Shinji Mikami hopes a Resident Evil 4 Remake "will make his story better"
Should a Resident Evil 4 Remake ever happen, the game's original writer hopes it'll improve on his original story
Resident Evil 4 is making the news again: whether it's because of the Resident Evil 4 VR version that launched recently for the Oculus Quest 2 (or Meta Quest, if you prefer) or the persistent rumours about the game getting the now-classic Capcom remake treatment, you'll likely going to see the game making headlines all over the shop.
But what does the game's creator and director think of the 2005 classic now that it's being dragged kicking and screaming back into relevance and the cold light of day?
When asked for comment on the persisting Resident Evil 4 Remake rumors that have been doing the rounds over the last year or so, Mikami told VG247 that “fans will most likely want it, and so that’s a good thing.” He also noted, perhaps somewhat self-depricatingly: “It would be great if Capcom could do a great job and make the story better, and put out a good product.”
When asked for clarification surrounding his comments on improving the story of the original Resident Evil 4, Mikami revealed that he wrote the entire story in just three weeks. This, according to the former Capcom director, was because he “only had three weeks to write it in.” Talk about a tough deadline.
For now, though, the Resident Evil 4 Remake rumors are just that: rumors. While multiple reports have alleged the existence of the remake under original developer/publisher Capcom – even claiming that development had been shifted away from studio M-Two to Capcom’s in-house Resident Evil team – nothing has ever been confirmed by the publisher.
As for Mikami’s hopes on a potential remake improving the story of the original Resident Evil 4, Capcom’s past remakes do have a track record of altering the stories of legacy Resident Evil games, if only slightly.
2020’s Resident Evil 3 Remake slightly changed the role of hapless STARS agent Brad, for example, to have the sidekick die and reanimate as a zombie off-screen, only to bite Marvin Branagh shortly thereafter. Will Resident Evil 4 alter things slightly – seemingly now with Mikami's explicit permission? We'll have to wait and see.
If you want to read more about Mikami and his current projects, you can check out our massive interview with Tango Gameworks, Mikami and his production staff as we delve deep into his latest game, Tokyo: Ghostwire. You can also read about his hopes to get in the director's chair one last time, too. Tokyo Ghostwire launches on March 25 for PS5.