With Resident Evil Village putting an end to the Winters family's story after the release of the Shadows Of Rose DLC and the blockbuster success of the Resident Evil 4 remake, fans have begun to anticipate the next installment within the franchise. Given the heavy focus that has been central on remakes for Capcom and the plethora of remakes within other gaming studios, many feel that it is time for a new mainline title which would be Resident Evil 9.
Whilst it is likely that the Resident Evil franchise will be put on a break for releases, given the short period of time between Village and the Resident Evil 4 remake, it has not stopped fans from voicing their wishes and desires for what the next game has in store.
5 Return To Original Characters
From the release of Resident Evil 7 back in 2017, many fans were surprised to see a complete shift away from the characters they were familiar with. Introducing Ethan Winters as the main protagonist managed to work in Capcom's favor with an attempt to create a fresh and unique experience, especially with the first-person perspective. With its sequel in Village, fans witnessed a full-fledged return of Chris Redfield after the disappointment of his look from many fans in the predecessor's Not A Hero DLC, and it answered the question as to whether the new story and characters were within the same canon as the previous games or not.
As the release of Resident Evil Death Island movie will be the first time that fans see all of Resident Evil's main characters team up, it sets up a return from the more beloved characters to return in a ninth installment for the game. Seeing characters such as Leon, Claire, and Chris link up together on a mission similar to what was featured in Operation Javier with Leon and Krauser would be an interesting spectacle, to say the least.
4 Third-Person Perspective
The game that arguably took the series to the level of popularity and fame that it currently maintains was Resident Evil 4. The original introduced an interesting and special change in comparison to prior games, implementing a new third-person over-the-shoulder perspective opposing the fixed camera angles each of the previous titles maintained. This stood as a trendsetter for third-person gaming, with countless games taking after this, and seeing this change to a first-person perspective for both Resident Evil 7 and 8 was a big surprise for many.
Despite Village's recent addition of a third-person, the overall design of the game and its gunplay doesn't feel aligned with the third-person perspective and more with its intended first-person. While the aforementioned is certainly not a bad way to play Resident Evil, it can't outdo the more popular and favored third-person camera, which is what pushed the franchise to its current level of success, so seeing this return for Resident Evil 9 would be well appreciated by many.
3 More Horror, Less Action
One of the more difficult aspects of Resident Evil games is managing to balance the scale between action and horror. This is mostly down to the capabilities of the main characters, such as Leon, Jill, and Chris, who are well-versed and capable of handling tough enemies in a stylish fashion. While the Resident Evil 4 remake is arguably the best balanced between the two tones as it has clearly gone more in line with a horror-focused approach, the action side of it all is very much still the most prominent.
In light of the franchise's original characters making a return, it would be incredibly difficult to make horror the absolute main focus, but the Resident Evil 4 remake is a perfect example of how it should be executed. Ways to keep players terrified and on the edge of their seats while still being able to take down enemies with flair must be explored in Resident Evil 9, which will help it stick to the franchise's roots.
2 Human-Like Enemies
The Resident Evil franchise has had its fair share of zombies and disturbing creatures over the years, but only Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5 had human-like enemies as their main focus. In both the sense of gameplay and story, this is what kept both games feeling fresh and unique, especially Resident Evil 4, as there is an idea that the enemies are within the form of humans and can showcase human behavior sometimes but are still incredibly dangerous and on the verge of becoming full-fledged monsters.
Not only is this great in a story sense, but it also benefits enemy AI as both Ganados and Majini are intelligent, fast, and brutal in their attempts at pursuing the main characters, as opposed to the slow and lifeless zombies in the other titles. This would be crucial to Resident Evil 9 and maintain the familiarity of something overcoming people who were once normal humans.
1 Solo or Two-Player Campaign
As mentioned previously, if Capcom decides to bring back the original characters for Resident Evil 9, it would be a perfect opportunity for a horror-focused narrative that only has one character or two working together, as seen in Resident Evil 5.
Exceeding this amount of playable characters would be a mistake that fans will associate with Resident Evil 6, which many players feel is one of the more disappointing games in the entirety of the franchise. This would also allow for characters who have not had much screen time in games, such as Ada Wong or Jill Valentine, to make an appearance.