capcom has revealed Resident Evil Requiem, the next mainline entry in its survival horror series, and for very good reason, people are more than a little excited about it. Though this year’s Summer Game Fest showcase itself probably wasn’t the best, RE Requiem’s reveal was a highlight that did elevate the whole affair at least a little bit. Of course, there’s still plenty that we don’t know about the game yet, but based on what has been officially revealed, we’ve already got a wishlist in our heads, as we’re sure many other fans do as well- and here, that’s exactly what we’re going to talk about.
NEW AND FAMILIAR LOCATIONS
A new Resident Evil game would be something to be excited about regardless of anything else, but Resident Evil Requiem in particular has got series fans quite hyped for several reasons- chief among them being a return to Racoon City. The iconic city was, of course, the setting for both Resident Evil 2 and 3, but the end of the latter saw it being nuked and entirely destroyed. Raccoon City has obviously continued to cast a narrative shadow over much of Resident Evil since then, but with Requiem, the series is actually physically going back.
Our hope is to see a healthy mix of new and familiar locations. The game’s reveal trailer showcased glimpses of the nuked out remains of the RPD building, and hopefully, we’ll see something similar for, say, the hospital, or the orphanage, or hell, even the sewers. Returning to those locations years and years after the events of Resident Evil 2 and 3 and seeing how they have changed after the city was nuked is going to be fascinating. At the same time, we are, of course, also hoping to see plenty of new locations, because we don’t just want Requiem to be a post-nuclear trip down memory lane.
FAMILIAR MONSTERS
Resident Evil has a knack for throwing terrifying and memorable foes at its audiences, so we are of course excited to learn more about what Requiem will have up its sleeve, especially since there’s going to be plenty of new nightmarish creatures to square off against. We are, however, also hoping to see at least some familiar monsters. Given the fact that Requiem is taking us back to Raccoon City, we’re hoping that it’ll also bring back some familiar foes from around those parts. From Resident Evil 2’s Lickers and sewer monstrosities to Resident Evil 3’s Hunters and Pale Heads, there’s a few enemy types we wouldn’t mind running into again- maybe they’ll even have mutated and changed in all the time that has passed.
A STALKER ENEMY
Stalker enemies aren’t always the easiest to pull off, but Resident Evil has usually had great success with them as a franchise, from Mr. X in Resident Evil 2 to Nemesis in the original RE3 (and, to a much lesser extent, in the remake), from Jack Baker in Resident Evil 7 to Lady Dimitrescu in Resident Evil Village. Unsurprisingly, then, we’re desperately hoping for more of that with Resident Evil Requiem. Whether for a section of the game or for even the majority of the experience, we’re hoping that Resident Evil Requiem chooses to heighten tension and make its scares that much more palpable by throwing a relentless and terrifying pursuer enemy into the mix.
FOLLOW UP ON OLD THREADS
With Resident Evil Requiem returning to Raccoon City, longtime fans of the series will of course be hoping that the game will pick up on some of those specific narrative threads. In fact, if anything, it kind of seems like a given that it will indeed do that. Given the fact that the city was nuked, it’s probably easy to assume most of the people and things that were in it, but that doesn’t have to mean that there’s no scope for interesting stories or tidbits nonetheless. For instance, what became of the Umbrella lab, which was so deep underground, after the nuke? Of the several side characters that we do meet in the city in RE2 and 3, were there any that managed to survive in ways that were never discovered? Even if it is just with easter egss or small bits of background story, Requiem can tie back to RE2 and 3 in some interesting ways.
TIES TO OTHER RESIDENT EVIL TITLES
Resident Evil Requiem has obvious ties to Resident Evil 2 and 3, as well as the Outbreak titles, since protagonist Grace Ashcroft is the daughter of Outbreak protagonist Alyssa. We are, however, hoping that Capcom will continue to reveal further connections to more games in the series. Resident Evil is at its best when it keeps building on and iterating on its lore while also introducing new elements, as series fans will tell you, so there’s hopefully stronger connections to other RE titles waiting to be discovered. For instance, Resident Evil 6 revealed some crucial new narrative details related to Raccoon City’s bombing- could that come into play in Requiem once again, with the city once again becoming a part of the picture?
A CLEARER VIEW OF THE CURRENT TIMELINE
The Resident Evil timeline has raised some interesting questions of late. Resident Evil Village ended with a scene set sixteen years after the game’s events, in the year 2037 (or thereabouts), which is when the Shadows of Rose expansion is taking place as well. But is that when we can expect Requiem to be placed in the timeline, too? The game’s trailer says that protagonist Grace’s mom died eight years ago, and a note found in Resident Evil 7 says that she was still publicly active as a journalist until at least 2016, which means at most Requiem might be set in or around 2024- but that’s not something that we have complete clarity on just yet. Hopefully, we’ll learn more in the not too distant future.
FBI RESOURCES
Resident Evil Requiem protagonist Grace Ashcroft is confirmed to be an FBI agent, and we’re hoping that’ll reflect in the gameplay in some interesting ways. How exactly? Well, perhaps she has specific specialized tools and weapons in her arsenal provided to her by the FBI that you wouldn’t have expected to have access to as someone like, say, Ethan Winters. There’s some interesting variation that unique gadgets or weapons could bring as far as exploration and combat are concerned.
CONTINUED FOCUS ON HORROR
One area where we’re hoping Resident Evil Requiem doesn’t make any compromises is the horror aspect. With an FBI agent for a protagonist (even if she doesn’t seem to be a supersoldier by any means), the game runs the risk of becoming too action focused (at least on paper), but this is a mistake the Resident Evil has made before, so hopefully, the series will know exactly what pitfalls to avoid. Capcom does seem to be stressing an emphasis on horror in what we’ve seen of Requiem so far, so we’re optimistic as things stand.
THIRD PERSON GAMEPLAY
Resident Evil has oscillated between first and third person gameplay in recent years, and it has, to be fair, seen spectacular success with both styles. With Requiem, however, we’d love for it to shift back to a third person approach. As much as we do love first person Resident Evil and want to get back to it at some point, we feel a third person approach that evokes the likes of Resident Evil 2 and 3 would be particularly well suited for Resident Evil Requiem and what it seems like it’s setting out to do.
