Video game review<\/h2>\n
The first Resident Evil game, in which you play as two members of an elite special forces division as they try to escape a nonsensical mansion filled with zombies and other horrifying creatures, was released on the original PlayStation in 1996. It\u2019s since defined the survival horror genre, and kicked off a massive franchise. Thirty years later, with Resident Evil Requiem \u2014 the ninth mainline entry in the series, available now on modern consoles and PCs \u2014 it\u2019s easy to see what\u2019s changed along the way. Surprisingly, it\u2019s also easy to see what hasn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
First and foremost, Requiem is a fantastic game. It\u2019s a stellar blend of action-oriented horror sequences and pure horror elements, jaw-dropping visual and audio design, and enough of that old-fashioned RE charm \u2014 so many dorky one-liners! \u2014 to make you want to replay the whole series all over again once the credits roll. That\u2019s the rub, though: As amazing as Requiem is, it often feels less like its own game and more like a glorified homage to previous entries.<\/p>\n
From its narrative structure and level design to its boss fights and stealth mechanics, I often found myself saying, \u201cThat\u2019s just like RE2!\u201d or \u201cI remember this from RE4!\u201d And it makes sense, thematically: At its core, Requiem is nostalgia incarnate, full of callbacks and Easter eggs and efforts to wrap up long-standing story threads. It\u2019s not a complaint, per se; I thoroughly enjoyed my 14-hour adventure in Requiem. I\u2019m just not sure it\u2019s a compliment, either.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start with what\u2019s new. Requiem is set in 2026, 28 years after the initial T-virus outbreak in the first Resident Evil that led to the rise of the undead and the destruction of the fictional town of Raccoon City. We\u2019re quickly introduced to the first of our two protagonists: Grace Ashcroft (voiced and motion-captured by Angela Sant’Albano), an FBI analyst who\u2019s new to the series. She\u2019s tasked with looking into mysterious deaths caused by a mutating T-virus, called Raccoon City Syndrome. But she\u2019s not doing that from the field office. Instead, her boss sends her to investigate a body found in the same abandoned hotel where her mother was murdered. (If that\u2019s not an HR nightmare, I don\u2019t know what is.)<\/p>\n
Before long, Grace finds herself captured and trapped in a facility that\u2019s eerily reminiscent of the Raccoon City police station from RE2. Anxious and not particularly skilled in combat, Grace\u2019s initial sections heavily revolve around stealth and runaway mechanics. But like any typical RE protagonist, she eventually becomes better equipped and more able to deal with the nightmarish monsters in her way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The second protagonist is a longtime RE favorite, coming home to his roots: Leon S. Kennedy (voiced and motion-captured by Nick Apostolides). Leon was first introduced in RE2 as a rookie cop who shows up late to his first day of work in 1998: a Raccoon City police officer. Since then, Leon\u2019s been a major fixture in the franchise \u2014 a protagonist in RE4 and RE6 (and the remakes of RE2 and RE4), along with starring in multiple live-action and animated movies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Requiem, Leon is also dealing with Raccoon City Syndrome and its fallout. When he\u2019s on screen, action takes precedence over horror (though there\u2019s still plenty of that going around). Unlike Grace, Leon is well-versed in hand-to-hand combat and firearms, and his sections reflect that. He\u2019s more likely to kick a zombie square in the chest than hide from it; it makes for a gloriously fun time.<\/p>\n
Over time, their paths cross \u2014 including in Raccoon City \u2014 and their fates become intertwined. I won\u2019t say more for risk of spoiling, but it\u2019s a pretty thrilling (if somewhat convoluted) adventure.<\/p>\n
Plenty of RE games have had multiple protagonists, and Requiem doesn\u2019t offer too much new in that regard, with the exception that the game is designed for Grace\u2019s sections to be played in first person (to heighten the fear factor) and Leon\u2019s in third person (to amp up the action). You can change those options, however, if you want.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Speaking of playing, Requiem feels just as polished when it comes to its gameplay mechanics as the recent remakes of RE2 and RE4. The guns feel hefty, particularly this game\u2019s version of the powerful magnum; there\u2019s a delightful twist on how Leon\u2019s weapons get upgraded later in the game; and, as always, resources are scare. (And yes, Leon\u2019s famed attach\u00e9 case from RE4 returns as his inventory system in Requiem.)<\/p>\n
And much like RE7 and RE8 (plus the original three games in the franchise), Requiem maintains the same type of exploration and level design. Translated, that means you\u2019ll often find yourself in one large area that has plenty of places to check out, which you\u2019ll need to do because that\u2019s how you find key items to help you progress to the next area. It’s a lot of backtracking and trying to remember where certain keys go, but it mostly works throughout. (A few sequences felt a little obtuse, even for someone who\u2019s been playing these games for years.)<\/p>\n
And also like its predecessors, Requiem is a visual and audio gem. RE Engine \u2014 originally built for 2017\u2019s RE7 \u2014 still puts out an amazing-looking (if slightly shimmery) game; Leon and Grace\u2019s character models are absolutely stunning, and the environments, from creepy corridors to ruined cityscapes, are top-notch. The sound design is equally impressive, especially when you hear a remix of some haunting scores from the previous games.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So maybe now you see what I mean about Requiem not exactly being its own game but how that\u2019s not really a negative. Everything it takes from previous entries is elevated to a new high. And what it does offer of its own feel like well-placed additions. Still, I can\u2019t help but wonder what a little more creativity, a little more risk, would have offered. If you\u2019re a fan, you\u2019re in for a treat. For everyone else, pull a Leon and start at the beginning.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yakimaherald.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Video game review The first Resident Evil game, in which you play as two members of an elite special forces division as they try to escape a nonsensical mansion filled with zombies and other horrifying creatures, was released on the original PlayStation in 1996. It\u2019s since defined the survival horror genre, and kicked off a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2325457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[21741],"class_list":["post-2325456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Resident-Evil-Requiem-review-A-nostalgia-fueled-trip-to-the-past.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2325456"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2325458,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325456\/revisions\/2325458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2325457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2325456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2325456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2325456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}