‘Resident Evil Requiem’ Director Says Gameplay Differences Between Grace And Leon Are “Like Jumping Into A Cold Bath After Sitting In A Hot Sauna”
With Capcom’s upcoming Resident Evil Requiem set to split both its narrative and playtime between returning Resident Evil 4 poster-boy Leon S. Kennedy and newcomer Grace Ashcroft, the daughter of Resident Evil Outbreak survivor Alyssa Ashcroft, director Akifumi Nakanashi has promised that rather than simple skin-swaps, the difference in their respective gameplay will be as stark as “jumping into a cold bath after sitting in a hot sauna” – and that’s a compliment!
As revealed at this year’s recently-held edition of The Game Awards, the two government agents will find themselves crossing paths thanks to a recent string of mysterious deaths in Raccoon City, the crime scene of the latest victim serving as an ominous meeting point for Grace and Leon’s respective FBI homicide and Division of Security Operations ‘Umbrella clean-up’ investigations.
In terms of gameplay, Requiem will switch between those seen in the franchise’s more recent outings, with Grace’s sections going the Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Resident Evil Village route of ‘first-person survival horror’ and Leon’s taking place in a ‘third-person action’ perspective style akin to the Resident Evil 2, 3, and 4 remakes.
Elaborating on the pair’s differences while speaking with Automaton Japan after the show, director Akifumi Nakanishi and producer Masato Kumazawa kicked things off with an elaboration as to just how the game will play out (no pun intended), with Naskanishi telling the outlet, “Requiem has just one, unified story.”
“As the plot advances, you switch between Leon’s sections and Grace’s sections. There are even some scenes where they meet. Grace is ‘the biggest scaredy-cat in Resident Evil history,’ while Leon is a seasoned veteran, so seeing how those personalities interact is part of the fun.”
Continuing, the director next explained, “In terms of gameplay, Grace and Leon’s playable sections are almost equally split. The structure is similar to Resident Evil Revelations.
“I’ve said before that Leon isn’t well suited to horror. Since quiet sections where you cower before monsters don’t fit him, his chapters focus on intense, adrenaline-pumping action. Grace’s sections, on the other hand, are the scarier ones. We’re really emphasizing the difference in their experiences this time.
“It’s almost like having two games with completely different types of tension mixed together. Early on, we worried players might not be able to keep up, but now we feel that the contrast gives the game a unique rhythm, like jumping into a cold bath after sitting in a hot sauna (laughs). It was important to combine the slow and fast segments well, and Grace and Leon turned out to be the best combination for that. Leon also has lots of new actions, giving you a strong sense of release compared to Grace’s sequences.
Asked about his past admission that Leon was originally intended to be Requiem‘s one and only protagonist, Nakanashi asserted, “That was before the project solidified. Once development began in earnest, we were already committed to having two protagonists.”
However, rather than Grace’s bump to co-protagonist being done in order to bump the game’s overall ‘scary’ factor, the director noted that “Actually, it’s the opposite. If the whole game were Grace, it would be extremely scary.”
“In this sense, Leon’s sections work to release the tension. You feel safe during Leon’s chapters, and then scared again during Grace’s. It’s a consciously designed horror structure. As a result, while Requiem is certainly scary, I think players will also feel a kind of exhilaration and satisfaction that past Resident Evil titles didn’t offer.”
Adding on his colleague’s thoughts, Kumazawa further clarified, “After a scary segment, the action feels even more exciting. And after an action segment, the horror feels even more terrifying. I think it’s a combined experience only possible by merging two completely different styles of gameplay.”
While Leon and Grace’s gameplay being split between ‘action hero power fantasy’ and ‘hiding and running to escape a looming terror’ makes complete sense for each character and their backgrounds, the notion that the latter will spend most of the game struggling to survive against Umbrella’s latest creations does give rise to the possibility that her seasoned ally might find himself in some similar situations (My god, can you imagine the enemies that could make Leon struggle?).
However, just how the pair’s adventure plays out will be revealed when Resident Evil Requiem launches February 27th on PC (via Steam and The Epic Games Store), Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
