Losing interest in the series

[Dot50Cal]

I'm curious if anyone else is beginning to feel as I do. Resident Evil 5 seemed to close a large amount of plot lines, character arc's etc for me. I can't really seem to get interested in the upcoming games. It seems like everything I really was interested in (Umbrella, Spencer's plans, etc) have all been wrapped up.

My collecting days are also coming to an end, with a large portion of my stuff having been sold or are in the process of being sold.

Just curious if anyone else is feeling the same way, and if so, how long have you been following the series?

I see a lot of enthusiasm for the games from the folks who haven't been around as long, but most of the "old timers" seem to be done with the series.

[Anders]

It's been a while since I frequently checked up new information for upcoming RE games (and Silent Hill, for that matter). The DS games don't interest me much, partly for being on DS, and I can't imagine a plot they can come up with for Revelations which will interest me. RE5 never sucked me in, you just run on, shoot, and don't care what just happened. I miss the atmosphere and the "what the hell is going on here?" feeling. Maybe I'm getting older, finally!

I prefer to enjoy the old games every now and then, including RE4. It's an amazing game, despite it's shortcomings in the men's fashion and plot departments.

But once a collector, always a collector. In my case anyway. Digging up old stuff is fun.

[GuardhouseMusic]

Hah, I guess since I started out on Resident Evil 2 rather than the first one I still have a little bit of fuel as a fan left over. I will get Revelations to see how much Capcom owns up to the "we're making horror the priority with this title" (not bloody likely, I know). The story looks pointless but if they try new things with the execution of the game and its scenarios, then it'll hopefully be one of those Dead Aim-esque gems.

I'll also wait (though not with such anticipation) for RE6 with the hopes that Capcom just destroys the recognized canon and tries something new. People have been rebooting series high and low these days, and I think the quality of that game will ultimately decide how much I care about the series.

What's sadder for me is that I'm losing interest even more for Silent Hill. While I'll definitely give this "Downpour" a shot, I can't help but feel uncomfortable whenever the developer for the game goes on record shitting on SH1 and 3 and he puts SH2 to such God status. What attracted me to Shattered Memories so much was the team's dedication to making the problematic situation of a remake (leaving aside Mikami's REmake) their own singular vision. While I had problems with it, they succeeded in making it a separate and effective title.

[xBx]

Really, i don't care that match about upcomming games.First time i played Resident Evil 1 in 1997 and started to make a collection in 2005-2006(i got a PC in 2003).For first 3 years I used your site as a guide to make a collection(on your site i see which items exist and what to search for).
Now i own biohazard videogames of different regions for Sega Saturn,N64,Wii,GC,PS1,PS2,PS3,Xbox 360,Nintendo Ds,Dreamcast and a lot of things like guides,action figures,etc.

Its just a different amount motivation for me to search for games/promo itmes etc. which were released before BH4 or to search for Bh4 and items which were released
after it.
For me, there is no motivation to collect all possible BH5 posters action figures etc.

BH 5 finally killed "Survivor Horror" and destroyed many characters(stupid Wesker,blonde Jill,bodybuilder "gayherolike" Chris).

Planning to continue collecting BH items.I still want to play BH 1.5 and not only....

[Darkmoon]

Yeah, a lot of the older fans are in the same boat, I suspect. After RE5 I stopped buying the games new. I have no intention of getting Revelations, nor the Merc game. Still haven't picked up Darkside Chronicles. Honestly? I'm still here because I like the community here. Resident Evil is fairly low down on my 'do I give a crap' list. The only reason I even play RE5 is I can co-op it with my wife, which is fun.

[Bianca]

It’s really hard, for me, to completely tear myself away from Resident Evil. The series has been a part of my life for such a long time, and half of my teenage years would have been nothing without them… Resident Evil is so insanely sentimental, to me, and there’s no other feeling in the world that compares to how it feels to play the older games, to play through CODE: Veronica or RE2 or even REmake. Those were the days!

But, at this point, I do feel myself slipping away from the passionate obsession I had for the series. Despite all the displeasure I experienced with RE4, it didn’t actually crush all the hopes I had for the plot—I still thought there would be much more to explore, even if the mechanics and core plot of the series had been shifted. After RE5, though, I think I finally started to realize I would never fully get what I “wanted” from the series.

I wanted a deep exploration of Spencer’s background and his goals, and I wanted to see Chris and Jill have a real encounter with him. And, most importantly, I desperately wanted to see something become of the Wesker/Sherry storyline. When I was in middle school, young and so very naïve, I used to watch the Wesker Report DVD over and over, because I thought it was awesome, and the last line about Sherry always sent shivers down my spine. I clung to the possibility of that storyline for nearly 10 years! Now, knowing Capcom has no intention of exploring it and, instead, Sherry is in “government custody,” a huge part of my interest in the series has vanished. I can only cling to the last remaining bit of my naïve ignorance, in which I quietly hope Sherry might reappear in the series in another storyline.

In retrospect, I know a lot of us have either favored the RE1/Chris/Jill part of the series or the RE2/Leon/Claire—and, as someone who always preferred characters like Ada and Sherry, I found myself being partial to the latter half. Which is why I’m trying to stay loyal to the series, since it’s possible RE6 may (and I stress the use of the word “may”) have something to do with Ada/Leon/etc. And, that’s where my interest in the series lingers… I’d like to see more of Ada, and if it’s possible that Sherry could return, then that’s further reason not to fully give up.

However, when it comes to Revelations, I’m not what you would label as ultra excited. I am looking forward to it, and I’m eager to see more, but most of my excitement has deflated after the initial surprise of the game’s announcement. I’m more eager about Mercenaries 3DS, and it’s for superficial reasons (such as being able to have Claire and Chris team up). After all, I’ve spent way more time playing RE5’s Mercenaries and Versus than I have playing that actual scenario in the game.

But, it’s also rather sad that I’m anticipating a mindless “fun” mini-game than an actual addition to the series’ storyline. I never thought that day would come, especially for Resident Evil, a series that I’ve always adored mostly because of the storyline.

My loyalty to Resident Evil is just a terribly corrupt relationship. My love for it runs so deep that I’ll find myself allowing the abuse and unhappiness, because it still means something to my pathetic soul, despite all the shit it’s put me through. It’s like marriage gone bad.

I have to say with most certainty that if RE6 involves a new character, brand new storyline and no solid connection to the previous game—well, I’ll gladly divorce Resident Evil. And, it’ll be an amicable divorce. Sure, our last years together weren’t that great, but I won’t spend the rest of my life resenting it. I’ll remember the good times we shared, and I’ll distantly watch it continue on with bittersweet feelings washing through my soul.

[Chris' Boob]

I want to know what happened to Billy, Steve and Sherry. I don't care for anyone else.

[Agent_Wong]

While I didn't start with the original, after I completed the first round of Leon's scenario, I knew that I had to have the first installment and hoped that this series would continue. And my hopes were not dashed, until re5. Even though it continued to stray from the series roots and I know that re4 was in part responsible, it just didn't do anything for me like the other games did. There was no sense of urgency to conserve your ammo or your healing items because they were so easy to come by.

I do feel my interest waning, but I have one last hope with Revelations, and I will give the series that I have come to love (and hate at times) one more shot. Should this game not live up to what they are hyping it to be (ie. "a return to survival horror), I shall wash my hands of this series and never again give my hard earned money for another title.

On topic with the other question, I will continue to try and find things that I'm interested in as far as the collection part of the game goes. Though the things I want are few and far between.

In the end, I hope this doesn't take a turn for the worse because I've poured so much of my heart and time into the series I couldn't bear it if I had to say goodbye.

[Grem]

RE5 gave the answers I was looking for storywise and I feel as much as you do. Why should we continue to look for another RE title?

But I don't think this is really a bad thing, either. The series has been here for quite some time, now. And I think all good things need an end.

The only things I will be interested in, as of right now, are games prior to RE5 in terms of storyline. That's why I'm really looking forward to RE Revelations and perhaps Damnation (if it does take place before RE5, anyway).

But, honestly, I don't think I will buy RE6, if it ever comes out one day.

[SinValentine]

i get nostalgic every now and then, but i've not cared much about RE series for a while

funny, because it used to be a really important series for me. i started to collect the games since 2000. i used to love making layouts and collecting all the info i could on it, same for silent hill i wonder what went wrong

[Archelon]

To be perfectly honest, my interest in the series, at least from a purely story-oriented perspective, began to wane after I finished CODE: Veronica for the first time. I know a lot of people blame Resident Evil 4 for this, but if you ask me, it was CODE: Veronica that first took the series in a direction that to this day I still wish it hadn't. I'm not solely referring to the resurrection of Wesker, either.

I still found the gameplay enjoyable, though, which, looking back on it now, is more or less the reason I stuck around with the series. However, even taking into account the excellent REmake, after playing Zero, I was pretty much done with the series at that point. Really, the only thing that initially interested me about RE4 was the return of my favorite character.

I imagine that's probably why I was okay with the story of the final version of RE4 being completely unrelated to the previous games. I honestly just didn't care anymore. I had long since given up on Capcom actually providing us with any real answers, so as long as the gameplay was fun, I was content, and RE4 was like nothing I had ever played before.

It wasn't until the team behind RE5 started promising real answers and closure to many of the series' longstanding questions and lingering plot threads that I started to really care about the story again. However, after the answers we were actually given in 5, I can honestly say that I would have been perfectly fine if we never got any closure whatsoever. It actually makes me appreciate even more the fact that RE4 was such a departure from the previous games.

So now I pretty much find myself in the same situation I did after finishing CODE: Veronica all those years ago. I'll play any new games that are released, because the gameplay is still fairly enjoyable, but I couldn't care less what they do with the story. As long as the games are fun, I'm content, but Capcom has a lot of catching up to do, because they are well behind the curve now. There are much, much better games out there with which to occupy my time.

[Darkmoon]

I think it's a combination of us growing older and the series changing away from what we grew up with. I'm 26 now. I've literally spent half my life emersed in Resident Evil. But when I was 13, all I had to worry about was my grades and my social drama. Now I have three kids, a wife, a buisness...I simply don't have the time and energy to dedicate to some things, and Resident Evil has dropped because it's become something I don't like.

Which isn't to say I don't still love the series. I do. But a lot of more recent series, such as Mass Effect, Dead Space, BioShock, Alan Wake...stuff I got into and grew to love with my wife...has taken over my fandom. I simply don't dedicate the same level of excitement to a series I think is going to keep disapointing me. I want to love each new game, but I haven't. Not for too many years.

Still, I'd sell someone else's soul to get 1.5, and I still like to keep an eye on the games in the hope that Capcom rip there head from out of there asshole and realize that appealing to the masses and the fans at the same time is doable. Maybe even better, since it won't just be another action game in a pack of action games then. But we'll see.

[Wrathborne]

I'd avoid Darkside Chronicles, its full of retcon, especially in the Code Veronica section.

Being that Capcom pretty much said 'fuck you all' to the original fans with RE5(Not RE4, least I say so) its no surprise lots of the old fans have lost interest with the series.

[TheBatMan]

I think part of the problem stems from the waiting time between games. The gap between RE4 and RE5 was practically 5 years and it was basically the same game but with HD graphics. And before that, the gap from CV to RE4 was also about 4 years. It's too long for the fans to have to wait and releasing sub-par spin off titles to compensate was always going to turn people away, and now it appears they are doing it again with Mercs and Revelations. Revelations at least looks marginally impressive, but being a title for the 3DS means it is never going to compete with the big boys to win back the crown of king of survival horror.

I don't see what excuse Capcom has when the the gap between the likes of Dead Space 1-2 and Mass Effect 1-2 {and soon 1-3} is relatively short.

I think this year will see the announcement of RE6 at least, but I'd confidently predict Capcom will say it won't be out till at least 2013.

The gap between the core titles is just too long.

[kevstah2004]

I've felt the same since RE3.