Summary
There are many developers across the gaming landscape, but few can say that they’re as innovative or creative as the Japanese developer Capcom.
Capcom has developed a long line of highly respected and much-loved franchises across a wide array of genres, ranging fromhorrorandfightingto point-and-click adventures. Few developers can claim to revolutionize multiple genres throughout the 90s and the 00s.
However, Capcom has done just that by releasing the following titles, which all gamers can agree were ahead of their time.
Resident Evil 4transformed the beloved series from a fixed camera, tank-control survival-horror masterclass to an over-the-shoulder action horror. This switch-up in perspective would send shockwaves through the gaming industry, which is still felt today as third-person action games have consistently replicated this point of view.
Games such asGears of War,Dead SpaceandThe Last of Usall used a similar camera placement thatResident Evil 4established. Often cited as the greatest video game ever made,Resident Evil 4took the series to new heights in terms of presentation, story and gameplay, much of which has never truly been replicated since.
With therelease ofResident Evil 4 Remakein 2023, a new wave of gamers was able to experience the classic, albeit slightly altered for a modern audience. WithoutResident Evil 4, much of gaming today would not be the same.
Launching almost a year after the release of the Xbox 360,Dead Risingwould blow the minds of gamers by impressively pushing the hardware to its limits to display a staggering number of the living dead. Capcom has continually pushed the boundaries of whatever console generation is currently released.
Alongside the large number of zombies on screen, another fascinating aspect ofDead Risingwas the ability to pick up almost anything and use it as a weapon.
This level of environmental interactivity had never been seen before, and the level of destruction the series protagonist, Frank West, could dish out with something as simple as a park bench was astounding.
Although some aspects ofDead Risingare extremely dated by today’s standards, particularly the AI and the questionable photo points,Dead Risingstill holds up exceptionally well today.
Monster Hunterhad very humble beginnings on the PS2 asone of three network-focused gamesfrom Capcom’s Production Studio 1. Only one game of the three was expected to sell over a million copies. However,Monster Hunterwould find a strong niche early on, which led to the game selling over 1 million copies.
The slower pace of combat and deliberate nature ofMonster Hunterwas not well received by critics and gamers in the West initially, but players in Japan fell in love with the scale of the battles and the beautiful designs of the first generation of monsters. Using the materials from monsters to craft new, stronger weapons and armor was a novel idea that would lead to a new action genre being birthed from the series.
Fast-forward 20 years, and the nextMonster Huntergame in the franchise,Monster Hunter Wilds, set an impressive recordnumber of players for its online beta, demonstrating the series' staying power.
Initially starting its development cycle as the prototype forResident Evil 4,Devil May Cryis heralded as one of the best action games ever. The game’s popularity has led to a plethora of sequels, prequels, andeven anime adaptations.
Although it didn’t kick-start its own genre,Devil May Cryevolved the hack-and-slash sub-genre and put its own spin on how players would interact with action games.
This would become known as ‘stylish’ combat, a system that rated players from D to S based on how varied and complex their combos could be. Not repeating the same attack twice and avoiding damage was key to this, and players would be encouraged to use every move a weapon came with.
Devil May Cryis also notoriously hard, with bosses often taking the series' main protagonist, Dante, out with just a few hits. This blend of stylish combat and near-death scares would catapult the franchise to the forefront of the PS2’s library, a substantial feat considering how spectacular that console’s games were.
There are not many phrases more iconic than Hadoken, and there are certainly not many fighting game franchises as genre-defining as Capcom’sStreet Fighter 2. Released during the slow decline of the arcade,Street Fighter 2would revolutionize arcade fighting games and be ground zero for what would become the fighting game community, colloquially known as the FGC.
At the time, long-time rivalsMortal KombatandTekkenhad yet to be released, and the fighting game landscape solely belonged to Capcom andStreet Fighter.
Introducing nowwidely used controls such as a quarter circle, a cast of memorable characters, and an OST filled with top-tier tracks,Street Fighter 2put Capcom and the fighting game genre on the map.
