Resident Evil Requiem Review

Player(s): 1
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I must admit, I’ve had a falling out with the Resident Evil series over the past few years. RE7, Village and the remakes were all quite good but it got to the point where the series felt oversaturated. We’ve had a three year break from RE since the release of RE4 remake. Resident Evil Requiem brings the series back to Raccoon City. It’s like a good mix of the newer RE games spread out through a new installment. I’m happy to say that I am once again back to being a more hardcore RE fan ever since Requiem.

Storywise, this game goes the extra mile with its story compared to the games after the original trilogy. Requiem returns back to the T-virus and the city where it all started and digs up new ideas about both. This game’s story and events are all so very fulfilling if you’ve been a long time fan. The game starts with Grace (daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft) going to investigate a murder at a hotel. Before long, Leon Kennedy comes to investigate the same murder and the two get caught up in a new conspiracy and the horror resulting from it.

Players take on the role of Grace Ashcroft and Leon Kennedy in separate scenarios all the way through Requiem. The plot switches between the two characters in order to tell the story from both sides. Both characters have their own unique gameplay and mechanics. Both of the scenarios can be played with either first or third person point of views. This is a GREAT change from the past couple of RE’s which started out at first person only. I prefer third person, but it’s so very cool to have the choice of both. It’s like you’re playing a different game depending on which point of view that you choose. The recommended (default) setup is for first person with Grace and third person with Leon.

Grace’s scenarios more closely resemble RE7. She is basically a more interesting Ethan Winters that actually has an identity. Grace’s scenarios are more about horror, atmosphere and true survival gameplay. With the recommended first person point of view, everything is up in your face as you explore dark hallways with minimal lighting. Grace’s items are much more short in supply when compared to Leon. Even when you do get a wealth of items and ammo, there is almost always something coming up that will take them away. Blood can be collected in the environment and combined with items in order to craft supplies. Just like Ethan, Grace is an upgradeable character. She is unprepared and constantly learning throughout her journey. Grace’s scenarios emphasize sneaking by enemies rather than combat. The game spends the most time with Grace throughout the first half of the game.

Leon’s scenarios are basically RE4 Remake in a nutshell. From the start, his scenarios are very short, but about midway through the game, they pick up GREATLY in length. Leon is your action hero that is more than prepared for any situation. If there is a dangerous problem up ahead then one of his guns will solve it. Leon gets access to all the game’s weapons and you can purchase new guns and upgrade your current weapons. Eventually, he is able to kill enemies for points that allow you to purchase upgrades and weapons at weapon crates. Leon can pick up melee weapons (that enemies drop) and toss them at enemies to stagger them. Instead of a knife, he now carries an axe melee weapon that you can use to attack and parry attacks. His scenarios are very action packed and he definitely splatters blood all over the place. Early on, Leon is best considered “the cleaner” that allows you to kill enemies that Grace has to sneak by. Leon’s scenarios are more about killing any sort of threat then hitting that threat with a follow-up one liner from Leon’s collection of insults. If you’ve played RE4 remake, you’ll know what to expect.

Because of the two scenarios, this game has CONSTANT variety. The game is constantly introducing new enemies and new gameplay mechanics. The introduction of new ideas doesn’t stop until the game finally ends. It’s quite a site to behold. The main enemies are (of course) the zombies. Some zombies have their own habits that you can take advantage of. In Grace’s scenarios, some zombies have a trace of their past life to where they will obsessively focus on habits such as turning off lights or scrubbing up messes to which you can take advantage of and manipulate the environment (turn off a light, etc) in order to keep them busy to get by them. Leon’s scenarios constantly throw in zombies with different forms of attack, such as chainsaw, machine guns, etc.

Requiem’s graphics are absolutely fantastic. This is easily the best looking RE game yet! The level of detail on the faces, especially Leon’s face is quite amazing. You can see that Leon is definitely an “over the hill” hero now based on his wrinkles around his eyes and stubble beard. Zombie models suffer damage as you shoot them, such as hanging eyeballs and arms/legs falling off. The environments are beautiful as well. Raccoon City looks amazing. It’s literally falling apart and has the feeling of abandonment all throughout its streets. The game rewards fans that have played the remakes with many throwbacks once you get to Raccoon City.

The overall sound, especially the voice acting, is very fitting. This RE has the best voice acting out of the series. The characters are fantastic and so are their voices. The lead villain (Victor) is a calm and calculating villain compared to the usual over-the-top comic book villain like in most RE games. This villain talks in a low tone and carefully carries on a conversation without insults. It’s such a great change of pace! Grace is also an absolutely fantastic character. She is so very realistic in the way she acts in tense situations. The voice actress did such a great job in bringing the Grace character to life.

The only real flaw that I found with Requiem is that the middle scenario in the game tended to drag on. It’s an open world area – much like Evil Within 2’s “contained” open worlds. The open world area felt like it overstayed its welcome in Requiem and lacked the excitement of the scenarios before it (and after it). Also, the majority of RE games have some sort of minigame once you complete the main story, but Requiem has nothing. There has been a free DLC minigame announced, but it just kind of sucks not to see one already in the game from the start. With that said though, the campaign by itself has TONS of stuff to do in it, so it sort of balanced itself out. The campaign has an unlockable difficulty, collectibles to find and a whole list of challenges to perform on future playthroughs.

If you like the Resident Evil series in any way, you need to give Resident Evil Requiem a try. It’s such a great blend of the newer RE’s all in one game. RE7 is often said to be the scariest RE (some say too scary) and RE4 is said to be the most fun in terms of gameplay and this game combines both of them. Between the two character scenarios it offers a lot of variety. No matter which system you choose to get this on, just buy it. You can’t go wrong with any console – it’s a blast either way!

The Good:
+ Very good variety gameplay during two character scenarios
+ The story is the best since the original trilogy of RE games
+ The game looks great on both Switch 2 and current consoles
+ Fantastic characters and voice acting
+ Good replay value even with only a campaign mode
+ So many memorable scenes with boss fights and Raccoon City flashbacks

The Bad:
- The game kind of drags midway through during one scenario
- No minigame (one has been announced in a future update though)