Summary
After having a pretty dismal stretch that started partway through the seventh-gen and extended into the eighth,Capcomhas seen a massive resurgence. But while it has been fantastic seeing Capcom return to its former glory, there’s one piece of the puzzle that has remained missing: originality.
Capcom’s recent momentum has beenalmostexclusively built on the back of sequels and remakes. Excellent sequels and remakes, to be sure, but these games are still largely rehashes of experiences we’ve already, well, experienced. Capcom at its peak was serving established fanbases while simultaneously experimenting with new properties. Outside of the unfortunate stumble that wasExoprimal, we’ve seen very little in the way of new IPs coming from Capcom.
For the record, I thought Exoprimalfelt great.It was in its mission variety where it fell flat. So close, but so far away.
The Capcom of old turned an abandoned Resident Evil 2 prototype into Onimusha: Warlords, an action-horror fusion set in Feudal Japan. It later spunthattitle out into a platform fighter, Onimusha Blade Warriors. Alongside its famous action, fighting, platforming and horror titles, the company developed excellent RPGs (Breath of Fire), puzzle games (Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo), and adventure titles (Okami). It wasn’t committed to a single aesthetic or genre; it dideverythingand it did it all well. And if you didn’t gel with its most recent offering, there was always something new just around the corner.
Recently, Capcom showed off two of their soon-to-launch titles:Kunitsu-Gami:Path of the Goddessand theDead Rising Deluxe Remaster. One is a unique title that doesn’t really have a direct parallel and features a distinct aesthetic that wasliterally handcrafted, the other is a better-looking version of Dead Rising. Unfortunately, many of the reactions I’ve seen have been somewhat dismissive of Kunitsu-Gami, while Dead Rising Again has been whipping fans into a frothy mess. It’s hard to not feel disappointed by that reaction.
Kunitsu-Gami is a breathtakingly beautiful action-RTS that is a joy to play.Every nook and cranny is lined with minute details. It is a game clearly made by passionate people with a distinct vision. Best of all, nothing else plays quite like it. Kunitsu-Gami isn’t just a new game, it is a new experience. As excellent as Capcom’s remakes have been, I can’t say the same for any of them.Resident Evilfans have already started clamoring foranotherremake of the first game - this time using the RE Engine. I can’t imagine a future more bleak than one where Capcom is remaking the games they’ve already remade, and Kunitsu-Gami represents proof that the future can be brighter.
I love Dead Rising, and I hated seeing the life squeezed out of the franchise during Capcom’s slump. I’m happy to see it back. But Dead Rising came from a version of Capcom that was willing to try new things. We aren’t going to get another original experience like Dead Rising from Capcom unless we see it making new games. Like,new-new games. Kunitsu-Gami has all the makings of a modern classic, it is a fresh experience. We may be at a crossroads here. A battle for the soul of Capcom. If we want to see Capcom produce games we haven’t already played, we need to show up for those new titles. Otherwise, I fear the future of games will simply be the past at a higher resolution.
