Resident Evil 9: Requiem review

Exceptional

by grihajedy3

📜𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐄𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐧, 
And if you're not, Capcom will make you one. Even if you missed the main horror parts of the series and only got nostalgic from the action-remakes, you still fell into their trap. Thanks to the brilliant (admittedly) development strategy, RE2 and RE4 are a full-fledged starting point for Leon's action-horror campaign, which continues in Requiem. Combining two characters, and especially two different gameplays, in one game is a rather difficult task (remember the recent Alan Wake 2), and even the masters of this genre, in my opinion, did not quite cope with the task. In fact, the main problem with the RE9 (which doesn't even have a numerical designation anymore) is the lack of some ephemeral sense of "scale" of this chapter of the franchise, Even Village felt more "global", despite the fact that Requiem is heavily loaded with plot, cutscenes, references,
and literally one-button fanservice moments (I'm not kidding), which only slow down the pace of the game when we already have to constantly re-adjust our behavior when the plot changes the main character(it's really not that easy; the first time I played Leone, I kept saving my ammo and getting bitten constantly).
If you were to just look at the opening levels of "Hospital" and "Mines" featuring new character Ashley and exclude everything else, it would be one of the most polished and intelligently terrifying experiences in survival-horror history, and it would certainly leave an impression:
Zombies now mutter some remnants of their consciousness, the butler constantly turns off the lights, the butcher chops meat, and the singer howls and calls the nearest enemies; Backtracking never gets boring thanks to mini-bosses like a huge, obese baby who barely squeezes between walls, moving from room to room and forcing us to walk down different corridors;
Ashley's gameplay is also quite different from Leon's in terms of mechanics: Constant pitch darkness, only a regular pistol (and its variant) as a weapon, her limping with the shift key can hardly be called running, and the local shop is styled like an antique cabinet that requires special coins; there's also a nice mini-game where you can unlock crafting recipes in the genetic machine.; and if you're completely tired of shaking, you can spend precious large-caliber ammo on the one-shot UberPistol that Leon gave you; or single-use and homolytic injections for covert killing, which can also be used as insurance when injected into a corpse; You can collect "blood" from killed enemies for crafting, but you will need empty vials/bottles, so you can't just farm; Don't forget about the shaking hands (but no aim shake) and the deliberately low sensitivity (it can be changed in the advanced settings), although I personally felt uncomfortable with the super-close FOV (which can't be changed), and I missed some kind of peek-a-boo mechanic, which has been around for ages in games like Outlast.
So, we clear the entire map in an interesting Metroidvania-style location, and get the same level as Leon, but it doesn't really make much sense anymore.. Of course, it's still a nice outlet to punch the big monsters that scared you in the previous gameplay section, Leon is basically responsible for all the bosses in the game. It 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐚, but no, it's only the "Hospital" at the beginning - the same floors of the same level, with each character having to clear (3 times in total), alternating between them (even the note found as Leon only works once for Ashley), уach character has their own map markers, each has their own items and ammo. Then Ashley is kidnapped in the "Mines" - also a rather dark, claustrophobic level with a shortage of supplies, but you won't be able to return to it as Leon. It's a cool, but even more quickly forgotten, experience, as a result, the game leaves mixed impressions, compared to the second half of the game:
Basically, it's all becaise of the outskirts of the apocalyptic that very one 𝐑𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲, with literally identical ash zombies (rising from holes in the asphalt). Visually, the entire location is extremely gray and dreary.. literally any game has implemented a similar setting better (idk Metro, Fallout, Silent).. But still, the action component of the gameplay good even here, it's not a literal shooting gallery, although they do let you earn points for kills with basic upgrades (plus a trinket for your weapons!); although there's no depth to inventory management - Leon has bottomless pockets, the game transitions from horror to arcade. Not only do you not need to hide, you need to kill every zombie that rises, even if they're on another roof or only visible on a distant bridge. You earn arsenal points for every kill, but you can still run out of ammo, the balance is neat, it`s still RE4.
But unlike it, 𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐦 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐬.. There was a cool section where you had to smash glass to kill zombies, but why did it last literally a minute? Why is there only one for three hours of gameplay? I understand that the producers forced the game to be filled with fanservice, but that also is poorly done, without any challenge, the cutscene where Leon defeats gravity will probably baffle even the most hard-drinking player... Come on, guys, even Uncharted didn't have such stupidity. Okay, they certainly threw in some interesting ideas: For example, zombies with chainsaws! When you chop them off their hands, they start slithering across the floor 360 degrees, forcing you to carefully circle around the red-hot blade and enemies, who can also pick up the saw again, though it can be comically deflected with your battle axe, which Leon can endlessly sharpen for parries. They also added throwing spears/boulders/gas canisters at nearby enemies (you can basically check if there are any enemies left by the indicator on the object lying around), and zombe can also throw all sorts of things and even push you off the roof that way; And the movement now includes brutal finishing moves with bent-over shooting or jaw-breaking shotgun attacks.
In fact, I'd praise all the animations in the game - every weapon has its own reload sequence, where the character holds an old magazine in his hand while simultaneously drawing a second one, when Leon has to hold a flashlight around his neck or the shotgun to his knee, the core of the game still provide pure pleasure that even a Resident Evil hater (like me) will enjoy.
And, of course, this is far from the end of the story. Believe me, Capcom will be milk audience with all their characters for a very long time (why they aged Leon so quickly is beyond me). At the final level, these are the same faceless laboratories, only not under "Umbrella" anymore.. Once again, someone continued research after research and after the nuclear bombs.. Once again, some crazy doctor, another villain cosplaying a fight with Krauser, the third just another big mess to pop pimples on. The ending of the game will give you nothing except the illusion of choosing to "press" or "not press" the final button, and if you choose the wrong one, the game itself will offer you a replay. Place your bets if there will be a DLC or not.

😊 𝗦𝘂𝗯 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺`𝘀 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿`𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41977550