Yesterday a producer at Capcom hinted that Resident Evil 7 is in the pipeline, telling us to "stay tuned" on it. Before Resident Evil 5 the idea of a new core RE game would have made me excited, but I didn't like RE 5 a whole lot and I skipped RE 6 entirely in hopes of at least preserving my respect for the series. So the question is, do you even want Resident Evil 7 to happen? Horror games have changed gears lately, with games like Until Dawn and SOMA changing up the formula considerably, focusing on the psychological aspect of horror vs. the physical.

Is it better to leave the Resident Evil series alone at this point, conceding that Capcom is no longer capable of delivering a horror game in the modern age, or do you want to see them give it another shot?

If it's like 4 yes. But im tired of this series and I hate that it's the same story that they keep adding onto. I'd rather they do a spin off. Resident Evils story should have had an actual ending a long time ago. Do new gamers even care? Story wise there so left behind if they start with 7.

Well, if 5 was the last one you played, why do you even care where the series goes? The Revelations side series has been good, and while 6 was (very) flawed, it did have some good ideas. I'd like to think they can maybe get 7 back to a pretty good place. I like the Resident Evil series far too much to want to see it end, I'd rather see it improve. Maybe they'll stuff all the crappy ideas into that online only arena shooter they announced.

I don't know if I want a 7. I skipped 6 as well. Might go back to it one day.

What I would really want though is for Capcom to nuke everything and reboot the franchise.

Not really no. I do however like the idea of them completely re-doing RE2 which has been rumored. (maybe confirmed?) I can't even really remember anything about 5 except that I beat it and never touched it again and I outright skipped 6. I can't tell you what was going on in the story and I don't care either.The thing is, I don't feel like those sentiments are unique. I don't think anyone cares anymore. If a franchise has ever needed a reboot, it's Resident Evil.

Revelations 2 proves they can still make a competent Resident Evil based on the framework of RE4. So they at least have the potential of making another good game. I'm not sure if that is enough to make me want a RE7 though. But if that is the direction they decide to go on I'll at least keep track of their progress.

No, I want another Evil Within. Resident Evil is dead to me.

Agree. I don't wanna see those characters anymore.

To be blunt, no.

I'd don't not want it and would be interested to see how they could bounce back from RE: 6

I'd love to have another RE5, honestly. But that's just me. I really need to get around to playing Revelations 1 & 2 though.

Yes, I want to see the series continue. Revelations 2 proved that they still have some degree of talent working in there, and Resident Evil 7 is such a broad concept at this point that I am fascinated at the idea of seeing just how they'll continue after RE6 - which is still the only mainline entry in the series that was truly dire as well; for as terrible as it was, it's still weird why so many look upon that as the death of the series while ignoring the pedigree of everything before it. The series has so many different faces to it now that whatever new anything they do with it has me intrigued.

What's most important to focus on currently is what they'll do with the RE2 remake, which in itself is still up in the air as to what that game even is, be it fixed camera survival horror or an over-the-shoulder shooter. Regardless, if it is to be a full-priced game that attempts to change things up to a similar degree to how the first altered the very original, then that for all intents & purposes is 'RE7' as of now.

I have a feeling that may be a ways off considering the RE2 remake has been hunted to be coming up next (unless they are being worked on at the same time). Regardless I want to see more. I love the series and whatever you thought about 6, I would like to see just what the hell they do after a game like that story wise and gameplay wise

I am in the minority who liked a lot of what Resident Evil 6 brought to the table, they just presented it in the worst way possible.

Sliding, dodging, quick shooting. Mechanically, I thought RE6 was interesting, but the pacing and the way the campaigns were designed was just terrible. It acted like a corridor cover-shooter yet it was in no way designed to be played as such. Story was a goddamn mess; instead of feeling like one long game, it felt like 4 extremely short ones. Way too many shitty set-pieces and explosions, no scenario in the campaign was properly explored since it all moved at such a breakneck pace. It was extremely disappointing since Resident Evil 4 is one of the most finely crafted campaigns ever in my opinion.

I think games like Dead Space 2 have proven Action-Horror can work, and with RE5 and 6 being Capcom's best selling games an old school Resident Evil 7 is a pipe dream. RE7 needs to ditch the cramped corridors and non-stop explosions, while also introducing an opposing force that provides a significant threat to justify the more action oriented gameplay.

Yes

I never played 5 after trying like hell to enjoy the demo and feeling something was just...off. Every time. I did pick it up on Playstation Plus so if there's ever a drought maybe I'll give it an honest go, but everything about Six seemed awful or tiresome so I haven't even given it much thought.

Honestly, if there were one series I think could handle a reboot it'd be Resident Evil. A group of elite police officers gets a call to go to a mansion and discovers unknown horrors. Cap com could give us some new heroes, new villains, and try to reconnect with the series' roots while giving themselves a chance to try a new story with similar origins.

So I think I'd prefer that to another entry in the current series, if only because I doubt I'd be up to speed with what's going on if they continued the story they've been telling with Wesker's son / whatever else Six was about, and if it were to involve entirely new characters, what would be the point in calling it Seven anyway? It would be hard to establish the mainline series as an anthology two decades into its existence, I think.

I mean how much more can we see from the Resident Evil universe? We've gone full circle from survival horror to full crazy action games that stray completely from the original formula. To really rejuvenate the series, they need another change with gameplay mechanics to make it feel new again, but keep the horror aspect at the heart of it.

I think Evil Within shows more originality and freshness compared to RE. Although, I will be grabbing that RE2 remake.

I've enjoyed all of the main RE games I've played including 6. Yeah, the story is dumb in a "we have no real point to this anymore uhhhhhhh somebody bad has a virus and uhhhhhhh just roll with it" but I like the gameplay, I LOVE doing hard and S runs, the games have never let me down. Plus I enjoy the characters, Sherry Birkin being in 6 was cool, it's like watching a show that could have ended a while ago, or you could have stopped watching a while ago, but despite how silly it gets you just enjoy the characters and the action.
The games hit a certain button with me and that button has never disappointed me.

Sure, why not? They're always entertaining and RE6 actually had really cool combat once you got used to it.

I'd prefer remakes/rereleases of Outbreak though.

@ezekiel: I have a copy of Evil Within I've been meaning to get to, glad to hear you liked it. When it came out seemed like so so reviews.

If Capcom have the balls to actually take the fan criticisms and desires to heart for where this series should go, then yes, I would love a RE7. If all they're going to do is say that they're listening, but then go ahead and release another bloated, over-the-top box of shit like RE6, then no.

I think what they do with the RE2 remake will be the perfect barometer for how much they're paying attention to what people want and what they're willing to do with the series.

Yeah, count me among the people who thought RE6 was unfairly ridiculed when it was actually a decent game with some cool ideas.

I was specifically a fan of how that game managed emergent co-op with people playing the different characters stories lining up with you. That shit actually worked and was really neat.

I would be interested in another Resident Evil title. I am in no way interested in a sequel to Resident Evil 6. If they are doing a 7 then I want it to do almost a complete 180 from what 6 was. Linear levels, quick time events, and Michael Bay tier action scenes need to go. Bring back puzzles and the large interconnected maps. Having a good item menu and boss fights would also help. The menus and bosses in 6 were the absolute worst in the entire main line series.

I'm not completely burned because I never played 6. I actually really liked most of 5 so if they could figure something out I'd be intersted. They should just go back to an Amensia style haunted house game with RE4 style action combat... I guess Evil Within is kinda that.

I would love another good Resident Evil. I actually really liked 5 and Revelations, so in my eyes, they've only really screwed up one mainline game. I think a game with a setting more like 4's, improved co-op and collectibles/unlockables from 5, and some of the improvements from Revelations could make for an amazing game. Hopefully Capcom can learn from their mistakes, and leave the over-the-top action to their shooter spin-offs.

I've said it many times but I'll say it again. Resident Evil is one of the few franchises where I prefer remakes of old games over new ones.

The only thing I want from RE right now is a REboot.

If they make something like Leon's campaign from 6 while refining and building on that game's combat system, then absolutely. If they go the Revelations route I have no interest.

I totally want resodient evil 7. But a couple of caviats

1 reboot. Forget the tangaled lore thats totally FUBAR.

2 return to horror. This is possible becuase of umbrella corps. If they leave the action horror to that re7 can return to its roots.

I hope that after the moderate success of re remake and RE0 HD likely success they now have an idea what the fans actually want.

Well thats what i would love to happen

If it was like 4, then yes.

5 was still a lot of fun to play in my opinion, though it wasn't as good. (Turns out the co-op actually made me enjoy it more)

6 seemed too messy (and the demo I played on the PS3 just felt/looked/played wrong) so I never actually played it.

So, give me a single player, non-squad based game, similar in style or spirit to 4 and I will gladly play it.

I'm convinced anyone that didn't like RE5, didn't play it co-op. A buddy and I played through it from start to finish and it was probably the most fun I've ever had going through a co-op campaign.

@hippie_genocide: The core, single player run through of RE4 definitively trumps RE5, however, I consider RE5 to be one of the best co-op games of all time. It has a ton of goals to try for (achievements, unlockable weapons, costumes, etc.), and plenty of things that make replaying it fun and exciting.

The problem with RE5 is it has superb gameplay trapped within a somewhat inconsistent campaign. The first two third are generally great (the turret sequence & Ndesu boss fight sucks, however), but then as soon as you get to the part with all of the gun-toting majinis... Well, it all starts to fall apart. The controls of RE5 just don't feel up to dealing with enemies that can shoot back, and of course it has what is perhaps the most restrictive and halfbaked cover system I can recently recall. That, and all the Wesker boss fights are utter junk.

It's why most of my fondest memories of playing RE5 primarily revolve around its Mercenaries mode. If they're going to make another action shooter RE game, though, I would still ideally prefer it be designed with the gameplay of RE5 in mind all the same.

SO MUCH. I've been dying for RE7 since RE6 came out. Side games have been cool and all, but I'm really hankering for a new main entry, one that hopefully pushes the story farther along in the timeline.

Hell yes. Super looking forward to the remaster of RE2 as well.

Love the franchise when they get it right. Tolerate it when they get it wrong. I really hope they go back and look at RE4 and see what made it so good. Kinda sucks how much they've failed to replicate that.

I'm all for Capcom at least attempting to make actual new video games, but I'm not sure I want an actual Resident Evil 7. I thought 6 was an enjoyable train-wreck of a video game, but I think the whole thing would be better served going back to the drawing board and figuring out exactly what the hell that franchise is about. If Tomb Raider can reboot itself twice so can RE.

I want it if its good. I honestly dont hold a huge reverence for the series, so largely I dont care what they do as long as the core stuff is there, and its fun. Didnt even bother with 6. Enjoyed 4-5 though. Hopefully they go back to more of that.

I'd willingly sacrifice Resident Evil if I could get me an Until Dawn game in a different sub-genre of horror.

yes

The problem with RE like most Japanese games is they go for melodramatic nonsense for the stories. After Resident Evil 3: Nemesis I just stopped caring about RE. I did't find #4 much fun and the story was terrible, then #5 was even less to my liking...lets not even talk about 6.

So, no, I don't care if they make any more. Story matters to me and I just dislike the way Japan development approaches story telling....they don't value what I value in a story. I would love a more humanistic and grounded zombie story like "The Last of Us" except done with Japan's excellent eye towards design and art.

Resident Evil 7 is certainly being made and I wouldn't hold my breath for the series returning to its roots, RE6 was well received in Japan both critically and financially even outselling RE5.

http://segmentnext.com/2012/10/10/gamers-in-japan-are-loving-resident-evil-6-sold-more-than-re5/

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/120511-Western-Resident-Evil-6-Reception-Doesnt-Worry-Capcom

It hasn't outsold RE5, though it came close at second place... Unfortunately. Though yes, there's no doubt that RE7 is in development. And while such sites like famitsu gave it a near top score, they throw such high praise around like candy and doesn't count for much. As time has gone on I'd say the perception of RE6 is pretty negative anywhoo, though the same could also possibly be said of RE5 weirdly enough to a lesser extent.

If RE6 was such a success anywhoo then we'd have likely already had an RE7 by now, if not at least announced, instead of these small scale stopgaps like the HD remasters and Revelations 2. Instead they've announced an RE2 remake after years of constant demand, which carries with it certain expectations. That's not to say it'll be a classic survival horror RE to the letter, but I doubt they'd get away with actioning it up to the likes of RE4, let alone something like RE6. RE6 primarily rode on the hightails of Resident Evil still being a pretty big deal, but I think that after the drastic change in perception the series has seen since that a huge endeavour like the Next Big Numbered Resident Evil Game might even be sort of risky. Or riskier I suppose given the state of AAA game development ect. Hence why they'd gone to the effort to sort of 'mend' the relation with the fanbase anywhoo.

@loamlife: Alien: Isolation is a survival horror game and I'm to believe was rather successful.

Series was great up to 4.

5 was a misstep.

6 was a huge mistake.

Revelations games have been big steps in the right direction. I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WANT. Fuck Evil Within though

@yummylee: True poorly worded on my part just illustrating the fact RE6 had a very strong opening, well the remasters, remakes and RE7 no show have an obvious answer Capcom's strapped for cash.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-09-10-capcom-looks-towards-big-changes-after-difficult-fy13

I still think you can make a great game that plays like 5. There were a whole bunch of issues with that game and things they could've done better but the gameplay worked. That, on a basic level, is what I'm looking for. But of course I wouldn't mind being surprised either.

As far as the story, I enjoyed 4 and 5 but didn't care how they fit into the larger fiction, even though I was actually pretty into the RE lore (I read 2-3 of the books even). A reboot would be the right way to go.

I don't know, man. The franchise in general becomes more and more of a "Please Stop" contender with every new game...

I really liked the first one. An love letter to campy, B-movie horror (it's called Resident Fucking Evil, for christ's sake) and a damn good adventure game to boot, with some genuinely tense moments, and a deliberate combat system that made you feel underpowered and vulnerable. Love it.

I feel the series has completely lost its way, and I don't even know what Resident Evil is anymore. A dumb shooter franchise? Much like Final Fantasy, the name, to me, is meaningless as the brand doesn't know what it wants to be. We don't need a new numbered sequel. I think we need to just put the franchise to rest altogether. Capcom has shown us they can't be trusted to do it right, and I don't think the brand really has a place (or a need) any more.

All this to say no, I guess.

Never played 5 or 6 but I still believe it's a great franchise that should live on for gamers in the future. Personally I'm more interested in playing re2 remastered for nostalgia sake, that game was amazing in its time.

Should probably reboot the series though if 6 is as bad as the western reviews state. Just don't go down the open world route...

Now this an opinion I can get behind! Woo!

Yeah, I definitely want it. Hope it's good. I really want an RE style MGS4 game, in terms of bringing all the living characters into one, but Jill, Chris, Leon, and Claire are the main protagonists.