by May Honey, Contributing Writer
Once upon a time, the Resident Evil series became one of the most forward pushing and genre defining franchises of survival horror. With the original trilogy of games and the fantastic remake of the first they defined a strong brand identity and legacy of game design. Centered around puzzle box environments and steep difficulty, with consequence baked into every decision you make, along with a thick atmosphere binding the whole thing together. After that they pulled out a classic with Resident Evil 4, centering the games into a more action-oriented direction than a horror based one. While Resident Evil 4 and its phenomenal remake beloved by fans (and me) to this day, it sent the franchise down a path of excess and borderline self-parody with consistently escalating cartoon stakes and so much over ambition it practically drowned in its own bloat by the time Resident Evil 6 came around. Thankfully, transformation itself being a core part of the series’ history, it transformed yet again back to survival horror with 2017’s Resident Evil VII: Biohazard, where they started anew from the same darkness and creative juice from which it was born. It has since then iterated on those ideas and its own history with great thoughtfulness and evolution with game after game of creativity and quality. The streak was hot, so once Requiem was announced I was hyped beyond words. Not only that, but fan favorite Leon has returned. The concern though was that supposedly it was just going to split itself in half between the two styles, action and horror. I had no doubt that they could pull off the horror, but despite that fantastic remake of RE4 two years ago, I was trepidatious with how they would blend the two together given their history of mishandling those combinations of tones in the past. Thankfully RE9 is absolutely the best of both worlds. The horror is some of the most genuinely scary the series has ever produced, the action is some of the most dynamic and intense the series has ever designed, and the story is one of the most emotionally resonant the series has ever told.
Half of the game is spent with a franchise newbie, Grace Ashcroft. Her section is the old-school survival horror spookfest side of the game. She is voiced and performance-captured beautifully by Angela Sant’Albano who makes every line count and every movement permeate with frantic anxiety. She’s immediately endearing and her character’s arc of self-confidence and gaining of agency is just the perfect amount of written-into-the-character and supported by your own comfortability with the game as you play. Her section of the game is mostly set inside a labyrinthian care facility with zombies and monsters abound. You explore the environment little by little as you slowly discover its secrets, stealth your way through encounters, and craft unique items and solutions to get through elaborately locked doors. It’s all very evocative of Resident Evil 2 in its approach, but it still has a ton of details and differences that give it a strong identity of its own. I found it odd that the recent remake of RE4 included stealth in some sections, I didn’t pay it much mind at the time, but now I see that it was in its own way a prototype for the stealth integrated more fully and skillfully into Grace’s story. Instead of the binary shoot or run decisions of games past, there is now a whole stealth side to the exploration that deepens the experience significantly in both horror and story. It’s also now supported by a dynamic new crafting system that allows you to collect large amounts of pooled blood and craft it into useful items. It increases player choice and freedom while also letting some enemies stick around longer than previous games’ gameplay loops would’ve allowed. For example, if I was Leon in RE2 I would have come across the scary looking chef in the kitchen next to a giant pot of blood and whacking away his knife at a pile of indiscriminate gore and thought, “This guy seems awful and he’s blocking a door, so I guess I oughta kill him now.” Then that would be that and the game continues. In this game though I had a low number of resources like usual, but also a stealthy way to get around him if I was patient enough. I went around him under the impression I was making the smart decision, but later on, after I’d long forgot him, he started patrolling some of my most frequented areas, harrying me more often and upping the anxiety every time I entered that area. It’s a win-win that allows more agency on the player’s part while also letting the horror elements stick around for longer and continuously surprise you as you get deeper into the game. That’s not even mentioning the two new stalker enemy types it throws at you that are disgusting, horrifying, and unique to deal with. It’s everything I could’ve wanted as a fan from the ground up while also giving me interesting and surprising innovations on those ideas that really set it apart. I couldn’t be happier with these decisions.
Leon’s section takes up most of the latter half of the game, upping the ante with action set pieces and deepening the story by delving into past lore and giving Leon a surprising emotional arc. It’s best exemplified by his first major opening area and segment, exploring the ruins of post-nuclear blast Raccoon City. It’s an echo of Leon’s first appearance in Resident Evil 2, a location that since the remake of Resident Evil 4 has been characterized as the incident and place that gave Leon his hard edge and PTSD. Especially if you’ve been a fan for a long time and have played those previous games, being in RC at all as Leon would give you a lot of complicated emotions due to those games successfully traumatizing you as well. It’s loaded with fan service for sure, but it’s all used very purposefully, and in a way that universally improves the story this game is trying to tell. Experientially in the way it compares to the past it more often chooses an intentional difference rather than being intentionally similar. Instead of the confined and maze-like hallways the interlocking environments are more often open with more opportunities to explore around and make your own series of choices through objectives. Instead of the few impactful enemies in any given area, every combat encounter is littered with multiple enemies in increasingly over the top circumstances that against all odds never felt like it was going too far. It even adds an entire layer of melee combat, which is an even further step forward from the more action-oriented gameplay Leon had in RE4 or even his campaign in RE6. You can always sharpen your hatchet in any downtime between encounters, but this thing is just so dang fun and useful. You can do regular damage, do some really satisfying finishing moves that stun enemies around you, or even open new options for exploration in some cases. By the time you engage in an entire motorcycle stunt chase sequence against the main villain with zombie dogs in pursuit I was still pumping my fist and glued to the screen soaking up every moment. It is Resident Evil action performed at maximum volume but never with the cavalier thoughtlessness that took away significantly from games like RE5 and RE6 for me. It’s always consistent in its gameplay foundation, and it never loses its horrific identity through its big action ideas. Leon is one of my favorite video game characters of all time, I would’ve been as quick to sound the alarm bells if they did him dirty like they did in part six, but thankfully his part in this game stands tall right next to his classic appearances in parts two and four. Like Grace’s part of the story, I couldn’t be happier.
The climax brings it all together beautifully in an unexpected story turn that marries Leon’s confrontation with the darkest parts of his and the series’ past with the positive changes his continuing story and Grace’s blossoming story represent into a coherently emotional message that actually moved me. It may be the best story ending of the series so far. It took a lot of precise planning and deep consideration to balance all the elements that Capcom was working with here. Horror and action, Grace and Leon, Care Center and Racoon City, past and present, the list goes on and on. The work of genius amongst all of that is how it marries them all through a strong forward direction of respect for the past, a love of change, and hope for what the future brings. It’s amazing how after 30 years Resident Evil is still churning out incredible games like there’s no reason to ever stop. Requiem is now an essential entry in the series that is a balance of every single one of the franchises strengths thus far. It’s wildly entertaining to new fans and emotionally rewarding to those who have been here for a while.
Rating: Loved It
Resident Evil Requiem is available on Playstation 5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch 2
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