I used to tell people to never mention Resident Evil 5 or 6 in front of me. There’s no real reason for this, other than I previously felt that these games were a big disappointment for the entire Resident Evil franchise. A lot of people held that opinion, but as time went on — and today, 10 years since it was first released — I’ve come to appreciate Resident Evil 6. Even I can’t get into it.
I was a kid when I first picked up a copy of Resident Evil 6 from a market stall in an alley in Yorkshire. It’s definitely not legal, but a younger version of me was fascinated by the cover art (I barely knew what other people thought at the time) and all the Resident Evil gameplay I watched growing up, thanks to my parents. In a way, I was too young to play Resident Evil 6, but my dad made me buy one anyway, and I was instead allowed to watch him play. It seems like a win-win for him if you ask me.
Later, I tried it myself on Xbox One after playing Resident Evil 7, and most recently on Nintendo Switch – only to give up the game within the first few hours. I’ve done this on discrete occasions more than once, and each time it bounces back within a few hours. The control scheme feels more awkward than ever, and if I want to accomplish a constant QTE, I’d rather play something from The Dark Pictures Anthology. For the most part, playing Resident Evil 6 feels like a chore.
I also don’t think Resident Evil 6 is a bad game, despite the constant eye rolls and sighs I get while playing it. In fact, of all the games in the series, Resident Evil 6 is the best, and I really admire how Capcom is trying to do something different and by offering Leon, Chris, Jake, and Ada. However, that didn’t work in its favor at launch, prompting criticism that it all felt disjointed and overdone. I know Leon Kennedy is well trained, but does he really need to show off his many different fighting styles all the time?
Over time, however, I quelled my fanaticism and found myself admiring Resident Evil 6, even though I knew it wasn’t for me. Can we really try different things at Capcom instead of repeating the same formula over and over? After all, we owe a collective debt to Resident Evil 6…because without it, there would be no Resident Evil 7. It’s not worth considering.
It’s been 10 years since Resident Evil 6 was released, and while I try to play it myself with a positive, open mind, no matter what I try, I just can’t keep up. Not even Chris Redfield could encourage me to stay this time. I have no problem with that.
I can only respect Capcom right now because it’s just trying to merge the Resident Evil formula and the wildly popular action formula in a whole new way; it’s never going to be Resident Evil 4, and it’s never going to be amazing. But now, I have a new appreciation for Capcom and how it keeps trying new things. Look at Exoprimal, for God’s sake – we wouldn’t have it without Dino Crisis or The Lost Planet, would we?
The same is in the publisher’s tent pole series – without these less impressive parts of the Resident Evil canon we wouldn’t have the Resident Evil we have now, and in general Capcom has worked hard to keep its Game freshness keeps Resident Evil alive. Throw the Remakes and RE engine into it, and Resi fans will get a revival that we simply wouldn’t have had without Resident Evil 6’s blunders and giraffe blowjobs.
Sadly, other horror franchises that were popular at the same time as Resident Evil couldn’t quite do it. Silent Hill, what happened to Konami?
