the Resident Evil franchise has become such a core part of video games that it is impossible to imagine a world without it. Over the decades, the series has been through a lot, and has had many highs and UNDER—and what is higher for the whole business than Resident Evil 4?

Capcom released several versions of the Resident Evil 4 over the years, including an acclaimed current-gen remake back in 2023. But its first release for the Nintendo Gamecube was on January 11, 2005 as the penultimate game in a series of console exclusives called og Capcom Five, and marks a major shakeup. for the series. After several versions were conceptualized and scrapped, longtime series director/producer Shinji Mikami reignited a complete reinvention. At that point, he and the other developers felt things were getting long in the tooth and hoped to spice things up properly.

Among Mikami’s key changes is replacing the zombies with a new undead enemy called Ganados, which uses a more dynamic camera instead of fixed angles, and no the story centers on the evil Umbrella Corporation. But the biggest shift is there how the game was played: instead of slow, tank-like controls, he wanted more action focus and third-person, over-the-shoulder shooting. That style of play doesn’t sit well with everyone on the team, but them ARLINGTON he explained once Why he likes the changes he makes. In a 2004 interview with IGNproducer Hiroyuki Kobyashi similarly reassured the fanbase that it was another fit Resident Evil game, just one that will serve as a jumping on point for those who have bounced from the previous entries or have never played the games.

By now, we all know Resident Evil 4 received critical acclaim and is considered one of the best games of all time. It is also one of the most influential: from Gears of War and Dead Space to a newer one Last of us and God of War, you can find a lot of his DNA in any major third-person game that came out between 2006 basically now. A similar imitation was found in other survival horror series at the time, with a new installment for Silent Hill and Alone in the Dark also tried to go for an action/horror combination, but not with the same success or glowing reception. Later Resident Evil The games continue with the third-person shooting combat, and the first-person Resident Evil Village Developed as a mix of that game and 2017’s Resident Evil 7, according to Village DIRECTORS Morita Sato.

but residents Evil 4’s The biggest impact came when it was transferred to the PlayStation 2 in October of the same year. In a way, this is the most definitive version of the game, as it features new features and material not found in the Gamecube version, including the “Separate Ways” side-story starring the supporting cast of character Ada Wong. The PS2 was famous for an incredible third-party game library back in the day, and RE4 is one of the cream of the crop. Resident Evil has never been a PlayStation-exclusive series, but the two are forever linked, and like Final Fantasy, it means something at the time there is a mainline entry on a PlayStation console.

However, its jump to the PS2 was not without its bumps. Once revealed by Capcom Resident Evil 4 not exclusive to the Gamecube, Mikami’s anger at the situation helped create many new developers. The first is Clover Studio, where Mikami and Hideki Kamiya—the person who was scrapped RE4 ideas led to the creation of Devil May Cry—worked on cult classics such as Hand of God and Eyes. After the studio closed, the two co-founded PlatinumGames, with Kamiya leading the studio and directing its flagship action series. Bayonetta and the beloved 2017 gem Nier: Automata. For him, things have come full circle: there is left Platinum in 2023, he is now in charge of the recently announced Clovers Studiowhich makes a follow-up to Eyes. Meanwhile, Mikami founded Tango Gameworks, which continues to produce the Evil Within games and 2023 which is extremely awesome Hi-Fi Rush. Microsoft close Tango completion said Rush release, but the studio already just born again by Krafton. Mikami left Tango before its closing, and he seems to have started a new studio that probably does its own thing.

Regardless of Mikami’s next project, it will inevitably draw comparisons to his previous work, and Resident Evil 4 especially. No one can escape the shadow of the game, because of how deeply ingrained it has been in video games for decades, and also because it can be played with almost everything in some capacity. Even if Capcom suddenly decided to stop the survival horror franchise for the time being, that wouldn’t do anything. Resident Evil 4 refuses to be forgotten, and it probably won’t be, because it has become so ingrained in the medium.

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