Resident Evil 9 Requiem: Horror as a Vehicle for Trauma

The Resident Evil series has been around for quite some time now, first making its appearance in 1996 with "Resident Evil" (or "Biohazard" in Japan) on PS1. Over the span of those 30 years, the games have gone through an evolution that has circled back on itself like an ouroboros. When the series first began, it was recognized for its claustrophobic environments, stress-inducing controls, and hair raising tension. But as the series progressed into it's fourth entry, it leaned into action more than horror, trading it's fixed camera angles for a tracking camera, being more generous with resources like ammo, and improving the controls. This trend continued into the 5th and 6th entries. Then, five years after the release of RE6, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard released, and with it, the return of claustrophobic, hair raising horror. 

Resident Evil 9: Requiem shows that, despite the campy action of the RE 2, 3, and 4 remakes, the series intends on continuing it's legacy of making you scream like a five year old who's been shoved in a dark closet by a mean sibling. It honors its past through segments with returning icon Leon, allowing you reprieves from the oppressive terror long enough to feel like a badass, only to throw you back in head first. However, the theme remains no matter whose hands are pulling the trigger: trauma. 

Both characters have pasts that would keep any sane person awake at night. Leon, who is clearly older and more grizzled, carries the weight of the events of RE2, 3 and 4 on his sculpted shoulders. Newly introduced character Grace Ashcroft is haunted by the mysterious murder of her mother, of which she was witness to. The trauma has manifested in different ways for these characters. Leon is hardened, bitter, and tired, looking to put the demons of the past to rest. Grace is anxious, self doubting, but determined, seeking answers that she was denied for eight long years. Although they are driven by different goals and their approaches are night and day, they are both captives of their past. 

The story of the murder unfolds when Grace comes across a bed strewn with pictures of herself and her mother, Emily. The game gives a brief peek into Grace's trauma with a flashback to the night of the incident. After a mysterious phone call, Emily flees the hotel room with Grace as they are pursued. She promises to tell Grace the truth someday, and hides an unknown object behind a large painting. Grace never gets her questions answered, instead met with the devastation of watching her mother die. The hotel goes up in flames as Grace mourns the sudden and violent loss. The fire strikes a contrast to the gray, rainy environment that you are suddenly plunged back into as the flashback ends.

Leon's flashback comes later in the game, when he is forced to return to the Police Department in Raccoon City. The city is a ghost town, littered with decrepit and crumbling buildings, devoid of color - just a shell of itself. As he opens the double doors to the RPD, snippets of moments from RE2's events play, Leon's memories of his first day as a police officer. For the first time in the series, we get a glimpse of survivor's guilt. Under the rough, jaded exterior, Leon has not gone unscathed, a captive to PTSD like Grace. 

Grace and Leon are incredibly different characters, which is highlighted and driven home by the way their segments of gameplay differ. Although the settings can be changed, the game suggests playing Grace's sections in first person, the style of RE7 and 8, while playing Leon's sections in third person over-the-shoulder, the style of the remakes of RE2, 3 and 4. Doing so embodies the styles of the characters. Grace moves slower, more cautiously, hesitant in her actions. Leon moves with purpose, knowing what kind of hell awaits. 

When you play Grace's sections, there is a creeping dread that takes hold. Every moment is pure tension as her breath shudders. She reacts to the jump scares with terror, which honestly makes them more frightening. To be clear, Grace is not a weak character. She is brave and she can fight. She can handle a gun, she can shove enemies. But her anxiety is so visceral that it's infectious. Just the heavy breathing alone is enough to make you want to put down the controller. 

Leon's sections are not only a reprieve from the overwhelming dread, but also a confidence booster. They are structured to make you feel like you are good at the game, like you are an unstoppable zombie killing machine. Leon's time as a DOS agent serves him well. He can roundhouse kick, wield a chainsaw, parry and hack with an axe - he is not the same Leon that entered the RPD in RE2. Although his cocky nature and dry sense of humor remain, he carries himself like someone who is seeking the finish line and doesn't care how roughed up he gets on the way to it. 

Despite these stark differences, Leon and Grace are two sides of the same coin. There is no peace, no respite, for either of them, without a conclusion to their past. Leon must save Grace, because he cannot fail in saving yet another life. Although the pile of bodies is not his, he has claimed responsibility for it. Grace must understand why her mother died. Although it was not her fault, she has punished herself with it. They are swept up into Victor Gideon's - the antagonists - destructive manipulation, each working towards their own goals, but ultimately united in the necessary outcome. 

The first playable moments of Requiem occur on a crowded, disheveled city street. It's raining, the sky is gray, and trash litters the sidewalk. It's not in black and white or sepia, but the colors are dull and diminished, and the sidewalk is so narrow that it's hard not to bump into the NPCs. Upon entering the Wrenhood Hotel, the color scheme grows more oppressive. The flashlight serves as your only source of light, accentuating the shadows around you. The damage from the fire has left a haziness in the air, and a smoky gray tinge to the walls and floors.

After Grace's kidnapping, you are brought to another location, and this one is just as ghostly as the last: the Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center. White walls, hallways that are so narrow they feel like they are shrinking, eerie glows of red and green lights. Outside, the rain continues, occassionally joined in by the clap of thunder. There's no obvious fire damage here, but the grayness remains - except when it is blotted out by complete darkness. 

The final location is that of the decimated remains of Raccoon City. Its half-destroyed buildings stand not as a tribute to the fallen, but as a forgotten ghost town. The smog from the ashes still hangs in the air, and the clouds cover most of the sky, keeping the gray, oppressive aesthetic of the earlier environments. 

Each of the locations continues the dull, muted tones that we see in the games earliest moments. Even the characters fit into this aesthetic. Victor Gideon sports the gray shades for both his flesh and fashion. The zombies would likely blend in with the environments were it not for the streaks of blood. Even Grace and Leon are subdued in their color palettes. Grace's hair is a messy mix of dark brown and platinum blonde and her eyes hover between gray and hazel. Leon's dark brown hair has lost its luster, and his stubble is flecked with gray. The entire world of Requiem has been desaturated. 

Resident Evil 9 left things open-ended, for both Leon and the RE series as a whole. Based on how things ended, it seems unlikely that Grace will be featured in another RE game, but it's possible that Leon could make another appearance, depending on the time skip between RE9 and the next entry. We also know that a mysterious "objective" was retried from the ARK ruins by unknown soldiers. They are clearly enemies, having taken out the BSAA squad, but who they work for and their intentions are not explored. The objective could be the remains of someone important, like Zeno or Gideon. It could be an object, like a syringe or vial of Elpis. Whatever the objective is, and whoever the soldiers are, the ending suggests that there are plans for the next Resident Evil game, and that Umbrella absolutely does have "nasty surprises" in store. But more importantly, were Grace and Leon able to move past their trauma?

It is unclear if the events of Requiem are closure for Leon, and if he will be able to retire from DOS and live out the rest of his life quietly. There are hints that this may happen, like his removal of his gloves when he walks away from Grace after their rescue, and the phone conversation he has with Grace when she is at work. His future with the RE series remains to be seen. When we see Grace back at the FBI office, she is happy and lighter, no longer burdened by her past. She smiles and laughs easily, and her body language is much more fluid then when we first see her. As she walks away from her desk, the camera zooms in on two pictures: one of her with her late mother, and one with her and her newly adopted daughter. It feels tidy and neat, like this is the intended end of Grace's story. In the end, she was able to overcome her past and start her future.