Resident Evil Turns 25 This Month.
It was on March 22, 1996 that the horror game that changed the life of its creator, Shinji Mikami, landed in Japan, but also ours a bit. Bio Hazard, or Resident Evil in our regions, has indeed upset our little habits as players.
If he did not invent the genre of survival horror, it is he who gives it its letters of nobility and succeeds in imposing it. In order to remember the good old days of the Cerberus smashing the windows, we return to the Spencer mansion with pointy hats and party favors. Don’t go!
Survival horror under the influence
Primarily thought of as a spiritual sequel to Sweet Home, a horrific RPG produced by Capcom in 1989 set in an old building infested with supernatural creatures, Resident Evil was originally intended to be a first-person title.
But after discovering Alone in the Dark, the adventure game imagined by Frédérick Raynal considered to be the precursor of survival horror, Mikami decides to use the same process as that put forward by the Infogrames teams, namely pre-calculated 3D sets where real-time 3D protagonists get lost.
Compared to Alone in the Dark, Capcom’s work offers a more sustained narrative and brings many clashes. Compared to Sweet Home, Resident Evil forgets strictly supernatural elements (like ghosts).
Nourished by influences of all kinds, be they video games or filmic, Shinji Mikami builds his game in pain. It goes so far as to completely restart its development after a first version below its expectations, which does not fail to tense the management teams of the Osaka company.
It took two years and three months of development for Mikami and his young team of around 30 to deliver the very first Resident Evil. If this production time may seem ridiculous today, it was considered important at the time.
It was therefore on March 22, 1996 that Bio Hazard arrived in Japan. Despite the doubts of Yoshiki Okamoto, manager of Capcom studios, who felt that players would hate the maneuverability as well as the too few ink ribbons to save, the survival-horror featuring Wesker’s squad is a stunning success.
It is even the first PlayStation branded app to exceed one million copies in Japan. Including the Director’s Cut and Dual Shock Edition versions, the first Resident Evil has sold over 5 million units worldwide.
A score that far exceeds Capcom’s initial forecasts, since the group was planning to sell only 150,000 boxes, when the project was entrusted to Mikami.
Arklay, raw hearts
Resident Evil tells the story of the STARS Alpha team sent to investigate the disappearance of Team Bravo in the mountains of Arklay. This gloomy place located a few kilometers from the city of Raccoon City is the scene of dark news.
The most recent reports a hiker found horribly mutilated. Unfortunately, as soon as it arrives, the squad is attacked by monstrous dogs. The small group of Albert Wesker, Chris Redfield, Barry Burton and Jill Valentine find refuge in a gigantic building, while Joseph Frost is killed by the creatures and Brad Vickers flees with the helicopter.
Contrary to appearances, this is where the trouble really begins.
Resident Evil is one of the first series that I knew on Playstation in 1996. From its intro in Black & White, I plunged into this universe that I have never left since.
A true declaration of love for a whole section of genre cinema, starting with that of George A. Romero, the first Resident Evil has never ceased to captivate me, and this, through all its versions, from the original to the Director’s Cut through his incredible adaptation on GameCube in 2002, which still represents for me today the very quintessence of what should be a remake.
If in 2019, Capcom will repeat the experience by signing a remake of Resident Evil 2 with a different philosophy, but with an equally significant quality, it is good to remember everything that has happened in the space of 17 years having separated these two titles.
Between an incalculable number of games, from the worst (Resident Evil Survivor 2: Code Veronica) to the best (cited a few lines above to which we will add the exceptional Resident Evil: Code: Veronica), a 180 ° turnaround with the sometimes criticized but yet so precious Resident Evil 4, a very marked turn towards action, a homecoming with the excellent Resident Evil VII, the story of the saga is more like an emotional roller-coaster than a simple train ghost.
Having very early freed herself from the medium that saw her birth, she also distinguished herself, both literally and figuratively, through novels, manga, animated films, feature films and soon a series on Netflix . So many ways to reach an ever larger audience while satisfying the fans.
For my part, if I have sighed in front of certain ideas, I have always returned to them, proof of the continued attraction that this saga exerts on me and that this saga so dear to my heart will exercise for a long time to come.
Whether by its genesis, its cutscenes filmed with real actors or its unforgettable gameplay sequences, Resident Evil is a cult work. If the mansion remains the main place of the STARS ‘misadventures, the house of the guardian, the caves and the Arklay laboratory are all scary places that the player must roam in search of a way to leave this hell infested with bellicose monsters.
It is difficult to record all the unforgettable moments that abound in the epic. We could, of course, cite the scene where the dogs smash the windows, or the one that introduces the arrival of the Hunter, shot in first person view.
For some, one of the most traumatic sequences remains the encounter with the first zombie in the game, for others, it is the final confrontation against the Tyrant.
By drawing in the classic bestiary of horror films, the app asks to face giant spiders, genetically modified sharks, crows, a mutant snake, and even a killer plant. Resident Evil is also twisted puzzles and keys to find to open the right doors and thus progress.
a major work of popular culture
In 1996, the foundations of survival horror were formed: a disturbing place, angles of view worthy of those of horror films, little ammunition, little health, a lot of monsters, limited backups and a few puzzles.
The camera which voluntarily hides from the player what his character sees, however, is one of the trademarks of the genre during his first tests.. This mix between fear, exploration, action and good management of resources (because of a very limited inventory) seduces an audience who discovers with fear – but also with pleasure – the fundamentals of the genre.
This formula will generate many sequels and spin-offs, but also a few copies from other publishers.
Although Mikami admits to regretting some aspects of his creation, especially the famous intro cutscene and the first few minutes in the Spencer Mansion, Resident Evil remains the project that propelled him to the rank of the developers who weigh in the industry.
A little revenge for this Japanese man who had a complicated family life when he was a child, and who twice failed his entrance exams to Doshisha University in Kyoto. Could he have imagined, when he was plagued by doubts, that he was going to be at the origin of a major work of popular culture?
What remains of Resident Evil 25 years after the Japanese release of its very first episode? Memories of spooky times in front of his CRT television, first of all.
But also the celebration of a time when the gameplay could still impose drastic limits (not being able to walk while aiming, not being able to control the camera, etc.) in order to put the player in an uncomfortable position and make him fear the worst. at every moment.
Today, any curious can (re) discover the myth imagined by Shinji Mikami thanks to the HD versions of the GameCube remake, accessible on a whole bunch of machines. Resident Evil is a cornerstone of video game history, in addition to being a horror game monument.
We are therefore delighted to wish him a happy birthday, fans that we are.