Resident Evil Requiemcaused quite a commotion when it was unveiled to the world at Summer Game Fest, showing off a new character and plotting a return to Raccoon City, which has been one of the franchise’s most iconic locations. Although Capcom is trying to keep things close to its chest, a few leaks have painted a grander picture of what the game will be like and what kind of direction it will follow.Resident Evilhas practically been split recently, from its brand-new, first-person titles (RE 7&8) to the third-person, over-the-shoulder remakes.
In many ways,Resident Evil Requiemis at a crossroads, forging its path forward with a new protagonist afterRE8told the end of Ethan Winters’s story, despite the character only being around for a couple of games. Usually,Resident Evilprotagonists stick around for a long time, with Chris Redfield making it from the first title to the most recent one, but Ethan’s time was short and sweet. Perhaps the same could be true of Grace Ashcroft,RE9’s leading lady, although many leaks have suggested that she won’t be sharing the stage alone, as Ethan was forced to.
Resident Evil 9 Could Have Multiple Playable Characters
Bringing The Series Back To Switching Characters
Leaks have suggested thatGrace will be joined by the return of everyone’s favorite back-flipping, one-liner machine, Leon Kennedy, likely now an old man. The latest from reliable leaker,AestheticGameron X, also suggests that there might be a third playable character. Grace is the daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft, who is part of theOutbreakgames, and Alyssa may allegedly be playable during flashback sequences as Grace uncovers the truth around her mother’s death. This would make her more of a side-addition than a major protagonist, and these three seem perfect forRE9.
Alyssa Ashcroft was a journalist and is presumed to have died in the Wrenwood Hotel.
ResidentEvilhas thrived from having two major playable characters before, withClaire and Leon’s debut inRE2probably being the best example. Strangely, that also took place in Raccoon City, andRE9could be replicating this by bringing Leonback and having him pair up with another female protagonist. As it is, with Alyssa as a flashback character, it sounds like it would be reasonably neat and tidy, offering both horror segments with Grace and action sequences with Leon backflipping and karate kicking zombies well into his forties. It should strike the perfect balance.
Resident Evilhas sometimes struggled to balance its survival horror elements with its action, and while a few games have thrived off only being one or the other (RE4is almost entirely action), this new era of titles seems to be steeped heavily in the horror genre. Sure, there is plenty of action, which was more prevalent inRE8thanRE7. With a new protagonist, however,RE9could bring some of what madeRE7specialwhile dashing in a littleRE4to keep things interesting. A problem may arise, however, if there are too many playable characters.
Too Many Cooks Spoil The Broth
The bestResident Eviltitles are focused experiences that know exactly what they are trying to accomplish.RE7was a tightly made experience all about its atmosphere, whileRE4focused on the best action gameplayin the series, and both have been massively praised as a result. This cannot be said aboutResident Evil 6, which is probably the most hated main-line title in the series, and for good reason. It’s a mess, andthis messy nature can be attributed to how many characters and perspectives the player has, leading to an unfocused experience that’s trying too many ideas.
Leon has been working for the DSO (Division of Security Operations) as an agent since 2011.
RE6had three pairs of characters and four different perspectives, which is a lot to keep up with, andthe experience ended up being too long for aResident Evilgame because of this lack of focus. It tried to get as many characters involved as possible, and while it was cool to see Chris and Leon trade blows, having the game be so far removed from the core ofResident Evildidn’t help its case. While plenty of people enjoyed the gameplay,RE6isn’t a goodResident Evilgame, lacking any semblance of the series' survival horror roots.
The number of characters didn’t help this either, especially because each pair has a series veteran who has been through too much to ever be afraid of zombies again. A messy experience with too many perspectivesthat’s far removed fromResident Evil’s core is exactly whatRE9should avoid, and it probably shouldn’t add another playable character to the rumored trio, unless through a DLC experience like with Chris Redfield’s campaign inRE8. Hopefully, this won’t be the case, since it seems thatRE9is following the leads ofRE7andRE8.
Too Many Characters Will Make RE9 A Bloated Mess
But Having A Cast As Great As Resident Evil Makes It Hard To Resist
Resident Evilhas a big cast full of iconic characters, and it is tempting to use as many of those characters as possible, butRE6showed that this might not be the best idea for a game. It can work in films, although the franchise hasn’t had great luck with them either, andit’s tricky to bring the game back to its survival horror roots by throwing away all the veterans who simply can’t be scaredanymore.Having Grace Ashcroft alleviates this, since she’s presumably quite new to the whole zombie business and can be effectively frightened.
It also helps do justice to Leon, since he can karate kick all the zombies Grace runs away from,but if Chris, Jill, and Ada start joining the party too, it will feel like Grace is the only one running. It would be tempting to include Claire inRE9to make it a Raccoon City reunion, but Grace, Leon, and Alyssa are probably the perfect trio to keepRequiemfocused. It’s important that it doesn’t become bloated with too many perspectives and overstay its welcome.RE9can’t undo all the great workRE7and8have done to revive the series.
Resident Evil Requiemhas the rather unenviable task of continuing what feels like a second golden age for the series, and while Capcom is on a roll with its games of late, caution should be advised. Adding anyone and everyone toRE9isn’t going to work while debuting a new character, andRE6showed this, although the announcement trailer does feel like it belongs withRE7, which is a great sign. Hopefully,Resident Evil Requiemwill be focused and tightly made, balancing survival horror and action well to continue this golden age.
