Id Rather Resident Evil 8 Was Better, Not Bigger

• Industry insider Dusk Golem has claimed that Resident Evil 8 will be the longest RE Engine game to date.
• The comments came in response to a fan complaining about the short length of the recent Resi 3 remake.
• In the long run, how long Resi 8 is will have nothing to do with how enjoyable the game is.

Games industry insider Dusk Golem revealed that Resident Evil 8 is going to be “the longest RE Engine game to date”. The nugget came in response to gamers’ complaints about the length vs. cost of Resi 3 Remake.

Just because a game is longer – with a higher budget and more development – doesn’t make it better. I’d much rather have a decent game that lasts for four hours, than a mediocre game that lasts for ten.

Size Doesn’t Matter

Resident Evil 8 is an essential title in the up-down cycle of Resi games. It needs to break Capcom’s usual routine of shabby-clones. If it follows the trend and fails as an unworthy sequel that’s merely a clone with a few tweaks, the fault will lie in game design, not game length.

Promising a longer game is only a good thing with excess time and no taste. You’d be better off trying to guarantee that Resi 8 is going to be the best quality RE engine game to date, though that might be a bit harder to quantify even for an insider.

The Resident Evil 8 trailer sure does look shiny, in the video below:

Resident Evil 8 Will Live or Die on Its Own Merits

How well Capcom will do with Resident Evil 8  will depend on the freedom and creativity afforded to their team. The reason that Resi 7 was successful was that it was allowed to stray from the formula that spat out Resi 6 nearly a decade ago.

The promise of a longer game is pointless if it doesn’t offer improvements in mechanics, design, and new innovations in what is likely to be a more expansive game. The problem, however, is Resi 7’s success raises the possibility of the pivot becoming Resident Evil 8’s formula to follow.

In fairness to Dusk Golem, he wasn’t trying to say that being longer would make Resi 8 better. He was responding to a specific complaint from one particular fan about previous titles in the series. Either way, so far, Resi 8 looks like Resi 7 with not-werewolves and a cameo from Chris Redfield.

Why am I not confident that either of those things is a good sign?

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of CCN.com.