I had been waiting for this title to come out with such high hopes after the last Resident Evil game (RE8 Village). It played so well, and I wasn’t disappointed. Seriously, this is one of the best games I’ve ever played. From start to finish, I was absolutely hooked; every part of the story made sense and was perfect to me. The way each character’s stories felt like two different games just blew me away, to be honest!
When first loading into the game, you are given the options of how to play each character. The game recommends playing Grace in first person and playing Leon in third person. I’m ALL about the way a game should be played. So I indeed used these settings to get the most out of the way they developed the game to feel.
An Agent in Despair:
You play first as Grace Ashcroft, a brand new face to the franchise. An FBI agent sent to investigate a series of unexplained deaths from the Raccoon City survivors of the 1998 outbreak. Upon entering the first location, a derelict old hotel, the game feels eerie, with a looming sense of despair. If played in first person, it pulls you into the game like a real survival horror should. You can feel the fear from Grace, which adds to the severity of her situation.
The hotel she starts in has significant meaning as you see her story start to unfold from her past, starting with the trauma of losing her mother in that very place. She quickly realises things are not what they seem as she is captured by this game’s main antagonist, Victor Gideon. He is huge, looks mean, and absolutely means business. His face, disfigured by what you can only guess at this point, is some sort of T-virus exposure. He whisks her away to the next area, the Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center. You already know it’s going to be filled with undead delights and freakishly grotesque Resident Evil enemies.
A return to where it started:
Enter Leon Kennedy, an absolute Resident Evil legend, and he is tougher than ever! He’s now hitting his 50’s, and he is buffed up! (Thank you, Capcom 😉 His story is all about the action-horror side. Leon, also investigating the deaths, gets a tip off of Victor Gideon being a person of interest. He is called to check out a missing person, but on the way sees Victor carrying Grace away. So his story begins. Playing his story in third person gets you straight into the action. Fast-paced with epic moves, and being able to deal with multiple enemies at once. Which feels so smooth with his melee/ranged combo.
You gain a variety of arsenals to fight off the zombies and seem to take them out with relative ease. Switching from guns to an axe, which you can resharpen throughout the game at any time. His weapons can be upgraded, usually near save points. To upgrade, you gain XP on a wristband from taking out enemies or finding other wristbands. The XP can then be spent on upgrades, ammo, new weapons, or body armour at these points. Leon’s inventory starts quite big, but you can also upgrade the space. This helps with the number of guns you want to carry. He can craft items too, which helps when ammo can be scarce in the game at points.
Two sides to the Gameplay:
When playing as Grace, you are more limited in what you can use to defend yourself. She carries a handgun and also obtains the Requiem Magnum, which is the most powerful weapon in the game. Unfortunately, ammo for this weapon is practically nonexistent, so using it wisely is definitely recommended. She melee’s using makeshift knives that you find, which break after a couple of uses. Which all adds to the fear factor when playing as her.
ou really have to be more stealthy and plan your attacks. After gaining the Blood Collector, which you use to collect blood from corpses around the areas. She can craft a variety of items. The blood, together with other looted items, can craft ammo, health, scrap, and upgrades. Grace’s inventory space starts really small, but you can find extra storage by exploring your surroundings. Again, I think having to plan what you have in your inventory with Grace. It makes her situation seem so much more desperate than Leon’s, adding more fear to playing her story.
There are a few types of enemies, and they require different strategies. My favourite weapons for Leon were the rifle and, of course, the Requiem. Also, unlocking the unbreakable knife for Grace for my second play-through was so worth it! Not only did I always have a knife to melee. I found every makeshift knife I could, but I could also turn scrap into more ammo!
Cherry Moon’s Conclusion:
Final thoughts? Grace’s story is stealthy, slow-paced, creepy, and intense, while Leon’s is fast, loud, and action-packed. They intertwine perfectly and complement each other so well. I loved the controls, and the movement was smooth and reactive. The story is amazing, with a couple of different endings. Both have completely different outcomes, and the gameplay along the way is so well done. I highly recommend this game and will absolutely be doing another play-through to get the infinite ammo to use with the requiem Magnum on insanity difficulty!
