Resident Evil 9 open world tease is not what we saw coming

After the success of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Resident Evil Village had its work cut out to keep fans happy. Fortunately, it managed that with relative ease, and not only because of a certain tall, buxom lady. Of course, with such continued success has come the demand for Resident Evil 9; both for it to be announced, and for it to keep that momentum going.

Capcom has been very quiet regarding a sequel to Resident Evil Village, though, let’s be honest, it’s not like it won’t happen – it would be the biggest Capcom mistake to date not to make it.

You haven't forgotten about the Resident Evil Village: Shadows of Rose DLC already, have you?

The latest tease we’ve had about the game, however, isn’t what any of us were anticipating. According to renown leaker Dusk Golem, Resident Evil 9 could be open world, to expand on the capabilities of the engine Dragon’s Dogma 2 is currently using.

In a series of tweets, Duck Golem talks about Capcom always “greenlighting” projects in “three’s closer together”, while using the example of Dragon’s Dogma 2, Monster Hunter Wild, and Resident Evil 9. Following on from this, they said, “Dragon’s Dogma 2 expanded RE Engine functionality for open world games, the two other games building on this tech is Monster Hunter Wild and Resident Evil 9.”

The summation being made by the known leaker is that, in typical Capcom fashion (according to them), the publisher will take “advantage of its new RE engine”, thus exploring the possibility of a RE title that’s open world.

Open world has never been part of the RE foundations, and therefore would be a shocking departure from the norm. Some would argue innovation is necessary, but others aren’t convinced. “RE9 being built on open world tech is not good news imo,” posted Avery Cope. Another said, “Open world Resident Evil? Lol, I’m not sure I’m into that. We are probably going to lose the tight level design.”

This could all be concern over nothing, though, as Capcom has yet to announce Resident Evil 9, let alone inform gamers of its in-game mechanics. Nevertheless, the idea of open world for the next instalment hasn’t gone down well, or been what fans expected.