The first reveal trailer uses the opening cutscene of Grace and her boss discussing a string of murders, forging enigma codes for the audience about how these connect to the grander series narrative. Through this, we learn that the most recent was at the Wrenwood Hotel, which is where Grace’s mother Alyssa Ashcroft, former optional protagonist of Resident Evil: Outbreak, was murdered.

Within this, we get random jump cuts to some event in the past – which in retrospect, is the singular Grace flashback scene with her mother in the hotel. These intense flickering images created a sense of unease and strengthened the horror element revived in prior entries, such as RE7 and Resident Evil: Village.

We then get a sharp cut to Grace tied up with leather restraints upside down. We also get to see Dr Victor Gideon (the main antagonist of this game), who is ominously sitting at a chair discussing his interest in Grace. After, a long high angle tracking shot of the ruins of Raccoon City is used, highlighting the decay and destruction caused by the 1998 missile strike.

There are also shots of the RPD, drawing in old and new fans of the franchise (particularly those who played the RE2 and RE3 remakes). My worry after seeing this was that Capcom was simply weaponising nostalgia to gain profit from diehard fans. After playing the game, I believe this couldn’t be further from the truth.

When I first watched the trailer, I got the impression that this entry would dabble in a slasher-light approach in terms of horror conventions. This was due to the shot of a man being choked via a bag over his head. I was hoping we could go against a serial killer within the Resident Evil Universe and be forced to combat them. While this didn’t end up happening, I am still satisfied with the final product.

The second trailer was focused on the flashback I addressed above revolving around Grace and her mother Alyssa. This ominous phone call reinforced my beliefs there was some sort of stalker or serial killer after Grace. During this, we cut to present day and Grace visiting the tarnished state of Wrenwood Hotel. Gameplay is shown to us in 1st person of Grace following her mother, exhibiting Capcom’s vision of Grace being played from this perspective.

Once Grace checks behind a painting to see what Alyssa hid, we are given a voiceover of Gideon stating “I’ve been watching you. You’re not like other people, you know. You’re quite…unique” (1:37-1:48); this reinforces the ambiguity of the story’s events and Grace’s importance. We are also provided a diegetic voiceover of Alyssa saying “Grace, they’re coming” (2:02-2:06), subliminally referring to the enemies Grace is forced to face within the game (e.g – The Girl).

The trailer ends with Gideon remarking “There’s no escaping your destiny” (2:14-2:17). Overall, this was a good video to enhance the first reveal trailer.

This trailer expands on the questions induced into the audiences from watching the second reveal trailer. Here, we receive a developed cutscene between Gideon and Grace, where he states that Grace is the “special one” (0:50-0:51) which he has been searching for. We slowly build up to Leon’s arrival via the voiceover of RE2 tritagonist and RE6 optional protagonist Sherry Birkin, discussing the recent slew of murders. More mystery is evoked through Gideon’s mention of the concept ‘Elpis’, with Grace holding some significance in its use.

We don’t see Leon physically until two and a half minutes into the trailer, building up momentum for his arrival as a means to excite past fans. Within this, we can see he is also investigating these murders that Grace is and pursuing Gideon. I was very happy to see him again, since I loved playing as him in the RE2 remake (I am currently yet to finish RE4’s remake but after playing this game, I want to badly).

In the fourth reveal trailer, we can hear the diegetic sound of Leon and Sherry discussing how these deaths are from survivors of the Raccoon City incident, all dead from the same cause. We are then treated to a close up of Leon’s hand, suggesting infection. Sherry mentions how Gideon purchased the Roads Hill Chronic Care Centre after Umbrella went bankrupt.

Within this, we can see Leon being confrontational with Grace, asking her why she is involved with Gideon. Simultaneously, he and Sherry are discussing Elpis and trying to dissect information. The most crucial part in my opinion is Sherry telling Leon that they’re “running out of time” (1:00-1:02), cutting to a close up of Leon’s hand being infected. We also get to see our first shot of Emily, sat on top of her bed.

The trailer culminates with an empowering feel, as Grace and Leon work together. The final moments showcase Leon’s return to the RPD and the emotional weight in doing so.

Narrative:

When it comes to this game, it wears the IP proudly. Unlike RE7 and Village, which only dabbled in furthering the series’ lore through arguably small-scale stories about the Winters family, Requiem aims to push the boundaries on a grander scale. I believe it does this mostly successfully, with some minor criticisms but not enough to dampen my overall experience, since I think this might be my favourite Resident Evil game.

In terms of Grace, I think her inclusion is a welcome one, bringing something fresh yet comfortable to the larger story. While I do think in the second half she is somewhat sidelined, we do get a chance to revisit her towards the end.

For Leon, he is probably the more engaging part, due to already having an established backstory from prior games and due to the nostalgic feeling of him and players returning to Raccoon City. I think getting to see his more fragile state and PTSD was a good narrative decision that added so much more depth to his character. I think they could’ve used the Raccoon City setting a bit more but what we get is still incredible, I’m just greedy. Regardless, it definitely made me look around to notice details from the RE2 and RE3 remakes (e.g – the medallion statues, STARS office).

Regarding the villains, I believe that they were interesting and subverted my expectations, particularly when it came to motivations and the finale. While one of the villains is being mocked online for imitating a certain iconic character, he is still a decent character with interesting backstory.

Overall, I think that this is a very good, solid story, despite my minor disappointments.

Gameplay:

In terms of gameplay, I believe that Capcom succeeded in differentiating Grace and Leon.

For Grace, her experience is more closely aligned with that of Ethan’s gameplay in RE7 and RE Village; this is especially clear with their intentions of Grace being designed with 1st person in mind. There are times where you will feel just as helpless and vulnerable as her, especially with her frantic animations as she grips her gun. This is visually represented by the sparse inventory slots.

However, by the end, you will feel just as capable as she does. This character arc aligns the player with her motivations to succeed, as they too will do so by being a greater threat to enemies. For crafting, Grace relies on the new mechanic of the blood collector, which is a little silly in terms of realism (but these games have never been incredibly realistic anyway) but can be excused for revitalising the crafting formula.

Meanwhile, Leon plays very similar to how he did in the RE4 remake and will be familiar to those who played the RE2 and RE3 remakes. For him, the devs intended for his experience to be played in 3rd person. Unlike Grace, he will be flourishing with ammo and combat, especially with his ability to parry (like in RE4 with his knife) via the hatchet. In terms of crafting, Leon still has the use of gunpowder. Additionally, his inventory uses the case layout from RE4, which means he can carry a hell of a lot more than Grace.

This time, he is rewarded with kills that use in-game currency via credits, used to purchase weapons, upgrades and supplies. Again, it does seem a little ridiculous that he’s just being paid from some kill tracker. But we excuse it because it’s fun. Especially when we get to use this firepower on some of the tougher adversaries, especially within the boss fights.

What I will say though is that there is a certain part that halts the game’s pacing, which is fine on the first playthrough but makes replaying it a bit of a slog. While it doesn’t drag on for too long, it does slightly ruin the more active gameplay of Grace and Leon in present day.

Graphics:

Visually, the game is absolutely gorgeous. Look at this photo I took on my current playthrough:

The modern RE Engine, despite noticing a few rough patches in the prior remakes, is an absolute powerhouse in this game. They’ve really knocked it out of the park here, enhancing my enjoyment.

Narrative:

The Endings:

Let’s get the big thing out of the way that is causing quite a stir online. The ending and which one is canon.

Now, on my first playthrough, I managed to get the bad non-canon ending, known as the ‘Destroy Elpis‘ outcome. Safe to say, I wasn’t very happy with it, despite it being somewhat poetic as Leon was able to save Grace in his final moments before Zeno fires one into his head. It’s brutal but you can tell this was the ending they spent less time on, with Grace even remarking “I wish I could have saved you, Leon”.

The reason I achieved such a disastrous finale was due to testing both options and seeing what would happen.

When the player chooses Release Elpis, the following dialogue is used:

Alyssa: “Please know that you are my hope”
Spencer: “She is my hope. A blind hope.”

When the player chooses to Destroy Elpis, the following dialogue is used:

Spencer: “I was wrong and I am plagued by guilt.”
Leon: “I’m gonna destroy Elpis. You promise – you’ll end this.”

Now, the way I interpreted this is when Spencer calls Grace “A blind hope”, I assumed it was stating that Grace trusting Zeno would spare Leon was the wrong decision and that – as is conventionally the case when RE villains create a new virus – Elpis would need to be destroyed. Additionally, I feel as though Spencer’s redemption arc was very rushed and it didn’t feel earned.

Look, guys, I was just following orders, Leon told me to destroy it- (only kidding, I know destroying it means symbolically his trauma consumed him).

I’ve seen discourse online about people lacking media literacy by not comprehending Spencer’s motivations, that bad people can repent but that doesn’t redeem them, etc. I’ve also seen people address the fact that Spencer compares himself to a god in RE5, however from what I can gather the man becomes senile in his older years.

There is a letter from Patrick, Spencer’s butler, within RE9 that states “In his later years, my master was often in a state of unrest and his speech was somewhat jumbled”. So, I did like this attention to detail. However, it left me unsure about his current state and whether he was simply developing Elpis to stop his rivals through a bioweapon.

Therefore, from the interview we see Alyssa give Spencer, I presumed he was developing Elpis through a destructive sense, rather than constructive. As in, I thought he was creating a bioweapon in the form of Elpis to be used against his enemies. Instead, we learn that Elpis is actually an antiviral for the T-Virus.

If I had any decent understanding for Greek mythology, then I would know that Elpis is the goddess of hope. In hindsight, I understand the purpose of Elpis now but I initially had no idea what Spencer’s intentions were, particularly since up to this point he’s been portrayed as quite a despicable man. Child experimentations, developing bioweapons. Thus, it was hard to see him as credible.

Clones:

Clones are a big part of this game. Be it the orphanage flashback with the babies in the pods, or Emily and the girl in the flashback being replicates of Grace’s likeness. Now, the two biggest fan discussions is that of Zeno and HUNK (or the Commander).

As I stated in my non-spoiler review, Zeno is being mocked currently for essentially stealing Wesker’s entire persona. This is amplified by Gideon remarking how he is “nothing but an imitation” during the Release Elpis ending. The glasses, the heightened speedy reflexes, his appearance and mannerisms. The “Sorry, but I haven’t got time to spare” feeling very reminiscent of the 7 minutes Wesker meme. I personally do think he is a Wesker clone but I wanted to have a boss fight against him before Gideon decapitates him. Very much a missed opportunity.

Furthermore, the other big discussion is that of the Commander, leading to a (mostly) hatchet fight with Leon. I personally believe that was him. Now, I know, in Insanity difficulty if you return his body is missing. However, I still think it was Hunk that we fought. If he kills Leon, he does the same execution as Hunk in RE4 Mercenaries, performing the ‘Absolute Cinema’ gesture. His voice is the same and his personality feels very much like how he was in the 4th Survivor game mode from RE2 remake. I’ve also seen somewhere that he also has Raccoon City syndrome via the black veiny hand.

For more information suggesting that the Commander is HUNK, click here.

I’m also very confused on how they were able to make almost identical clones of Grace before getting her genetic makeup from a document by Spencer.

Also, just for those who aren’t aware, in this game we didn’t fight the original Mr X from RE2 remake. If those of you recall, Leon blows him up with an RPG. It’s also not the one Claire encountered within the orphanage as Birkin killed him. This is a new Tyrant, however I’m unsure if it’s one of the few that were sent during the Raccoon City incident by Umbrella or if it’s a new one recently developed.

Gameplay:

I think for the most part, the gameplay structure is sound and feels very fluid, with movement feeling similar to how Leon and Ada moved in the RE4 remake. I played this on Xbox and loved the vibrations during certain sections (e.g – the storm during the opening in Wrenwood Hotel). Most of the game feels incredibly engaging.

However, I feel as though we don’t get enough time within the RPD area so familiar to us in RE2 and RE3. On one hand, I can understand the argument that they didn’t want to rehash the same old level design with some subtle changes. But on the other hand, I think it’s overall presence in retrospect was short-lived nostalgia and that’s it.

Moreover, the flashback within the Raccoon City Orphanage really does hurt the pacing a bit (particularly on repeat playthroughs). This is something I felt with RE2 remake too via Claire’s scenario, where we were forced to play as Sherry against Chief Irons. I think just playing as a helpless child within RE games on repeat playthroughs does more harm than good. Additionally, I think another lab level via the ARK – after already doing so in the RE2 and RE3 remakes – makes the second half of the game feel a little generic, since it’s become a predictable aspect.

To clarify, these criticisms are quite important when considering how to speedrun the game, a huge part of the player experience with Resident Evil. Unlike RE2, where you can simply play Leon’s scenario, in RE9 you have to repeat the same encounters due to the game’s structure. Regardless, I think the structure is very tight and that these are minor discrepancies.