For example, the mysterious Weapons Merchant in Resident Evil 4 , who happens to pop up at various intervals in Resident Evil 4 to help the player buy, sell and upgrade equipment, just seems out of place in Resident Evil's more realistic oracle. Whether the merchant and currency system will be in a Resident Evil 4 Remake will be an interesting beacon point to keep an eye on over the direction of Resident Evil 4 Rema

The removal of design decisions previously viewed as irksome would undermine so much of what Breath of the Wild managed to achieve, and the last thing I want to see is Nintendo steering its formula in a direction that abides by more traditional genre conventions. Assassin’s Creed and similar games of this ilk are arguably more akin to content mill, built to draw you in for hundreds of hours even if much of that time is filled with uninspired busywork. The time you spend with the game is what matters, and Breath of the Wild managed to challenge a system that has become increasingly tired in the eyes of players. Its sequel needs to continue chasing that ambition, and not compromise on its own design ethos.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but Zelda has always been a wonderfully diverse series. Not to the extent of Mario which has crossed all manner of genres in its years, but it is diverse all the same. It has shaped the RPG genre numerous times since the ‘80s, inspiring the likes of Dark Souls, Secret of Mana, Shadow of the Colossus, and now, the aforementioned Genshin Impact. You can see how much the RPG genre varies with Zelda’s inspirations alone and that’s telling. After Breath of the Wild 2, it needs to do something different again. Going back to the classics might not scream new. In fact, it sounds like a step back, aye? Well, that’s the thing. The triple-A space seems to be scared of its own history, desperate to move past it and become more cinematic, more graphically domineering. It’s all about tech and visual prowess. But art style is just as import

Given the trajectory of Capcom’s admittedly stellar remakes thus far, I’m unsure it will do such a thing. It could be the opposite, with reimaginings of Resident Evil 2 and 3 opting to trim the fat in favour of tightly executed scares and chaotic action instead of giving us time to stew in our own horrific, b-movie circumstances. Compared to everything that came before it, Resident Evil 4 was a completely different beast. It took the clunky controls of the franchise and morphed them into a third-person shooter experience that felt deviantly modern by 2005 standards. It wasn’t afraid to push boundaries, setting the bar so high that I’d argue the genre is yet to surpass them even to

The last 2D Zelda was released in 2004 - The Minish Cap . It was followed by Twilight Princess , Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, Skyward Sword , A Link Between Worlds, Tri Force Heroes, and Breath of the Wild. Now, we have a sequel to the latter on the way. 2D Zelda seems to have died out, but that’s because 2D as a whole has seemingly been tossed to the wayside. Even now, remakes of 2D games opt to 3Dize them (if that isn’t a term, it is now). When I say that Nintendo should release another 2D game, I’m not talking about a remaster or remake or even the style of the 2D Star wars Games innovation but in 3D a la Link’s Awakening for the Switch. I’m talking flat, 2-dimensional sprites - the whole kaboo

This train of thought originates from the remake of Resident Evil 3, which was a painfully underwhelming successor to the phenomenal remake of Resident Evil 2. The latter was one of Capcom’s best games in years, ushering in a new era of survival horror brilliance that I was confident it would build upon. With the arrival of Resident Evil 3 and Village, it seems it is opting for an action-oriented approach that won’t risk alienating those who aren’t willing to negotiate with horror. It’s the smart move, but creatively, it feels like a hollow one. Resident Evil is at its weakest when the action ramps up, giving way to adequate gunplay instead of allowing its atmosphere and monsters to do the heavy lift

Breath of the Wild followed the evolution of RPGs across the industry - open-world, 3D, and filled with side objectives and little tidbits to do besides the main story. The difference was that it revolutionized open-world games, as evidenced by the titles it has since inspired like Genshin Impact, Immortals Fenyx Rising, and Horizon Forbidden West, but Nintendo’s been there and done that… twice now. Whatever comes after Breath of the Wild 2 will determine Zelda’s future trajectory in a rather significant way. For current generations, BOTW is what put the series on the map. I had friends that played the DS and Game Boy ones at school but it was never a part of my childhood. What really drew my eye to the series was BOTW. Granted, I’m 21 so in my age group, I’m no doubt an anomaly. I imagine that for those much younger, however, Zelda is known as that open-world jaunt on the Swi