I can't help but feel like this new Resident Evil trilogy is going in the same direction as the previous one, unfortunately. Of course, there are a lot of differences still (RE4 isn't nearly as scary as RE7), but the similarities make me worried.
When Resident Evil 4 was released, it was praised for refreshing the series formula, presenting a completely new style of gameplay but still maintaining the series' tone and themes. The sequel, Resident Evil 5, was even more action-oriented than the previous game, but was still widely regarded as a fun RE experience and receiving critical acclaim. Then Resident Evil 6 came out and it was a trashy, cheesy, over-the-top straight-up action game with virtually no horror aspects.
Resident Evil 7 was acclaimed for embracing the new face of survival horror games, but still keeping the RE spirit. Now Village has been released and it's much more action-oriented throughout (even during its scarier parts it's mostly not even close to RE7's level of horror), but it's still a very good game. That's reflected on the game's critical reception.
And that's why I'm worried about the next game. If RE7 was 80% horror, RE8 feels more like 50% horror. And if this trend continues and RE9 ends up being like 20% haunted creepy house and 80% Mecha McShooty, it's probably not going to be a great game. There are plenty of FPSs in the market right now, and Resident Evil is pretty much the only true horror AAA franchise still going strong. They should take advantage of that instead of trying to make Call of Duty Zombies.
What do you think? Did Capcom learn from RE6 or are they going to make RE9 a full-on action game?
