Resident Evil 4 remake needs to improve the story, says Mikami, mainly because we only had a fortnight to write it
He also reckons Capcom’s done a good job keeping the game alive.
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Resident Evil 4, developed by Capcom’s production studio and directed by Shinji Mikami, is almost more than a classic gaming title: It’s the game so good that the industry can’t stop remaking it. Whether that’s fan mods thatre-trace the developer’s real-world stepsto improve the wall textures, Meta investing in aVR version as one of its flagship titles, or the persistent rumour of Capcom’s own impending remake, special agent Leon S. Kennedy’s adventure somehow continues to stay vital and present 17 years after its release.
Shinji Mikami, now head of Tango Gameworks, recently gave aninterview to Newsweekin which he was asked about the potential Resi 4 remake. “If it’s a question of whether I want to see it or not [I] think I do,” said Mikami. “I just hope that they make the story better.”
Fans of lines like “writhe in my cage of torment, my friend” may be a little aghast, as the maximum schlock factor of Resi 4 can be one of its charms.
“The game itself is close to perfect, but we only had two-and-a-half weeks to make that story and so I have a different view,“says Mikami.“There just wasn’t enough time to make it good and the people I wanted to work on it declined because of that restriction.”
Who knows what should change because, a dialogue pass aside (such as we saw in parts of Resi 4 VR), it’s hard to see how the game’s story could be drastically different. It is trash, kinda, but it’s funny and memorable trash pulling you through an amazing game.
Mikami himself is happy to leave that up to Capcom, and gives his old employer its due when it comes to how it’s handled the game: “Every time that they rerelease the old Resident Evil 4, something new has been applied to it and it’s given some polish. I think they’re doing a really good job.”
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Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as “[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike.”
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