#chrisposting

For context, I have been a huge RE fan for over two decades. I was familiar with the original games growing up in the 90s and officially began playing when REmake came out in 2002. I absolutely love Resident Evil as a survival horror series and can't stand what RE5 and RE6 did to the story (RE4 to a lesser extent too – as I always wished Capcom would have given us the content from the earlier RE 3.5 builds instead – though the RE4 remake did a phenomenal job at addressing my problems with the original). You can find my ranking of all the mainline games here!

With that being said, Requiem is an excellent addition to the series. It's not perfect and it didn't quite reach the level of my absolute favorites, but it is a great game that feels very similar to the RE2 and RE3 remakes, with a touch of action thrown in.

First, the positives. Grace is a wonderful new protagonist and her voice acting was top-notch! Seriously, Grace was amazing and I particularly appreciated her sections in the game. The Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center was an interesting location for the first half (with the basement being particularly creepy), the Orphanage flashback was a nice surprise, and the ARK lab at the end was definitely my favorite part. I also really liked the Emily subplot and wish more time was devoted to it.

Regarding Leon, he's as enjoyable as ever and his more action-heavy sections were a welcome reprieve after the tense Grace ones. As someone who did not like RE6, I appreciate how the action here isn't quite as over the top (with the exception of the ridiculous motorcycle chase 😂). While Leon's gameplay is absolutely more focused on action, it generally fits with the atmosphere of the game and isn't jarring at all. His one-liners and quips are both cheesy and endearing, and this is probably the best he's looked yet.

And the sound design is excellent in Requiem! I do wish there was more actual music throughout the game, but it sounds great and the ending credits song is amazing as well! (I love the more ambient sounding version used on the title screen once you finish the game, too)

Now for the problems...

I feel like the game starts to drag after the halfway point, when Leon arrives in Raccoon City. This section was pretty bland. I understand that the city is now an apocalyptic wasteland and isn't supposed to be a "fun" or "exciting" location, but it was boring and underwhelming. It does pick up once you get to the motorcycle chase (which, despite not being the biggest action fan, I actually really liked) and the RPD, and the short Orphanage flashback was phenomenal, but the remnants of Raccoon City were easily the weakest part of the game for me.

Regarding the villain, Victor Gideon was a definite downgrade after Eveline (my favorite RE antagonist) and Miranda. There are times where he's okay, but I just didn't find him to be particularly interesting. His final boss fight also felt underwhelming. It's cool that he was actually a Nemesis! Just wish the final battle was better. I enjoyed Zeno and would have liked to see more of him, but I guess I'll just have to wait for the real Wesker in the upcoming remakes instead of a clone.

Additionally, Requiem is intentionally vague about a LOT of things. Is the Commander actually HUNK? Who exactly is Zeno? Is every Raccoon City survivor infected with latent T-Virus now? And who did Leon marry?? Many of these questions have obvious answers, but there are so many things that are just not adequately addressed and it's frustrating. Maybe we'll get some more clarity in the upcoming DLC? (and please please please let him be married to Claire, Capcom! I know it's not the most likely pairing and I don't generally get involved in shipping wars, but I've never been a fan of Aeon or how aggressive that section of the fandom can be and find their relationship to be incredibly toxic. Also, I need some new Chrisposting memes 🤣)