Capcom has said it’s looking more to the original Resident Evil games for ideas about how to challenge players with boss battles in the ninth Resident Evil game, Requiem.
Specifically, game director Koshi Nakanishi said he wants to test your wits rather than shooting ability.
“Of course there will be boss battles,” Nakanishi told Automaton. “However, rather than defeating enemies in a flashy manner as you progress through the game, like in games that emphasise gun shooting action, the style is more like Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2, where players expand their exploration area in a closed space and overcome obstacles using their wits.”
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The game’s new protagonist, Grace Ashcroft, is central to this. Unlike Leon Kennedy, she isn’t a veteran killer with hardened nerves, so she won’t immediately be capable of gunning down hordes of undead. Nakanishi has said before that Leon Kennedy is “actually quite a bad match for horror”. So unlike Kennedy, Ascroft will start the game as quite defenceless. But she will learn.
“One thing that’s so appealing about the Resident Evil series is that characters who are initially terrified grow stronger as they gain experience in extreme situations,” Nakanishi said. “Grace is scared at first, but the situation eventually causes her to snap, and she becomes able to fight her enemies.”
We had a chance to sit down with Nakanishi at Gamescom to talk about pacing. Alex thinks Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is one of the best-paced entries in the series, and Nakanishi directed that game as well. “My approach is the same this time…” Nakanishi said, before launching into a longer explanation.
Resident Evil Requiem launches at the beginning of next year, on 27th February.
