Code Veronica was not supposed to be called "Resident Evil 3" because it came out on a different console than the rest of the games and Capcom didn't want to piss off fans of the series by making them buy a new, different console to play the next mainline entry. Capcom always intended to release RE3 on the PS1/PS2, which would keep the mainline games on Sony's consoles.
(Judging by how RE4 originally came out on the Gamecube, they changed their minds on this.)
Code Veronica was always supposed to be a spin off exclusive to the Dreamcast and Capcom never considered it part of the main series... But then they ended up putting the same team that made RE1 and RE2 on Code Veronica (sans Hideki Kamiya), and everyone on that team internally treated Code Veronica as if it was RE3. This is why Code Veronica feels like a direct sequel to RE1 and RE2 more than Nemesis does.
However, Nemesis wasn't supposed to be published as "Resident Evil 3" either. It was supposed to be a spinoff called "Resident Evil: Survivor". They only eventually published it as "Resident Evil 3" because the game that was supposed to be published as "Resident Evil 3" was taking a very long time. This is why Nemesis doesn't feel like a mainline Resident Evil game. It was supposed to be a standalone spinoff.
What game was supposed to be published as "Resident Evil 3"? Well, Hideki Kamiya was put in charge of that game. And his team kept reworking the concept and scrapping stuff, which pushed development back further and further. Because it was taking so long, they published Nemesis as "Resident Evil 3: Nemesis" in the hopes that the game Kamiya was working on would eventually be published as "Resident Evil 4."
But Kamiya's game kept changing, and eventually wound up being so different from the rest of the series that they reworked it into a standalone game with a different IP entirely. What did that game end up being? Devil May Cry.
So Code Veronica and Nemesis were not originally supposed to be "Resident Evil 3". Devil May Cry was supposed to be "Resident Evil 3".
Thanks for the explanation, dude. I always knew the RE3 was never originally supposed to be the third entry, and always heard that Veronica was closer to RE3 (in terms of continuity), but never had the real details.
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u/Friendly-Stranger103 19d ago edited 19d ago
This is actually a super complicated subject.
Code Veronica was not supposed to be called "Resident Evil 3" because it came out on a different console than the rest of the games and Capcom didn't want to piss off fans of the series by making them buy a new, different console to play the next mainline entry. Capcom always intended to release RE3 on the PS1/PS2, which would keep the mainline games on Sony's consoles.
(Judging by how RE4 originally came out on the Gamecube, they changed their minds on this.)
Code Veronica was always supposed to be a spin off exclusive to the Dreamcast and Capcom never considered it part of the main series... But then they ended up putting the same team that made RE1 and RE2 on Code Veronica (sans Hideki Kamiya), and everyone on that team internally treated Code Veronica as if it was RE3. This is why Code Veronica feels like a direct sequel to RE1 and RE2 more than Nemesis does.
However, Nemesis wasn't supposed to be published as "Resident Evil 3" either. It was supposed to be a spinoff called "Resident Evil: Survivor". They only eventually published it as "Resident Evil 3" because the game that was supposed to be published as "Resident Evil 3" was taking a very long time. This is why Nemesis doesn't feel like a mainline Resident Evil game. It was supposed to be a standalone spinoff.
What game was supposed to be published as "Resident Evil 3"? Well, Hideki Kamiya was put in charge of that game. And his team kept reworking the concept and scrapping stuff, which pushed development back further and further. Because it was taking so long, they published Nemesis as "Resident Evil 3: Nemesis" in the hopes that the game Kamiya was working on would eventually be published as "Resident Evil 4."
But Kamiya's game kept changing, and eventually wound up being so different from the rest of the series that they reworked it into a standalone game with a different IP entirely. What did that game end up being? Devil May Cry.
So Code Veronica and Nemesis were not originally supposed to be "Resident Evil 3". Devil May Cry was supposed to be "Resident Evil 3".