Boulder Punch

With the review embargoes lifted, I can speak about my experiences with Resident Evil Requiem (I did get an early review key).

I don't have a video ready yet. It's going to be a full spoiler review/analysis of the game. I'm looking to have a video up on the weekend or early next week.

SUMMARY/TLDR: Resident Evil Requiem is a disjointed mess. Both gameplay and story-wise. But it does have its moments, more so during the survival horror stretches.

They should've either focused on a survival horror approach or an action-horror approach. Splitting both and putting them in one game dilutes both sides.

VARIOUS THOUGHTS (MILD SPOILERS)

• My completed runtime was ~10.5 hours.

• Prologue is a slog, especially on replays. You can skip the cutscenes, but you have to go through both a Grace & Leon section before things begin proper.

• First half of the game is more Grace-focused with shorter Leon stretches. The second half is more Leon-focused with shorter Grace stretches.

• Not sure of the % split between the two. It did feel like more time was for Leon's stretches, but that can also be due to the fact that his stretches can drag (especially in the second half).

• Once you get past the short stalker section as Grace at the beginning of the Care Center, the game hits its stride. Resource management, limited inventory space, looping level design with a great layout. Classic RE gameplay. If you enjoyed RE7 and the RE2 Remake, you'll feel at home here. There are twists to the decision-making process with regard to resource management, dealing with enemies or bypassing them. Including one of the more bizarre stealth kill options I've come across.

• It's time for the series to move on from the stalker system - it's played out by this point. Glad that they keep it minimal in the Care Center section.

• There's fun, amusement, and chaos to be had with the various zombie types. You can use them against each other. I had some chaotic situations in dealing with them while juggling limited resources. That said, there are only a few unique types. This is what they should've focused the game around instead of splitting its focus.

• Very few puzzles - the ones here are brain-dead simple. It's as if they threw them together last minute.

• For Leon's stretches, it's paint-by-numbers over the shoulder combat. It has that sloppy feel of the Resident Evil 4 Remake. Which while OK, pales to the OG 4, 5, and 6 arcade approach.

• Speaking of paint, Capcom did take the yellow paint criticism to heart. Better usage of lighting to guide the player. Yellow still exists, but in a more subtle way to guiding the player. Darksydephil won't be happy.

• Leon's combat stretches do show promise early on with an encounter involving a chainsaw. The way chainsaws behave can lead to some hilarious deaths and sheer chaos. It's too bad the game makes such little use of them.

• There's a few tweaks to Leon's combat (like a hatchet instead of a knife), but not a major shift from the RE4 remake in how it handles. There's a lack of enemy variety.

• Game does have linear stretches and setpieces (most on Leon's side) that range from the "eh", to the "wtf were they smoking". Some setpieces getting into Resident Evil 6 territory.

• There's some walking simulator stretches beyond the game's prologue. Stretches that will be annoying on replays. Cases where a cutscene would have sufficed.

• There are more interconnected stretches of looping level design after the Care Center (including a stretch for Leon). They're of varying quality - none match the first stretch in the care center. Granted, that's par for the course for Resident Evil. Later Grace stretches lack that fun enemy type interactivity from the care center. There's one Leon stretch that drags on far too long. Shouldn't come as a surprise with this split focus that pacing is a bit of a mess.

• Grace as a character is eh. Eccentric, a scaredy cat, and a bit of a chatterbox during gameplay. Not as bad as other "modern gaming protagonists", but still something to note. The flashback intro with Alyssa Ashcroft made me wish we could play as her again. Although she did pass down her lockpicking skills to Grace.

• Requiem lacks on the villains front. A noticeable step down after the Bakers from RE7 and Mother Miranda's entourage in RE8. Victor Gideon has his moments. He's more subdued and harder to get a read on (both a pro and con). But the other villains? Oh boy...

• The plot is a giant clusterfuck. Granted, the Resident Evil lore is a mess. Lots of noticeable plot contrivances throughout the game's first half. There are some descent character moments. Once you get to the second half, past a certain scene (you'll know it when you play it), the plot goes off a fucking cliff.

• Requiem takes the established series lore and throws it for a loop AKA retcons. I'm baffled and puzzled by some of the decisions and changes they made. The more I think about the plot, the less it makes sense. Sure, you can say that for pretty much any plot (RE7 and RE8 suffered from this), but for Requiem it's on a whole other level.

• The return to Raccoon City is uninspired and full of nostalgia bait. They should've left the city as a giant crater. Although there was one welcome surprise I wasn't expecting to see in a modern game.

Requiem lacks a strong identity. Whatever your thoughts were of 7 and Village, you can't deny they had a strong identity. Requiem feels like they took a handful of ideas and threw them together.

Requiem had several red flags going off for me when they announced the split between survival horror and an action focus. That was only going to dilute both sides. Either pick one, or take another crack of merging the two like they did with Village. But to split it the way they did? A fool's errand.

I've preferred the survival horror titles of the RE Engine Era. That stretch with Grace in the Care Center had some great moments. If they put their focus into that and expanded on the tweaks to the survival horror formula, they could've had something great here. I could see myself replaying the Care Center stretch, but that's about it.

Requiem is a disjointed mess that isn't sure what it wants to be. It has its moments, but it should've been decisive in either being a survival-horror title, or an action-horror one. Splitting the difference only diluted both sides.

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 532