Well, Resident Evil Requiem has come and gone, and it sure was a blast to play through. Many of us might be diving back in for a second (or even a third) run, but that isn’t the same as experiencing all of its spectacle and its awesome story for the very first time.
Although saying goodbye to the franchise’s thirtieth anniversary bonanza might be bittersweet, we’re choosing to look to the future with hope. We’ve already got a couple of remakes on the way, and there’s obviously going to be a new title that picks up where Requiem left off, taking the franchise into the future.
However, the next big Resident Evil title could stand to gain a lot if it takes a few important lessons from Requiem. To that end, we put on our thinking caps to identify areas that the franchise could choose to work on, making its next outing a worthy successor to Leon and Grace’s adventure. Let’s dive in!
1. Move On From Raccoon City
With Elpis’s discovery, we believe there isn’t much else for the franchise to do with Raccoon City. Yes, it was great to return to the origin point of the franchise’s meta-narrative after so many years. We thoroughly enjoyed all the nostalgia that came with guiding Leon through its ruined streets and familiar locations. We uncovered so many great Easter eggs and references to past events and characters as we made our way to Spencer’s secret lab.
Requiem did well to weave Raccoon City into its narrative fabric, making a return to its ruins a logical extension of Gideon’s search for Elpis. It was the perfect way to bring the story so far full circle, allowing Leon and Grace to find a cure to the virus amid the wreckage of the place where it first broke out. The city was the perfect way to give both of Requiem’s protagonists closure from all they had to endure in the aftermath of its devastation.
But it’s now time to move forward, Elpis at the ready, and see what the rest of the cast is up to, and perhaps even see how they react to its existence. The next game needs to give players a chance to leave the city that started it all behind, if it builds on the momentum that Requiem has built up towards charting a new course for the overarching narrative that Resident Evil has built over the years.
2. Less Action, Refocus on Stealth
Although Leon’s sections were very entertaining and made us feel nigh on unstoppable as he parried, shot, and roundhouse kicked his way through any zombies in his path, we couldn’t help but feel that Grace’s gameplay loop was more rewarding thanks to how painstakingly we had to make our way through dangerous areas. Combine that with the threat of The Girl suddenly popping up to make things more terrifying, and you have a formula that has worked time and time again for Resident Evil.
Requiem did a fine job of balancing the two distinct approaches throughout its runtime, but the game’s latter sections tended to favor Leon’s style of action-focused mayhem a little too much. That was especially true of his time in Raccoon City, and while it did make sense narratively, we believe that the next title in the franchise should try to pivot back towards a more stealthy approach.
That’s especially true if the next game is putting the spotlight back on Chris and the BSAA (more on that in a bit). It can be too easy to shift back to the action-oriented game design of RE6, but that would be a waste of potential considering how sublime the sections involving Grace felt to play. Blending RE2 and RE5’s distinct gameplay loops was among Requiem’s best features, and the franchise is going to want to carry that into the future.
3. Evolve Level Designs
We’ve previously commented on how we were glad that Requiem wasn’t going to be an open-world game, and our opinion hasn’t changed on that front. An open-world Resident Evil game might have its merits if it is handled correctly, but after exploring the semi-open level design of Raccoon City, we believe the franchise should try to iterate on that design in a new, unique location while it crafts a story that takes things forward.
Exploring the ruins of Raccoon City was nothing short of extraordinary, its desolation working very well to set the mood of a desperate search for answers amid the threat of a quick and sudden death. Resident Evil’s unique brand of survival horror works partly due to its focused pathing for the characters you control. Opening things up runs the risk of diluting the tension it can deliver, a facet of the experience that’s always crucial to its success.
However, having a world where you can freely backtrack to areas you previously couldn’t access, while possibly evolving the verticality of Raccoon City’s level designs, might be a suitable middle ground that sustains the tension while also giving players the agency they need to enjoy the new game on their terms. It’s a win-win that the franchise should set up if it’s to effectively utilize the momentum that Requiem has built for it.
4. Give The Rest Of The Cast Their Due
We’ve seen quite a bit of Chris and Leon over the franchise’s last few entries, and we’re thinking that it’s time we see more of other iconic characters who’ve been at their side at various points in the story. Of course, we’d love to see more of either character as their stories are far from over, but we believe it shouldn’t be at the expense of other equally compelling additions to the franchise’s expansive roster.
For instance, we think that Ada Wong’s absence from the search for Elpis is a wasted opportunity. We kind of kept expecting her to turn up every time we were navigating the world as Leon, considering that she’s never been too far away when the stoic DSO operative takes on a new mission. Her interest in virus strains and the fact that she’s always working an angle of her own would have made her a great addition to Requiem, but it wasn’t to be.
That’s the same for Jill Valentine, whose only appearance in the game was a couple of references to her time as a STARS operative. She could have been a great asset to Leon and Grace in this story; her knowledge of Raccoon City and the fact that she’s been looking for a solution to bioterrorism for a long time are factors that make her someone who would have been quite invested in finding out more about Elpis.
Claire’s another character who needs to return to the spotlight and have playable sections of her own in the next game or two. Her affiliations with TerraSave and her genuine desire to help those affected by bioterrorism around the world make her an excellent choice for somebody who can use Elpis to its fullest. She’s also a survivor of the Raccoon City incident and could potentially need a cure for any symptoms she’s been facing.
There’s also the question of Grace and her future in the franchise alongside a possible younger generation of characters who are slowly but surely coming into their own. Chris and Leon need not take a backseat, but the rest of their fellow cast members need their time to shine in the next mainline addition to the franchise.
5. Conclude The Connections Storyline
We now know that The Connections was responsible for Raccoon City’s destruction, and that its members are using the T-virus to enhance their abilities and potentially utilize it to create mind-controlled operatives. Chris had already encountered such soldiers in the BSAA’s ranks in Village, resolving to get to the bottom of things at the end of that story.
With so much new information now known about the shadowy organization, and the fact that it has now been brought into the light thanks to the discovery of the ARK facility, the next mainline addition to the franchise should bring this storyline to its logical conclusion, whatever that may look like.
The rumors about potential remakes of Zero and Code Veronica have us thinking that the two titles could set up that conclusion in Resident Evil 10 quite well, giving players some insight into how the organization has been working behind the scenes. That would be the perfect way to bring Chris back into the fold for a showdown with The Connections, given that he’s been hunting them for a while with his Wolf Hound squad. We’re quite sure that the Requiem’s post-credits scene is going to tie back into that particular narrative thread in the next game, and that RE10 should be the title that concludes this arc.
And that’s all for what we think the next big Resident Evil title should pick up from where Requiem left off. While there’s still the question of potential DLC additions to the latest game, and the fact that a new numbered title could be as far away as 2029, we think the wait could be worth it if it brings us a title that manages to stay on par and perhaps surpass everything that Requiem has achieved. Alongside all of the awesome characters we’ve met, we do believe that we, as players, have earned the right to closure too!
