For the past decade, Resident Evil has been has been renaissance era thanks to Capcom releasing great new entries and remakes on a near yearly basis. Now, the newest mainline entry is here in Resident Evil Requiem. For the ninth mainline game, Capcom has combined many ideas from the modern games with a plenty of nostalgia for older fans (and even fans who jumped in at the start of the renaissance era). With a new approach for their classic dual protagonist formula, let’s dive into it to see if Resident Evil Requiem keeps a strong form when carrying the franchise forward.

As mentioned, Resident Evil Requiem sees the franchise return to its multiple protagonist roots for the first time since the remake of Resident Evil 2 or even going back to Resident Evil 6 in 2013 as the last new game to have multiple protagonists. This time around, you play as both newcomer FBI agent Grace Ashcroft and returning fan favorite Leon S. Kennedy. The two characters play far differently when you control them too. Grace’s sections are more classic Resident Evil with inventory management and more of a focus on the survival horror aspects the series is known for. The game even features a Classic mode where you will need the ink ribbon item to be able to save as Grace. Leon, on the other hand, plays far more in line with the Resident Evil 4 remake playstyle of action and constantly taking on loads of enemies. The two characters’ can be played in different camera perspective to as the game recommends to play Grace in first person and Leon in third person. Though you can change which perspective you want at any time, the game feels best when you play in the recommended way as Grace’s sections are scarier in first person and the action combat for Leon feels better in third person.

Both characters encounter loads of enemies throughout the game. Since Grace isn’t super adept in combat, her weapon choice isn’t wide as she’s mostly armed with a handgun and a makeshift knife. Thus, she isn’t taking on enemies head-on most of the time. Grace does gain access to a blood collector to get blood from fallen enemies that can be used to craft items such as ones that increase your health and firepower or a serum that can be used to stealth kill an enemy and stop them from reanimating. Leon, on the other hand, is fully equipped with an arsenal of weapons from handguns to shotguns, SMGs, rifles, grenades, and his handy axe for melee attacks and parrying enemies. Leon also can upgrade his weapons individually. To do this, Leon gets points for each enemy he kills that can be spent at item boxes to upgrade weapons or buy items in lieu of the game not having a merchant.

The story of Resident Evil Requiem sees both Grace and Leon come into conflict with former Umbrella scientist Victor Gideon as Grace is kidnapped while investigating a string of murders and Leon is trying to find a cure to a mysterious infection he has been afflicted with. Unlike older games, this games forgoes the characters having separate campaigns and instead has you switching between the two characters throughout the story. This formula does well to start as you swap between Grace and Leon at decent intervals, but there is a good amount more focus on Grace. However, about half way through the game, the story shifts to only following Leon with Grace just having one short section towards the end of the game. This really threw off the balancing of the characters’ importance in the story as it felt like Grace becomes a side character in Leon’s story with so few appearances after so much set up in the first part of the game.

This is a disappointment because Grace is such a breath of fresh air for Resident Evil protagonists. Though she is a FBI agent, Grace isn’t a rugged badass like other protagonists such as Leon, Chris, and Jill who have dealt with these situations before. She’s also much more realistic and interesting than the more blank slate Ethan from Resident Evil VII and Village. Her sections in the game feel tense and scary to which she reacts accordingly, and are the strongest and most intriguing parts of the story. That all feels lost once the story switches focus to Leon. With how good the horror is at the start of the game,all that scariness is gone and it become a bit too action heavy. For Capcom to tout this game as their “darkest symphony” when it was revealed, that notion kinda falls flat in the end. There’s also a ton of nostalgia, specifically for Resident Evil 2 ,once the story shifts to Leon which is a nice callback for those that love that game (myself included) but it definitely can be a bit overbearing with how much there is. It honestly feels like the story would’ve worked better if Capcom would have gone with their old formula and Grace and Leon would’ve had their own campaigns that intersected at points throughout the story. Thus, it would give both characters more time to shine and a more even split when it comes to the survival horror and action aspects.

Overall, Resident Evil Requiem is another strong entry in the series, but has some noticeable flaws. Grace is a fantastic new addition to the series and it’s always great to see Leon again. Both characters feel very different allowing for far different experience when playing as them compared to other entries that have multiple protagonists. However, the loss of horror vibes plus Grace taking a backseat for what felt like longer than she’s in it really brings the story down. Capcom really tried to mix survival horror and action in a new way for the series, but doesn’t fully nail the mark.

Score: 8 out of 10

Reviewed on PlayStation 5