Resident Evil Reqiuem Is a Kick-Ass Leon Kennedy Legacy Sequel

Great news: Resident Evil Requiem perfectly kicks ass. While it was initially advertised arsenic a endurance fearfulness conveyance for caller protagonist Grace Ashcroft, it turns retired Requiem is arsenic a reunion with the series’ instrumentality favourite hero, Leon S. Kennedy. Despite showing up successful respective remakes recently, Leon hasn’t had a genuinely caller escapade since Resident Evil 6. That was 14 years ago! Requiem brings america a Leon who’s inactive that campy, quippy, tough-as-nails fable we’ve ever loved, but present he’s older, wiser, and carrying a spot much baggage with him. This benignant of instrumentality is beauteous uncommon successful video games, but instrumentality a look astatine the screenings astatine your section multiplex and you’ll spot it’s happening each the clip present successful movies. Old heroes from aged franchises coming backmost to beryllium that a fewer other wrinkles can’t halt you from kicking ass. That’s precisely what Resident Evil Requiem has done. It feels similar a Hollywood blockbuster bequest sequel for 1 of the coolest video crippled characters of each time.

You could easy marque the statement that Resident Evil 4 is the top video crippled ever created, and diehard fans of Capcom’s crippled changer person wanted a reunion with Leon for decades. His abbreviated portion successful Resident Evil 6 simply wasn’t enough, and portion 2023’s Resident Evil 4 remake was incredible, it was yet a retelling of a communicative we each knew highly well. For years, we’ve been near wondering if we’d ever get thing similar Leon’s gory Spanish abrogation again. At slightest until now: Resident Evil Requiem is simply a worthy successor to Resident Evil 4. But much than that, it gives america a caller instrumentality connected Leon that’s much absorbing than galore sequels offer.

Leon whitethorn beryllium older, but helium knows however to plaything a chainsaw. | Image credit: Capcom

Despite being a mean that has been going beardown for implicit 50 years now, video games seldom fto their protagonists turn older. Mascot characters similar Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog are fundamentally the aforesaid property present arsenic they were erstwhile they were archetypal introduced successful ‘80s and ‘90s. There are a fewer exceptions, of course. Uncharted’s Nathan Drake had aged slightly by the clip we said goodbye to him successful 2016, and Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft has jumped astir to assorted stages of her 20s passim her galore sequels and reboots. But astir video crippled characters unrecorded successful an endless clip loop, destined to enactment encased successful amber astatine the aforesaid property forever, similar Bart Simpson and his chap classmates being stuck successful 4th people for decades.

The Resident Evil franchise is different; it’s 1 of the fewer long-running video crippled bid that really allows its characters to acquisition the transition of time, albeit with each sorts of silly B-movie crippled armor, continuity leaps, and different assorted nonsensical communicative beats to assistance transportation them on the way. That’s wherefore seeing a gruffer, much weathered Leon S. Kennedy's instrumentality successful Resident Evil Requiem feels truthful peculiar - it’s thing we don’t get to spot precise often successful video crippled form. Games are mostly powerfulness fantasies, aft all, and seeing an older Super Mario clutch his knees aft a triple jump, oregon a hunched implicit Sonic the Hedgehog gasp for enactment successful the mediate of a fractional tube run, would beryllium mode little chill and mode much of a stark reminder of our weary, fragile lives than conscionable seeing those guys astatine their highest property forever.

On the different hand, Hollywood loves to bring backmost older versions of classical movie characters for a large bequest sequel, partially due to the fact that it’s amusive to cheque successful connected aged friends you haven’t seen successful a while, but mostly due to the fact that existent quality actors - dissimilar video crippled characters - get older arsenic clip passes. For example, deliberation astir Harrison Ford successful Star Wars: The Force Awakens portraying an older, greyer Han Solo. Or Harrison Ford successful The Dial of Destiny portraying an older, greyer Indiana Jones. Or Harrison Ford successful Blade Runner 2049 portraying an older, greyer Rick Deckard. (I curse I person much examples too Harrison Ford.) Do each of these movies request to exist? Definitely not. But erstwhile a bequest sequel works, they consciousness similar a large reunion with idiosyncratic we haven’t seen successful a while, and sometimes, adjacent a cleanable last sendoff to a quality we’ve cherished our full lives.

When you’re enactment successful power of Leon, it truly does consciousness similar a instrumentality to the character’s champion days.“

We whitethorn person technically caught up with Leon recently, acknowledgment to the glorious Resident Evil 2 and 4 remakes, but those games instrumentality spot successful 1998 and 2004, respectively. The Resident Evil timeline progresses successful existent time, though, truthful successful Requiem, acceptable successful 2026, Leon is really overmuch older now, and he’s got the wrinkles and mannerisms to beryllium it. He’s somewhat little apt to ace a corny 1 liner oregon silly pun aft a big, convulsive brushwood (but don’t worry, the antheral inactive has immoderate jokes present and there.)

Requiem balances Leon’s dada jokes (or should that beryllium “hot uncle” jokes?) with immoderate grit and gravitas. He is reminded of his regrets and past failings arsenic helium revisits the horrors that unfolded successful his aboriginal days arsenic a bull successful Raccoon City, with its existent bombed-out streets, dilapidated constabulary station, and weapon store each trudging up the grief and remorse from his archetypal large missions. But portion this offers a darker broadside to Leon’s story, we don’t truly get a heavy look into his idiosyncratic life, which decidedly works successful some the character’s and our favor. Going decades without seeing Han Solo, conscionable to find retired helium ended up being a deadbeat dada who’d resorted to erstwhile again dealing with debased beingness gangsters and petty crimes successful The Force Awakens was a beauteous depressing get unneurotic successful hindsight - similar moving successful to the older kid from your municipality that you grew up idolizing and uncovering retired helium inactive lives with his ma and helium mostly conscionable sells cigarettes to teenagers down a state station. We didn’t request that downer with Han and I’m gladsome we don’t get that with Leon, a quality who successful Requiem is mostly focused connected a caller duty with astir each of the passion, intensity, and wit we expect from him. He’s struggling with his memories of Raccoon City due to the fact that he’s backmost successful it, not missing his daughter’s creation recital due to the fact that he’s pounding shots astatine the bar.

What’s important, though, and an acquisition unsocial to the video crippled medium, is that Requiem’s Leon inactive feels similar helium did successful Resident Evil 4, contempt being overmuch older. Mechanically, helium moves and controls conscionable similar helium did successful RE4’s 2023 remake, conscionable with a fewer other tricks up his sleeve acknowledgment to the payment of property and experience. There were truthful galore small moments successful Requiem wherever I thought to myself “I cannot judge I’m getting much Resident Evil 4 close now.” It wasn’t that I thought I’d ne'er ever play thing similar that again successful this franchise, it’s conscionable that aft RE7 and Village, I genuinely had nary thought wherever things would spell next. And portion Requiem surely does physique connected the endurance fearfulness elements of those games, erstwhile you’re enactment successful power of Leon, it truly does consciousness similar a instrumentality to the character’s champion days.

Leon's inactive live and kicking, conscionable arsenic helium was successful 2004. | Image credit: Capcom

So galore of Leon’s sections successful Requiem enactment arsenic callbacks to things I loved astir Resident Evil 4, but helium approaches them with the added payment of the contented and acquisition that comes with getting older. Remember the chainsaw wielding lunatics from the village? Well, there’s caller ones now, and this clip you tin sprout those chainsaws retired of their hands and usage them to teardrop a country afloat of zombies apart. Remember the precocious velocity jetski flight sequence? There’s a caller 1 present that’s an infinitely cooler acceptable portion and adds enemies to the mix.

Not everything present is an betterment implicit Leon’s astir iconic mission, of course. Requiem doesn’t person a lovably weird merchant character, oregon shiny costume jewelry dangling from its corridor ceilings oregon inexplicably hiding successful the bellies of its creepiest basement creatures. Resident Evil 4 is, aft all, 1 of those erstwhile successful a beingness video games wherever a squad of bold originative geniuses were fixed respective years and a blank slate to make a sprawling, cinematic azygous subordinate crippled that reinvented a beloved franchise. We’ll astir surely ne'er get thing similar it connected that standard again. But erstwhile Requiem comes adjacent to hitting immoderate of those aforesaid highs, it’s a fantastic feeling.

But the 1 happening a genuinely large bequest sequel recognizes – and 1 that Requiem precise overmuch understands – is that our heroes don’t unrecorded everlastingly and, frankly, it’s selfish of america to expect them to. The radical we look up to yet get aged and die, and permission america with conscionable memories to retrieve them by. Yes, adjacent the ones that tin somersault implicit zombies oregon dive rotation done a second-story solid model and onshore connected some feet unphased. But the top heroes don’t conscionable permission their bequest behind, they impart their contented and acquisition connected the adjacent procreation successful the anticipation that they volition turn to go arsenic great, oregon adjacent greater, than they ever were. That’s however bequest sequels bring unneurotic their archetypal and caller formed members, and we spot that successful enactment with Leon and Grace, a skittish FBI cause who enters into Requiem’s instantly threatening communicative with fearfulness and trepidation.

Grace begins her travel rather virtually stumbling astir successful the darkness, holding a crude weapon successful a shaky manus and struggling to survive. But by teaming up with Leon portion besides confronting her ain past traumas, she dilatory becomes a strong, resilient, afloat susceptible prima of her own. She mightiness ne'er spell afloat blown enactment leader similar her mentor, and that’s okay, but it’s breathtaking to deliberation her communicative whitethorn conscionable beryllium getting started. What we spot betwixt her and Leon is simply a torch passing ritual, a indispensable section successful immoderate ongoing communicative wherever characters are allowed to property naturally, scope the extremity of their tale, and yet adjacent die.

That’s not to accidental I would crook down immoderate much adventures with our aged person Leon successful the future, of course. I emotion the guy, and I deliberation there’s inactive a batch of state near successful his tank. I conscionable don’t cognize if I privation to play a video crippled wherever he’s 80 years aged and I request to upgrade his hep replacement each clip helium attempts a rotation kick. Then again, for each of the ways Requiem handles an aging fable gracefully, Resident Evil has agelong been a franchise wherever assemblage mutating mega viruses and ace serums let once-human characters to instrumentality bigger and stronger than ever, adjacent aft getting axed isolated oregon blown to smithereens with nukes. So hey, possibly adjacent clip Leon’s successful municipality he’ll beryllium looking a small little similar a blistery uncle.

But until they leap that zombie shark (and this bid virtually has 1 of those, named Neptune) I’ll gladly instrumentality much Grace and Leon games successful the future. And seeing however good Capcom handled an older Leon opens up each kinds of possibilities for different classical Resident Evil characters to instrumentality with a fewer much grey hairs. After all, Resident Evil Requiem ne'er makes immoderate notation of Claire Redfield (outside of a notation connected a charm) truthful here’s hoping she shows up successful immoderate DLC oregon adjacent gets to prima successful the adjacent mainline game. Either way, it’s large to spot a bid I’ve loved for truthful agelong find truthful galore large ways to enactment live and thriving portion truthful galore different classical franchises shamble on agelong past their expiration dates, similar the rotting, festering zombies that Leon - and present Grace - are truthful large astatine defeating.