As a lifelong fan of the Resident Evil franchise I've played every game in the series, most of them multiple times, and have bought them on multiple platforms. The Nintendo Switch was one of these platforms, where I purchased some of my favourites of the series to replay once again with the added bonus of being able to do so on the move, or to play handheld whilst watching something on the TV. The ability to play Resident Evil games in this way was something that I really enjoyed, but that I never expected to be able to do on launch day with the latest titles. As such, I was shocked when it was announced that Resident Evil Requiem, the 9th mainline game in franchise, would be coming to Switch 2 on day one. I decided to roll the dice, to see just how good the game would be on the handheld console, and ordered the Switch 2 version over other consoles (I actually ordered the Generations pack that came with Resident Evil 7, and Resident Evil 8 too).
Resident Evil Requiem puts players into the roles of two characters as latest title delves into the history of the series, expanding it in new and interesting ways. The first of these characters is a new addition to the franchise, Grace Ashcroft (Angela Sant'Albano), daughter of Resident Evil Outbreak 1 & 2's Alyssa Ashcroft (Jane Perry), an FBI analyst sent to investigate a strange crime scene at the hotel where she watched her mother murdered almost a decade before. Survivors of Raccoon City are turning up dead, apparently suffering from a late onset T-virus infection, and Grace needs to investigate the old hotel. However, she discovers that the hotel is a trap for her, and that she's being hunted by former Umbrella scientist Victor Gideon (Antony Byrne). Meanwhile, Leon Kennedy (Nick Apostolides) is also investigating the incidents, having begun to exhibit T-virus infection himself. As he pursues answers his and Grace's paths will cross as they both find themselves in a fight for the legacy of Umbrella, and survival.
My initial reactions to Resident Evil Requiem on the Switch 2 were ones of shock. Other than perhaps characters hair not being absolutely perfect in cutscenes, the game looked no different in terms of quality to the previous handful of titles released that I played on the XBox. The graphical ability of the Switch 2 is something that's always surprised and impressed me, and there have been a few games I've played where I've had to stop and marvel at the fact that it looks as good as it does. Resident Evil Requiem is one of these titles. Whether it's the tense first person sections you play as Grace, or the more action oriented parts where you take over Leon, Resident Evil Requiem never fails to impress with its graphical ability.
I've seen some complaints online about small details, such as character hair not quite looking as good on the Switch version over Playstation and XBox, or that inventory items sometimes have some pixelation around the edges if you examine them, but these are tiny complaints for the most part. Yes, I agree that the hair wasn't perfect, but that was literally the only thing that stood out to me, and even then I think I was only looking for it because I'd seen people complain about it. I very quickly stopped caring about the hair, and ended up just marvelling at how good the game looks. Having since seen some side by side photos and videos I honestly think that the Switch 2 version looks fantastic, and is one of the most visually impressive games on the Switch 2 to date, alongside games like Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth.
Graphics are perhaps one of the least important things for me when it comes to videogames. I grew up with the NES and Gameboy, where huge pixels and limited graphics were the norm, so there's very few, if any occasions where I will bash a modern game for how it looks unless it's s deliberate art style that I just don't vibe with. What matters to me is the gameplay and story, and Resident Evil Requiem definitely impresses with both of these.
The gameplay is split into two pretty distinct sides, with Grace and Leon having their own styles. Grace's more closely mirrors Resident Evil 7, focusing on tense, stealth based gameplay. Grace's sections have more limited resources than Leon's, and you'll be finding yourself worrying about ammo and health items in ways that never even come up when playing as Leon. Grace's segments are also set to first person perspective as a default, though this can be switched to third person in the options. Being a character who's not used to combat, or going up against bio-weapons, Grace's gameplay style fits her character well. Combat is often the worst option, and instead of charging at a zombie with a gun or knife it's better to watch what enemies to, to figure out their routines, and either use those against them, or time a careful sneak instead. This does develop somewhat over the course of the game, and as Grace gains the ability to craft more items like ammunition you can start fighting back, and you can choose whether to go stealth or combat with her. There's even a great tiny detail with her character that as the game progresses and you deal with more threats the slight shake of her hands when aiming her gun decreases as she becomes more efficient and hardened to events.
The two stand out parts of her segments, that are unique to her, are her crafting abilities, and the moments when she's chased by The Girl. Grace gets an item that allows her to collect infected blood from the environment and downed enemies. You can use this to create ammunition, health items, and even upgrades. This encourages the player to explore a little more, to find the places around the map where you can collected infected blood, as well as encouraging you to expend some resources in fighting foes. You might use up half a dozen bullets to take an enemy down, but if you can collect enough blood from them for even more ammo, or a much needed health pack it encourages you to at least try, and adds a whole new level or resource management and risk analysis.
There are some parts of the game where fighting isn't an option, however, as Grace gets chased by a huge enemy called The Girl. This enemy was revealed before release, and fits into the Mr X and Lady Dimitrescu role of the unstoppable foe that keeps following you. Resident Evil Requiem uses light as it's main mechanic in these segments, forcing players into near complete darkness to avoid detection from your light sources, and trying to utilise environmental lighting to fight back. These are tense parts of the game, and even when you know the best way to deal with The Girl on subsequent playthroughs never lets you lower your guard.
Whilst Grace is all about resource management and picking your fights Leon is the exact opposite, and the game encourages combat for him. Set in third person by default, Leon's parts will be familiar to anyone who played through the Resident Evil 4 remake. Armed with a selection of guns, a close combat hatchet, and fighting moves, Leon will shoot, slash, and punch his way through most of the game. These sections are quite enjoyable, and make for moments of delightful reprieve from the tense Grace segments, allowing the player to get over their fear as they plough through infected. Leon's sections are pretty short for the first half of the game, acting more like interludes for Grace, but once the game enters the second half things shift pretty dramatically, and you get large areas where Leon is the only playable character. The Raccoon City segment is Leon only, and ends up being a big chunk of the game.
It's in this second half that the game introduces a whole new gameplay mechanic for Leon that changes things up a little. Finding a device that records kills, Leon is actively encouraged to kill anything he can, gaining points for destroying enemies that can then be used to upgrade weapons, buy ammo and equipment, and even get new weapons completely from supply boxes scattered throughout the map. It feels a little like Capcom have taken some of the aspects from the Mercenaries mode that has featured in several of their games, and have moved it into the main story in a way that feels fresh and exciting.
The Raccoon City segments are also something of a love letter to Resident Evil 2, the game in which Leon first appeared. The return to the Raccoon City Police Station, revealed in early trailers, is honestly a delight, and seeing this classic location in it's new post-nuclear bomb and decades of decay state feels both nostalgic and fresh at the same time. There will be a number of nods to the past to be found there, including one of the most baffling and surprising character inclusions, and it was hard to not enjoy every moment of it. I think it was a shame that the game didn't include some further Raccoon City locations, such as places that appeared in Resident Evil 3, but for what we did get it's perhaps one of the more enjoyable parts of the game.
The game's story, which I won't go into too much detail about, has ties to the history of the franchise, and recontextualises certain characters and events in some interesting ways. For the most part I enjoyed these additions to the lore, and think that Resident Evil Requiem is also laying the groundwork for some interesting new directions that the series can take. One of these, I think, is perhaps being started with new character Zeno (Craig Burnatowski), a character that not only resembles Albert Wesker to the point where I thought he'd returned when I first saw him, but has similar powers to his last appearance. I wouldn't be surprised if this is Capcom setting the stage for their most popular villain to make a return, possibly in the next game in the series that would follow remakes of Resident Evil Code Veronica or Resident Evil 5 that featured him heavily. The voice actor also played Albert Wesker in the Resident Evil 4 remake too, so make of all that what you will.
Whilst I did enjoy a lot of Resident Evil Requiem I have some criticisms. The division of character time is a little uneven, with Grace and Leon featuring more heavily in the first and second half respectively more than the other. This does lead to a feeling of uneven division at times, especially on the first playthrough. Leon's action is enjoyable, but there are times where the game veers a little too close to Resident Evil 6 territory for me, such as a bike chase that's borderline too ridiculous, or zombies firing mortar rounds at you that reminds me of the bombastic, Call of Duty style that Resident Evil 6 employed that made that game a low point of the franchise for me. The lack of a real new game plus option was also a big disappointment. I've loved replaying through older games in the series with the weapons I'd unlocked, alongside their upgrades, working to increase their stats and abilities each playthrough. Resident Evil Requiem doesn't have this feature, and whilst you can unlock extra weapons and features for subsequent playthroughs it doesn't hit the same way, and left a slight taste of disappointment when I was hoping to dive back into a second playthrough.
When I finished playing the game I found myself unsure of what to think of it. I knew I liked it, but there was something about it that didn't quite land with me. I wasn't even sure what it was, I just didn't see the amazing game that everyone else was claiming it was. I did think that perhaps this was due to me having been ill with a very painful sinus infection when playing it, but then my friend, another lifelong Resident Evil fan, shared their thoughts on the game with me, and seemed to have ad a similar experience. I don't know if this feeling will change over time and subsequent playthroughs, but as it stands for me at the moment there's something about Resident Evil Requiem that prevents me from absolutely loving it. I even stopped playing it after a few days because I'd begun thinking 'I just want to play Resident Evil 8', and it's maybe not a good sign when all you can think about is another game whilst you're playing something. I'm hoping this feeling passes, that I'll like Resident Evil Requiem more as time goes by.
As it stands at the moment, I think that Resident Evil Requiem is a very enjoyable entry in the franchise, one that marries together the styles of Resident Evil 7 and the Resident Evil 4 remake in interesting ways. Whilst the lack of a new game plus mode does drag down the enjoyment for me a little bit the inclusion of history from the series, whether that tiny details found in the S.T.A.R.S. office, or the return of the giant spiders after decades does make it feel like a lot of love and attention has gone into the game.
