Summary
Resident Evilhasn’t ever had a wave of unpopular games in its mainline installments, and despite how fans of the original trilogy receivedResident Evil 3’s remake, the remake continuity has been profoundly popular, too. Remakes are becoming more widely acceptable as ‘new’ entries in long-running franchises, at least in terms of them being substantial reimaginings, and it’s interesting to see what fromResident Evil’s mainline canonhas begun to bleed into its remake canon. That’s not to say that these narratives will ever intertwine, but there are many parallels that can already be made between them.
Capcom can be seen experimenting with features and mechanics that inevitably get used in future games, if not in an immediately subsequent game. Like howResident Evil 2’s remakebled a lot of its mechanics intoResident Evil 3’s remake and so forth, it becomes easy to see what ideas, features, and assets are recycled rather than needlessly disposed of. In the case of particular tools, environmental objects, or resources that frequently appear, that has been somewhat of a humorous boon forResident Evil.
Resident Evil’s Red Bolt Cutters, Wooden Crates are a Franchise Meme
Resident Evil’s Bolt Cutters Have a Life of Their Own
Of all the items that frequently appear betweengames sinceResident Evil 7, the red bolt cutters are easily its most prolific and memorable. They’ve become a meme in theResident Evilcommunity because they are the same asset from game to game, making it seem as if these bolt cutters have somehow traveled between protagonists rather than them being their own individual pairs.
There isn’t a deeper meaning to them being the same asset, only that Capcom rightfully doesn’t want to create new assets for the same function when it already has a perfectly good one. The same idea goes for all the other assets players can find between these newer games, and since they all share comparable features it makes logical sense why they’d all appear identical, if not somewhat similar. Other instances, among many others that are largely unnoticeable or non-invasive, include:
Resident Evil’s Reused Assets are Forgiven Due to Their Fun Series Identity
Unfortunately, becauseResident Evil 4’s remake left out bolt cutters, it sadly isn’t reliable anymore that bolt cutters will always make it into a newResident Eviltitle.
In an ideal scenario, however, players can anticipate having to clip a bolt lock or chain link, unlock cabinet drawers, and destroy crates and barrels all without knowing anything about how future games might look or play because that’s become the franchise identity as it’s persisted up untilResident Evil 4. It would be nice to discern now thatResident Evil 9and the nextResident Evilremake would both continue this pattern and include the same gameplay features and identical assets, and it’ll always be exciting to see if and where the bolt cutters may end up being retrieved next.
As for other omissions, it’s unlikely that the nextResident Evilgame will make any drastic changes to this formula even though each new entry does tend to instill a new mechanic, such as the parry inResident Evil 4’s remake. There’s no telling whether Capcom plans to have that parry back inResident Evil 9ora potentialResident Evil 5remake, for example, especially since the dodge mechanic inResident Evil 3was authentically adapted for the remake alone.
This parry was a brand-new mechanic that wasn’t in the original, though, which demonstrates it could become a new mainstay that futureResident Evilgames adopt. Regardless, it’s almost guaranteed that players haven’t seen the last ofResident Evil’s bolt cutters.
Resident Evil 4
WHERE TO PLAY
Survival is just the beginning.Six years have passed since the biological disaster in Raccoon City.Agent Leon S. Kennedy, one of the survivors of the incident, has been sent to rescue the president’s kidnapped daughter. He tracks her to a secluded European village, where there is something terribly wrong with the locals.And the curtain rises on this story of daring rescue and grueling horror where life and death, terror and catharsis intersect.Featuring modernized gameplay, a reimagined storyline, and vividly detailed graphics, Resident Evil 4 marks the rebirth of an industry juggernaut.Relive the nightmare that revolutionized survival horror.
