RESIDENT EVIL: REQUIEM is the ninth entry in the main series of Resident Evil, one of the longest-lasting series in video games and the popularizer of the survival horror genre. There’s been dozens of other spin off games but the main series has always been a mixture of both horror as well as action. Sometimes a game will go hard in one direction like Resident Evil IV and Resident Evil VII while others will bungle the balance like Resident Evil V. Resident Evil: Requiem attempts to thread the needle a lot closer than most by having two protagonists to represent both sides of the franchise.
The premise is that Grace Ashcroft is a young FBI analyst, who is the daughter Resident Evil: Outbreak protagonist, Alyssa Ashcraft. Her mother was murdered in a dirty hotel eight years prior in front of her eyes and her superior tells her to check out a murder scene at the same place. This is so wildly unethical, it’s hilarious, but it gets worse for Grace as she finds herself confronting the twisted mutant that murdered her mother. Unfortunately, she soon finds herself kidnapped and locked up in one of those deranged creepy facilities that this franchise so loves
Thankfully, Leon S. Kennedy is still an agent working for the US government. How that works is questionable and I would have switched to the BSAA by now but they’re supposed to be evil too as of Resident Evil: Village‘s stinger (yes, I’m salty that plot is ignored). Leon finds out that Gideon, a former Umbrella scientist, is the monster that kidnapped Grace and goes after her. Helping him along the way is Sherry Birkin from Resident Evil 2 and VI, having grown into a lovely forty-year-old woman that makes me feel old just thinking about it.
The Grace sections of the game are the horror sections where she’s clumsy, scared, and very poor at fighting against the monstrous things hunting her. Grace is a newcomer to this world and zombies are terrifying. I especially like her introduction as we have a fairly long build-up before she meets her first undead horror and is unable to do anything but flee. She’s a beautifully designed character and really is my favorite part of the game (sorry Leon).
The Leon sections are okay and it’s always good to roundhouse kick monsters in the head. However, Leon gets a little boring as we wander the nuclear blasted ruins of Racoon City. That relies a little too heavily on nostalgia and there’s not much interesting about…nuclear blasted ruins. There’s also some reused characters and someone that is meant to remind us of a villain a lot of people want resurrected but I think is best left in the past.
The game is absolutely stunning and probably the most beautiful the Resident Evil so far. However, I feel the game also feels like it is retreading old ground that really didn’t need to be retreaded. One of the characters that was a long running villain is also given a redemption arc that I feel was completely unearned. These are all minor complaints, though, and the game is definitely enjoyable for those who appreciated the remakes.
In conclusion, Resident Evil: Requiem is fine. Better than fine, Good. However, I feel it relies too heavily on nostalgia and doesn’t have the same level of innovation as either Resident Evil VII or Village. It’s still amazingly fun to play and fans of the series will not be too disappointed. Still, I kind of wish the entire thing had been Grace’s story with Leon as more of a supporting character.
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