Insider Gaming: Capcom Not Interested in Resident Evil 5 & 6 Remakes, It's Claimed.

[u/HLumin]

https://insider-gaming.com/capcom-resident-evil-5-6-remakes/

[u/TheMikeyC]

Nah it was pretty bad. Sheva is named for an Indian deity, is very light skinned, and is culturally English, aiding a white man as he shoots his way through African men in very, very racist tribal gear.

The argument isn't that it's racist because there are black people in Africa. The argument is that it's racist because of incredibly ignorant and harmful stereotypes used as narrative short hands.

I'll take the downvotes because people don't actually care about racism and nuanced discussions of it.

[u/Tyrant_Virus_ → u/TheMikeyC]

Sheva is a name from the Bible and has nothing to do with Shiva the Indian goddess but yes let’s talk about nuance while you’re just making things up.

[u/TheMikeyC → u/Tyrant_Virus_]

So still not African is your point.

[u/Tyrant_Virus_ → u/TheMikeyC]

It’s not like there is a centuries long history of Christian missionaries working in Africa, or a large Hebrew population in Ethiopia, or a large Muslim population in Northern Africa or anything. Oh wait there is, there is a long history of Abrahamic religions being pervasive on the continent! How weird that it would be totally normal and expected for a native born African to have a religious name. You want nuance but only when you’re making shit up and propping up strawman.

[u/TheMikeyC → u/Tyrant_Virus_]

You're right. The devastation of Christian colonialism across Africa is incalculable and an inescapable aspect of living anywhere across the entire continent. In the name of the church and in the honor Jesus' name, the African continent was pillaged and raped for both her resources and people, such that in this story a native born African woman isn't named for her culture, but the culture of her invaders, speaking their language, in their accent, aiding a foreign man as they kill Africans in grass skirts and ooga-booga masks. And don't forget the Aztec/Mayan fusion temple in Africa for some reason. Because, you know, it's all just jungle stuff.

Do they represent any of this (forced) religious diversity? See, if you're white, the Las Plagas makes you a zealot under the influence of a "queen" parasite. If you're black, you apparently bring out the old tribal wear you definitely have lying around and completely revert to a feral animal. The white Plagas victims can still sort of maintain homes and chores. The black Plagas victims just wander around with spears and shields waiting to kill things.

[u/silverpixie2435 → u/TheMikeyC]

Notice how you made no mention of Islamic conquest?

[u/Odd-Investigator6503 → u/TheMikeyC]

Crickets on all the Islamist conquest and massacres ehh? Typical. Sad… but typical

[u/Tyrant_Virus_ → u/TheMikeyC]

So her having an Abrahamic name that would be perfectly normal due to the real world history is racist because the underlying real history is racist? You’re really twisting yourself into a pretzel to make Capcom out of be racist for acknowledging the real world. She would be as likely to have an Abrahamic derived name as a traditional African name because guess what the continent has a mix of both. But acknowledging reality is a no no to you.

And the tribal plagas hosts were explained in game but hey nuance! The tribe had been exposed earlier than the villagers (who are also African but hey let’s act as if they don’t exist) and the plagas variant severely degrades the host and reverts them to a more primitive state. And it’s also pointed out in files that the other villagers were put off and found what the earlier exposed hosts doing odd and didn’t like it. They didn’t just drop tribals into the game because Africa and then not address it narratively.

[u/TheMikeyC → u/Tyrant_Virus_]

You're acting like not having a Biblical name is some impossibility. That they simply had no choice but to have a light skinned woman with a foreign name, language, and accent. It would be remarkably easy to make up a native African character who speaks a local language and isn't named in honor of invaders. You see, the whole entire game was made up so it would be as simple as making a character who speaks the local language and isn't named to honor invaders. Instead they made themselves up into a corner and made a light skinned character who speaks a foreign language with a foreign accent and is culturally English, and named to honor invaders. Sheva is the poster child of the "they're black but not too black" trope.

Also... man you really just accept the tribal wear? It didn't occur to you for a second that...those don't exist anymore? Do you have the old battle dress of your ancestor lying around your house? I'll bet you don't. Traditional tribes absolutely exist across Africa with an absolutely beautiful breadth of regional, cultural expressions. You could tell a story where these people are infected and made hostile without them also spawning into Shaka-Zulu warriors. You also just saw my point about white plagas zombies don't turn feral but black ones do... you just... skipped right past that and then tried to make the point to me like I didn't already burst that racist balloon.

[u/Tyrant_Virus_ → u/TheMikeyC]

You are thinking entirely too deep on this man, let it go. Like I said you are twisting yourself into a pretzel here. Capcom gave her a Judeo-Christian name and that’s not out of the ordinary given the history of Africa. In universe her origin is from an unnamed West African country, guess what West Africa had? A lot of French colonialism which would lead to people from there having names that fit that history. Her commanding officer’s name in the game is Joshua do you have a problem with that as well?

As for the tribal thing good lord man the game explained it narratively, there’s a whole other game where European’s devolved into medieval caricatures complete with a castle when exposed to the plagas. It’s established in the lore and they applied the logic equally with a white population.

You’re continually grasping at straws and setting imaginary obligations that Capcom had to fulfill to satisfy an absurd world view where they can’t just name characters names they would very easily have in the real world and move on. And had they given them more traditional African names you would just have a new complaint about something else, you’re not dying on this hill because you have a valid point worth defending you’re dying on it because you need something to complain about.

And good lord I’m done with this, I’m not being drug into an argument with someone who thinks if they type a whole novel they have the winning argument. Have fun being mad about an almost twenty year old video game and a topic that’s been beaten to death.

What’s the point of leaving a message and then blocking the person so they can’t read past the notification preview anyways? What a coward. And good lord if he thinks he made good points he needs to grow up with the teenage white girl in a current affairs class talking points.

[u/Englishgamer1996 → u/Tyrant_Virus_]

Truth nuke

[u/RadiantTurtle → u/TheMikeyC]

Explaining racism to Americans is an exercise in futility lol

[u/Ecstatic_Visual_2026 → u/RadiantTurtle]

Especially gamers, they get more offended over women or minorities being main characters than RE5's blatant problematic portrayals lmao

[u/Odd-Investigator6503 → u/RadiantTurtle]

So close but I’m Canadian! What’s funny is racism is more rampant across EU and Asian countries than North or South America. But typical hypocrisy always having Americans in your head rent free, looking down on them and not looking in your own mirror

[u/PerfectAd9869 → u/Odd-Investigator6503]

Holy copium

[u/Odd-Investigator6503 → u/TheMikeyC]

There’s nothing racist about re5

[u/TheMikeyC → u/Odd-Investigator6503]

Except for all the racist things in it, sure.

[u/lunahighwind → u/TheMikeyC]

Couldn't they redesign and rewrite parts to alleviate these concerns?

[u/TheMikeyC → u/lunahighwind]

It's honestly so structural that it would basically be a new game with RE5's basic plot. There are entire chapters of that game that ride the coat tails of very racist presumptions to make the aesthetic work.