8 "Simple" Video Game Features That Took YEARS To Perfect

3. Over-The-Shoulder Perspective - Resident Evil 4

Resident Evil 4 was famously a tough sequel to get right. In their attempt to reinvent the franchise as a whole, Capcom tried a whole host of different ideas and concepts, even getting far along in development on some - to the point where they were unveiled officially to the public - before scrapping them entirely and going back to the drawing board.

While there were plenty of changes made between the different versions of the title, one aspect the developers constantly struggled with was the perspective of the camera. The previous titles had all used the static camera system, flicking between different, uncontrollable angles depending on where the player was in the level.

The first iteration of Resi 4 offered something of a half-step evolution on that idea, switching between an over-the-shoulder mode for shooting and action, but maintaining static camera angles while walking and exploring.

That system was scrapped by the time the final version of the sequel appeared, featuring a fully-controllable camera from the now iconic over-the-shoulder perspective. At the time this was revolutionary, even though it seems like such a simple switch.