In December 2020, former Konami developer and creator of the Silent Hill series Keiichiro Toyama announced that he would be opening his own game studio. Bokeh Game Studio will be, as many suspected, focused on making horror games, with the company’s first title Slitterhead is sure to conjure up plenty of nightmares when it releases in the near future. Today, Bokeh Game Studios surprised fans by releasing a lengthy conversation with Shinji Mikami, the first director of the Resident Evil series.
The 40-minute long video delves into how each creator was inspired to create their magnum opus, with Mikami sharing interesting details about the difficulties he faced while serving as the director and producer of the Resident Evil series.
See the full video below:
The Resident Evil creator discusses the game Sweet Home at length. A survival horror game released by Capcom for the Famicom in 1989, it was directed by Tokuro Fujiwara, who came up with the initial concept for Resident Evil. In fact, Resident Evil was conceived by Fujiwara as a remake of Sweet Home.
“I really loved Sweet Home. One of the first creators I had worked with at Capcom was Sweet Home’s Director,” Mikami said. “I remember Fujiwara calling me for a meeting a few years later. He told me how Sweet Home’s system was good, but that the game didn’t perform well. We wanted to try again to push that game system onto a horror game. I truly enjoyed Sweet Home, so I completely agreed with him. I was honored I could work on that.”
Curiously, Mikami mentions that the zombies in the Resident Evil series didn’t only need to be frightening–they needed to provide ambiance. Some are slow, while some move quickly when you least expect them to, keeping things exciting and engaging. The limited amount of ammunition players has also raised the stakes.
“We conceived a system that would make various items necessary to progress in the game,” Mikami continued. “It assigned each item to a specific character. A lighter would go to one character, another could have a vacuum, and so on. So you needed your friends, who had your items, in order to clear the game.
The player has to make a series of choices with limited resources in order to survive. I kept that, then I made something completely different.”
The “Golden Hour” series from Bokeh Game Studios is sure to continue, though who the next guest will be remains a mystery.