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It’s time to dust off our trusty pistols and break out the leather jacket because we’re finally headed to bingo. OK, not exactly bingo, but instead the iconic locale of Raccoon City. Not seen since 1999’s Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (or technically Resident Evil 3’s 2020 remake), the latest game in the Resident Evil franchise, Resident Evil Requiem, is returning to its beloved roots.
Taking place about 30 years after the missile strike on Raccoon City, Resident Evil Requiem centers on FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft, the daughter of Resident Evil Outbreak protagonist Alyssa Ashcroft, who is still haunted by the mysterious death of her mother some eight years prior. When she is thrown into an investigation of ritualistic murders connected to her mother’s past in Raccoon City, she catches the decrepit eye of a former Umbrella scientist named Dr. Victor Gideon, who claims she holds the key to unlocking a secret project that is probably super darksided. Since there’s still a month to go until the game’s release, we don’t know all the details just yet, but somewhere along the way of Grace’s investigation, she crosses paths with fan favorite and resident badass, RPD’s Leon Kennedy.
After checking out a preview, Deadline spoke to director Kōshi Nakanishi and producer Masato Kumazawa about what fans can expect from what is sure to be Capcom’s next horror smash-hit.
DEADLINE: It’s been three decades. How does the team keep current on what’s scary? What inspirations are you pulling from when making a Resident Evil game?
KŌSHI NAKANISHI: That is a challenge that the developers have when they are doing an entry in the series. The easiest way to find out [if we succeeded] is to have people play it. How did you find the preview?
DEADLINE: I was overwhelmed with scares. There was a scene where I had three different paths to go down: one led to a kitchen with a big, scary chef, the other led to a dining room full of zombies eating people, and another, which I thought would be safe, contained a maid in the bathroom ready to attack me. I didn’t want to go anywhere.
NAKANISHI: [Laughs.] That’s exactly what we aimed for. I’m very happy to hear that. What you felt, that fear, even to the point where you are kind of scared to go forward or proceed, that’s key to providing fear. It’s about not knowing what’s going to happen or what’s around each corner. Is your death waiting around the corner? You don’t know until you find out. Fear is a seed in your own imagination. So, the key to providing a scary experience in any of these titles is to give the player enough to let their imagination go and basically create fear.
DEADLINE: Resident Evil Requiem has a split-narrative style like Resident Evil: Revelations. What have you learned between making the two games?
NAKANISHI: There is some similarity between the two games, but I want to be clear that I did not purposefully set out to make Requiem a split story just because Revelations was a split story. But yes, there’s similarities in terms of differences in gameplay, surroundings, characters [you interact with], circumstances and so on. When you played the preview, you started out as Leon, and he’s got a lot of firearms, choices and combat options. He’s a very strong character. Once you go from him to Grace, it’s a very big shift. You go from playing a powerful character to Grace, who is more modest in her options, which should give you this feeling of, “Oh my goodness, how am I going to be going through all of this [horror], will I be OK?” This is like my previous answer about the key to fear really being all about players’ imaginations. And this [storytelling device] is just another way that we feel stoked that.
DEADLINE: Was it ever just going to be Grace alone? When did Leon come into the picture?
NAKANISHI: During early prototyping, there were times when we thought about Leon as the single main character or just having Grace as the single character. It was just a lot of trial and error that let us do both.
DEADLINE: How would you describe Leon and Grace to the audience?
NAKANISHI: Grace is a young woman who, eight years earlier, lost her mother. And that’s still traumatic for her, and she hasn’t fully processed that trauma, so it still affects her to the [game’s] present day. She’s much more on the inexperienced side of things, whereas, of course, Leon has been fighting biohazards for close to 30 years at this point. Obviously, he has a lot of mental and physical strength and resilience. But at the same time, since he has been doing this for so long, he’s seen a lot of tragedy, and that weighs on him, which is something that is expressed in Requiem. They’re very contrasting characters. However, through Requiem, Leon’s journey leads him back to Raccoon City, and Grace is also there. So, with that combination, we’ve got some legacy and newer characters both being tied back to Raccoon City, and that’s one of the overall themes and concepts that is expressed throughout Requiem.
DEADLINE: In the preview, it was mentioned that Leon has something called the Umbrella curse. What more can you say about that?
NAKANISHI: This game’s setting takes place 30 years after the Raccoon City incident, which was connected to Umbrella. So, this phrase about the “Umbrella curse” refers to something that has affected people who were either enveloped by the incident or present when that situation happened. But that’s about all I can say for now. [Laughs.]
DEADLINE: Producer Kumazawa, what were some non-negotiables that you had to have in this game to get the themes across?
NAKANISHI: I’ll add that it was vital to [show the effects] of the Raccoon City incident and how it’s affected many people over and over again for close to 30 years in the game. Presenting that in the game is one of the key aspects of communicating the concept and themes of Requiem across the series.
MASATO KUMAZAWA: This was touched on a bit earlier, but it was depicting the contrast [that was important for us]. You have such different characters at different points in their lives between Grace and Leon, which allows the player to experience varied gameplay. And, of course, with storytelling, this is about two different people finding a common journey that leads them both to Raccoon City. Tying all of that together is the core of the themes in Requiem.
DEADLINE: What are you most excited for people to experience with this game?
NAKANISHI: There are two styles that are presented here between Grace and Leon. They are both styles that have been in Resident Evil games in the past. However, this is the first time we’ve combined our gameplay styles in a way that provides tension and release when switching narratives. So, it’s very unique to Requiem. So, I’m most excited to see how users experience that when they play the game.
DEADLINE: I must ask. In the preview, Leon is talking to someone on a headset. And I need to know. Is it Claire or Ada? Where are they?
NAKANISHI: [Laughs.] So, I know a lot of fans are interested in similar things. We all want to know. I am also very interested in the private relationship between Leon and Ada. However, I can’t comment on either one of these things. But I will say that we have put a lot of work into Requiem, implementing stories and things that fans will love and enjoy. So, I hope the fans are looking forward to the game.
Resident Evil Requiem will release February, 27 on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, Windows and Xbox Series X/S
[This interview, conducted through an interpreter, has been edited for length and clarity]
English (US) ·