Enrique Medina

🧟 Highlights from a new interview with Shinji Mikami, creator of Resident Evil. • Resident Evil was originally planned as a supernatural horror game involving ghosts. Mikami spent about a month developing the initial concept before switching to zombies. He personally preferred supernatural horror but felt zombies offered a better balance between fear and combat. • Resident Evil began when Capcom wanted to make another horror game based on Sweet Home, which hadn't sold as well as expected. Mikami kept the idea of surviving with limited resources from that game. • • George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead inspired Resident Evil. While watching the movie, Mikami imagined how he would survive in the same situation and realized that a video game could allow players to make their own decisions instead of following a predetermined story. • The original Resident Evil faced issues during the approval process because of its graphic violence. Sony allowed the game to be released with a warning sticker about its graphic scenes. • Resident Evil's live-action opening and ending were originally planned as CGI sequences. The decision to use real actors was made to reduce production costs. • Approximately 20 million yen was allocated for the live-action sequences, in-game CGI, much of the music, and English and Japanese voice recordings. Mikami recalled that the budget was far too small, forcing the team to make numerous cuts. • Capcom was facing serious financial difficulties before Resident Evil became a hit. According to Mikami, the game's success helped the company avoid collapse. • Despite Resident Evil's success, Mikami's monthly salary was reduced by 140,000 yen following changes to Capcom's producer system. His salary eventually increased after Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 became successful. • After Resident Evil 1, 2, 3, and CODE: Veronica, Mikami felt the series had become too repetitive and players were growing tired of the formula. He believed Resident Evil 4 needed significant changes. • Mikami gave the Resident Evil 4 team two years and three chances to try something different. But in the end, the team decided to play it safe and stick close to the old formula. That version didn't work out either, so Mikami took over as director. • Mikami removed traditional zombies from Resident Evil 4 because he had grown tired of them. He had always believed humans could be scarier than zombies. • Resident Evil 4 deliberately moved away from the main storyline because Mikami knew he would eventually step away from the franchise. He didn't want future developers to feel restricted by the story he had established. • Mikami wanted future developers to have a choice. If Resident Evil 4's new direction worked, they could stick with it. If it didn't, they could always bring back zombies and Umbrella, which he thought fans would be happy to see again. • Mikami said that when players see a dead body in a horror game, he wants them to feel scared. But instead, they immediately start pressing buttons to see if the body has any ammo. He said this has been a problem for him for decades. • Mikami believes making combat feel satisfying is much harder than balancing difficulty. Getting the aiming, shooting, enemy reactions, and weapon sounds right is one of the most challenging parts of development. • Resident Evil's worldwide success didn't fundamentally change Mikami's approach to game design. He believes the basic elements that make games enjoyable are largely universal, although cultural differences still need to be considered. • Mikami prefers experimenting with new ideas rather than repeatedly making similar games. He said he gets bored doing the same thing and enjoys taking creative risks, even when a familiar approach would be safer. (via: YT/culture-yabai)