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?

I definitely dont think it will be bad. At the very worst it might begin to feel a bit stale. I have confidence in the developers though. And although RE4 will probably always be my favorite, the last four games make up the 2-5 spots of my favorite RE games. That being RE2R, REVIII, REVII and RE3R. I think the more action oriented games will be the free ones that came with the last two games.

I dont think so dude. After RE6 being subpar and upsetted so fans and low critic scores, Capcom went back to what fans has been demanding: horror, even though they know it probably won't sell millions. After RE7's horror success, they are not going to do another horror, so they tried to make a modernized RE4, which is more action based RE8.

Now what happens with RE9 have nothing to do with RE6 and in no means will the formula repeat.

I don't think they'll go that way. At the time of RE6's release everyone was chasing the CoD crowd and Capcom made the stupid move of trying to morph RE into what is was not. Since I don't think they'll be stupid enough to chase after the Fortnite crowd with the next RE title, I think we're safe this time.

RE4 was more action oriented than Village, yet it is regarded as one of the best in the series...

RE Village takes the best from RE4 and VII, and I like it. It’s over the top for sure, and that’s kinda unfortunate, but the series has been like that for a while now. Personally, I think the gameplay is very good, the atmosphere is tense as it should (especially when playing with headphones), the locations are varied and interesting, and the story was just good enough to make me curious and keep going.

It felt a lot like it followed RE4’s blue print, and I think it was the right call to give the game good replayability. I am not sure how IX will turn out, but I currently have no reason to worry about its direction.

I don't know about bad, but it will probably be more action-orientated. If you take a look at the original series (RE1-RE3) and the second series (RE4-RE6), each game became more and more about mowing down zombies and less and less about horror. At least in my opinion anyway. So I think Capcom sort of sees this as a formula they like, and they're going to stick to it until it doesn't work anymore. Then they'll likely re-boot again and start the cycle anew.

It will lead to the remake of RE4 canceling out the timeline of OG RE4 or RE42.