Resident Evil Requiem: Honoring the Past While Moving to the Future

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

Every long-running story eventually has to wrestle with its past if it wants to find a way forward. In survival horror, the past isn’t just about the countless bodies left behind; it’s about figuring out what to do with the grief and guilt that remains. That is the true weight of a requiem.

“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” 

William Faulkner’s famous words from Requiem for a Nun are the go-to standard for a reason.

As the quote implies, it highlights the painful weight of our history, especially when it involves mourning the dead. Capcom’s latest entry in the zombie-filled horror franchise of Resident Evil: Requiem confronts this reality. Throughout the 9th mainline title, newcomer Grace Ashcroft and mainstay Leon Kennedy wrestle with survivor’s guilt while battling nightmare creatures.

In my previous article on this franchise, I argued that what gives Resident Evil its staying power is the way the villains and heroes differ in their responses to suffering. This is absolutely on display as Grace and Leon each have shadows of their past that haunt them throughout the game. 

For Grace, it is the death of her mother (for longtime fans who remember Resident Evil Outbreak, seeing Alyssa Ashcroft get a shoutout was an unexpected but very welcome surprise), and how Grace blames herself for Alyssa’s death. Leon, meanwhile, is haunted by his past adventures, specifically Resident Evil 2, as not only does he blame himself for every death that happened (yes, it is irrational), but he deems himself a failure despite his many accomplishments over the literal decades.

Despite these challenges, neither Grace or Leon hesitate when it comes to helping others. This is expected from Leon after his many adventures in previous games. Watching Grace, who is completely out of her element, help others is what makes this franchise special, especially in her interactions with the child Emily. 

Leon’s ability to influence others for the better is also on display with Grace. She starts as someone who can’t even look people in the eye and stutters when speaking like she’s seconds away from a panic attack. By the end, she is literally dragging Leon as his body gives out (more on that later), being decisive, and even becomes assertive in the final moments with actions that determine how the game ends.

I began this with defining requiem because while many Resident Evil games have had subtitles, they were usually descriptive of the game itself (like Village, Outbreak, Darkside Chronicles, etc.). Requiem initially seemed odd until Capcom revealed that this game returns to Raccoon City. For a franchise built on the ashes of the iconic city (it was completely destroyed by a missile at the end of RE3), the fact that it took 30 years to come back says something. Capcom spent decades treating the cratered city as holy ground, too toxic to revisit, too defining to ignore. Add to this the stakes that Leon is dying from a virus that seems to target Raccoon City survivors, and it becomes clear that this game picked Requiem for a deeper reason than just a descriptor. 

One of the biggest things that had become an anchor in the worst way is how everything always had to circle back to the evil company Umbrella and the many ripple effects from the actions of its brilliant, but evil founder, Oswald Spencer. Sometimes it would be done in ways that felt clever (like in RE: Village), but other times, you get Neo-Umbrella from RE6 that had people rolling their eyes. Even when new companies like Tricell showed up, it was run by Albert Wesker, who was created by Spencer and used to work for Umbrella. In Requiem, we are introduced to The Connections (they were heavily hinted at in the previous two games, but never given a name), and while they seem to be yet another company that is “totally not Umbrella,” it turns out they have been pulling the strings for decades. That makes them unique. 

To go with this, there was the big reveal about Spencer himself. Grace finds an old interview her mom conducted with Spencer. It turns out he had regrets about his actions that killed so many. Part of it is that he understands the irony of spending his whole life trying to force human evolution just to end up a feeble old man in a wheelchair, but it comes across as genuine guilt. While the fanbase is divided on how to feel about this (it would be like if Emperor Palpatine suddenly felt guilty about his actions), I’m not entirely convinced he meant it. While a RE5 remake could shed more light, as it currently stands, a few years after that interview, he’s a raving madman yelling about becoming a god before Wesker kills him. That’s jarring, to say the least, but I think I can see what Capcom is doing with all of this.

Finally returning to Raccoon City on the 30th anniversary of the franchise, giving incredible insight into Spencer for the first time in many years, and tying in a new organization that has apparently been around for decades? Resident Evil is finally allowing itself to move forward as a franchise. Not every loose end has been tied (we still need to know how Claire, Ada, and Jill are doing after all), but for the first time in a LONG time, the story has a lot of different places it can go.

There is a distinct vulnerability that comes with sleep deprivation and a newborn. This year, my wife and I welcomed our daughter, named Gracelyn, or Grace, for short. Perhaps that is why Requiem’s moments with Grace hit with force for me. Having marathoned all the RE games I own leading up to Requiem, watching Leon’s struggle as his body slowly deteriorated brought out emotions (I blame the baby). Still, after defeating the final boss, there’s a moment where all seems lost. Grace and Leon are in an underground lab (classic RE) that is crumbling in on itself. As lights begin to go out, Grace says, “There’s no way out, is there?” and Leon responds with, “Well, I’m not gonna leave your side. I’m gonna sit right here with you.” Of course they survive, but that one interaction is exactly why Leon is as popular as he is. He refuses to leave anyone behind, even if that means putting himself in danger.

Requiem is a fantastic game that managed to balance horror, action, comedy, and even a bit of camp (not to mention the return of a particular enemy that’s been absent from the remakes). For all of the serious aspects I mention, this is the same game where Leon’s corny but hilarious one-line dad jokes are in full force. Leon still relies on the franchise’s classic green herbs, but Grace adapts by using infected blood to craft ammunition and synthesize serums. It’s absurd on paper, but in classic RE fashion, you don’t question it and are suddenly looking for any pools of blood you can find. This game feels like Capcom finally discovered the perfect mixture, balancing the franchise’s historical weight with a new, unburdened future. There is plenty here for every type of fan. Now, we simply wait for the upcoming story expansion to answer the burning question currently keeping the community awake at night. And no, it isn’t about the fate of past protagonists like Claire, Jill, Ada, Chris, etc., or what Alex Wesker is planning from the shadows.

We just need to know: who on earth did Leon Kennedy finally marry?