January 29, 2021 @9:13 UTC Maybe the more appropriate question is: what is Resident Evil? I’m not being facetious here. Capcom invented the term “survival horror” as a marketing tagline for the original Resident Evil released in 1996. And sure, horror games were a thing prior to 1996 (I see you, Alone in the Dark), but let’s not mince words here: Capcom planted the horror flag in a way that made them the genre vanguard going forward. Konami’s Team Silent may have pimped Capcom’s ride with the Silent Hill series (which took vast elements of Capcom’s Resident Evil framework and contorted them into previously-unseen daymares), but Capcom has remained the genre standard-bearer. The reason isn’t surprising, either. Notwithstanding some missteps here and there, Resident Evil has largely remained a stalwart example of survival horror. This is certainly true for the mainline series. And while Resident Evil has always built its creepy edifice upon a foundation of well-worn horror tropes, the really remarkable thing is that Capcom haven’t been afraid to challenge — and sometimes completely shatter — their own dogma.