My Requiem Review

This review is long! I'm sorry, I had a lot to say! If you want to see my general review, just read the first and last paragraph.

It’s been no surprise that Capcom have been hitting a stride over the last decade, as seen in Monster Hunter, Pragmata and of course Resident Evil. Even in the weakest mainline game in the last decade, that being Resident Evil 3 Remake, these games have maintained a consistency that many other long-running game series wish for. Therefore, its not a surprise that Requiem continues to do just that.

In a lot of ways, this game feels both experimental and an evolution of all the work Capcom has put into the series recently. Moving on from Village, you can see that the devs took the feedback to their heart and tried to fix some of the issues that cropped up there. Pacing is far slower in this game, so instead of a series of revolving encounters where you barely get a taste of an experience, Requiem allows you to stew in its malevolence. I can think of two segments where Requiem achieves this. The Rhodes Hill Care Centre as Grace and Raccoon City as Leon.

In my opinion, the Rhodes Hill Care Centre is Resident Evil at its finest. I feel the first half of Requiem carries this malignance of something truly evil skulking in the shadows. While this message gets a little muddied with the usual rush to the finish lab section at the end, in isolation, the Care Centre is pitch perfect in its dreadful atmosphere. Each encounter feels meaningful as the Devs try to and achieve to squeeze as much horror as possible in even just a regular zombie scene. The fact that the zombies retain a part of themselves, and they continue to try and achieve these purposes (e.g. cleaning, cooking or checking the lights) is such a creepy idea that I’m sad it hasn’t really been approached prior to in the series outside of Revelations. Requiem then goes on to take the best elements of the survival horror from RE2make and Biohazard to make every encounter a dance with the resources. I especially liked the blood mechanic, which I hope returns in some capacity in the next entry. Something about the time it takes to pick up the blood, and how it perfectly fits into the crafting system is so satisfying to me. My only real complaint is when the game kicks me out of the Grace segments to make me play as Leon for a bit. I feel this damages that feeling of being almost defenceless against the zombies, when you just start roundhouse kicking everything. Luckily there are large extended periods where you just play as Grace so this isn’t an issue, but I sort of wish we just played as her in the first half and Leon in the second half of the game.

Speaking of, while I think Leon’s segment in Racoon City is a little…long-winded for my likings, I do understand why the developers went with this approach. Because of how slow-paced it is, you really feel Leon’s despair and regret settle naturally as he makes his way through the ruined streets. I’d say this section is less scary and more melancholy. Most creatures you fight here are hollowed remains of zombies that can barely lumber towards you. Even the encounters themselves are quick and can be surprisingly easy. That feels less like a problem with a game and more the developers setting the depressing tone of visiting this ghost of a city. I also enjoy the nods back to the original Resident Evil 2 and 3 with the Giant Spiders and the Gas Station respectively. Saying this, I’m a little conflicted on some of the fan service utilized here. While I like the idea of a rematch with Mr X in this game, Leon has been through so much now, it sort of feels inconsequential here, I guess. Considering also Leon didn’t exactly lose against Mr X last time, he shot that monster with a rocket launcher and turned them into meat. The Plant 43 segment too feels a little rushed. You’d expect a colossal plant biohazard having taken over the foundation of Racoon City to have more an impact on the story. But no…you just defeat it and then move on, despite how lethal even the regular plant zombies felt in RE2make. Fundamentally though, I’m willing to ignore this for the message Requiem is trying to send us about the game. It’s about tying up the loose ends in Raccoon City, which it does achieve!

As usual with the endings to these games, I’m a little mixed. I thought the lab sections we got were fine for the most part. I especially enjoyed that complicated stealth section with Grace and the Lickers at the end. Additionally, the twist of Grace just being a normal person with no special genes was wonderful, and I appreciate how it throws a gear into our understanding of who Spencer was in the previous games. Far better than what they attempted in Village with Umbrella’s origins. But that’s sort of where my positives stop, because I do find the final boss really weak. My main issue stems from a lack of rivalry between Gideon and Leon, while it didn’t need to be spelled out, I would have liked more conflict in their ideals. Considering the final fight just ends up being Leon, as usual, fighting a giant meat monster. The twist as well with him being a Nemesis didn’t really land either because they already softened his impact with RE3make. Zeno definitely feels like Capcom testing the waters to see what fans want with their next villain. Honestly I hope it isn’t another Wesker, but we’ll see, as they’re very much teasing us with the continuation of the story.

In conclusion, I had a great time with Requiem, with my consensus lying the same with most of the fans on the Rhodes Hill Care Centre being the best part of an otherwise pretty good survival horror experience. Saying that, I still think I actually like Resident Evil 7 more, just because of the general small scale nature of that game. And Resident Evil 4 is still my favourite. But I’ll definitely be up for re-visiting this game in the future. Capcom have failed to create a bad main-line entry in the series since Resident Evil 6 which now is over a decade ago, so I’m excited so matter what for what they make next!