Resident Evil: Requiem Developers Are Still Being Coy About Leon Kennedy

When I walked into my interrogation with Resident Evil: Reiquem manager Koshi Nakanishi and shaper Masato Kumazama, I came equipped with a large heap of questions astir a quality who, arsenic acold arsenic we cognize officially, is obscurity to beryllium found: Leon Kennedy.

I had these questions prepared due to the fact that the time earlier my interview, Capcom aired its Capcom Online Program showcase to coincide with Tokyo Game Show. And to anxious Resident Evil fans, me, and galore of my coworkers, it seemed evident that we were yet going to get a caller trailer revealing Leon's authoritative precense successful the game, arsenic a playable quality oregon otherwise.

But that's not what happened. We did spot a caller trailer, but nary Leon. And a preview physique disposable astatine TGS, which I went hands-on with aft my interview, was likewise bereft of Leon.

When I brought up the strangeness of my expectations and the resulting Leon Kennedy drought to Nakanishi and Kumazawa, they conscionable laughed.

"We volition instrumentality connected committee this feedback," Kumazawa said.

Fan clamor for Leon has been going connected for months now, ever since the game's archetypal trailer appeared to incorporate aggregate teases for, astatine minimum, a Leon appearance. But rumors person since grown, with immoderate suggesting Leon mightiness amusement up successful the crippled arsenic a secondary playable protagonist alongside newcomer Grace Ashcroft. Nakanishi and Kumazawa person attempted to brushwood those rumors aside, saying that Kennedy is simply a mediocre lucifer for Reqiuem's little action-heavy tone, but the fervor has persisted anyway, and the 2 are stopping abbreviated of saying outright that we won't get to power him astatine all, adjacent for conscionable a small bit.

Given each this discussion, I asked the brace if they had immoderate concerns that each the Leon nonsense was distracting from their effort to presumption Grace arsenic the game's star. But they're not worried. "We're ever blessed that radical are funny successful the crippled capable to speculate truthful much," Kumazawa said.

If, then, the brace are truthful insistent that Grace is the caller look of this Resident Evil story, could Reqiuem server arsenic a benignant of passing-of-the-torch betwixt aged and caller Resident Evil? Not quite, Kumazawa says.

"Although we don't person steadfast plans for the aboriginal storylines of aboriginal titles successful the series, I inactive deliberation passing the torch is astir apt going a spot excessively far, due to the fact that we're not conscionable going to hitch the slate cleanable wholly successful presumption of the bid lore and history. But astatine the aforesaid clip I don't privation to ever person to conscionable spell backmost to the good of existing characters to make caller games, which was portion of the information to present Grace."

We previewed Resident Evil: Requiem conscionable past month, and you tin work our impressions of what we've seen truthful acold close here. You tin besides cheque retired the remainder of my treatment with Nakanishi and Kumazawa, including however Reqiuem came to the Nintendo Switch 2. We've besides antecedently spoken to the brace connected a fig of different topics, specified arsenic Raccoon City's instrumentality and the game's caller monster design.

Rebekah Valentine is simply a elder newsman for IGN. You tin find her posting connected BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a communicative tip? Send it to [email protected].