Despite traditionally leaving large periods of time between each release, Resident Evil has become something of an annual series as of late.
Beginning with last year’s critically acclaimed remake, Capcom intends to continue that streak of success in less than 24 hours with the launch of Resident Evil 3. While reviews of Jill Valentine’s nightmarish escape from Raccoon City haven’t been so universally positive for the reimagined threequel, the consensus is certainly positive overall, though does perhaps suggest that an appetite for remakes is gradually beginning to wane. Fortunately, the developer’s next planned installment appears to finally be pushing the franchise’s long-running narrative forward and, what’s more, is supposedly scheduled to arrive as soon as 2021.
Capcom has yet to announce any such thing, of course, though several major leaks over the last few weeks imply that an announcement is due imminently. As per the latest details provided by frequent whistleblower AestheticGamer, in fact, next year’s release will supposedly be the biggest departure to date, to the extent that purists may be disappointed with the end product.
Clarifying those comments further in a follow-up post yesterday, AestheticGamer added the following:
I’ll also clarify something about Resident Evil 2021; The “biggest departure” and “some fans will be pissed” comments is not because the game is chasing modern trends, IE it’s not a Looter Shooter, Battle Royale game or any thing like that. It’s a lot stranger than that.
That rules out two genres, then, but the wording above inadvertently implies that Capcom is experimenting with genres with the series. Could Resident Evil 2021 be the first to introduce open-world aspects to a traditionally linear formula? Such a drastic subversion would certainly be cause enough to turn some veterans away, but it hardly qualifies as “strange.”
Ultimately, we’ll just have to wait and see what comes of the leaks, though if AestheticGamer’s predictions hold true, we’ll be learning a great deal more about Resident Evil‘s future before the end of April, so stay tuned.
