Resident Evil Requiem

I put this disclaimer in most horror game reviews that I write, but I'm not a massive horror guy, I played this on easy, and I HATE hiding and being chased in horror games. Stealth is fine in games like Metal Gear, but I don't like feeling powerless. So I avoid certain horror games. But I tried this out regardless. Figured I'd play for a bit, it would be too much for me, then I'd quit. Then I fell in love.

Now, playing on Easy does dilute what they're going for a bit, but that's on me, and frankly, Easy was the only way I was going to be able to play this. So when you see people saying that resources are scarce and they spend a lot of time sneaking, etc while as Grace, know that they can't be playing it on Easy. There are sections where you can't fight back, but you can tank almost everything if you're careful.

That's important to me. The beginning really stressed me out. The part in the basement when you're running around in the dark and The Girl keeps showing up, that also stressed me out (I almost stopped playing). A bit later when The Girl is back again also stressed me out. You can't kill The Girl until the scripted bit. However, elsewhere, like with Chunk, being able to kill him upped the experience for me because frankly, if I had to run away from that fat fuck every so often I wouldn't have enjoyed the game as much. So the fact that I could kill almost everything was nice.

It also means that minus one or two transitions to Leon, you don't fully get the tension release. I mean, it's still there. And it's still insanely awesome. Like when I first saw the chainsaw, it made me chuckle. It was much needed. But since I could murder almost everything with Grace, it does risk being lessened. Not for me, but for someone who isn't a wimp.

I'm not a massive RE guy. I'm not steeped in the lore. I loved the RE4 Remake (surprisingly) because it was action. My favourite parts in this are action, even though I think Grace is a wonderful character with a compelling and emotional arc. But even though I played it on Easy, I can still see and feel what this game was meant to be, and it succeeds admirably. The scary parts still work. The Leon parts work. It all works.

Also, I'm glad Emily is okay (in the good ending). The bad ending is a lot shorter but still pretty potent. Though I do recommend getting the good, which is easy considering the game asks you if you want to make the other choice. I also like that it does that.

So in closing, this is a polished, beautiful, scary, emotional, exciting RE. I don't know how they'll structure the next one, but if it strikes a balance like this or is more action oriented I'll be there. I want to see what happens.