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Throughout Resident Evil’s history developer, Capcom has never been afraid to experiment. Here’s how Resident Evil could become a great roguelike.
Throughout its storied history, Resident Evil has continually been one of the most resilient franchises in the stable of developer, Capcom. Although it practically gave birth to the survival horror genre, the series has been spun off into rail shooters, asynchronous multiplayer experiences and even a massive movie franchise. However, the series still has one fitting genre that it has yet to try — the roguelike.
In the past few years, roguelikes have taken over the world of indie games, and with the release of Housemarque’s excellent Returnal, the sphere of big-budget releases as well. With its emphasis on fighting against overwhelming zombie hordes and resource management gameplay, Resident Evil is a perfect series to adapt into this popular genre, and here’s how it could work.
The best example of how a roguelike Resident Evil might work lies in the foundation of its most classic gameplay mechanics. At its core, survival horror is about not only battling enemies but careful resource management as well. This setup could be perfect for the difficult nature of roguelike games and could also serve as a unique angle for a Resident Evil version. A roguelike that placed players deep inside the zombie outbreak with little odds of survival and scarce equipment not only feels like a traditional Resident Evil setup, but also a great premise for a challenging roguelike.
For instance, players could be placed on a run that requires them to make it out of Raccoon City alive, thus requiring them to scavenge every area for each bullet and herb they can find. Each run could shuffle items and weapons randomly, making sure that things stay challenging. The already tense gameplay loop that is present in the main series could be amplified when players have no idea if the bullet that was just spent to blast a zombie will be recovered any time soon.
Additionally, players could scavenge for resources during a run that could be used to craft new weapons and equipment at a hub like the Raccoon City police headquarters. These new weapons and equipment could then randomly appear in a subsequent run, much like how fellow roguelike Enter the Gungeon handles its gameplay. Players could find these unlockables in hidden survivor caches stashed throughout the levels, perhaps discovering a shotgun in one run and a powerful minigun in the next. This system could help keep that “roll of the dice” feeling from run to run, which is another key component of a competent roguelike.
Another way that the series would translate well into a roguelike is through its traditional level-based gameplay. Resident Evil is a franchise that has stuck to its roots when it comes to level design. Despite the advances in technology that have allowed the games to become more expansive and detailed, Capcom has continued to create a series that encourages replays by allowing players to learn preferred routes and thus continually shaving off time. This repetition is a key factor in besting the challenge of a roguelike and could easily be paired with the zombified horror aesthetic of the series. Players being required to learn the layout is a time-honored facet of both Resident Evil and roguelikes, and it seems the two could easily be combined.
On top of this, Resident Evil has always produced some of the best boss fights in gaming, and its structure of level-based exploration combined with bombastic boss encounters is perfect for the roguelike genre. Some of the most beloved games in the genre like Dead Cells and Hades rely on this loop, and Resident Evil could deliver the same in unique ways. A roguelike Resident Evil could serve as a slice of the series’ history by serving up a plethora of classic bosses for players to take on. It could even make use of one of Spelunky‘s mechanics as well and serve up an unstoppable Tyrant to move players along if too much time is spent in a level, further ratcheting up the tension.
With the continued success of both Resident Evil and the roguelike genre, Capcom would do well to combine the two. A Resident Evil roguelike could provide a new way to challenge players, and once again make the zombie apocalypse frightening in a whole new way.
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