The wait is nearly over. Resident Evil Requiem — the ninth mainline entry in Capcom’s long-running horror franchise — is almost here, but reviews are already pouring in. As of this writing, based on nearly 100 critic reviews, Resident Evil Requiem is sitting at an 88 on Metacritic.
Directed by Koshi Nakanishi (the mastermind behind Resident Evil 7: Biohazard), Requiem follows two protagonists. The first is Grace Ashcroft, daughter of Resident Evil Outbreak‘s investigative journalist Alyssa Ashcroft. Grace, now an FBI agent, is still mourning her mother, who was brutally murdered in front of her. But she’s attempting to carry on with her life until an FBI investigation goes sideways and drags her into a nightmare she never could have imagined. She eventually crosses paths with protagonist number two: an older, more mature version of former RCPD rookie Leon Kennedy. Leon is returning to what’s left of Raccoon City, investigating some rumors he’s heard about survivors of the Raccoon City incident.
“Requiem isn’t just a spectacular bit of digital closure for one of gaming’s most likable heroes or for an era of PlayStation nostalgia; it’s a reminder to confront our world’s darkest atrocities rather than hide away from them,” Polygon’s Giovanni Colantonio wrote in his review. “Evil can only truly prevail when there are no more good people left to stand up and fight back.”
Requiem swaps back and forth between a first- and third-person POV. The game’s opening, which follows Grace, is a first-person experience (though you can switch to a third-person perspective in the settings). But by the time players return to Raccoon City as Leon in the game’s second act, it swaps to third-person. Some critics say the switch from first-person perspective in Grace’s sections to third-person perspective in Leon’s sections makes Resident Evil Requiem feel a bit jarring, while others think it offers the best of both worlds.
“Whereas Grace’s sections leave you feeling defenseless as you try to fend off howling witches and hulking butchers with nothing but a dinky handgun, Leon’s bits have him tearing through the same creatures like it’s another Tuesday,” Colantonio wrote.
GameSpot’s Phil Hornshaw rated the game an 8/10, and agrees that Requiem is a tale of two games, writing, “One game is a slow, frightening, gory haunted house story following an everyday person as its protagonist, hewing close to the horror-first approach of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. The other is a fast-paced, panic-inducing experience starring an action-hero badass that draws directly from Resident Evil 4. … Disparate as they may be, though, both halves are extremely compelling.”
