Hideki Kamiya, the famed game creator who made his directorial debut with the original Resident Evil 2, has been talking a lot about the survival horror series in recent days.
Originally released in 1998, Resident Evil 2 was a significant step up from the first game, though its production was troubled, to say the least. After completing around 60-80% of the initial build, development was restarted when script writer Noburu Sugimura was added to the team. Prior to this, in what is now known as Biohazard (Resident Evil) 1.5, the game had almost no connection to the original, and certainly no returning characters.
In responding to a fan’s comment speculating on the inclusion of Rebecca Chambers in Resident Evil 2, Kamiya explained the reasoning behind the decision to go with completely new protagonists. He states that he “didn’t consider the feelings of the users” at the time and wanted to provide his own vision for the sequel. When Sugimura joined, however, Kamiya was convinced to create Claire Redfield, whose brother, Chris, was one of the primary protagonists of the original.
“At the time, I was a selfish idiot who didn’t consider the feelings of the users, so when I was making Biohazard 2, I decided to remove all the characters from the previous game and start a new one.
“In the end, this was buried in the dark as Biohazard 1.5, and when Sugimura-sensei joined the team later, he got mad at me, saying, “Why aren’t you including the characters from the previous game?”, so I added Chris’s sister, Claire…”
Although Biohazard 1.5 is not available in any official capacity, fans have been diligently working on creating a playable version, with various builds available since around 2013. Capcom itself officially recognised 1.5 in the Resident Evil 2 remake, adding in a special costume for Claire based on concept art for the scrapped protagonist Elza Walker.
Fans of the series on Switch 2 can look forward to Resident Evil Requiem, Resident Evil Village, and Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, all of which will release on 27th February 2026.
