Resident Evil Requiem, the ninth mainline game in the franchise, is set to bring an exciting new horror experience. Set in Raccoon City 30 years after it was blown up,Resident Evil Requiemfollows FBI agent Grace Ashcroft, as she investigates the site of her mother,’s death within the desolate location. Now, she has to navigate the ruins and fight against hordes of infected creatures that have survived the explosion.
During the Capcom Spotlight last June, developers revealed thatResident Evil Requiem’s core themewould be “addictive fear,” which plays around Grace’s timid nature and how she reacts to Raccoon City’s scares. The gameplay shows many survival horror elements thatResident Evilis known for, as Grace tries to overcome her fears and get through challenges in order to get out of the city. With a promise of bringing unique horrors, there’s a lot riding onResident Evil Requiemto let players feel “addictive fear” from start to finish.
Resident Evil Requiem Should Stick to the Survival Horror Route
When the firstResident Evilgame was released back in 1996, it redefined the survival horror genre and brought zombies to the forefront with its terrifying portrayal of the infected in Raccoon City. The franchise is also known for its resource management mechanics, which add to the stress and challenge of surviving a zombie-filled environment. AsResident Evilhas evolved over the years, it introduced enhanced gameplay as it explored different locations and storylines centered around various protagonists. It also meant slowly veering away from its survival horror formula to a more action approach, which still brings a lot of excitement to the franchise.
Resident Evilreturned to its eerie horror roots with its seventh game,Biohazard, where players navigate the terrifying Baker estate and fight the infected family members. At the time, it seemed exciting thatResident Evil 7focused more on the survival horroraspect again for most of the story, especially after a streak ofResident Evilgames that are more action-based. However, the seventh game still went back to focusing more on the action in the third act with the Chris Redfield stage and the final battle between Ethan Winters and Mother Miranda. So, withResident Evil Requiemputting “addictive fear” front and center, there’s a great opportunity to go ham on the horror aspect.
How Resident Evil Requiem’s Grace Ashcroft Complements Addictive Fear
Resident Evil Requiemdevs describe “addictive fear” as the satisfying feeling of overcoming one’s fears, which hints at a lot of scares in every corner of Raccoon City. This isn’t new in aResident Evilgame, but withGrace being introvertedand having a tendency to get scared easily,Requiemis certainly capitalizing on this to hopefully make the experience more jarring. At the same time, players can have a sense of accomplishment once they successfully help Grace battle through various obstacles in the game.
Grace is definitely different from otherResident Evilprotagonistsbecause of her gentle personality and the fact that she gets rattled easily. While it’s likely that she has combat skills from working in the FBI, she’s an analyst and not someone who fights on the front lines when there’s conflict. She’s definitely not like Chris Redfield or Leon S. Kennedy, who have formal combat training and have worked to eliminate infections for about two to three decades at this point. But Grace’s personality shouldn’t be seen as a weakness, because she could grow to be braver once she survives Raccoon City’s monsters.
Leon was rumored to beResident Evil Requiem’s protagonist, but Capcom devs explained that he wouldn’t fit the core theme of “addictive fear.” However, it’s still unknown if Leon will make an appearance in the game, just like how Chris is part ofBiohazardandVillage.
Resident Evil Requiem’s take on “addictive fear” is a chance to reinvigorate the survival horror genre and not break its promise to fans, especially after Capcom focused on prioritizing more FPS-like action to previous games in the franchise. This could also be an opportunity to take it easy onbringing back oldResident Evilcharacters, and build a renewed universe featuring new people who longtime fans could watch grow into even more capable fighters in future games.
