Resident Evil 3 Producer Talks Story Changes, Jill Valentine's New Design, and More

Capcom brought their classic game Resident Evil 3 to life in a whole new way with their recent Resident Evil 3 Remake, and after walking with Jill Valentine through the streets of Raccoon City once more we had a few questions about how this came to be, the changes the team made to the original adventure, Nemesis, and more. Who better to ask than the team behind the game, right? Well, ComicBook.com had the chance to speak to Resident Evil 3 Producer Peter Fabiano all about those topics and more, and we had to start with the game's narrative. The story of the remake keeps the bigger elements in place, but there are several changes, including the removal of multiple endings, and those changes were made to tighten up the overall story and keep things from being open-ended.

"The director really wanted to focus on telling a consistent narrative without leaving the main story open-ended," Fabiano said. "This allowed us to really focus on telling the story about Jill's escape from Raccoon City while being pursued by Nemesis as well as expand on her relationship with Carlos. We kept to the basic beats in the original but made changes in chronology or storytelling where we felt made sense and tied things to the retelling of the previous story in RE2."

The story wasn't the only element to receive some changes, as Jill Valentine got a modern makeover that many appreciated, one that brings Jill more in line with modern-day heroines.

"We used photogrammetry to create a photorealistic world with Resident Evil 3," Fabiano said. "As such, we wanted to create a Jill that was familiar but also fit in that world – a character that looked like she had the wherewithal to get through tough situations. We're happy with how she turned out and have gotten positive responses regarding her appearance."

In keeping with the story beats from the first game, Nikolai does betray Jill and Carlos in the remake. While Capcom didn't want to change that, they did want to make you care a bit more about the individual members of the U.B.C.S. team.

"As with the overall approach to the game, we wanted to keep to the essence of the original but also make changes to make the game feel fresh but familiar," Fabiano said. "We tried to bring out more of the characterizations in the U.B.C.S. members. This helps to engage both veteran players as well as those new to the series or ones that started with the reimagining of Resident Evil 2."

Those who completed the campaign will have seen the after-credits scene that shows someone picking up the dented vial that once housed the vaccine. We had to ask if there were any hints in that scene that indicated the person's identity, and we also asked if that scene will be picked up by a later game in the franchise or is a tie-in to something that already exists. Fabiano wasn't budging though, saying "Time will tell."

Resident Evil 3 also launched with a full-on multiplayer component called Resident Evil Resistance, which has already received a few updates, and Capcom is definitely listening to player feedback to keep improving the overall experience.

"We're happy that we could create a new take on multiplayer survivor horror and have people play and enjoy the experience with their friends," Fabiano said. "Taking on the challenge of creating a Resident Evil themed online game was always part of the concept for this project. We're doing our best to listen to feedback, and also adding content along the way. For example, we just added a new Mastermind, Nicholai Ginovaef from Resident Evil 3, along with his bioweapon Nemesis."

We're excited to see what's next for the Resident Evil franchise, especially if that involves a Code Veronica Remake (yes, yes I did slip that in here and will continue to do so until it happens). As for Resident Evil 3, you can play the game and its multiplayer component Resistance right now on Xbox One, PS4, and Steam.

Let us know what you thought of Resident Evil 3 in the comments or feel free to find me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB for all things Resident Evil!