The next mainline installment in the long-running Resident Evil franchise, Resident Evil Requiem, was revealed at the end of the Summer Game Fest show as a “surprise” that had been hinted at several times throughout the presentation. Requiem will star newcomer Grace Ashcroft, daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft from the underrated Outbreak spin-off games. But I’m not convinced she is the only protagonist, especially after the abrupt name-drop of Leon Kennedy from director Koshi Nakanishi during the Capcom Spotlight showcase.
There have been major rumors about Leon being an additional playable character, and despite Capcom’s insistence that Grace is the lead, I’m full of speculation and doubt over Capcom’s comments. The marketing for Requiem has been strange, and the motif of the game being a “requiem” is suspicious, with a new character returning to Raccoon City instead of one of the original survivors. As Requiem is allegedly the “most ambitious” RE game to date, I think Capcom is holding onto one major secret. I also think I’ve figured it out, and Capcom might have already teased it.
Two Different Camera Angles Could Hint At Two Campaigns
The Series Has Seen Survival Horror And Action Horror
Capcom has confirmed that all of Requiem can be played in first-person or third-person perspective, and the camera perspective can be changed at any time in the pause menu, an ambitious decision that requires the game to be designed to fit both styles. The first-person mode has been described as ideal for getting up close to the horror as Grace experiences it, while the third-person option allows players to see more of the action, as detailed by producer Masato Kumazawa.
With an option already baked into the game to let fans lean into horror or action, it’s a little surprising we have yet to see any of the fast-paced action that was described in Requiem’s description on PlayStation Blog, which reads: “While survival horror takes centerstage [sic], Resident Evil Requiem will feature high-stakes cinematic action that will take the series in a bold new direction.” So far, what Capcom has shown hasn’t been new or action-heavy, so is Capcom keeping those parts a secret?
If the game is truly focused on slow-paced “addictive horror,” similar to RE7, then I don’t think Capcom would be teasing “high-stakes cinematic action,” especially with what’s been shown of Grace. She is an introvert and easily spooked, someone who wouldn’t necessarily pair well with action horror. She has firearms training, sure, but she’s also a desk worker. I think it’s fully possible that Requiem is divided into two different campaigns, one focused on horror with Grace, and another focused on action with Leon, and the dual-camera early reveal might have been the clue.
Capcom Has Done Multiple Campaigns In The Past
Resident Evil 6, Revelations 2, And More
On top of every mainline RE game, and most of the spin-offs, featuring more than one playable character (even if it’s for a brief period, like Ada and Sherry’s segments in RE2 or Ashley’s puzzle section in RE4), several RE games have had more than one campaign, going all the way back to the original game with Jill and Chris. RE2 had Leon and Claire. Code: Veronica was divided into two halves, with the first being Claire and the second being Chris. Revelations 2’s episodic structure also had two different campaigns for each chapter, split between Claire and Barry. Two campaigns wouldn’t be anything new.
Additional campaigns with other playable characters have been added recently to the mainline games, too, with RE7 getting Not a Hero, which starred Chris, and End of Zoe, which starred Joe Baker, and Shadows of Rose from Village featuring Rose.
Most fans, though, will probably immediately think of RE6, a game heavily criticized for its over-the-top action and the convoluted story that overlaps over its four campaigns. RE6 was a game that aimed to please everyone, and in doing so, became a game disliked by many. Its division between action, horror, survival, and puzzles was not cut-and-dry, with the whole game featuring huge action spectacles, hordes of enemies, and an overabundance of explosions. RE6 was the exception, not the rule, when it comes to the history of multiple campaigns and playable characters in RE.
With Capcom being as close-to-the-chest as it has been with Requiem so far, and the previous way-too-early reveal of Chris’s heel-turn in Village’s early marketing, it’s plausible that Capcom is keeping the two campaigns a secret, for now. Leaker AestheticGamer aka Dusk Golem on X is “100% sure Leon is the protagonist still,” and if that’s the case, he will probably be playable for at least half of the game, or one campaign, if my theory comes true.
Resident Evil Requiem Is Celebrating 30 Years Of Horror And Action
A Requiem In Multiple Ways
The Requiem title has multiple meanings. One of those is Grace dealing with the death of her mother eight years prior; another is the return to Raccoon City, where the entire RE story began. Requiem is being marketed as a celebration of 30 years of RE, and RE has not just been focused on scares. The series has jumped around in the umbrella genre of horror since its inception, with some of the games having elements of survival horror but heavier on action, like RE4, and others fully embracing the survival horror identity, like RE7.
Requiem has been rumored to be the most ambitious RE title yet, and if that is true, I would bet on the game celebrating both its action and horror triumphs by having two starring characters and potentially two separate campaigns. The series has implemented this concept successfully on multiple occasions, and with the camera choice being made available, I think it makes sense for the game to lean into both styles of gameplay, too.
Nakanishi’s discussion of Leon reminded me of Andrew Garfield saying he wasn’t in Spider Man: No Way Home.
The developer interviews during the Capcom Spotlight actually put a larger shine on Leon, despite him “not being fit for horror,” as described by Nakanishi. He’s right — Leon isn’t fit for true horror at this point in the RE timeline — buthe’s a perfect fit for the action side of the horror. Leon’s name-drop was abrupt, and Nakanishi’s word choices and mannerisms seemed quite careful. Nakanishi’s discussion of Leon reminded me of Andrew Garfield saying he wasn’t in Spider Man: No Way Home, and I could easily see that being the case with Leon in Resident Evil Requiem.
Source: PlayStation Blog, AestheticGamer aka Dusk Golem/X
