I have immense expectations forRequiem, but that’s only because Capcom has beenkillingit with this IP over the last 10 years or so (at least in my opinion). So here are all the things I would like to see in the ninth chapter ofResident Evil, as well as things I wouldn’t complain about Capcom straying away from.
More Survival Horror, Less Action
Admittedly,RE4is the mainlineResident Evilgame that got me into the series. It’s also the mainline entry that started pivoting the series into more action-oriented mechanics. Gone were the tank controls and scrounging for ammo and save ribbons from the 1996 original, which really brought home the survival horror gameplay.
Mind you, I thinkRE4is still creepy as hell, but unless you’re a nervous, trigger-happy player, ammo and upgrades aren’t hard to come by. Capcom also shifted to an exciting new camera position (a blend of first- and third-person perspectives), which was revolutionary for gaming as a whole. But I think this ate away at some of the scariness, too.
Fast forward to 2017, which is whenResident Evil 7hit shelves. Directed by Koshi Nakanishi, the seventh chapter ofREwent full first-person, with a harkening back to the “scrounging for goods” mentality players used to live by. I loveResident Evillocked into a first-person perspective, and I want that same unnerving experience when I’m playingRE9.
This would actually involve aslightstep back for Capcom, asRE8pumped up the action and gunplay again. I’d even be happy to meet somewhere in the middle. I just don’t want to feel like an unstoppable monster-killing machine.
Less Campiness (But StillSomeCampiness)
Cheesy B-movie-style plot lines are the bread and butter of theREfranchise. Nine times out of ten, the cause of all the horrors you’ve been blasting through (or running away from) can somehow be traced back to everyone’s favorite evil company, Umbrella. Throw in a couple of B-movie villains with hubris issues, a protagonist that should “hero” tattooed on their forehead, and you’ve got yourself anREgame!
This is whyRE7resonated with me even more. Capcom introduced a brand-new protagonist to the franchise: a dude named Ethan Winters who just wanted to travel to Louisiana to rescue his wife. WhileRE7’s story inevitably dips into Umbrella waters, the fact that players are stuck with Ethan—as opposed to expert marksmen and martial arts savants like Leon S. Kennedy or Chris Redfield—felt like a step in the right direction.
Ethan is more like you and me. Hewasn’tan expert defender (he loses his hand in the first 10 minutes of the game), and for much of the game, he’s just as scared as I was. Straying from the action hero archetype helped ground the series some. As forRE9, we’re getting another new protagonist in the form of Grace Ashcroft, a young FBI agent who already has ties to a non-mainlineREcharacter, reporter Alyssa Ashcroft (from 2003’sResident Evil: Outbreak).
Grace is tasked with investigating a decrepit hotel where her mother was murdered eight years before, which already sounds like far bigger fish to fry than what Ethan decided to get himself into. The trailer also has a number of quick-cut flashbacks, a bit of monster madness, and a few evil-looking men. On paper, this looks and feels campier and, potentially, a bit more bloated than the last twoREmainline titles, but I hope to be proven wrong.
I also wouldn’t want to play anREgame that took itself as seriously as something likeThe Last of Us. I need some degree of camp in my RE games, albeit in just the right doses at just the right times.
Creature Designs To Plague My Nightmares
I remember seeing the trailer forResident Evil: Villagewhen it first dropped. Before theREtitle even hit the screen, I was in. Why? Because these foes looked terrifying. And even after I played the game, I still get the heebie-jeebies from the Lycans and Lady Dimitrescu (anything Gothic and vampiric makes my skin crawl). I thoughtRE7’s Baker clan was also bone-chilling; though I do think the game got less scary as it progressed.
I want more nightmare fuel, friends. Thankfully, it looks like my prayers are on the path to being answered. There are some truly unsettling and grotesque images in theRE9trailer. Capcom even decided to end the trailer on the big-toothed grin of some unknown abomination. More of that please!
Oh, and a word about main antagonists: I love bombastic baddies like Lord Saddler and Albert Wesker as much as the nextREfan, but one of the creepiest parts ofRE7was the lack of a super-villain. Instead, the overarching evil was more of a “science gone horribly wrong” situation. Technically, all Evelyn (a bioweapon in the likeness of a little girl) wanted was a mommy and daddy. She just happened to hurt a lot of people on her path to a happy family.
Little to No DLC
Bear with me: I think DLC totally has its place in the world of video games. I just don’t think these episodic extensions do much to enhance theResident Eviluniverse. And this is coming from a guy that enjoyed all the side stories and core plot extrapolations of DLC content likeRE7’sNot a HeroandEnd of Zoeadd-ons. I even likedRE8’sShadows of RoseDLC. But the more tie-ins to the main story I get, the less authentic the core narrative starts to feel to me.
RecentREDLC also has a penchant for leaning more into action and other gameplay styles.Shadows of RoseandRE8even brought back the third-person camera (optional for the main game).
Plus, the more something is explained or refocused on from a slightly different perspective, the more exposition the player ends up getting. I think theREgames are at their best when the player doesn’t know the who, what, where, when, or why of the horrors they’ve been thrust headfirst into.
February Feels Like Forever
As mentioned, Capcom is releasingthe latest Resident Evil gameon August 11, 2025. That’s less than a year away, but man, when there’s anREgame on the horizon, it feels like the Christmas morning that will never come. Nonetheless, I can’t wait to sink my teeth intoRequiem, no matter the personal likes and dislikes it satisfies or denies.
