Resident Evil v. The Evil Within

Resident Evil is possibly one of the most successful horror franchises in the world. From movies, to comics, books, games, and more, Resident Evil saturates the entertainment market. 

Will lightning strike twice for series creator, Shinji Mikami? Who knows, because little was discussed and explored about his new IP; The Evil Within. The question I pose today is: will The Evil Within top the bar that Mikami himself set? Is Survival Horror dying as a genre and can't keep up with today's market?

This is a Predictions Based thread, all opinions are welcome. Unless you're stupid.

I honestly think this game will be a great return of the more traditional style of survival horror. Shinji knows how to make a great survival horror experience and this game will hopefully be no exception. I can't wait for it.

The survival horror that we had in earlier RE's will definitely die without ever coming back. The industry is simply moving too fast for it to follow. However, sh of the type which is mashed with action is definitely still able to go strong. So I expect TEW to be something like RE4/Silent Hill/Evil Dead mashup where I don't expect many puzzles, but still a good sh experience.

And if I am correct in that assumption, TEW will surely triumph over RE looking at how the things are now because RE6 was a disaster and a pretty bad hit to the whole RE franchise.

I actually think people are stupid and won't be as into The Evil Within as much as most all Survival Horror fans will. 

I think what made Resident Evil popular were the scenearios and the characters. They weren't like the silent protagonists today, people connected with them.

It looks like The Evil Within will be a really good game. I do not think it will hit the heights of Resident Evil anytime soon. Like you said, people have really connected with the protagonists AND antagonist of Resident Evil. Even my friends who don't play the series know who Wesker, Chris, and Leon is. Also I think the release dates of the first few games had a very large influence on modern pop-culture. RE1 and 2 steam-lined zombies into our culture even more than they already were. While the recent games have been something different, everyone remembers the introduction of the series. I do not know a single person who has not heard of Resident Evil. Then there are the movies. I personally only like the first one, but many people who don't play the games are crazy about them.

If The Evil Within were to ever reach the heights of Resident Evil, it would take a very long time. RE is too well established. I do hope that The Evil Within is a phenomenal game though, I really do. If it is RE 7 will definitely look to it for inspiration.

While all you said is true, Ssplain, people are easy to discard whatever franchise is weakening these days, and RE6 sent a great blow to RE generally. Even people who like it realize that RE4 and 5 piss all over 6. Imagine then those people who dislike even 4 and 5 and what they think of the series now. They can't wait for something like TEW, and if that game proves good as everyone is hoping for, I am sure they would rather by TEW 2 than RE39. Not saying that RE will ever lose generally, because it's somewhat of a father to the SH genre (sh games before RE weren't that popular). It's like Tolkien and Fantasy genre. He didn't invent it, sure, but he set the standards for the next who knows how many years.

That said, I am still hoping that Capcom will come back to the horror I prefer so much over action. RE6 was a step back in every possible way. It was pure action, dubbed "dramatic horror" and it didn't even have things such as weapon upgrades that 4 and 5 had, which was fun and prolonged the gameplay by a lot for people who wanted to "farm" all the items and possible upgrades. Etc etc. Skills in RE6 are nothing short of shit tier development. Luckily, Revelations did good.

Problem with that, I believe that Resident Evil has seen it's last good game, ever since Mikami left, the series has been struggling. The only reason Revelations didn't have a multiplayer story was because the limits of the 3DS. It made it a better game, too. But still, the game struggled with horror vs. action. At times, Revelations didn't know who it wanted to please, the horror fans or the action fans; the result? A game that had an identity crisis. Unlike other great games like Metro: Last Light, Resident Evil Revelations doesn't blend action and horror very well together, for the main reason that when you switch from Jill to Chris, you get more weapons, more ammo, more enemies, whenever you play as Chris, you know there are going to be significantly more explosions. The contrast is obvious, and almost embarrassing. Now that Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City and Resident Evil 6 took horror out of the equation altogether, I don't think there's much "hope" left for the franchise.

Will The Evil Within be more popular? I don't think so, because Capcom copped out to provide more action based Resident Evil games for the sake of "Call of Duty numbers." It will, however, definitely be the Survival Horror title of next generation. I can say with confidence, critics and gamers alike, will praise The Evil Within more-so than Capcom's constant bad decisions with probably the most popular horror title in the world.

Do I think it's gonna be an enjoyable horror game? Yes.

Do I think it's going to be something groundbreaking? No.

Do you think you will enjoy it moreso than Resident Evil?

If he thinks it's gonna be "an enjoyable horror game", I'm guessing he's not gonna like it more than his favorite series.

My way of thinking is that "This guy made one of my favorite series. Therefore, what's not to love?"

Shinji Mikami also made Vanquish which, at least to me, was just an okay game. I don't go into a game expecting it's a masterpiece just because it's made by someone who has made something I liked in the past.

Thom did catch my line of thought, it seems.