Resident Evil 4: A Merchant of Change

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An (Un)Dead Genre?

Resident Evil, though an incredibly long-lasting and successful franchise found itself in a strange position in the mid 2000's. Faced with the prospect of a continuing advancement in technology and a drastically changing gaming community and environment, the bravest souls at Capcom decided to strip away the fetters of convention and completely change the dynamic of the Resident Evil series.

The development of Resident Evil 4 must have felt to many at the time like the splitting of the atom in a world of survival horror gaming. Ditching the classical aspects of Resident Evil, such as tank controls and fixed camera angles, for a completely new gameplay dynamic with an "over the shoulder" third person focus could have been a huge misstep on the company's part, especially considering that the good folks at Capcom were certainly not making these decisions due to any financial difficulty, a lack of interest in the franchise or a dramatic change in the ranks. This was purely a creative decision, attuned to go along with the rise of the time's technological advancement.

This surely could have been the turning of a new tide... We were later to discover that it certainly was just that and yet it was so much more... 

What're Ya Buyin?

What we were greeted with at the turn of the year in 2005 was the beginning of a new era for survival horror games. It was the dawn of the action survival horror game. Resident Evil 4 was a huge success and the risks the developers took paid off in an unprecedented way. Resident Evil 4 was to change the face of gaming for some time to come, heralding a dynamic shift in the presentation and delivery of gameplay within action, as well as horror games.

What're Ya Buyin?

Much like the Merchant character within Resident Evil 4, who acts as possibly the one truly consistent character aside from Leon Kennedy throughout, the game was to be a bedrock concept for the basis of many huge games and franchises to come in future days, namely, and perhaps chiefly supreme among those gaming titles that took great influence from Resident Evil 4 is Dead Space.

Dead space, released in 2008, latched on to the success of Resident Evil 4, allowing itself a generous take of the more than familiar gameplay mechanics, interlinked environments and environmental appeal that Resident Evil 4 had set the bar so high with just three years prior. Nonetheless, the genre shift was still allowing for golden days in the sun, as Dead Space was branded a massive success and solidified itself within the survival horror genre as one of the all time greats. Clearly, this was in no small part due to the previous success of Resi 4. Yet, they do say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

What're Ya Selling?

Much like the mysterious merchant present in Resident Evil 4 who, incidentally, acts as our one constant throughout the game as a resource and fixture of progression and adaptability. Resident Evil 4 embodies a franchise that adopted the famous saying, "The only constant in life is change". 

Much like our creepy entrepreneur, he is the familiar, the safe and ultimately the one character which can bring true change to our journey. Much like Capcom themselves did with a beloved franchise. Fortune favours the brave and the merchant of change.

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