-off game: Resident Evil Nemesis.
As months were going by, the now Resident Evil 4 was becoming less and less like its former self: its storyline with a lost ship was dropped, and now replaced by an island. The ship story and the angle of Umbrella’s desperate attempts to recoup their losses after the Raccoon Incident were later repurposed for Resident Evil Dead Aim—the game itself being the final Flagship-written RE story. Resident Evil 4’s new setting also came with brand-new characters: Tony Redgrave, who alongside his brother Paul were the sons of Oswell E. Spencer, also involving BOWs infected by the Progenitor and the G-virus. Kamiya was encouraged by Shinji Mikami, who was the producer of the series at that point, to include as many unique elements in the game as possible, but eventually, the project was separated from the Resident Evil franchise, and became a standalone product: Devil May Cry. Tony and Paul became Dante and Vergil, BOWs became demons, and Spencer, Mundus. With that, the Resident Evil 4 project restarted with a somewhat new direction again.
A scriptbook internally released at Capcom countaining the pre-DMC version of the game
Hello community, Resident Evil 4 is a beloved game to us and the remake is coming upon us soon. To celebrate, starting tonight we’re going to be doing a variety of post daily until release organized by me and Ms Snugglebutt. There will be blog styled analyses, informative pieces, testimonials from the community, and fan-made in-universe files. We did a similar celebration back in 2019 for Resident Evil 2 remake’s release which was a lot of fun for everyone.
Hope the community looks forward to our posts, cheers!
It says the timeline shown isn't the only version of the events. It doesn't make a statement about what's canon.
Archives didn't actually state what the canon is
How do you figure such?