But they are less action focused. Killing enemies is not the priority in those games. You can get past most enemies without even hurting them; moreover, at the beginning of each game you want to run past most enemies because you have little ammo. Opposite to RE4+ games, in older games you are very rarely forced to kill any non-boss enemies. You can also clean up an entire location and then run through it several times throughout the game without a hassle of being attacked. The latter is not possible in RE4+ games since those games push you forward all the time - you rarely ever backtrack (and if you do, usually new enemies are spawn in those locations).
And technology has nothing to do with this. Doom was released in 1993 - 3 years prior to RE1 - and it was a pure action game. By the time Code: Veronica was released CAPCOM could easily turn the series into pure over the top shooter - but it still had tank controls, and was designed with backtracking and puzzles first. RE Zero (a classic RE game) was released on the same console RE4 (a pure action RE game) was.
Let me explain. When i said about the tech limitations, it was mostly about the backtracking part. It really feels that once technology allowed it, they expanded the stages, and by 'they' i don't simply mean Capcom, i mean Mikami himself. It really feels like the backtracking in the limited space each game provided was (initially at least) a way to give more to the player within the constraints of the HW.
Now about being able to go past an area without killing anything, you are right, it's also mentioned by another poster, and it's true that Bio, with 4 and onwards, introduced those scenarios where you actually had to kill to progress, and that's a real change in the way the games are introduced.
But the way i always saw it, we can't deny that the intention to go past 'survival horror', and add action, scifi elements, and over the top characters, enemies and encounters, was introduced in the series before 4.
Yes, you could progress by avoiding enemies, but the action elements were there, slowly creeping and waiting for the right time, and the tech to allow, for them to be properly implemented.
I actually replayed CV about a year ago, and i was surprised on how much more actiony it felt from how i remembered it.
CV, and later 0, show another problem with the series. As you said, the tech was there, or almost there, but they still made the games as they used to, even on the same HW 4 was introduced. That had to do imo with stagnation and designers unsure how to move on with the series. It was apparent then, and it was again apparent some time after. Besides the ideas brought to the series when Mikami had his hands on the projects (1, 4 and in a certain extent 2), the other entries failed to identify themselves properly and introduced various mechanics that in most cases weren't much approved by the userbase, like in the case of 0.
So 4 indeed owns its existence not only to the tech, but also to the vision, and the courage if you will, to move the series to the next level.
At this point i have to say that i may be critical, but i like all main entries in the series, even if that means i like some a lot more than others.
Also i have to note that even though i believe that entries in which Mikami was not involved were not as good as others, I'm pleasantly surprised with Rev2 and I'm optimistic about the future of the series.
Lastly, i butchered your post to save some space, but kept the juice, apologies in advance.
