Resident Evil Requiem

I’ve been a fan of the Resident Evil franchise my entire life. 

I have fond memories of playing Resident Evil 2 on the N64 and the original Resident Evil 4 on the GameCube. I mean, I definitely shouldn’t have been playing those games at such a young age, but that’s beside the point! They were both fantastic games and they're probably two of my favorite video games of all time. 

Unfortunately, I fell off the franchise immediately following Resident Evil 6. I had fun playing that game with friends, but the story definitely became too big and too bloated for my own personal taste. So when Capcom decided to release a back-to-basics game like Resident Evil 7, I was already checked out. I even rolled my eyes at the thought of Resident Evil Village having vampires and werewolves. How ridiculous, I thought.

To be fair, I heard plenty of good things about both of those games. I just never played them because, at that point, it seemed like the franchise was so far away from what I originally loved about it.

But then Capcom remade Resident Evil 2. The hype surrounding that game was unreal. Enough to pique my interest. But I was still skeptical about it since the original Resident Evil 2 holds such a special place in my heart. So I waited for the game to go down in price before playing it for myself. Unfortunately, Capcom then decided to remake Resident Evil 3, and the reviews for that game weren't as great. And, probably unsurprisingly, they waned on my excitement for Resident Evil 2 as well.

Then the unthinkable happened: Capcom remade Resident Evil 4. A game considered by many to be one of the best and most influential video games of all time. I was completely shocked. There was no way a remake would be able to compare to the original. And yet, the reviews were all spectacular! Some people even said it held it's own against the original! I genuinely couldn't believe it.

With all of this excitement, I knew that I would have to play these remakes one day. And that day came some time during my Christmas break. I saw that Resident Evil 2 was free to play with Xbox Game Pass, so I finally decided to play it for myself.

And I had a great time! The remake perfectly captures the essence of the original game, while the modern mechanics help the story feel fresh and exciting. Plus, the game is insanely replayable. I Immediately blasted through all four runs of the campaign.

I loved it so much that I instantly hopped on to Resident Evil 3, and quickly moved forward with Resident Evil 4. I was having so much fun with these remakes; I didn't even care that Resident Evil 3 wasn't all that great, because 2 and 4 proved to be my favorite video games once again!

So I was riding high on a wave of Resident Evil hype. And the timing was perfect, since Capcom was about to release Resident Evil Requiem. I was primed and ready for the release of a new Resident Evil game! The fact that I hadn't played 7 or 8 didn't even bother me, since Requiem seemed to be telling a standalone story. For the most part anyway. The latter half of the game does take place in the destroyed remains of Raccoon City, so having some knowledge of Resident Evil lore does come in handy here.

Unfortunately, I think my recent exposure to the remakes actually waned on my own experience with Resident Evil Requiem. But I'll get into that in a second.

First and foremost, I’d like to say that this is a very fun game.  

The story follows FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft, who investigates a series of mysterious deaths involving survivors of the Raccoon City incident. She then uncovers a plot from former Umbrella researcher Dr. Victor Gideon, leading her to several confrontations with returning protagonist Leon S. Kennedy.

And, while I absolutely love playing as Leon again, Grace's parts of the game are probably my favorite. Because her portions feature the survival horror elements that I personally enjoy from the Resident Evil franchise.

As much as I like running and gunning as Leon, I prefer solving strange puzzles, scouring for resources to hoard, and having barely enough ammo to survive against terrifying enemies in spooky environments. That's what Resident Evil is to me.

Leon's more action-oriented portions of the game - while incredibly fun - just aren't as scary or as challenging. Thankfully, the game does a decent job of switching between these two characters' perspectives. Literally. The game allows you to play in third person, first person, or a combination of the two. I personally played how the game suggested - with Grace in first person and Leon in third person - and I had a great deal of fun!

Leon in third person just feels right, especially since that perspective carries over from Resident Evil 2 and 4. But since Grace is a completely new character, choosing her perspective is just a matter of preference. Though I will say, playing her segments in first person did make for a genuinely haunting experience. Which actually has me excited to play Resident Evil 7 for the first time!

The first person perspective really makes you feel immersed with the spooky environments, because it allows you to feel like you're the one who is actually exploring the scary locations.

Speaking of which, the settings are all incredible. The first half largely takes place in a hotel / hospital of some kind, and it is genuinely terrifying! It's easily one of the best Resident Evil locations in a long, long time.

The second half of the game, however, takes place in the desolate remains of Raccoon City. Which is awesome! Exploring the streets of Raccoon City as an older Leon is undeniably cool. After all, seeing how certain locations have changed over the years is part of the game's appeal.

That being said, I personally enjoyed exploring the hotel a bit better. Especially since the zombies have more personality in this segment. Because, after being experimented on, they seem to retain some semblance of their past lives. Which is an interesting take on zombification! Plus, these personality quirks make for some really engaging gameplay.

Unfortunately, the game quickly abandons  these elements in order to get to the more action-oriented sections of the game. Which is disappointing, especially since I loved how tense and atmospheric these slower parts actually are.

Seeing the RPD in broad daylight with destroyed rooms and a collapsed roof is undeniably awesome, but there's nothing more terrifying than exploring an environment that your unfamiliar with. Especially when that environment has flickering lights and various monsters stalking you around.

But this is where my recent exposure to the remakes probably waned on my experience. Because the remakes of Resident Evil 2 and 3 came out in 2018 and 2020, respectively. That means most players probably haven't seen Raccoon City in six to eight years. I, however, was just exploring the city a little over six to eight weeks ago. So the return to the iconic city didn't feel as impactful as it was definitely meant to.

Plus, since locations like the RPD were still fresh on my mind, I could tell that Capcom slapped some new skins on their preexisting models and called it a day. Which honestly felt a bit lazy to me. And, maybe I'm the only person who feels this way, but I think reusing preexisting material for nostalgia bait is an incredibly cheap trick.

I also think that the game jumps the shark a little bit. Some of Leon's parts are absolutely ridiculous. I was having fun the entire time, but the convoluted story did teeter on Resident Evil 6 levels of ridiculousness. Especially since that story starts to balloon into something that feels so unnecessarily big and grand and bloated, causing the narrative to get crushed under its own weight. 

The story just didn't develop naturally in my opinion. To me, it feels like somebody had the idea to go back to Raccoon City, but then they had to work backwards and think of a story reason as to why that would even be necessary. And  the reason that they did come up with retroactively retcons thirty years of established lore. I honestly don't know how I feel about that.

I do think that the story is interesting, I just wish it unfolded in a more organic way. And, while I may be in the minority with this opinion, I don't think Requiem needed to go back to Raccoon City in order to be successful. 

There's plenty of material in the hotel to make for a satisfying game in its own right. So I'm actually a bit disappointed in the fact that Capcom felt the need to connect this game to the original trilogy. Especially since some of the best Resident Evil games tell standalone stories that have nothing to do with the bigger, overarching "plot."

Resident Evil 4, for example, has nothing to do with anything - but it's still an incredible game! And that's probably why I like the first half of this game better than the second half; it works really well as a standalone game before it devolves into something that tries to connect with the larger franchise.

Still, I can't deny that it was really fun to play as Leon again. Especially since he is my favorite character in the series. But his new hatchet and parrying mechanic make him even more of a badass!

Plus, the Leon memes that I've seen lately are all hilarious. But, since the character is about fifty-years-old now, I do wish that some of the gameplay reflected his older age. I don't need him to feel like Joel from The Last of Us or anything, but some of the flips and high kicks he was doing were hurting MY knees. Though I do love the contrast between his gameplay and Grace's gameplay.

Grace is a great addition to the franchise, by the way. She has the personality of an introverted bookworm, which immediately makes her far unlike any of the other Resident Evil protagonists. Her lack of combat experience forces you to think your way through her obstacles. Which is something I enjoy. So I love how grounded and relatable she feels as a character.

I just wish the game kept her character grounded. Because, as these things go, there are some interesting reveals made about Grace in the final act, and I'm not exactly sure how I feel about those reveals.

I won't spoil any of that information here, but I will say that I'm a bit disappointed with the finale as a whole. Because, the entire game builds up to a decision that the player has to make, but that choice is never properly set up. So it's actually very easy for players to make the wrong choice. And that choice causes the game to end in a frustratingly unsatisfying way. But,  Capcom probably knew that players would hate this ending, so the game allows players to go back to make the correct choice in order to unlock the "canonical" ending. Which is very strange.

Plus, as if Capcom felt the need to overcorrect, the canonical ending gives everyone an unnaturally happy send off. But certain aspects of this ending don't feel earned to me, so both endings come across as rather odd. Not to mention that the final boss fight is also underwhelming. 

Victor Gideon is an interesting villain, but he takes a backseat in the latter half of the story to make way for another character that I won’t spoil here. Unfortunately, the game does literally NOTHING with this reveal. So the presence of this new character adds nothing to the overall story, and only raises a bunch of unnecessary questions.

Then, mechanically speaking, playing against the final boss isn't even all that interesting. As a matter of fact, it feels like a rehash of Resident Evil 3’s final boss fight with Nemesis. To the point where Leon literally says, “oh, this guy is a nemesis.” 

So the ending to Requiem is nowhere near as fun as the beginning. And that is a real shame considering how strongly this game actually begins. That being said, I fully acknowledge the fact that these personal problems may not even exist, if I had just played the Resident Evil remakes when they originally came out.

Still, I think Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4 have more replay value than Requiem. I'm sure I'll play both of those remakes plenty of more times in the future, but I'm not sure if I'll ever fully play through Requiem again. So, take what that information what you will.

Resident Evil Requiem is a good game. It's a fun game. It's a celebration of some of the franchise's greatest hits. But I don't think it's one of the best games in the series.

I had a good time while playing it, but I really hope Capcom can reel in their direction for Resident Evil 10.

Regardless, this is a fun horror game that any Resident Evil fan should play. So, despite having some personal issues with it, Resident Evil Requiem would definitely get a recommendation from me.