Resident Evil Requiem director credits Zelda II as a major inspiration

Koshi Nakanishi, director of Resident Evil Requiem, has shared his love for the Legend of Zelda series in a new Creator's Voice video on Nintendo's YouTube channel – and his favorite entry might raise a few eyebrows. Rather than the original NES classic, Nakanishi named Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, widely considered the odd one out in the mainline series.

"Of course, I played the original Legend of Zelda game, but I really loved Zelda II: The Adventure of Link game. It's more challenging, and I love it."

Nakanishi is no stranger to survival horror, having previously directed Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Resident Evil Revelations.

On the subject of Revelations – which originally launched as a Nintendo 3DS exclusive – he revealed an interesting behind-the-scenes detail.

"Actually, when I was making Resident Evil Revelations, there was an enemy called a Scarmiglione who carried a shield, and if you aimed at them, they would move the shield up and down. The truth is, this enemy was inspired by the armored soldier from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link."

All of that led Nakanishi to say that "it's safe to say I was raised by Nintendo." He also admitted he was initially "skeptical" that Resident Evil Requiem would run properly on Switch 2, but the game ended up performing "smoothly."

Resident Evil Requiem launches February 27 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series, and Switch 2.