Despite being one of the most catered-to AAA franchises in gaming, Resident Evil fans are always looking on the horizon to see what comes next. And aside from remakes or the chance of the ridiculous re-numbering system that has been doing the rounds lately, this means the eventual reveal of Resident Evil 9.

At one point in time, this would have been a nervous moment where we held our collective breath in anticipation of seeing something we did not want to. The languishing years of the early 2010’s tugged the series in all kinds of directions, but that is firmly in the rearview mirror now.

In a string of universally lauded entries, the biggest misfire of the present RE Engine era — starting in 2017 with the seminal Resident Evil 7 — was 2020’s Resident Evil 3 remake, whose worst crime was its unfortunately truncated nature. What is there, at least, is pretty damn good.

Now, the timeline stands at something of a crossroads. Resident Evil Village, which represents the latest chapter of the timeline, put a full stop on the narrative of Ethan Winters. Not only did it kill him off in heroic fashion, but it went so far as to state in writing that, “the father’s story is now done.”

It feels about as definitive as possible, and going back on that word would undermine an emotionally charged conclusion.

Without the man who has carried the torch, we are left without a main character and, more significantly, without a clear direction for the style of game. Ethan’s starring roles were typified by immersive horror and constant battering, the likes of which we hadn’t seen before. To wit, Leon Kennedy has the reputation for the most gruesome deaths in the franchise, but moment-to-moment punishment? Ethan is the bruised king.

In Village’s DLC chapter, Shadows of Rose, his eponymous daughter took up the mantle in a follow-up that surpassed the base game in many ways. The way she was tormented by demons both literal and emotional made it as fascinating as it was horrifying, and for the first time in a long time, I felt like I was playing a true successor to classics like Clock Tower or Haunting Ground.

It even had a dash of Little Nightmares thrown in there, too. Add me to the list of players who think those mannequins are a frontrunner for the scariest thing in RE’s storied history. GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU BITCHES, I AIN’T PLAYING NO MORE.

For Rose to be the new face of the franchise would make complete sense, in a vacuum. She’s likeable, and she’s earned it. There’s just one pressing issue that cannot be overlooked — and that’s the issue of her age. Shadows of Rose jumps ahead in the timeline to 2037, 16 years after the events of Village, and assuming RE9 drops at some point within the next few years, that’s still more than a decade into the future.

For most franchises, a permanent time skip would be a bold proclamation. For Resident Evil, which has so much love and affection attached to its legacy characters? Practically impossible.

Although RE7 pared back the returning cast to only Chris Redfield, the recent success of projects such as Death Island and the Resident Evil 4 remake surely boost the likelihood that Leon (and perhaps others) will resurface at long last. By then, all of the core cast members would be in their 60s, and surely unable to play a major part in the action.

There are some notable exceptions to the rule, such as Jill Valentine, whose T-Virus infection has slowed her ageing significantly. While a pairing of Rose and Jill does sound rather enticing, there’s another issue at hand, and it’s not unique to the year 2037.

One of the highlights of Ethan Winters’ games are the ways in which they made the player feel powerless. Being pursued by Jack Baker or Lady Dimitrescu evoked memories of the Tyrants of yesteryear, because we were just some dude who was in over his head.

I’ve mentioned in the past how much I enjoyed the way in which 2002’s Resident Evil remake made you ponder your next move, and whether to use your precious resources in a pinch. For someone like Ethan, that’s a constant reality that he has to grapple with. Even if the player is adept, they’re controlling a man on the precipice of disaster.

This simply isn’t true for legacy cast members anymore, or at least not for Chris Redfield. His playable stint in the waning moments of Resident Evil Village offered the chance to become a superhuman; this larger-than-life veteran equipped with heavy artillery and even heavier muscles, mowing down wave after wave of enemies.

We’ve seen firsthand just how far he’s come, and it stands to reason that Jill or Leon would be comparable in their ability. Can we really believe that they would be in any real danger now?

It comes part and parcel with the image that Chris has presented for a long time. As of Resident Evil 5, he’s shifted into an action hero instead of a horror star. Even his DLC chapter in the horror-leaning RE7, Not a Hero (the title of which contradicts my previous assertion that he’s an action hero), was more testosterone-loaded than eerie — in spite of his more noticeable mortality when compared to Village.

In short bursts, it’s great fun. But basing an entire experience around gameplay like this was how we ended up with Resident Evil 6, and the subsequent reboot that came as a result. This franchise is at its best when it’s trying to scare you, an element that it had forgotten for far too long.

So, to recap: I don’t think Rose is the right call, because it comes at the cost of legacy characters. But I also don’t think a legacy character should be the lead, as it undermines the sense of dread that comes with being a regular person.

What I’m hopeful for, then, is a middle ground that continues to marry the old with the new. There are a great many other fabulous additions from RE7, whether it’s Mia Winters — decry her all you want, she has proven herself more than capable of holding her own — or even Zoe and Joe Baker, who Capcom surely kept alive for a reason.

As much as I love the third-person perspective, I feel like that’s the property of the remakes at this juncture, serving as a point of difference that prevents the current and past timelines from bleeding into one another. I want another first-person adventure, and if you’re big on numerology, that would also provides a tidy trilogy of continuity (the first three games being fixed camera, the next three being third person, and 7 through 9 then being first-person).

Right now, the only semi-credible nugget we’ve got to go on is a rumour that it will be set in “a fictional rural town on an island in the Southeast Asia Sea inspired by Singapore specifically.”

That doesn’t exactly sound like somewhere Zoe would wind up, and in fact would be a more logical setting for Chris’ Hound Wolf Squad. It doesn’t remove Mia from the equation, however, who was vaguely “experimented on” during the events of Resident Evil Village, and could potentially step into a more active role out in the field.

It’s a long shot, but Mia’s inclusion could also allow an opportunity to keep Rose active in the narrative, courtesy of some Megamycete chicanery. I won’t profess to understand the exactitude of how victims affected by the Mold communicate, however Shadows of Rose established that they can travel through each other’s memories. To me, that suggests that they share a consciousness regardless of time or place.

Is it so hard to believe, then, that she could potentially connect to her mother’s consciousness to guide her in the past? Even if it’s as brief as the moment in RE7 when Jack pleads with Ethan to save his family, it would make for a poignant sequence that ties the Winters trilogy together.

Beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess as to what will be making an appearance. Is the Mold still under investigation? Are the shady dealings of the BSAA going to come into play? Will the Alex Wesker-possessed Natalia Korda finally do something of interest?

Only some of these things are likely, but I’m looking forward to it regardless. The creative direction this series has been going in for the last seven years has been some of its finest work yet, with several of the most recent entries staking their claim for the top spot.

In actuality, only a shock return to the fixed camera angles of old would ever really have a chance of becoming my new favourite. But I think it’s safe to say, that will not be something we should expect from Resident Evil 9.