Why do you guys feel Billy has yet to return to the franchise?

[Drake]

This is why I think Chris should've died in 6. Piers was the perfect person to replace him, with jake and sherry also being part of the new blood of the series. And now we have Moira as well, but even then, with no clear baddie to play the puppet master, the series is just wandering for now.

[Deathlygasm]

Chris dying would have been very emotionally attaching as we've been with him since the start of the series.

[Graco]

As much as I miss the traditional format of the Resident Evil games I'd hate to see it die. I really do love the series.

[Deathlygasm]

Same! I don't want the series dying either even if it pisses me off occasionally.

[Northman]

The problem with Resident Evil is that the story doesn't lend itself well to infinite sequels, unlike the other, more cartoony Capcom properties like DMC and Mega Man, where the protagonists can extend their lives trough unnatural means. Meanwhile, The Resident Evil-characters have been established to be very much mortal men who age naturally trough well documented timelines and can die. It's already been 17 years since the 1998 Spencer mansion incident, and the original main characters are starting to get up there in years. Pretty soon it'll become really difficult to explain why geriatric Chris and buddies are still hanging around, trying to kill zombies in spite of their arthritis. And all the major plot lines have been resolved anyway. Raccoon City was nuked, Umbrella is done and Wesker died. There's nothing left to do, which is why RE6 felt so awkward. Capcom's desperate attempts to milk the series with their new, should I say contrived plot twists were so damn obvious there.

So as much as I liked Billy, it's still the same thing for him, his story is done. He's still a fugitive from the law, or at least will become one, if the US authorities learn about his survival. So Billy has very little incentive to crawl out from the rock he's hiding under. Unless an unlikely zombie outbreak suddenly lands smack dab square in the middle of his current hide out, I just don't see how Billy could be used in a future title. If you wanna talk about side show characters, using Bruce McGivern and Fong Ling from Dead Aim would make more sense, since both probably are still active duty secret agents, and could simply be ordered to an assignment regardless of their ties to any past outbreaks.

[Lanzagranadas]

Having Chris die in the hands of a poor forgettable villain after all those years fighting and after he was the one who finished off Wesker forever would have been a bad idea imo.

I honestly would have prefer to not see Chris in RE6 at all, saving him for later, because neither him nor Leon contributed to RE6 plot in any way, I think RE6 story should've been completely focussed on Ada, Carla, Simmons and Jake, since they're the characters that actually drive the story, while Leon does nothing but jumping from vehicles that explode all the time and following a random partner for three chapters to know a "truth" that is never revealed, and Chris has personal traumas that have nothing to do with the main plot. The only characters RE6 actually needed plot-wise were Ada, Jake, Carla and Simmons (and maybe Sherry).

I don't quite understand that Capcom's fixation of forcing the numbered entries' timeline to match each game's release date, I honestly find that really dumb. Characters wouldn't be so old if they had RE5, let's say, happen 2 years after 4 and RE6 1 year after 5. The first series chapters weren't tied to their release dates so I don't know why Capcom feels the need to do that today, the series plot would even flow better without those many 4-5 years timeline gaps.

Still, Barry is 51 years old in RER2 and from two chapters that I've played he can run, sprint, dodge and fight like any young character, so it seems age isn't restriction for characters skills, and Chris is just 39 in RE6, he could still keep fighting for another decade.

[Sly]

Northman : You have to look at it differently, see the bigger picture. The series' theme is bioterrorism. You can make countless stories and aventures revolving around this quite broad theme. Characters can get old and die, but they can pass the torch too. It did not turn out well for Piers, sure, but that does not mean it will never happen.
The only limit is imagination.

[Jimmy_Jazz]

I think Northman nails it. & the series' theme had to become bioterrorism because you can only have so many accidents before it gets ridiculous.

I'd rather Capcom look at Home Sweet Home again and let that inspire a new SH franchise for the 2010s, instead of digging out Leon, Chris, Jill & Ada again to shoot more tentacles caused whatever virus flavour is popular at the moment.

For me, 1.5 & BTM (and Starlight, if it gets off of the ground) are all much more interesting prospects than RE7 at the moment.

[Ultimacloud123]

I thought Rev2 was a step in the right direction for that oldish feel. I'm actually enjoying that game.

I agree with Jimmy, 1.5 and BTM are what I'm anxious to play, mote so then Capcom' next RE game.

And don't worry Jimmy, I haven't thrown in the towel. I'm actually collecting some ideas from Rev2. I'm also trying to improve my Barry model before working on the other assets. After all this team is less equipped then IGAS or Gem's. Maybe I'll ask around for experts that program and model.