Resident Evil Requiem review for PS5, Xbox Series X, Switch 2, PC

It’s been a long time since I have been excited to play a new game. Maybe it’s my age, but I tend to be more cautiously optimistic nowadays. With Resident Evil, I’ve had very little reason to feel this way and it being one of my favorite series of all time, it’s easy to be excited when you get the first sequel in some time with a returning protagonist. Even better it being Leon.

Yes, we also have the introduction of Grace Ashcroft, which brings in the Resident Evil: Outbreak connective tissue, which brought a whole new level of joy. Outbreak was ahead of its time and worked so well, yet no one has been able to recapture what made it so special. That’s a rant for another day. Today we talk about all things Resident Evil Requiem.

I’m going to start off with, the team at Capcom designed this game with so much attention to detail and when you start you are provided the context of being able to adjust the character view on the file but encouraged to stick with their default settings. Grace in 1st person and Leon in 3rd person.

As someone that embraced Resident Evil 7 and loved the 1st person view, and also had a good experience with Resident Evil Requiem Village when you were able to choose, I will say that Grace’s game was designed for 1st and Leon for 3rd. They just work so well in their formatting but it’s nice you have the choice. My time with the initial playthrough I played with the default settings and it worked perfectly.

During my 2nd play, I attempted to change it up and honestly, Grace didn’t work for me in 3rd, Capcom added elements to her to help the experience like her stumbling when running, and to each their own, but each character’s portions of the game feel like they work for the initial sets up and I feel to get the intended experience. I would leave it default.

Up until the last week or so, the mystery has been well kept for most of the game which helps for the hype many of us fans have had. If you have made it this far and not seen spoilers, bravo to you and I will not be discussing any so you are safe.

The meat and potatoes of the game is a masterful blend of both Classic and Modern RE games. What Resident Evil Requiem brings to the table is a story that helps bring back core fans of the originals with a focus on story elements tied to Raccoon City, Umbrella and arguably everyone’s favorite Officer Leon S. Kennedy. With RE7 and Village, many fans were divided due to the departure of the 3rd person but also the introduction of a new character Ethan Winters. With a catalog of Protagonist, the list was never dry, but in order to find a way to come back from the troubled Resident Evil 6, Capcom felt a reboot/refresh was needed.

And it worked for better or worse. Resident Evil went back to true survival horror, but revisited the ability to balance the action in a way that didn’t feel too arcadish. Knowing veteran characters like Chris, they’ve seen it all and no strangers to the world around them. You can have the action make sense and still be impactful. I’m happy to report this balance that started with Village in the Rosemary DLC is very present in RE:R.

You won’t be able to please all players and there are two components I feel will disappoint some players. The most important thing without spoiling it is that this is not an “Avengers: Endgame” event like the entry. It’s not a cameo fest and the game really focuses on the characters that are directly involved. The other is that the game lacks in the puzzles department. The comparison would be similar to what you experience in 7 and Village.

The Main story will focus on their journey collectively which helps by not having it broken into chapters or levels. This game is very focused on its story and answers a good amount of questions regarding the Raccoon City incident and more. What the game does well is blend Grace and Leon’s campaigns seamlessly as it plays through as a single cohesive story. By the end, you have a good balance of time with each character.

With Grace, you will have access to typewriters to save and item boxes like most games with limited inventory slots early on. During most of her segments, the environment feels creepy, dark and claustrophobic at times. Some scenes like the large woman (seen in trailers) chasing you will keep you on the edge of your seat in 1st person. I cannot stress how many times she felt closer than she was and it was great to have that tension again be experienced.

For those concerned that you will be getting chased the whole game, fear not, as these moments are well placed and Grace has moments to breathe and traverse without her stalker. Briefly I mentioned the lack of puzzles in the game, and it’s important to disclose for context. Most puzzles are part of your progression and solutions are a bit more forgiving than previous titles.

One thing that will help balance this is how you progress with some puzzle elements as there is not a particular order, but as you revisit in replays, you may want to find quicker methods of accessing for the traditional speed run many Resident Evil players will endure.

Starting your initial playthrough, you have three choices. Casual, Standard (Modern) and Standard (Classic). Casual is very forgiving and a great mode to use for speed runs. Standard (Modern) has saving at any typewriter like RE7 and Village. Classic brings back the use of Ink ribbons so being more careful when you save. The difficulty between the two I felt is about the same otherwise.

The biggest standout to the overall experience with Requiem is the zombies. They have been advertised as having characteristics from their lives before they died and this is something really cool to experience. From bell hops walking the halls saying “Lights out”, to a chef in the kitchen going about taking orders and prepping food in an endless loop of death. As you explore the main story (which could take you between 11-13 hours), you will visit 4 different locations with Grace and Leon. You will see a mix of indoor locations and at a point a semi open world which is my favorite point in the game. The deeper you get into the story the more enemy variety you will discover. The trailers did a great job of not showing too much which for me helped elevate my initial playthrough.

Resident Evil games are at their best the first playthrough and Resident Evil Requiem is no exception to this so I hope you all get to avoid as many spoilers online as possible. Since so much of the context of the game involves this, I will speak to some of the known features.

Crafting returns and each character does so in their own way with different items. With Grace, you will find a tool which collects infected blood and with the proper resources you can craft injectors to make sure the dead don’t come back (trust me), ammo and health items as well. It’s a neat addition and gives you plenty of opportunities to think about which is more important in a tough situation. If you kill a zombie and their head is still intact, you risk the chance of them coming back in the form of Blister Zombies. Think Resident Evil Remake Crimson Zombies but in larger supply and brutal.

With Grace, you are limited to hand guns and on occasion Leon’s Requiem along with makeshift knives which you can craft. Leon’s gun’s ammo is in short supply so save it for tough enemies. She has the ability to stagger and push zombies if you need to move on with little or no ammo. Here is where Leon’s portion differs.

With Leon, his inventory is very reminiscent of his old cache cases and is plentiful to start since most of the gun focused combat is with him. During his portions early on, there is no save point I could locate but they are not very long segments until an obvious point in the story where you will be introduced to his equivalent of a typewriter. And in contrast to the item box, Leon will have access to a box which acts as a store to buy weapons, upgrades and if you sell a weapon you can buy back for the same price to manage space.

With Leon’s crafting, he will use gunpowder and resources like in RE4 Remake. As expected, there is a lot more of the action during Leon’s parts but it doesn’t feel like it’s too much. It feels similar to the RE4 remake again which is a welcome note. We are finally healing from RE6. Leon faces a ton of enemies including some huge surprise bosses. The action is tight, stylish and feels fresh. He’s brutal with a variety of finishers, parries using a hatchet, which will need to be sharpened the more you use. There is some great attention to detail like when Leon is holding his flashlight and handgun, when he reloads he holds the light in his neck and the light gets dulled so be mindful when in a dark place and reloading. When Grace is running in 3rd person, she will trip as she is running and scared. It helps build on each character’s immersion. As you get toward the end of the game, you will see some portions of the gameplay get a little over the top which took me out of it a little but not a deal breaker since we still have a boulder punching Chris in the same world. When you get to this point, you will know lol.

The main portion of the game where players may get divided is the story. There is a lot to uncover and the hardcore lore fans will get a lot to digest but again, tempered expectations for a lot of throwbacks to other characters and games. This is a very self contained story that really helps marry 30 years of what made us enjoy the franchise as much as we do. There is a solid amount of replayability, but I do feel like part of the story elements feels incomplete along with some character development that fell flat for me. The hope is we get DLC to continue but the real question is where does Capcom go from here?

Completing your initial playthrough will unlock a new difficulty mode and challenges that includes some of the game’s favorites like unlimited ammo and some costumes. The Deluxe Edition outfits and bonus do not look to be unlockable in game.

With clocking in 40 hours as of this review, I had a phenomenal time with Resident Evil Requiem and only had a couple minor issues with a possible challenge that may not be working and a puzzle that stumped me for way too long. As a complete package, this is a remarkable new installment in a franchise that delivers on so much but still has me itching for more. My biggest drawback was having no one to discuss lore with during the review process and cannot wait to have a show about it soon. Capcom has done it again.

Note: Capcom provided us with a Resident Evil Requiem code for review purposes.

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