The Resident Evil Franchise Has One Unexplored Genre That’s a Perfect Fit for a Spin-Off

Highlights

• Most spin-off games in the Resident Evil franchise have focused on third-person shooter gameplay, but a tactics spin-off could bring back the tension and careful encounter design of the original game.
• Other major franchises like Gears of War, Mario + Rabbids, and Persona have successfully adopted the tactics genre for their spin-offs, suggesting Resident Evil could do the same.
• The cramped corridors and potential danger of the Spencer Mansion in the original game provide the perfect environmental design for a tactics game, and the characters of the S.T.A.R.S teams have diverse abilities that would translate well to different unit types.

In the nearly 30 years of history across the entire Resident Evil franchise, most of the series’ spin-offs tend to play it safe when it comes to genres. It makes sense that most of the non-mainline games in the series would lean more heavily into the third-person shooter aspects of Resident Evil‘s gameplay and afford players less restriction than the resource management and puzzle solving of the original trilogy, but the series’ continual ventures into action game territory has made most of the more recent spin-offs feel somewhat redundant. It’s time for a new kind of Resident Evil spin-off that leans more heavily into the careful encounter design of the original game via the turn-based tactics genre.

It’s surprising that Capcom hasn’t taken the leap of faith into a Resident Evil-themed tactics game given the success of other major franchises adopting the genre for their own spin-offs. Gears Tactics is a competent tactics game that ingeniously blends the third-person cover-shooter gameplay of Gears of War with XCOM, and both Mario + Rabbids titles surprisingly prove Mario can more than carry his own tactics game. With other franchises like Persona getting in on the genre with Persona 5 Tactica, the Resident Evil franchise is the next series that should join the ever-growing roster of tactics games based on AAA franchises.

RELATED: Capcom Has a Clear Path to Honor Resident Evil’s 30th Anniversary

The Original Resident Evil Has a Perfect Set-Up for a Tactics Game

Prior to the series exploding onto the streets of Raccoon City and beyond, Resident Evil was all about a group of heroes trying to fight and puzzle their way out of a mansion. The cramped corridors and potential for danger lurking around every corner added a sense of tension that the series somewhat lost along the path to it becoming a AAA blockbuster, and it also happens to be the perfect kind of environmental design for a tactics game. Both movement and cover are resources that come at a premium in some of the genre’s stalwarts, and Resident Evil‘s Spencer Mansion is practically tailor-made to be the host of several tense tactical missions.

Resident Evil’s Characters Are Ready-Made for Tactics

Even better, the S.T.A.R.S Alpha and Bravo teams are a natural fit for the various class and unit types that one might see in a tactics game. Barry Burton is the close-range tank with his Colt Python and sturdy frame, Chris Redfield the all-around soldier unit, and Jill Valentine the stealthy sniper or rogue-type unit (and, of course, a “master of unlocking”). Each of the other S.T.A.R.S members could feature as well, either as playable or support units, shining light on some characters that only had limited screen-time in the PS1 original.

Resident Evil Deserves to Join the List of Franchises With Tactics Spin-Offs

The turn-based tactics genre has been increasingly popular for franchises to adapt, and it’s fertile ground for the Resident Evil series. Outside the previously mentioned Mario + Rabbids, Gears, and Persona tactics spin-offs, there’s the upcoming Metal Slug Tactics to look forward to, as well as a long history of excellent RPGs that have their own turn-based tactics games. Many fans consider Final Fantasy Tactics to be one of the greatest games in the entire franchise, spin-off or otherwise, and it’s possible that a Resident Evil tactics game may find the same kind of cult audience.

Interestingly, Capcom has already done one tactics spin-off in a franchise that is itself a spin-off of Resident Evil – Onimusha. Onimusha Tactics was an excellent GBA spin-off that showcased just how well the action and survival-horror of the franchise fit within the realm of turn-based tactics, and the genre has come a long way since its release in 2003. In the last 20 years, the turn-based tactics genre has received one of its all-time greats in XCOM 2, and there’s massive potential for success in a Resident Evil spin-off that breaks from the third-person shooter mold to try its hand at replicating its tense, tactical gameplay.