Summary
Capcomhas spent the last couple of years remaining tight-lipped about what it’s planning next forResident Evil. Not much has emerged about the future direction of the franchise since 2023’s hugely successfulRE4 Remake. Since then, fans have been anxiously awaiting to see what the upcomingResident Evilentry, widely thought to be the ninth numbered installment, will turn out to be.
The official silence hasn’t stopped multiple rumors and leaks from continuing to pop up, though. One of the most notable of these, according to a prominent industry figure (Dusk Golem),claims thatResident Evil9 will be a “major reinvention.“While it’s always best to take such information with a grain of salt, there is reason to think this may be the case, particularly with the possibility ofREgoing open-world having long been suspected. And if this is accurate, Capcom may also need to rethink and iterate on how a pursuer-like enemy may work within it by taking more cues fromRE3’s Nemesis instead of Mr. X fromRE2.
One encouraging update is Capcom recently releasing a short video commemoratingRE4 Remakeselling 10 million units that seemed to also brieflyteaseResident Evil 9.
If Resident Evil 9 Has a Pursuer in an Open-World, It Might Work Better More Like Nemesis Than Mr. X
Resident Evil 9’s “Big Ambitions” Might Mean Its Stalker Also Needs to Evolve
Along with the open-world rumors that have proven a bit contentious among fans, even though it has yet to be confirmed or denied, various pieces of speculation from other sources have hinted at a few other potential details aboutResident Evil 9:
Assuming that the open-world design is true to some degree, and that a pursuer will also follow, its design would need to account for this change to remain scary and effective. And Nemesis may be the best monster to look to in order to accomplish this.
While Mr. X may be the series' mascot for pursuers,ifResident Evil 9features a classic stalker-type enemyalongside an open-world, having a figure like him wouldn’t be as viable. His menace inRE2, especially the remake, comes mainly from the fact that he blatantly marches into areas that were previously established as havens, violating the sense of safety they provided and forcing players to adjust. He is so effective precisely becauseRE2’s level design is intentionally claustrophobic, and his often unpredictable behavior in the cramped spaces is the main reason Mr. X’s imposing presence causes so much terror.
Conversely,Resident Evil 3 Remake’s Nemesisis more scripted, and though this aspect was criticized for making the S.T.A.R.S. hunter feel comparatively less organic and spontaneous, this element was also true behind the scenes in the original. Nemesis appears mostly at predetermined points and set pieces, usually for a chase sequence culminating in a boss fight.
IfResident Evil 9is moving into open-world territory,then players will ostensibly have more room to work with and could easily avoid a Mr. X-style pursuer, trivializing the sense of danger such a stalker presents, whose effectiveness is reliant upon smaller, linear levels. Nemesis' core behavior would likely lend itself better to an open-worldRE. Capcom could iterate on it by having more predetermined encounters ala Nemesis, but spreading them out further and perhaps having more classic multi-stage battles with the latest stalker throughout. Making the latest pursuer more akin to Nemesis rather than Mr. X may thus be the best route to incorporating one in the next entry in order to keep the fear they provide strong.
