Can you imagine that Resident Evil 6 was released eight years ago? So much has happened in this period of time that sometimes it seems to me that the announcement and release of this game happened in another life.
I remember that shortly before the game was announced, my mother, my younger brother and I were living quite poorly. Our family had problems with housing, money, and even alcohol. It was a very dark period in my life: I remember that I was a difficult teenager who was very bad at school, quarreled with teachers and skipped classes.
But no matter what happens to me, I've always had the Resident Evil series in my life. This is an important part of my life experience that I can't let go of. My vulnerable spot that inspired me as an artist and as a person. Although being a fan at that time was hard. Especially being a fan from a Russian province. Back then, the Internet was not very popular in our place, and many people still bought illegal copies in different stores. To somehow follow the news, I set up the Internet on my Nokia 6303 Classic and spent all the accumulated money on it to download images and videos in 320x240 resolution. That's how I found this teaser:
The fact that this teaser is fake, I found out much later, when I had the opportunity to check any information. But then I was very excited. I went to school and showed all my friends this teaser.
In addition to this teaser, I also had enough money to download this trailer:
I still love this trailer. If anyone asks me, this trailer is one of my favorites in the series.
But then there were some changes in my life. Once my situation at school and my conflict with my mother got out of control. She and my grandmother decided to send me to live with my father for "re-education". My father has a large and friendly family, and along with this, a normal financial situation. There was even a shared computer with Internet access in their house. It was still the same city and I went to the same school, but I needed time to get used to the situation. I started to get more involved in modern life by studying the Internet. So one day I just happened to see this trailer:
I went crazy when I saw it. Leon is back, Hunnigan is back, Chris is back, zombies, new "Raccoon City" and everything looks so big and exciting.
I could barely sleep that day. I wondered if Adam was Ashley's father. I thought about what the story would be in this game. I found and downloaded 2 GIFs: the first with Chris when he hides behind a barricade; the second with Leon when he slides. After that, I looked at these pictures at night and showed them to my friends. For some reason, I even once imagined how Leon could return to Spain so that I would visit familiar locations with these new mechanics. Moreover, I read somewhere that in the new game Leon can shoot both guns, which seemed very cool to me.
Further, my life and family situation only continued to improve, and Capcom did not cease to please me with trailers. For me, the second trailer was especially exciting, where Leon goes into battle with Chris to protect "Ada":
Here's another trailer that I really liked:
I never told anyone, but Resident Evil 6 was my very first game on Steam. I always knew I wanted to buy a licensed copy to keep the box on the shelf. For me, the release of the game was a special event, especially given the fact that I did not have a console, so I had to ignore all the videos on YouTube and wait for the release of the version for computers. I will never forget the day I went to the store and bought a game.
I would like to end my story with the game on such a good note, but this is not the case.
I think by studying the Internet, I discovered its worst sides as well. I started registering on websites and asking what other people thought about what I liked. This can hardly be called a desire to find an alternative point of view. I think I felt a certain connection with the game, so it was important for me to find people who would share these feelings with me. So when I saw a solid negative, I started arguing with everyone. Day after day. Day after day.
I noticed that this experience was highly reflexive. I understood that people don't like Resident Evil 6 because they prefer the classic games in the series. I'm also a big fan of these games, because they are very important to me, but in disputes I began to downplay their quality in order to protect Resident Evil 6. It wasn't my honest opinion, it wasn't fair. I was driven by emotions. But I couldn't find support and was left alone. At some point, I even started to believe that I was wrong. I thought I was trying to justify the game and couldn't accept that the series was dead. The announcement of The Evil Within and the positive reaction to it only made my thoughts worse.
The turning point for me was the announcement of Resident Evil 7. I was absolutely thrilled after the trailer. Since I grew up on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and approved of modern survival horror games, I deeply appreciated the decision to recontextualize the first game in the series with a modern game design and fresh context for the series with new characters.
But the announcement was also met negatively. I was particularly surprised by Resident Evil 6 fans, whom I almost never met, but who now constantly wrote nasty things, compared Resident Evil 7 to Resident Evil 6 and behaved toxic. At first, I either argued with them or ignored them. But then I started unconsciously projecting my annoyance on Resident Evil 6. When Resident Evil 7 came out, I became a member of a fan community on a Russian social network. People there really liked Resident Evil 7, but they really disliked Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 5, and Resident Evil 6. And I didn't even notice how I began to share their opinion in everything. I believed that these games were bad, disrespectful to the series, and each time I found a new reason to criticize them.
You may not even know how years of negative judgment can change a person's mind. I literally couldn't play Resident Evil 6. When I started playing the game, I was constantly visited by negative thoughts about how terrible this game is. Thoughts about how wrong people are when they say it's better than Resident Evil 7. I usually ended one chapter and turned the game off because I couldn't play it anymore. It was a terrible feeling.
But then there was a remake of Resident Evil 2, which I also liked, although the game was not so personal for me. But people from the community didn't share my opinion. The people I defended Resident Evil 7 with suddenly started insulting me just because I don't think it's a terrible remake and I don't think it strongly contradicts lore.
It was only then that I thought I was doing something wrong in my life. I wasn't being honest with myself. Instead of enjoying something and ignoring these assholes, I became confused with my own emotions. Sometimes I think I'm still a stupid kid.
Happy birthday, Resident Evil 6.