Requiem director says bloodier combat underscores Leon’s hardened state

Polygon reports that Resident Evil Requiem director Kōshi Nakanishi says the game’s amplified gore was designed to emphasize Leon Kennedy’s toughness, and he discussed Leon’s return, the game’s tone, and newcomer Grace Ashcroft at a preview event in New York.

Nakanishi said Requiem aims to “tie together the new and old” by returning the series to its main storyline after the recent Ethan-centered titles. He noted Leon hasn’t had a starring turn since 2012’s Resident Evil 6, though he led the 2023 remake of the fourth game, and that Leon’s decades of fighting mean players should expect much more graphic violence during his sections. The team also leaned into an industrial-sounding soundtrack to convey Leon’s calm brutality, and Nakanishi described the Chunk boss as deliberately huge but placed in tight hallways so its movement feels fresh and unsettling.

By contrast, Nakanishi said Grace is written as fearful and inexperienced — equipped with a very small gun and a single bullet in early sequences — to mirror newcomers and ramp up tension. He added that Requiem’s story will be more intimate and personal for both protagonists, and that the game seeks to capture the feeling of overcoming fear and finding a kind of peace afterward.

Key Topics

Culture, Koshi Nakanishi, Leon Kennedy, Grace Ashcroft, Resident Evil Requiem, Capcom