When the news came out that Leon would be a playable character in the ninth main Resident Evil game, most fans were happy. People have missed this character and his special way of fighting the undead. But hidden in this announcement was also a small feeling of worry. It is not the kind of scary feeling that Resident Evil usually creates. This worry is what the talk about sushi is meant to get rid of.
The fear some fans have is understandable. Long-time fans remember the last time Capcom tried to make a Resident Evil game with multiple main characters who played differently. That game was Resident Evil 6 from 2012, which many people consider the most controversial game in the series. Through recent hands-on previews and talks like this one, Nakanishi and his team want to make one thing very clear: this is not Resident Evil 6.
“If sushi had not been invented yet, a person who loves fish would just want to eat sashimi, which is raw fish. A person who loves rice would just want plain rice,” Nakanishi explained.
“Then someone comes along and says ‘I have made this thing, it is called sushi. It is raw fish on top of rice.’ Imagine how you would feel if you were someone who loved eating rice. You might think, ‘Why are you putting raw fish on my rice?’ Or if you are a sashimi person, you would say, ‘Just give me sashimi. Why are you ruining my fish with rice?’
“We are the ‘inventors of sushi’ here,” the director’s comparison concluded. “Even if you think you want just one style, the ‘flavor’ of this game comes from the combination of the two styles.”
From what I have played of Resident Evil 9, I can certainly go along with this idea. I would actually go a step further, though. With four playable leaders, the sixth entry had double the work to do compared to Requiem. Much of that game was defined by using the styles and trends that were popular during the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 era. It is hard to look at Chris’s campaign, for example, without seeing the many brown-tinted third-person shooters from that time.
Basically, parts of Resident Evil 6 were pure ‘Resident Evil’ while other parts were distinctly different. This is where it fell short. Requiem, however, is designed to be a pure expression of the series, even if it features different styles of biohazard action. When I shared my thinking that RE6 was different types of games bolted together, but RE9 is more like two different versions of Resident Evil bolted together, he eagerly clapped and gave a thumbs up.
“Resident Evil 2 Remake and Resident Evil 4 Remake – those games have essentially offered us a template for the two characters. Our simple way to describe it is that Grace is Resident Evil 2 style, and Leon is Resident Evil 4 style,” Nakanishi noted.
The director also admitted that the recent showcase stream focused a lot on Leon performing cool finishing moves and moving, in a sense, like he does in the over-the-top action of the Resident Evil computer-animated movies.
“We realize that has given some players an impression that will be the entirety of the Leon experience in the game. That is not the case. Leon has exploration scenes, he has horrific scenes, he has backtracking.”
For all the action, Leon will still be upgrading weapons, playing inventory management games, and managing his attaché case. All this comes alongside the idea that his sections will still be fundamentally different to Grace’s thanks to his level of experience.
“The idea is that, by combining them together, they are more than the sum of their parts.”
“We’re the guy who invented sushi, here. We’re saying: trust us, take it. Dare to take a leap with us and eat this new product called sushi,” Nakanishi laughs.
And, well – he is right, is not he? Unlikely combinations can often be delicious. From several hours with a clearly close-to-final build, it is abundantly clear that Requiem is no RE6. In fact, I think it might just continue this series’ incredible run – as fitting a 30th anniversary gift as any.
