The game director on Resident Evil Requiem has revealed that the development team cut an entire chapter from the survival horror title ahead of its release.
Speaking with Denfaminicogamer, Koshi Nakanishi didn’t reveal any specific details about the cut chapter, but did note how this sort of thing isn’t uncommon during the “rigorous process” of game development. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard for example also had a cut chapter that would have taken place in between the guest house and the main Baker mansion.
I’ve mentioned in interviews and elsewhere that Resident Evil 7 originally had a ‘Chapter 2’ that was scrapped during development. It was the scene where you move from the outbuilding to the main house. Of course, we don’t suddenly cut things out in the final stages of development; we often make repeated revisions during the early, rough-cut stages. In that process, it’s quite common for entire chapters to disappear.
You gather a lot of footage, lay it out, and while considering whether your intended message comes across and how the pacing and interest hold up, you cut out anything superfluous. It’s surprisingly often the case that the overall result is better without it. Subtraction really is crucial.
The Resident Evil series is no stranger to cut content, with some games completely rebooted from scratch let alone a chapter or sequence being removed For example, the original version of Resident Evil 2 was scrapped around 60% complete back in 1997, and original featured a new character in place of Claire Redfield. This version is known as Resident Evil 1.5 among fans.
Meanwhile, Resident Evil 4 went through multiple incarnations before Capcom finally settled on the version we know. You can read more about the history of the franchise in our dedicated Resident Evil 30th Anniversary feature.
While on the subject of Resident Evil Requiem, Capcom is preparing to launch a new mini-game next month as part of its post-launch content plans, and will also received a story expansion later down the line.
[Source – DenfaminicoGamer via Eurogamer]