Summary
Capcom isn’t necessarily one to transparently leave a trail of breadcrumbs in one game for the next to follow, especially in terms of how eachResident Evilgame’s ending concludes with finality and closure for that story’s events. Regardless of whether the character takes a helicopter ride into the sunset or not, it’s usually uncertain what the story of the next game will entail, let alone if it will follow the same character again or not.Resident Evil 9, on the other hand, seems to want to do away with that tradition and it’ll be interesting to see if Capcom follows through with the loose thread it’s handed Chris Redfield.
It’s also unclear if another entry in Capcom’s line ofResident Evilremakes will precede or succeedResident Evil 9. As for what game Capcom might remake next, the wayResident Evil 4and its Separate Ways DLC end make it fairly obvious thatResident Evil 5might be in the works. The biggest concern for such a remake would be whether it has co-op or not, but ifResident Evil 9debuted modern co-op before aResident Evil 5remake could there would be a lot of fascinating implications to make about the franchise’s direction in both its mainline and reimagined titles.
A Resident Evil 5 Remake Having Co-op is a Make or Break Scenario
Co-op is Basically a Must-Have for a Resident Evil 5 Remake
TheResident Evil 2remake needed to get the Raccoon City Police Department right, theResident Evil 3remake needed to get Nemesis right, and theResident Evil 4remake needed to get the village’s atmosphere right. Now, ifResident Evil 5is on the docket, it will need to get two-player co-op right.
There’s a world that exists where a remake of the fifth mainline game only features single-player andSheva Alomar is an NPC AI characterthe whole time, but neglecting the function of co-op would essentially strip away the one distinct characteristic of the game aside from its setting.
Sheva is indeed an NPC AI whenever players aren’t engaging in co-op, too, and Capcom could decide that its best bet is to fully lean on that premise instead of designing a modern co-op system for maybe one more game afterward if it decides tofollowResident Evil 5with a remake ofResident Evil 6. That said, one choice of direction for the franchise could ensure thatResident Evil 5’s co-op isn’t a one-off, and that direction could potentially be implemented even sooner thanResident Evil 5depending on the franchise’s pipeline schedule.
Resident Evil 9 Could Beat a Resident Evil 5 Remake to Its Defining Feature
Co-op Could Be Influential and Experimental in Resident Evil 9
Resident Evil 9featuring co-op would be unprecedented, but it could make a lot of sense. Ifco-op is going to be pivotal in theResident Evilfranchise once againit would be logical for Capcom to make use of it a number of times in order to iterate on it well and make it worthwhile. That said, the main installments have not ever been reliant on what the remakes did, nor vice versa, and so there is no way to tell ifResident Evil 5would end up influencingResident Evil 9in any way.
Nonetheless, having co-op in at leastResident Evil 9, aResident Evil 5remake, and aResident Evil 6remake would give it the opportunity for a co-op trilogy over the next decade or however long it may take. What would be truly special is ifResident Evil 9released before aResident Evil 5remake, allowing Capcom to hone its co-op in a new entry before adapting one of the most successfulResident Eviltitles to date.
Resident Evil 9’s co-op could feature Chris Redfieldand someone else as playable protagonists, for example, and that gameplay formula would lead straight into a remake ofResident Evil 5. That runs the risk of both games being identical in a lot of ways, though, andResident Evil 9would need to ensure its atmosphere, character dynamics, gameplay, and setting are far more authentic to avoid such low-hanging comparisons.
