Resident Evil is one of my favorite game series of all time, but one thing I don't like about the latest games is the idea of an enemy that stalks you for large portions of the game, such as Jack Baker from Resident Evil 7, Mr. X from Resident Evil 2, and Nemesis from Resident Evil 3.
And yes, I openly admit that the reason I don't interact with these people is because I'm a little scaredy cat with anxiety. Knowing that an invincible monster could burst through the wall and strangle me at any moment is simply too much prolonged stress for my weak constitution.
I was nervous about how Capcom hypes up Resident Evil Requiem's scare factor. Again, I love these games to death, but there are moments – especially in 2 and 7 – that start to test the limits of my tolerance. That's why I was relieved to hear producer Masato Kumazawa's story. Well done that the entire stalking element has been toned down compared to recent games in the series.
“I understand that there are many opinions surrounding stalker, but we are providing a survival horror experience,” Kumazawa said. “We've learned from the past how to balance it. We try not to make it the main part. It's like a small part of the game.”
To be clear: I was not under the impression that Capcom weakens the stalker enemy's screen time to make Resident Evil Requiem less scary. After all, it's headed by Resident Evil 7 director Koshi Nakanishi, who said the series “should scare the hell out of you.” Moreover, Kumazawa added that the focus is on “trying to scare the player in different ways.”
“Given that players can be involved in a wide variety of situations, we are simply trying to cover a variety of scenarios so that players can get scared and experience horror.”
If you're worried that Requiem won't be scary enough, our hands-on impressions from the summer should put that worry to rest:
“Requiem has a pervasive sense of claustrophobia that is most comparable to the Baker House in Resident Evil 7, especially when viewed from a first-person perspective,” wrote GR's Jasmine Gould-Wilson.
“Stuck in a tiny corner of an assisted living facility, this is definitely not the Raccoon City Police Department with all its winding passages, staircases, short passages and safe rooms, and this creature is not just stomping around like Mr. X. The slightest creaking and shuffling overhead stops me dead in my tracks as I obsessively check the ceiling for signal hiding spots.”
The Resident Evil Requiem producer calls Leon Kennedy DLC rumors “fake news” but tells fans they are “free to believe what they want” even if “we can't give you any confirmation.”
