The “Resident Evil” series has been on an absolute roll since the release of “RE 7: Biohazard” in 2017, which essentially revived the series from its five-year drought after the sixth game’s release in 2012. Since then, we’ve received remakes of RE 2 , 3 and  4 and a new mainline game with “RE: Village,” which again revolutionized what the series could be. While good games make a happy fanbase, they also raised expectations for the ninth game to an all-time high, which left “Resident Evil’s” producer, Capcom, with a huge predicament: How do they make a new game that appeals to new fans and old? Even though that seems like an impossible challenge, somehow they managed to do both.

“Resident Evil 7” and “Resident Evil 8” were considerable departures from their usual formula. The most obvious change: They used a first-person point of view as opposed to the usual third-person over-the-shoulder camera angle that “RE” has always used. This perpective change factors into one of the biggest thematic changes — a focus on horror.“RE” has always been a survival horror franchise, but the focus has always been on survival. Every main character of the mainline games has been more than capable of disposing of any of the threats presented. There are some enemies, such as Mr. X or Nemesis, who aren’t able to be killed immediately, but the protagonists simply have to work around them. If anything, the games have created a sense of stress more than fear. Some of the titles, especially RE 3 and 4, are action games more than anything else, with RE 4 often being hailed as one of the greatest action games of all time and a progenitor of the third-person shooter genre. 

With the seventh installment, horror was the number-one priority. The game took the perspective of Ethan Winters, not a bona fide action hero like Leon Kennedy or Jill Valentine, but a systems engineer looking for his wife who went missing. Most of the threats Ethan faces require him to hide or run in the other direction. A lack of light, more enclosed spaces and a much smaller inventory all serve to make Ethan, and by extension the player, very afraid. “Resident Evil 8: Village” also took Ethan’s first-person perspective and focused on horror and continued a plot that was separate from the previous mainline games. It seemed like “RE” had a brand new identity that clicked really well with Capcom’s modern audience. The problem is, they were also releasing remakes of the old games at the same time, and they were a huge hit. Most notably, the remake of “RE 4” brought a ton of new eyes to the series, since the original was already hailed as the most legendary and influential third-person action shooter, and was given the moniker “The Greatest Game Ever: Again.”

“RE 9: Requiem” finds the perfect balance between the new and the old with its two main characters, Grace Ashcroft and the one and only Leon S. Kennedy. While you are allowed to choose between the third and first-person perspective, it is recommended to use first for Grace and third for Leon. As such, Grace’s first-person sections focus on fear and making the player uncomfortable. More often than not, you are in a dark and enclosed space, having to avoid either zombies that take a lot of resources to dispatch or stalker-type enemies like The Girl, who no amount of firepower will stop. Grace is also naturally shaky, sweaty and on edge and you can hear it in not only her dialogue, but just the way she breathes. 

Meanwhile, Leon is still performing at the same level of superhero he has been for the last 20 years, with a wide arsenal of guns and a new tomahawk axe that he uses as his primary way to execute zombies. The best parts of his playstyle from the “RE 4 Remake” have returned, including his tornado kicks he uses on stunned enemies and his parry mechanic that at some point defies physics, deflecting thrown cars, rocket launcher missiles and pure electricity with just a flick of his wrist. Despite being a cop without a hint of fear in his eyes, Leon’s gameplay specializes in making the player live their action movie fantasy. 

The transition between the two is what makes the game feel so satisfying. The game opens with a couple of quick sections between the two characters, getting you properly afraid for Grace’s sections with a masterclass in setting tension, and then showing you how to maximize Leon’s combat prowess. Grace is kidnapped by the scenery-chewing main villain, Victor Gideon, and has to figure out how to escape the care center she is trapped in with vicious infected and some even worse threats wandering the halls, such as The Girl. This first segment is filled with classic RE trials and tribulations, with strange puzzles that involve much doubling back and new doors being opened, but some specific twists make Grace’s gameplay refreshing. 

Although zombies are a mainstay of the RE franchise, RE 9 zombies have unique patterns that separate them from other games. It is clear to the player that using a gun as Grace is only for emergencies and that actually killing a zombie takes far too many bullets for her to feasibly kill all of them. However, each of the zombies are given distinctive traits that are meant to be exploited. The player learns that the virus they are infected with reduced them to their base instincts, which means each of them has a pattern to follow. The first zombie Grace encounters is a chef who walks a specific path of chopping vegetables and then making soup; as long as the player avoids his line of sight,  they can avoid him entirely. There are maitre’d zombies that feel a compulsive need to turn off all the lights, so if Grace flips a few switches, they will be too occupied to notice anything else. If an infected is killed, it also has a chance to mutate into a much stronger and faster Blister Head, making careful planning and strategy Grace’s best weapon. Once you’ve completed the level and begun your descent into the lower levels of the care center as Grace, Leon takes over. Leon traverses the same environment as Grace, which makes it extremely satisfying when you’re able to go scorched earth on the enemies that were an absolute nightmare to contend with previously. Being able to experience both a meticulous and well-crafted horror level, followed by the same section where you’re now able to exact vicious revenge on the monsters that tormented you, makes for an incredibly cathartic gaming experience that also doesn’t drop an ounce of tension because of the switching perspectives.

Spoilers ahead: The only negative parts of the game lie in the story. Now, the story has never been a vital aspect of “RE.” Most mainstream games have contrived plots that aren’t meant to be taken too seriously, but since “RE 9” opens with going over Grace’s pretty traumatic backstory, it gives the impression that the tone will be overall more serious for this game and for the most part, that’s true, for Grace’s sections at least. However, the conclusion of the story leaves much to be desired. We are told that Grace is some sort of biological key needed to release a secret bioweapon named Elpis, but in a twist, it is revealed that she has nothing to do with the secret bioweapon, which isn’t a weapon but actually a cure for all diseases (leave it to RE to have the MacGuffin be the cure for cancer). 

The issue isn’t the twist, which actually fits the themes of the story well, but the fact that the game revolves around Grace for no reason. She doesn’t actually have anything to do with the plot and the villains seem to think that the key is somehow tied to her body chemistry, so the plot starts with them kidnapping her, but the questions arise as to why they didn’t do that 10 years earlier. Their first idea was to create genetic clones of Grace, which they apparently made a lot of, but you’d think they’d need Grace’s DNA to make a clone of her and if they’re able to extract her DNA, I’m pretty sure they could’ve just kidnapped her in the first place. It also should’ve been obvious to them way earlier that the code for Elpis wasn’t tied to her genetic makeup at all, and the code was just the word “Hope.” I don’t think that was that hard to figure out. 

The second issue with the story is the antagonists. First, there’s Victor Gideon, who’s definitely entertaining but doesn’t reveal his motivation until the end when you fight him as Leon. However, he falls short as a villain since Leon defeated him earlier in the story and he hadn’t been on screen for almost a third of the game when he showed up again. Then there’s Zeno, a clone of iconic “RE” villain Albert Wesker, although the game never outright tells you this, so unless you’re a longtime fan of the series, you’ll have no idea what he’s doing in the story. The player is also led to believe that he’s going to be the main villain of the game, but he is decapitated by Gideon at the end of the game with very little fanfare. Lastly, there’s the shadow organization, the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance, who, again, unless you’re a longtime fan, you wouldn’t know who they are or why they would want to kill you. They’re also barely in the game and only show up towards the end to give Leon new enemy types to fight. Finally, there’s the problem of shared screen time between Grace and Leon. Unfortunately, other than Grace’s big section in the beginning, Leon takes the majority of the runtime. That doesn’t hamper the pace of the game too much, but it is supposed to be Grace’s game, and there are long stretches in the middle without any of her gameplay.

The last thing to highlight is the setpieces in this game, because they are so well put together. Every time you might think “RE” 9 isn’t unique enough, a new area will blow you out of the water. Leon has some amazing action setpieces, providing cover for Grace with a sniper rifle, an epic motorcycle race through an abandoned city while being attacked by giant zombie dogs, battling a giant spider in a crumbling building, or a close-quarters axe fight with fan favorite super soldier Hunk, just to name a few. Grace also gets her fair share of excitement, escaping a soon-to-self-destruct laboratory while dismembering zombies with a souped-up fire extinguisher or dodging through a mechanical maze and lighting spotlights to disable and kill The Girl. Overall, “RE 9” heard all of the praise for its predecessors and brought it all into the modern era. While the story might be nonsensical, that’s to be expected with the “RE” formula. I think Capcom knocked it out of the park and I can’t wait for what they’re going to do with the series next: 9/10.