One of many worst-kept secrets and techniques in video video games was lastly revealed throughout The Recreation Awards.
After quite a few reviews and rumours suggesting it was coming – to not point out the PlayStation Retailer seemingly turning into sentient and leaking the information itself, so sick it was of ready – Capcom lastly revealed that Leon S. Kennedy shall be a playable character in Resident Evil Requiem.
In a single sense, it was a second for the followers to have a good time. Ever since he turned up for his first day of labor on the Raccoon Metropolis Police Division in Resident Evil 2, Leon has been a giant fan favorite among the many Resident Evil neighborhood.
The truth that he starred in two of the perfect video games within the collection in Resident Evil 2 and 4 – let’s simply ignore 6, folks normally do – actually hasn’t achieved his reputation any hurt, and his Hollywood appears to be like actually enchantment to these of the male-fancying persuasion.
Certainly, his new stubbly look has had social media abuzz with many gamers swooning over the brand new “attractive uncle” model of Leon, in a lot the identical approach folks have been virtually begging Girl Dimitrescu to step on their heads a few years in the past. The Resident Evil fanbase doesn’t do subtlety, it appears.
As welcome as Leon’s return shall be, nevertheless, it additionally raises the query of what the sport may have been, had Capcom chosen to not invoke fan service and as a substitute gone with a wholly authentic solid of playable characters.
When Requiem was first introduced, Grace Ashcroft rapidly established herself as an intriguing protagonist. An introverted FBI analyst who isn’t as expert at combating because the overwhelming majority of Resident Evil heroes who’ve come earlier than her, Grace guarantees to deliver a vulnerability to the collection that may make it extra about hiding than harming her enemies.
An analogous change of focus was carried out within the underappreciated, combat-free Silent Hill: Shattered Recollections, and it was all the higher for it. Nonetheless unquestionably Silent Hill, however an actual change of tempo for a collection that was crying out for it on the time.
Grace can be intriguing due to her ties to earlier, much less mainstream Resident Evil video games. Her mom, Alyssa Ashcroft, was a playable character within the two co-op Resident Evil Outbreak video games launched on PS2 – she was an investigative reporter for the Raccoon Press, however an Umbrella researcher suppressed her reminiscence to cowl up an incident. There’s a whole lot of potential lore to be revealed right here on how Grace’s mission connects to what Alyssa went via.
By bringing again Leon too, nevertheless, roughly half of the sport is about to be devoted to him, and whereas that’s nothing to be sniffed at, it may very well be argued that Leon’s had loads of time within the highlight, and bringing him again for the fourth of 9 video games may show a unwillingness to commit absolutely to a wholly new character – one thing followers of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Resident Evil Village shall be accustomed to, given Chris Redfield’s look in these.
“An analogous change of focus was carried out within the underappreciated, combat-free Silent Hill: Shattered Recollections, and it was all the higher for it”
Extra notably, the addition of Leon will nearly actually guarantee loads of fight, one thing Grace’s presence is designed to negate the necessity for. The end result could also be a recreation that’s stealthy in some areas and shooty in others – a doubtlessly gratifying mixture of types, but additionally a possible jack of all trades and grasp of none.
In fact, all of those are mere considerations quite than determined worries, to not point out subjective ones – in case you’re a giant Leon fan and like motion to stealth, then you definately’ll seemingly be crossing your fingers that every thing does truly come to go as described on this preview.
No matter how Leon-heavy Resident Evil Requiem seems to be, it might take a idiot to wager on the sport being something apart from a vital and industrial success.
Capcom’s sticky patch of Resident Evil 5 and 6 seems like a distant reminiscence lately, with the collection on an enviable streak of high quality that may likely have some builders studying this text and pondering “effectively, I want we had the ‘drawback’ of whether or not to deliver again our massively standard character”.
Consequently, no matter whether or not Requiem turns into a well-recognized gun-toting Leon ‘em up, a tonally completely different story of Grace beneath stress or – seemingly probably – some type of center floor, the indicators are overwhelmingly constructive that its “itchy / tasty” ratio will lean closely in direction of the latter, and that followers will find yourself with one other nice entry within the collection.
