Capcom Remixes Its Past With Exoprimal and Path of the Goddess

Capcom didn’t reveal any bombshells at its dedicated Summer Game Fest showcase; many titles were earlier revealed during the Xbox Games Showcase. Considering that the company published two five-star masterpieces (the Resident Evil 4 remake and Street Fighter 6) back to back, it could afford to coast a bit. However, Capcom took the opportunity to shed more light on upcoming releases. Curiously, two of those games, Exoprimal and Path of the Goddess, appear to be spiritual successors to past Capcom hits.

What Is Exoprimal?

We first saw Exoprimal last year, and got our best look yet at Capcom’s 2023 showcase. It’s a co-op shooter that sees your character wear powerful, custom exoskeletons to fight evil, time-traveling dinosaurs. The past and future collide in gloriously dumb ways as technological warriors take down T-rexes.

As bonkers as that all sounds, Capcom already has a franchise about stopping a crisis involving dinosaurs. The original Dino Crisis games took the Resident Evil survival-horror formula, and swapped out the zombies with big reptiles. This franchise became progressively more arcade-like as the series went on: Dino Crisis 2 was a third-person shooter, and Dino Stalker was an on-rails arcade blastathon.

Exoprimal has more sci-fi flair than those titles, but I don’t think anyone would complain if Capcom marketed it as a next-gen Dino Crisis. We’ll see how much DNA they share when Exoprimal drops on July 14.

What Is Path of the Goddess?

Meanwhile, Path of the Goddess is far more mysterious. The samurai game debuted at this year’s Summer Game Fest, and offered a glimpse at its stylish, mystical, somewhat scary action set in ancient Japan.

Path of the Goddess’ samurai action recalls the Onimusha series’ combat, and the game’s divine cherry blossoms make one reflect on the Okami titles. Path of the Goddess is slated for a 2024 release, so there’s time for it to forge its own identity (or double down on Capcom’s other properties).

The Future Lies in the Past

We’re used to seeing indie games that are homages to famous existing franchises. But there’s something interesting about a publisher essentially remixing itself. Dragon’s Dogma II received a new trailer that showcased gameplay that’s less Dragon’s Dogma and more next-gen Breath of Fire. Likewise, the again-delayed Pragmata looks like it contains Lost Planet DNA. 

Capcom has never been afraid of double dipping. After all, this is the company with two hit zombie franchises: Dead Rising and Resident Evil. In addition, Capcom also frequently re-releases its old games, which is a fine way to preserve classic games. When gamers can’t decide if they prefer new experiences or familiar faces, maybe Capcom has it right by splitting the difference. 

For more on Summer Game Fest, read our take on Ubisoft’s two big Disney blockbusters, and see if our hopes and wishes for the show actually came true.