Get an inside look at the thought processes, early concepts and internal deliberations that took place in early 204 when Capcom Osaka decided to revitalize their long stagnant undead franchise. Featuring narration from Executive Producer Tsuyoshi Kanda and Director Masachika Kawata, this behind the scenes look at Capcom Osaka’s development process exposes some of ideas that lead to the successful revival of RE earlier this year.
Masachika Kawata sought to create a game inspired by the horror comedy classic Sami Rami’s ‘Evil Dead’ for Resident Evil’s more compact Baker Estate while returning to some of the elements introduced in the first RE title. When looking back at their previous games like 2011’s Resident Evil 6, both devs admit that while the game was well received by some of the series’ fans, there were others that felt that Resident Evil had lost its’ focus on tense and fearful interaction to make away for more Hollywood-esque action sequences. Capcom Osaka wanted to still the Resident Evil 7 experience to the most basic elements – making the player feel a sense of fear as they attempt to solve puzzles and survive encounters that might just take their lives.
It was surprising to learn that Resident Evil 7 didn’t start out as the first person claustrophobic adventure it became but rather an extension of Resident Evil 6’s more action oriented focus. Once they had decided on the confined setting and first person perspective the team at Osaka sent a pitch video in a similar style to the team at Capcom USA – who sent back a reaction video of the America team watching the pitch video for the first time. When the Osaka team watched their colleagues jump in fear they knew that they were on the right track.
No word on when Capcom will release the second developer documentary but if it contains as many interesting tidbits as this first entry it will be a must watch.