While Resident Evil Veronica is a remake of 2000’s Resident Evil – Code: Veronica, Capcom is taking the franchise’s recent entries and remakes into account when it comes to the narrative. In a joint press interview attended by Famitsu, producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi talked about how his team is approaching the remake when it comes to balancing faithfulness to the original and introducing changes.
“We’ve had the opportunity to remake Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, and Resident Evil 4, and there’s a rich history and narrative that spans all the way to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Resident Evil Village, and Resident Evil Requiem. For this title as well, we’re planning to restructure the story so that players can clearly feel how these titles are all part of a cohesive series,” he said.
When asked whether Code: Veronica’s remake will come with any “bolder changes” like 2019’s Resident Evil 2, Hirabayashi said his answer was generally “yes,” but he also provided some reassurance. Like with past remakes, he said the developers’ approach is to prioritize players’ memories and rebuild things on top of that, rather than “making drastic changes on a whim.”
This same mindset was present for the Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4 remakes, so Hirabayashi is asking fans to rest assured and place their trust in the team (it should be noted that the Resident Evil 3 remake was made by Capcom with assistance from its subsidiary, K2 Inc, and external companies Red Works and M-Two).
In contrast to the Resident Evil 4 remake, which focuses on Leon Kennedy’s story after the events of the Resident Evil 2 remake, Resident Evil Veronica follows Claire Redfield three months after the Raccoon City incident, with Chris Redfield and Albert Wesker being heavily involved in her story. The title’s main intent is to depict Claire as a realistic survivor from a third-person perspective.
Hirabayashi said the team is aware that many fans place Resident Evil – Code: Veronica on par with the mainline titles, and is working hard on its reconstruction. Though you don’t need to play the original game to enjoy the remake, he admits that you will appreciate it more if you are familiar with the stories of other Resident Evil titles (particularly the remakes and latter entries).
Resident Evil Veronica is set to release in 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and Windows (Steam). The game recently topped 1 million Wishlists on Steam and PlayStation 5 alone, with additional platform Wishlists to come.