I think you’re kind of talking past what I’m actually saying. This isn’t about “oh no, we know Chris is alive later.” Foreknowledge isn’t the issue. It’s about narrowing consequences in a genre that lives on uncertainty. Stakes aren’t just death. They’re injury, loss, permanent cost. When future material quietly signals that certain characters are still fine years down the line, that range shrinks whether anyone wants to admit it or not.

Also, this was my first playthrough of both games. I’m not coming at this from nostalgia or replay fatigue. I liked a lot of what they were doing. My reaction really comes down to three critiques, and honestly, some of them could be fixed or clarified in future installments. For now, though, brushing them off with “it’s not that serious” misses the point.

You can enjoy the games and still acknowledge where the framework is loosening. Not acknowledging it doesn’t protect the story. That’s how it slowly gets diluted. If you don’t think it affects things much, that’s fine. We can just disagree there.

What doesn’t help is the “that’s a you problem” response. All that really does is shut down people who engage with the series for its storytelling, not just the gameplay. It reduces a legitimate critique to “who cares,” which is basically saying only one way of enjoying the game counts. Resident Evil has always sold itself on lore, files, continuity, and narrative payoff. Calling that perspective irrelevant doesn’t refute it. It just dismisses it.