As a huge fan of Resident Evil, MeinMMO editor Niko was able to play the new installment Requiem in advance and was thrilled despite some minor criticisms. Especially because an old character is at his best.
Resident Evil Requiem is not just a new installment of the Resident Evil series; it is the return of Leon S. Kennedy. Sure, there was the remake of Resident Evil 4 in 2023, but since the 6th installment in 2012, it is his first story return.
This is something special, not only because he is the clichéd cool guy, but because Resident Evil 4 is, for many fans, myself included, the best part of the survival horror series.
Requiem has big shoes to fill. To put it briefly: Resident Evil Requiem is a damn good action game and especially fans of Leon will get their money’s worth, because he feels as good as hardly any character in the series.
Despite his older age, Leon is as fit as ever
In the game, you control 2 characters. On one hand, there is the new character Grace, on the other, veteran Leon Kennedy. While Grace often feels like Ethan in Resident Evil 7, Leon reminds players of the action from the 4th installment.
Here, you can also choose between first or third-person perspective. I kept it at the default setting: So Grace in first-person view, Leon with the over-the-shoulder view.
Especially with Leon, you feel right at home. The shooting has pleasant hit feedback and his other moves feel brutal and impactful. I especially grew fond of the axe, his melee weapon. With it, you can not only attack but also use it as a parrying tool.
This gives the fights a different dynamic and multiple approaches. The whole thing is further supported by cool finishers and the occasionally cheesy one-liners from the protagonist that seem stuck in the 80s.
On the other side is Grace. She is less of a super-soldier and has a significantly smaller arsenal. For her, planning paths, the right ammunition, and crafting various tools, like a syringe for quickly taking down enemies, were essential.
That felt good too. At first, I was worried that the two characters would clash in terms of flow, but during the first playthrough, Capcom struck a good balance. No sequence is too long, and the gameplay of both characters gets enough breathing room.
During the 2nd and 3rd playthrough, there were a few sections with Grace that felt a little slower. At these points, you sometimes have to wait, which hampers the flow a bit. But that’s nitpicking at a high level.
Strong atmosphere and a dream for the fans
Atmospherically, the game starts off exciting. I wanted to know after the first cutscene what Grace was all about and how she fits into the whole story. By the end, I wished for more development of her as a character, but it’s also just hard to exist alongside Leon.
I enjoyed the story, even if it was predictable in some places. Otherwise, as fans, you can look forward to countless Easter eggs. The story is once again in the well-known exaggerated Resident Evil style. Unfortunately, the villains are not as memorable as Nemesis, Wesker, or Lady Dimitrescu.
Leon as a character fits in well, and I felt reminded of Resident Evil 4 here again. The fan service itself often brought a smile to my face, but in some places, it was perhaps a bit too much. It could have been toned down a bit more to achieve a stronger impact.
Throughout the game, there are various tonal changes regarding the atmosphere, but thanks to the two characters, it fits quite well. The atmosphere works; I myself am a fan of both Resident Evil orientations: horror and action.
At this point, I also want to commend the controller controls. Not only was it fun during shooting, but thanks to the vibrations and the use of the speakers on the PS5 controller, the atmosphere was conveyed appropriately.
Of course, I played the game multiple times
I am currently in my third playthrough, and that alone should show how fun the new installment is. I want to experiment with gameplay and see how to take down certain enemies faster or more efficiently.
During the 2nd playthrough, I also noticed how good the level design of the individual areas is. When you know how to run optimally, you save a lot of time, and that is one of the coolest elements of the series.
Although I know the story, I still learn something new every time. I am motivated by the various challenges and unlockable extras. Anyone familiar with the series will feel quite at home.
In doing so, I quickly got back into a flow and was able to love the excellent gameplay even more.
I can only recommend playing through the games in the series more often, because only then do you realize how clever the level design is. To top off the gameplay, I would have loved to have had a mercenary mode, like a kind of “challenge mode” that was present in previous installments, but who knows, maybe Capcom will still deliver it, because Resident Evil Requiem definitely deserves it.
I am already sure that Requiem will be one of the best action games of the year, even of recent years. It is a worthy return of Leon that has brought me, as a big fan of the series, an incredible amount of joy.
But now I am heading back to my 3rd playthrough; there are still some zombies to deal with. You can find out more about Leon’s design here: Female Capcom employees scrutinized Leon in the new Resident Evil so strictly that even his wrinkles looked perfect
