ZAMP 345 - Resident Evil Requiem

I'm a zombie! I've been bitten! You're listening to the survival You're all going to die, Downy. This is Zombies Ate My Podcast. Hello and welcome to Zombies Ate My Podcast. I'm your host, Ryan Murphy, and joining me as always is the busy zombie lover Lou Paige. How's it going, Lou? Leon has some sweet moves. Yeah. Not ever before have we seen a a man so handy with a hatchet, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

That's gonna be our main topic. Not not Leon with a hatchet, but our main topic. Well, I guess part of it. Uh we're gonna be talking about Resident Evil Requiem today. Uh we've we've both managed to complete the game and we're gonna talk Um there's gonna be two parts. There's gonna be non spoilers. We're gonna start off with that, and then we will have a time marker for spoilers.

The game's been out for a month, so if you haven't finished it or you're still avoiding spoilers, uh you can skip that that later portion. And uh uh or save it for later, which we would prefer. Save it for later, come back once you finished it. But We're gonna basically talk about whatever we want in that segment, mostly focused on stories, moments, surprises, that sort of thing. So if you wanna avoid like cameos and

The ending in general, you're gonna want to skip that. But we've got plenty of news since we've been off uh uh three weeks over our normal two, so let's jump into the news. Number. The virus has completely devastated over a hundred and fifty of the world's major regions and then is spreading rapidly. Lou, I wonder, are you excited for The Last of Us Season 3? Because they've added some additional cast. I like everybody they added. I still have zero interest in this.

Yeah, so we have Jason Ritter and Patrick Wilson. I'm gonna say I'm gonna watch it for the show and you'll get my thoughts and I'll try to give it as fair shake as I can. But I didn't enjoy the first the second season. That much. It was okay. It didn't wow me. And going into season three, I was excited to see who's joining the cast. And, you know, I'll give it a fair shake. But I'm not like

Yay, I have this is gonna this is gonna be awesome. I was like, yay, more backstory and things that are gonna depress me. Yay. Yeah. I think a lot of people had that reaction to The Last of Us part two, the video game. Um, it kind of expands upon the uh traumatizing story of the first one and uh does not hold any punches, but we've got uh Jason Ritter and Patrick Wilson joining the series. Uh Jason Ritter is gonna be playing a uh what was it? A Washington Liberation Front soldier named Hanley.

That doesn't ring any bells to me that uh it it it it it's a character that will show up. But Patrick Wilson uh is going to be playing Abby's father, Jerry. Who plays a prominent role in flashbacks. Now, I thought That's Abby's father, which is uh the doctor that Joel killed when he rescued Ellie. I thought we saw him in season two. I thought we saw him in season one. I thought we saw his face.

Well we saw him in like Doctor Scrubs, right? And you couldn't Right. It it feels almost like they're trying they they don't want to bring that actor back. They wanted to get a bigger name and I think I think this is a ploy to get better ratings for the next season. Yeah, but this is similar to the video game,'cause in the video game, the first one, the doctor's sort of like nameless, and then the second video game, they do uh they do apply a character, which we have not seen in the show yet.

they g they expand upon the character and and sort of go into they and they do have an opportunity to kind of like play into the doctor's role and, you know, finesse the story a little bit to be like, okay, like, you know, Joel feels what he did was justified'cause he was saving you know, saving Ellie.

It's just it'll be really interesting to see how they tackle it because the video game, what it what it tried to do with Jerry's character is humanize him and apply a bit more of that like uh conundrum of like do we kill Ellie to save the world and possibly create a vaccine. Like how possible like it was a bit of a retcon, right? Because after The Last of Us One came out, like a lot of people were like, well that wouldn't actually work.

It didn't make sense. These you know, the fireflies were crazy. They were just killing people because they thought they were doing the right thing, but really it was like just it was it was a bad idea. And I think the sequel kind of tried to like, okay, let's apply some more logic on their end so it's a little more weighted evenly, bringing the equation of like

what Joel did, was it right or wrong type thing. So I think the show is gonna do the same thing because the video game did that. And I think a lot of people that's gonna frustrate probably a lot of people. I don't like me saying this out loud is like, I don't think this is gonna calm any concerns. No, I think I think there's people that are that are that are gonna dig this, that that like The Last of Us. It has its fans.

I don't think no matter what the casting is, I don't think that the if if people are in my camp where they're just kind of like, meh, don't care, I don't think this is going to sell them. I think that uh the this is this casting and them trying to add plot and trying to do something is It's like a last ditch effort to try and try and grab people like me and I don't think it's worth the effort. I I think they need to just work on their story, put the put the show out and see what happens.

But I know I'll I know I've talked to more than my handful uh share of handful of people that are kinda like, Yeah, I I tuned in for season two. Man, that stuff's depressing and I get the vibe of I I I get the vibe of the Glen situation with Walking Dead. I know a lot of people that after Negan bashed Glenn's head in, they were like, yeah, I'm out. I don't care. Ah, that's fair. That's a good comparison. A good comparison. I mean, the game had a similar effect.

The difference being with a show, you can bounce out in the first or second episode'cause it's on HBO and you're like, well, I just won't renew my sub or I'll watch something different. A video game's a lot tougher because it's uh you know, a sixty plus dollar investment and you're like, Oh crap, like I guess I'll keep playing and you have the benefit of getting the full story. Whereas, you know, we've had to wait a a year plus for this third season. But

That first game, that story is just so well crafted that of course it was gonna make a great season. And I think when we were discussing that first season, it was like, man This was so perfect and I don't we cannot expect the same from season two. They they could perfectly adapt part two. And it would still have problems because that story is not as tight and it's not as enjoyable, you know. So it's telling a specific kind of story which is um not to everybody's liking. So

Uh we'll see. We've got the we gotta wait till 2027 to watch that one. Um so stay tuned for that. Uh the next story we have here Is John Carpenter's Toxic Commando is out right now, and this is the Left for Dead style game. Uh and it's launched uh across all platforms outside of the switch or switch two and it's got about a metascore of seventy-two, which is not bad, right?

Not bad. I i i in general general, even with user reviews, it's getting like a seven point eight. Yeah. That's that that that's better than I was expecting. Yeah, there's an interesting genre, this whole like back for blood, left for dead style of gameplay. And I I I'm curious about this one, but I have heard like it's it still doesn't capture

what made Left for Dead so appealing, which is unfortunate. I think I I think that's a that's those are tough shoes to fill. Oh, a hundred percent. You know yeah. And and and Back for b I think Back for Blood would have worked better had they not to tried so hard to put like card mechanics and and spend real money on our game kind of mechanics and stuff, which I think they ended up dropping later on, but after they dropped it, it was too late. They already lost the player base.

You know? Yeah. I love the variety of weapons that Back for Blood gave, but again everything seemed to hinge on what cards I was taking with me into battle to give me bonuses and stuff. And I think that that just I think that just hurt them. I completely forgot about those cards. It was the one of the reasons I kept not going I I kept forgetting to go back to the game was because I was like, oh

Yeah, they keep wanting me to spend real money on stuff and or play and grind for more cards. And I was like, I don't want to grind level grind stages to get more cards. This is stupid. Yeah. I just want to play the game. J just give me the game. Give me a game. Make it fun. Make it fun and I'll keep replaying.

Yeah, so we'll keep an eye on this one. It might be something we check out down the road on a sale and and uh Well w I I think I think come summer sale this will be much more affordable, but I will give it credit. It came out at budget price. It's it's a forty dollar title. I think that was a smart move. Um, I think that's probably gonna put it in more people's hands than putting it out at a sixty or seventy dollar price point, especially if it's not a perfect game.

Um, I mean, did you see the news this week about uh about Steam and game selling on Valve? Uh is the game selling on Steam and Price Point. Did you see there was an article about it? Because Steam has been releasing all of their sales d their sales data is pretty much very public. And it was showing that the new price point that everybody's jacked up to to$70, it does good for like. super big budget games like Resident Evil Cell. But most...

Gamers are not willing to take a risk on something they're not familiar with for seventy bucks. And the sale tapers off after initial buy and they drop off the face of a cliff. But if you look at games that sell for$30 or less, they constantly sell and they keep selling and the sales never drop. And it looks like the$30 price point or less make more money than the$70 price point in the long run. I hadn't seen that article, but it makes sense.

To me, for sure. So so this coming out at a budget price? I was like, this was the right call. This this is gonna sell more, way, way, way more at 40 than with middling reviews than if it it came out at a full price. Yeah, I'm also surprised it didn't have like a Game Pass deal or one of the subscription deals because i it it seems like that's another avenue that games will take to kind of like build out the player base. Uh I know Back for Blood did that.

I I know, but I've heard some tail end stuff, um back end stuff with both Epic and Xbox. Where doing that actually ends up hurting them in the end, it it it boosts sales briefly and then the sales taper off. They end up with a player base, but then people go, Okay, it's not on Game Pass anymore. I'm not buying it. I played my mu played my fill of it. Or Epic will release it for free for one month or whatever it is that the Epic does within the free game for a month or whatever.

And then as soon as that's off, they might get a couple sales, good sales for the next month or two. And then it drops off the face of the cliff and nobody even plays it anymore after that. That's what happened to the Evil Dead game. Yeah. The cool part is that you can buy the soundtrack, which is by John Carpenter and uh Fractal Edge Music.

So John Carpenter continues to be involved with uh the stuff that makes him happy. Hey man, he still he still does concerts. Yeah, that's not surprising. I mean that guy loves to he loves a certain amount of work. He he he he he likes it I think he likes his music more than he does his movies. Yeah. I think he's retired from Hollywood. There was an article out there that where he was talking about it in sp in in relation to his video game work, so

Uh yeah, we'll we'll see we'll see on that one. It's uh We we'll keep an eye on it. Uh but speaking of Hollywood, let's go there for a little bit and as Lou predicted, twenty eight years later the Bone Temple would be arriving soon to streaming and it looks like it's gonna be on Netflix in the US. On March thirty first. So as of this recording, not that long from now, depending on when you're listening, probably already available. Hey, maybe it's already been taken off Netflix. Who knows?

Yeah. March thirty first. You'll be able to watch this on streaming and I think we're gonna uh slot this one in. Not not for our next episode, but our episode after that. We've got a we've got an extra life movie to get to, but I'm excited for to watch this one. We will get to it by the end of April. Um I think it will still be uh I think it'll linger on Netflix for three or four months is my guess. I think that's what the last one did too.

Yeah. Yeah, I think Sony has a deal like a sort of a first stream uh first streamer deal with that whatever they call it. Uh pay one window agreement. So the deal ensures that Sony's theatrical slate lands exclusively on Netflix. And uh applies to just the US and a few other select regions for now, but it ex oh it's it'll be expanding globally in twenty twenty seven. So you and I will be on the same page. It won't just be in the US. So very soon. We'll see how that goes.

Um we've also got some uh more video game news. Now, Lou, have you ever played Seven Days to Die? I have not. Okay. I haven't either. My only sort of experience with this one is uh I had I had coworkers that would play this game. It was like a manager and an engineer and they would like play this game religiously, like this would be their weekend video game time. And like one guy would just build the bases and the other one would, you know

I guess manage. And it was kind of interesting. Like it didn't really seem like a kind of game that they would they would play and enjoy, but they got a real kick out of it. Uh and Seven Days to Die actually the developers behind it are gonna be joining Behavior Interactive, which is the Dead by Daylight folks. They they bought them, so Uh it's and it's being heralded as good news. They are excited about this acquisition to see what they can do with the Yeah, the i it uh things like this are uh

Things like this are not bad. It's not like they got bought by EA or Activision or somebody else. It's a definitely a smaller it's a bigger bigger uh developer, but it's not a developer that has five hundred IPs to manage. This is something with a small that they have smaller things. They can give this some love. They can expand this team and make it do something different.

They may take what they've learned from Seven Days to Die and do a new game and do something different with the with with a with a new developer to assist them. I mean, they could do some cool stuff. Uh I mean Seven Days to Die never seemed like it was a game for me. I've never been a fan of the games that may making me craft beyond playing something like Stardew Valley where it there's more things to do than just craft. give me a plot, even if the plot is silly, and and I I'll play it. But

It's never been my style of game, but seeing them do something different or get picked up, that it's good for everybody. It's good for everybody. Yeah, I agree. This isn't some like Microsoft buying a small studio. This is uh the Dead by Daylight folks have been really good at like purchasing studios that fit their sort of like

horror genre and not necessarily like changing how they do things, but just supporting how the developers do things. So they've uh and they've done a lot of work to kind of expand the Dead by Daylight IP a little bit with uh with other studios. So uh it'll be one to watch. Um it's a game that's been in early access for a while, or I don't even know if it's launched. I I think it's like one of those games that's just continuously developed.

To be honest, I'm not sure. I was gonna look it up. Yeah. Um I think they still put I think I still see updates on Steam being like, Yeah, we put out a patch or something like that. So okay. So they are available. Uh it's i they are out of early access and they have a bunch of DLC. So there's like options there for um Depending on what you want to do. Um, let's stay with video games, and I feel like every week we have a story that relates to Resident Evil remakes, but

They've got a new report now that expands upon what they're working on. These are all rumors and leaks by the same folks who have done it before, uh, from Dusk Gollum. So the idea here is that uh Code Veronica is getting a remake in twenty twenty seven. That should be announced this year, which Lou and I we've talked about before and you agreed we'd like to get a trailer this summer showcasing an early twenty twenty seven release.

Then they talk about uh RE Zero, which is another one we've heard them working on. And finally, uh an RE One remake is now in full production, but very early, and there's talk that RE one could potentially be targeting the thirty-fifth anniversary of Resident Evil, because we're in the thirtieth anniversary right now.

So right. I think that this this is so far ahead of the schedule that I don't I think we'll get a 10 before we get this. But I can see them starting production on what they're going to do and laying out the groundwork. And it makes sense for them to do that if they're going to do um if they're gonna do a uh zero, then it makes sense for them to do a one. Yeah. Exactly. And of course Resident Evil Ten is gonna happen because Resident Evil Nine sold like five million plus copies

uh maybe more at this stage. That was the last number I think they gave us. So lots of Resident Evil on the horizon just goes to show that even when you have a dud like Resident Evil Six that does not kill a franchise, there is a way To come back. I have a theory about what our topic is tonight. I think we I might even be willing to bet money that we get a six remake before we get A one remake. And I think that this I think this game might have been laying the groundwork for that.

Although I wonder If you and it's funny, we always have this conversation when we talk about remakes, but it's interesting. They've they've kind of been going i in a weird order. But I feel like if you go back to Resident Evil Zero, you're kind of starting from the from the beginning and you're going zero, one. And then si five and six are kind of like in that no man's land of like, will they, won't they? I I I mean I think look, I stand by what I said before. All of them are gonna get remakes.

in in the next decade, right? Yeah. Uh yep. Two, three, four, the ones we've that have already been remade, those ones aren't gonna be touched. They might get like some new console patches, but I don't think those are gonna get remade again. But and seven, eight, nine obviously, are on their own. But five and six are definitely gonna get remade at some point because Capcom only has so many of these mainline games to remake and they sell like hotcakes.

Based on how they update them. They update them to sell because I mean it's just how it's worked. I I think the way we played with Leon in this game we're gonna talk about tonight. I think it was laying the groundwork to fix all of the gunplay mechanics that were wrong in six. I think that this was them lining up that style of mechanic to go in to play that. I also think that this is they're going to tackle Zero in the same way that this tackled uh two characters.

I don't think we'll ever I don't think we're gonna have a buddy system where you have to swap live action between two people to play the game. I don't think that's coming. I have a funny feeling we are going to play a Resident Evil game that's going to have you play as Rebecca. She's going to play more like Grace.

where she has to run and hide from stuff a little bit more and her gunplay. And then you'll play as I think his name was Billy was the guy that she pla that was her counterpart in zero. And I think he's gonna be the Leo. He's gonna be the guy you play as as a badass. He probably gonna use more melee weapons to take out zombies or something. And I think that I think that that this game was ironing out mechanics they're gonna use Fazero.

Yeah. Interesting. And like and like and likewise I think it it's good they're gonna use for both uh uh five and six. No, that's interesting. I hadn't really thought about them using Zero to kinda like play on that like horror slash action split. That's that's an interesting approach. Um I mean Rebecca Chambers is the rookie, right? Of the stars unit. Okay. So that could be And she's also the and she's also the medic. Yeah, true, true.

Okay. Hmm. I haven't thought about that. That's an interesting idea. I mean we'll see. Uh look, I I think we get the Code Veronica trailer this year and something else we're gonna be getting. related to our topic, Resident Evil Requiem, is uh Capcom has confirmed that there will be a story expansion.

coming, uh well, don't expect it any time soon. They said it's in development. It's gonna take time. But they also confirmed that in May they'll be getting a mini game uh added to the game and based on the combat in Requiem, man I hope it's uh mercenaries because I wanted more of that combat. Yeah I think that that's what's coming. I think we're gonna get a mercenaries mode. And that that that that works for me. I always love the mercenary modes in in these games. I think

Five might have been the only one I didn't love. I liked it but I didn't love or Maybe it was eight. No, I did play a lot of eight. I I've done played a ton of the mercenary modes in all of them. So I mean, I'm happy with whatever they give us. Yeah. Yeah, me too. Although it's it would be a shame if it wasn't a mercenaries-esque mode because the combat is just so satisfying, like with the counters and the gunplay, so It would be a shame to have this one skipped.

The mercenaries mode, but we'll see. I don't I think that's what's coming. I think that's what's coming. And I've also heard talk that there's gonna be a DLC, that there's a rumor that there's gonna be a DLC. that revolves around Leon because apparently people have zoomed in and he has a wedding ring on his finger and people think that there's gonna be a mini uh there's gonna be a DLC that has something to do with Yeah basically his wife or something being in danger or something.

I've heard a rumor. I don't know how true it is. Or maybe his wife is very capable and they go on an adventure together. Who knows? Yeah, maybe who knows? I I I we will talk a little bit more about that when we get to the the spoil. I mean it look, it's not like oh my gosh, Leon was married. It's not a spoiler, but it's one of those things where the internet's kind of run with it. And I think the theories of Who it could be is is a is a fun

conversations. Yes. But uh Capcom has been pretty clear. They're like, we are gonna tell you who it is, we know who it is, but like we want we want you to just understand that like we put it in there so that you as the player would know Leon was going home he was going home to a happy home and that should make you feel good. And I mean, it does make me feel good because he went through the shit in that game. He went through a lot of yeah stuff.

Yeah, yeah, he's not he's not gonna die. Exactly. Exa well yeah, exactly. All right. Enough spoilers. Let us jump into I mean, come on, you knew he was It's Leon. Uh let's get into our main topic. He's too popular. Exactly. Exactly. All right. Main topic time. Let's talk about Requiem. You know, I do have a question.

When's the last time you brush your teeth? I just gotta say I loved that line. Uh to the point where where I got that clip was me d doing a video capture of uh of that moment. Cause and then I showed and I didn't show my kids but I Caden kept walking in while I was playing.

And he was kinda interested in in what it was. And I showed him this clip and I said like this is this is kinda what it reminds me of like when I asked you guys when when was the last time you brushed your teeth and you just kinda like ignore the question and walk away. It was so uh I love them. Look, all of Leon's one liners in this game are just perfect. Like he has so many great lines. They they did such a great job.

uh with him and just blows uh Chris's returns out of the water in terms of like Chris showing up for like a gruff Ethan, you don't understand. You don't understand. It's the BSA b bullshit m Miranda Mold stuff. But this is like Amazing. They've done such a great job with this. So they did uh okay. So

I was a little annoyed in the beginning playing as Grace'cause I knew what they were doing. I was like, Oh, they're gonna do the jump scare thing. They're gonna try and make me they're gonna try and make me scared. They're gonna they're gonna frighten me. Okay. And the only time I was scared was never uh that I was actually scared. Scared. When you first get to the hospital and you're getting chased by a big monster and you have to like distract it with sound.

And I was never like actually scared, but there was a there was a lot of tension and a lot of frustration at that point. Um once I got through that section and Grace actually gets a gun. I was like, oh, I love this. This is great. Yeah. Yeah. So there's two there's two sides of the game. We'll s let's start with Grace,'cause i it is uh it is a heavy portion of the start of the game playing as Grace. Yes. And then it's like no almost non existent in the second half.

Yeah, she sort of takes a back seat uh in the second half. But I I would say that I was worried that her segments would be scary, too scary for me to play. And I agree with you that first segment in the hospital where you don't have a weapon and it's trying to teach you sort of the pursuit monsters and and how to deal with them. Uh, and they do such a great job of animating uh what they call the girl.

and how she sort of stalks around and avoids light. And I think that's the key takeaway with that intro segment is that they they explain the rules very clearly that If you see like these well lit rooms, go to them and then the girl will run away and that's gonna come back later on. But that whole intro section is tr teaching you the puzzle solving mechanics of Resident Evil, uh, the pursuit monsters, and stealth as well. Uh

And yeah, like that intro segment was scary though, because th your first time playing through, there's a lot of these like jump scares that are designed in a way to scare you. They they don't scare you the second time you're playing because like they are Somewhat cheap in terms of like you open a closet and a lamp

sort of falls out of it and and scares it scared me the first playthrough. My my favorite is when you open the door and the dead guy falls out and then the big thing eats it. And you go like Uh wouldn't I have heard that thing coming up behind me two seconds ago? Well no because it comes from the ceiling, but I yeah yeah, probably you would have you would have heard it.

Uh it that whole intro segment is it's short in comparison to like the greater area and the sort of hospital, but that little intro segment is such a great way of introducing grace and her mechanics And and ver and I was worried like, oh, is this gonna be another seven where like the weapons are shit and they don't do anything? And Grace's segments, like eventually they give you a gun and then you get Requiem from Leon, which has very limited ammo.

But then you get the abilities slowly as you go, you learn how to dispatch enemies. You learn that you can get the the crafting thing where you can build um like an injector to completely take zombies off the board. Yeah. But it also implements like an R E one remake segment where like if you kill a zombie by shooting them or stabbing them, They go down and they remain, and they can actually come back as a stronger zombie uh to to go after Grace.

What I tried to do is c uh the first time I had one come back on me and I went, Oh, I don't like this. The first time that happened. At that point after I took that one out, I made a point of not going once I knew I had gotten everything in a room or an area, I made a point of not backtracking through that area so that that I wouldn't have to experience that.

Yeah. Yeah. You do and that's the other thing too. It's like it's a survival horror. So you're like managing your inventory, you're managing sort of how you explore. And that intro grace segment, like once the hospital started to get going. I I wasn't sure I was gonna enjoy it, but I really enjoyed that segment. The puzzle solving, the moving from room to room to to solve different puzzles. The only point playing as her that I did not enjoy.

Is there a segment where you play as a grace child later in the game? We'll talk about it in spoiler section. Yeah. I did not enjoy that. Um and there was a point where you end up in the basement of the hospital and everything is dark and dreary and I didn't enjoy that aspect. Uh just because the thing chasing you kept showing up? And every time I would get to the point where I was gonna do something, I'm like, okay, it's gonna show up and I would be like, yep.

It showed up again and now I have to run. Yay. How many more times am I gonna have to do this? And it was also two points in that game, that that area where I didn't have enough inventory to pick up a certain amount of ammo. And I was like, I'll go back to that room. And then it made a point of making sure that I could not go back to that room so that the map still showed the ammo, but I couldn't use it. And I was like, What are you doing? Come on.

That happened to me twice in that area and I was like, I don't know if this is just bad game design or uh on their part or they just weren't they weren't thinking. I felt like I I felt like I was not the player that they were expecting. I think they were expecting people to not not have ammo not have ammo. I have to be honest, playing as Grace Once I got the mechanics of what I was doing and I upgraded my and my my blood catcher, I kind of never ran super low on bullets.

Um I always seem to have like two clips worth. Yeah. Yeah. No, it it's It was rare it was rare for me to be like in danger and I'd be like, Oh, okay, I can just I can save these bullets. I'm gonna need'em later. Yeah, I really felt like playing as Grace, the game is very generous when it knows you need bullets. Uh so It's it's never gonna leave you in a pinch. That being said, when you do beat the game, it unlocks insanity mode. And I think that's where the challenge lies of like, okay.

you really do need to manage your ammo, your saving with ink ribbons, uh, which is also available in standard classic. Like there's a lot of ways to play this game, but your first playthrough Really, in my mind, it depending on how you wanna approach it, you can do standard classic, which is your saving with ink ribbons that you can craft using the blood catcher. Or just standard where you can just save whenever you whenever you want at a typewriter.

And and I think that's the proper way to for your first playthrough is just is just to enjoy the game, explore the story, uh go through every nook and cranny. There's lots of stuff that you can skip. uh whether you want to or not. And I really do appreciate That the game does allow you to explore, take your time. It doesn't lock you out of puzzles and areas if you uh if you choose to go to them later. It's very clear when you're leaving.

sort of a an area. I guess the the basement does get locked out when you come back up from it, but it's a f pretty self contained area. Like I don't think you're I don't think there's anything critical down there that that you would need like a like a uh inventory expansion or something like that. So you uh you can I I actually like the basement and honestly I I played the game multiple times.

And that basement area is like a lot more fun when you know the path and you can kinda like, okay, I know if I go this way, I gotta use this power plug to turn on this light and It's it's a lot more smoother, but when you're discovering it for the first time, it can be overwhelming for sure. Yeah, I definitely missed a couple of monkeys in that basement. A couple sorry, a couple what? The monkeys.

Oh, you mean the raccoons. The raccoons, sorry. Weren't they monkeys in a different game? Uh yeah, it's probably, yeah. Uh it's it's Mr. Raccoon, yeah. I think it was Mr. Raccoon, but I think in in in Seven or eight. I thought they were monkeys with symbols. I don't know. It's been so long. I haven't played seven. I guess I played eight pretty recently. Was was it monkeys?

Yeah, they do kind of sound like the symbol monkeys you kind of a little bit. Yeah, that's that's why I kept th and that's why I kept thinking that's what they were. But yeah, you're right. They're missed raccoons. Yeah. Um I missed one or two of them in the basement. I think I got almost all of them in the playthrough I was in, except for like a couple in that basement.

Yeah, I think there are some down there now that now that I think about it, which which are missable. There's one in there's one in a room, but the room you have to flip a switch to open the door, go into the room, and if you miss it, you have to close that door the second time. And you have to reopen it to go back in and get it if you want it. And I never reopened it because I didn't realize it was in there.

And then you get an item I think that shows you where they all are in the hospital. And I was like, Ah, I missed one. Dang it. And that's where the multiple playthroughs come in. I'll say I enjoyed the Leon segments in the hospital, but I felt I was worried by the time you leave the hospital, I thought they were gonna be a cop out.

Because you spend almost all of the hospital playing as her and then the Leon segments in the hospital are like you just played as Grace for two hours. Now you play as Leon is five minutes. Ten minutes. And then you go back to playing as Grace for like another hour. Then you play as Leon for like five minutes. Ten minutes. And he feels much more video gamey than she does.

She feels like she's in a survival game. His segments feel like you're playing something that makes you feel badass for five minutes. And I was worried that that was gonna be the whole game, that they were gonna do that over and over and over and over again. And they don't.

Um once you get to about the halfway mark, I would say you play as Leon in the second half for like two thirds of the game. And she's she's uh she's She takes a back seat in the second half, and I thought that was a really nice choice. Yeah. Although I did miss I did miss her when she's off screen because like she is a really good addition to the cast, uh uh in terms of main characters.

So when she's off screen and it's just Leon, like look, it's welcome to get to play as Leon and get more time with him and uh but when she returns after that segment, it it's it's it it it's a really well crafted story in that you get a lot of up you know front time with grace.

then there's story reasons for Grace sort of, you know, going into the background and Leon being the focus. And then how it comes together at the end, I thought was really worked really well and the pacing of the story is really good. And when you're l I'll I'll admit when I first started playing it and you get like, you know, two hours of Grace, twenty minutes of Leon, it was like, Oh, this is

This is a bit odd, it feels jarring. It's a nice break from like the more horror element to go to the action. But I was like, man, if this is how it's gonna be the whole game, I don't know. Um and then someone had said to me, Well, my understanding is that the second half is like it it swaps and it's Leon primarily with smaller segments of grace. So The it's balanced really well. Yeah.

It's balanced perfectly, honestly. Um I will also say, so the grace segment introduces you to the fact that she's gonna be the scaredy one that doesn't fight as well. And then literally, as soon as you're done with her segment in the hotel, they do an on the street v v uh version with Leon and it's amazing. Mm-hmm. Uh And it sold me on the game immediately once that began. I was like, oh, I'm already liking this. This is already gonna be awesome. It's good. It's really good. It's really good.

It like just talking about it makes me want to go back and play it again. Yeah. No, it it's uh it's a really fun game. Uh I'm trying to think like in terms of how it looks, like the graphics are I'm playing on the Playstation Five. I know you're playing on the Steam Deck. Uh it looks phenomenal on the PlayStation Five, like this is probably this is what we expect games to look like on current gen consoles.

I will say this. I made the choice when you booted up on the Steam Deck. Have you booted yours up on the Steam Deck? Oh, you don't have you have it on Playstation, so you didn't. Um when you booted up on the pl on the Steam Deck. You have an option. It tells you, do you want to play for performance? Or do you want to play somewhere in the middle? Or do you want to play s like as heavy as you can go on the graphics? And I chose to go with performance.

Um, just cause I already knew I was playing it on hardware and I didn't want to tax the hardware too much. You know what I mean? Yeah. So it still looks fantastic. There's only one thing that looks like crap when you play it on the Steam Deck at performance. And all the hair looks awful. The hair literally looks like it's out of like a PlayStation 3 era game.

Yeah. I had some it and in some portions even borderlining on PlayStation 2 style hair. And you're like, Whoa, that's bad. But Uh besides that point. Everything else, like the clothing, the the everything else looks great. You can't tell the difference. It's only the hair that looks off.

I I will say that I think a lot of people are praising the graphics for this one and the performance. They've done a really good job with optimizing the engine for whatever platform you're playing on. And of course, if you're playing it on a PC that has all the bells and whistles, this thing's gonna look the best it can. uh but I I really felt like they they nailed the graphics, the sound.

Um the music you get in some of the more nostalgic areas. I actually went, I booted up Resident Evil 2 remake. And uh the music that plays and this isn't this is in the marketing, but when you're at the Raccoon City Police Department in Requiem, the music that plays is what play is kind of a riff on what plays in in the RPD segment segment of the uh uh Resident Evil 2 remake.

So it's really interesting to sort of see I mean it's this is Capcom, like this is this is a thirtieth anniversary game and they've they've played into that nostalgia the first time returning to Raccoon City since Three, I guess, uh, in terms of a mainline game. I don't know if six went to Raccoon City. Wouldn't surprise me, but I Nozen. Well that's good. They held back on that one. Uh but yeah, it's i they've done a really good job with the Capcom knows how to make a good video.

And their Resident Evil team it has got to be one of the best that they've got working for them. You talked about it going to Raccoon City.

So I'm guessing that's not that's on the table for not spoilery. It it's it's uh well here, let's move into the spoilers because I feel I don't wanna let's not dance around anymore. So spoilers from here on out. Uh, you've been warned, all right, Lou, what do you got for me? Raccoon City.

Okay, so when you get to Raccoon City, they make it clear to you you're going to play as Leon. They you don't really understand how long you're gonna play as Leon, but they make you play as Leon. And when Leon gets there, he is standing in a dirt road. You walk down the street and there's like two different paths you can take. It's very When you walk around and start to look around, you realize there's only like one path you can take, but there's so much for you to explore that.

There's so much for you to explore that it doesn't feel like it's op uh like it feels open world, but it really isn't. You are gonna be pushed in a direction. But you immediately find a big door at like the very beginning of the area. And the door is locked, you need the things to make a detonator to blow up the door, right? Yeah. And then immediately Leon goes down into the subway, he comes back up, and you realize you're on the other side of a piece of street where there was

Literally a giant hole in the ground and you're on the other side and you can still see the door from where you're standing. So you went down and you did this thing. Right. And on the other side of the station, there's a BSA camp where Leon can now save. And from there, Leon realizes where he's gotta go to get the components he needs.

So you go, you get a component, or you get in the direction of a component where you open a piece that moves you in the direction to get the component, and then a ladder will drop. And when you climb down the ladder, you're back at the camp. And then you go through this other part of a building, you jump over this thing, you come down the thing, and all of a sudden you come up out of a locked door that you found earlier, and you're back in the camp.

And it felt to me like a campfire in Dark Souls. Where you would do an area, do a thing, and then that campfire that you saved at 20 minutes ago, you come back to it. It wasn't like you kept finding the same computer d uh a different computer to save at. You kept finding the same computer because you kept going to the same area. And I think there's like two other laptops you find, but they're at the end of a segment where they know that if they you didn't save and then you died, you'd be pissed.

And that's where you find those laptops. You never go back to them. But the one at the camp, you keep coming back to it. And every time you come back to it, you've killed more guys, which gives you more money. And every time you go back to the the the they give you that bracelet. and it that the BSA had the BSAA had, where every time you kill a zombie you earn points and you can use those points to buy weapon upgrades, buy ammo, buy med packs, and that refreshes every couple of cycles.

And it felt like I was playing Dark Souls and then coming back to the guy that runs the store. Or the k the guy. Like i i uh it I and I you're talking to somebody who hates Dark Souls. But that was always part of Dark Souls I always thought was cool was that I would explore and then somehow end up back where I started, but with new knowledge of where to go next or in a new area that would be open to me that I didn't know I had.

And I felt like this kept doing that to me. And I was like, this is borrowing the ideas that Dark Souls did, but doing it in a resident evil way. And it was so cool. Yeah. Yeah. It was very Metroidvania where you are slowly unlocking the mechanisms to traverse through this area and explore it and it was very well done.

There's a big there's a big hole between you and the wall and then they do a thing where you open it up and find out that there's actually a shortcut where if you duck into the sewer and you walk like twenty feet, you've now unlocked the door, you come back up. And you're back where you started where you're at the door with the with the uh detonator. And I was like, Oh, that's not what I was expecting.

Yeah. I also love that there's you're looking at this map and you're like, okay, the map extends that way, but I don't see that there's like a cavern. And then when you get to the other side, you're able to kind of like flip a switch and then a crane drops like a giant

trailer tractor that that uh bridges the gap. And it's super satisfying. Uh I loved that that whole area. I explored I didn't explore all of it in my first playthrough, I actually missed a portion that brings you underground back to the subway and then out Towards where you started, which has like a BSSA container that you can unlock. Yes. But you don't get the key until later. So Yeah. Super satisfying exploring that whole area. I opened all of those containers on my first playthrough. Yeah.

I didn't think the rewards were like, you know, stellar. One of them had a really great reward, and the other three were kind of like Okay, this will help me, but it's not like this isn't game changing. It was like ammo. One of them was like, here's a sniper rifle ammo, and I guess I'm like, okay, well Uh Leon's Flush with ammo. He's got he's never There was only the only time I felt like I was running low on ammo was when I was in the falling apart building towards the end of his his

Raccoon City section. Sure. Because there's so many guys when you're climbing up the Leon has to get the last piece of the detonator, or I think you can do them in any order, but it was the last piece for me. Uh the last piece of the detonator he has to climb a skyscraper. Uh and as you go up in the skyscraper, the building is falling apart and there's there's zombies

everywhere. And it becomes clear that the only way through the section and the area is you have to kill all the zombies, which is a blast. It's fun. I didn't the but towards the end of that segment, I was like Man, I'm getting I'm I'm not out of ammo yet, but if I have to fight about six more guys, I'm gonna run out of ammo. Gee, I hope I don't have a boss fight.

And they would give me a stack of ammo and then I would round the corner and be in the boss fight. I was like, okay, good. They knew that I was going to be screwed if they didn't give me ammo. Yeah. Well the game's very good at like here's a crate. you know, you're welcome, uh that boss fight. So that's one of the cameos that pops up. So like Leon's segment in the Raccoon City, it's meant as a sort of a nostalgia trip.

And specifically when you get to Raccoon City Police Department, there are literally flashbacks to Resident Evil 2 remake that they use scenes from. uh Leon entering and uh experiencing uh uh uh his first moments at RPD. And then there's this conversation with the big bad, which is uh Zion Zeno, and he is with Grace. Grace walks off with Zeno. There's She's like

She's unsure where she fits in, but there's she appears to be some sort of key that will unlock Elpis, so she goes with Xeno. I have a question for you when we get towards the end here. I have a question for you as someone who has played through it. I have questions about the plot, because this said things I did not understand and I was worried that maybe I just missed something. Um, but we'll get to that. Okay. Um

Yeah, and the Raccoon City Police Department thing, the I didn't hate it, but I didn't enjoy the motorcycle bit. Oh yeah. Yeah. It was oak I I I only died once. I did it in two tries. And it was fine. It just felt a little long in the tooth. It felt like I did it a little t bit too long. Like it's what, like fifteen, twenty minutes, maybe? Uh

Yeah, maybe. Yeah, maybe ten fifteen. Like it's it's not long, but it's not short. It's it's it felt like it felt like it could have was about five minutes too long. Sure. It's very on rails, you know, it's not meant to be like uh it it did it didn't explain to you the mechanics enough. And so I kept trying to get Leon to reload, and I didn't realize that the way he reloads is you have to let go of the trigger for him to reload. Like the aim trigger, I think it was.

There was a mechanic in there and they didn't explain it to me. So I kept hitting the B button for him to reload, which is what I was doing for him to reload when I was walking around. And it was like it's not working. And then I would let go of a trigger and then he would reload and I was like, Oh but it took me a I had taken a bunch of damage at that point before I had realized what I was doing. Yeah.

That segment is is mainly just meant as like this is an action set piece and it's very uncharted. It's meant to just be on rails, enjoy yourself, but you're right, it doesn't really explain 'Cause it's um it's one of those moments where you like you have a a machine gun and unlimited ammo and you just shoot until it's empty or reload whatever you want, but it's not very it's not very clear as to what your

supposed to be doing, but it's very on rails and um it's sort of a a a sequence break. Like it's in between the initial Raccoon City and the Raccoon City police department. Um, and that police department area, uh, there was a cameo that was spoiled for me, but Mr. X shows up or a tyrant, but it's clearly like, oh, this is supposed to make us remember Mr. X from the remake. And he pops in and he chases Leon and then you kinda get away and then you come into a clearing.

And there's this uh this this fight, this boss fight where he he's up on the roof and he like throws a missile at Leon. This is where it gets to be like look, if you thought the the motorcycle sequence was like over the top and uh how did he survive that jump between skyscrapers? There's a moment where Mr. X throws a missile at him and he dies behind a car and that's how he survives the the impact. He still gets thrown, but he survives the explosion.

Uh, what did you think about like that sort of cameo of Mr. X returning? The cameo with Mr. X was awesome. Um Am I supposed to infer that the commander of the umbrella team was supposed to be Hunk? Yes. Yeah, that's Hunk. Okay.

Okay. Uh uh do you wanna know how I know? Well, I mean, like there's it's very it's very clearly sort of telegraphed, but also when I went to boot up Resident Evil 2 remake, they added some DLC which is like um it was called like four surviv last survivors and one of them was um uh a hunk specific mode

And it's the same voice actor. Like it's meant to be sort of a call okay a call back. So it was I thought it was really well done. So another cameo there. That was really well done. I liked that whole segment. Um And I think Hunk used a an an axe in one of the other games. in like five you could play as him, I think, or something like that. And he was and he used an axe or something. He had a weird melee weapon. Um And again, that was all super fun. Uh every time I played as Leon, I had a blast.

Uh I didn't enjoy the Graces segments. Uh there's when you're down in the lab you have to put together the acid and the the the there's acid and Molotovs that you have to use to take out liquors that are trying to get you. Yeah, liquors are back. Yeah, that was okay, but again Her segments play real slow. Leon segments don't ever play slow. If you play slow, it's just because you're waiting for the jump out to happen or the squadron of guys to swarm you. And then you take them out.

Yeah. Well they're very different gameplay styles and I feel like when it comes back together at the end, when you get to the lab underground and um Grace is is then back with Leon. Um, it kind of switches back and forth pretty quick. There's a short segment with Grace and then there's a short segment uh with with Leon.

And then a very, very short segment with Grace to finish the game. But those last two moments are kind of meant as like a wrap up and it i it's it's jarring. It's jarring to play for like you know, six hours is Leon, then go back to play like an hour segment with Grace, you know, sneaking around and and then dealing with lickers that um blink and you miss it, you won't see them in Leon's segments. Trying to I played it enough, I'm trying to remember. There's one in a

in a case and you can like shoot it so he escapes and then take out some bad guys. But uh it's it's in that segment where the lickers come back, which again, like nostalgia wise If you're bringing back an enemy, that's the one. That's the one. Yeah. Like I guess another one would have been zombie dogs, which they don't th well, sorry, they do in the motorcycle segment. In the motorcycle segment, yeah. Yeah. But not not not the same because they're

You know what they kinda reminded me of? Do you remember that Eric Ban a Hulk movie? That's what the dogs reminded me of. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Which is not a good thing. No, not at all. No. Um And again, uh there's a segment after after Leon's point of view in Raccoon City where It's the one thing I would say th it killed my my my momentum of m my gameplay. Is you do a segment where you play as what you think is supposed to be Grace as a kid. Yeah.

And she's in an orphanage and there's a thing going on and you break she gets out of the bed and she's sneaking around and there's this whole thing going on and it's fine. I'm not like, uh. It's fine, but it's on rails. And there's some weird mechanics in it and some of the rails don't work right. Um you have to trigger a specific event a certain way and then run away and like it

It took me out of the game because until that point I felt like I was even the gray stealth segments, I I they don't feel on rails. They feel like I'm playing a game. The Leon segment doesn't feel like I'm on rails, maybe the motorcycle sequence, but that makes sense I'm on a motorcycle. But this sequence without any weapons as a kid, it's So on rails, it might you might as well be on a ride at an amusement park.

And I didn't find it fun. And then at the end you find out that it's not Grace, it's not somebody else, and you don't really get an answer. Right. So There's some there's some interesting like deep dive lore stuff that's that's taking place. So for example, um Grace Ashcroft is the main character introduced. Uh, she is set up as the daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft, who is uh in Resident Evil Outbreak, which were the co-op games that came out back in oh three.

And Grace is set up as the key to Elpis. There's this, it's this like, oh, this big bad virus that Spencer worked on, the last one, and the key to releasing it is uh grace. Supposedly. And they introduce so I guess this was hinted at in seven and eight, but there's the connections. Which is supposed to be replacing like the, you know, government conspiracy thing. It's this like larger organization that's been pulling the strings the whole time.

And they've been battling with Umbrella and they actually threw Umbrella under the bus with the missile strike and controlled the government and caused all the shenanigans that took place from, you know, RE You know, one through nine. And they think race is some like biological key to unlock this virus. And at the end of the game, you disc and I really like this, you discover that Spencer has.

is racked with guilt, he's decided to live his the rest of his life in solitude, but he's adopted a daughter who is great. And she's just a normal kid. So these this connections group, which is related to Umbrella and doing all these secret stuff in the lab that's been hidden in Raccoon City because of this government.

um uh quarantine of the city that there's news that oh that they've extended it another forty years. Like umbrellas continue to exist in solitude. That's why there's still zombies at Raccoon City after all these years. And their idea, the connections are like, well, the key is Grace, so let's try to let's try to clone her. And that's where all those kids are coming from is these failed clones. Right. Um, Emily, which is a character that shows up at the start that Grace is helping out

Uh the girl also, the big monster. They are clones, uh failed clones of Grace, and that's what the connections were doing. I understood that. They just didn't do a very good job of explaining to me that the clones were of Grace before I was trying to put to together the pieces of where the Grace clones were coming from. You know what I mean? Yeah, well they were coming from the lab.

In underground, right? They were coming from the lab and the orphanage, but I didn't understand if that was after the bombs went off. Well and they blew up Raccoon City? The flashback is nineteen ninety, but it's all like it's weird because like you're right, there's the missile strike in ninety eight and but that lab continues to exist Throughout. It's not destroyed by the it the missile is a cover up to basically throw umbrella under the bus, shut it down, but have this l secret lab exist

for right however long. It look it it's not a gr it's not like you know, it's not like a a a Pulsar Prize winning story. It's still Resident Evil. Yeah, it's still Resident Evil. Uh very Resident Evil. I drew the twist immediately when she digs up the code and she pulls out the device.

And they're like, it's the ultimate weapon. It will do this thing. And then I was like, no, it's gonna be the cure. And then she sticks Leon and it's like, oh, he's cured in like a matter of moments. And I was like, duh. Like what These guys are idiots if they didn't think that he had created a cure because he felt guilty. Like as soon as I saw the video with him with the kilty, I was like, I already thought it was gonna be a cure.

But now I'm sure it's a cure. Okay. Yeah. Now that makes sense. And I mean the game is it doesn't like It doesn't spell it out for you. And throughout the game, it it heavily hints. And you can connect the dots. And if you're s smart enough like Lou, you can connect those dots. If you're if you're like me and you're listening to Leon who wants you to destroy it, it's like, well, I guess I better destroy it.

Which um leads to the bad ending where you all die. Uh or sorry, everybody dies but Grace. And it's so clearly the bad ending is that they don't even play the credit. they prompt up, they say, like, hey, do you wanna do the other choice? Like you know, Leon dies on screen and it's traumatizing and and you're like and the game's like, We know you made a mistake and you might have missed the prompt.

But you're supposed to release Elpis to the point where a lot of the trophies for like completing the game is release Elpis. A lot of the challenges speak directly to You know, beat the game in under four hours and release elpus. So it it's they try to spell it out literally for you and and I uh Yeah. I was expecting that what's his name? Xeon? Is that the guy in the suit? Xeno. I was expecting him to be the big bat at the end that Leon has to fight. Yeah.

And then you get to the thing and it looks like him and Leon are about to have a sh throwdown and then the wacky doctor shows up again, kills Xeno, and you fight him instead. And I was like Oh, that's awesome. This is uh I Leon's tried to shoot this guy and he like dodges bullets. I don't want to fight this guy. And then the doctor shows up and I'm like, I he may be a bullet sponge, but I can shoot him.

Yeah, well Xeno thinks it's a virus. He thinks it's gonna give him more superpowers, but it cures him, so he doesn't have any more powers and he he's promptly killed by uh uh Gideon who shows back up after being Taken out supposedly on the motorcycle chase. I mean, you kill that dude like three times. Y yeah, you do some damage for sure. You do some damage where you're like, Yeah, but oh but he's a resident evil villain. He'll be back. Yeah. And he was until until you defeat him a third time.

And then what do you think of the last ending when the soldiers show up to rescue you and Grace and he says I was sent here by Chris? Yeah. Well, Captain Redfield, but then they're very much talking about Chris. This isn't a Yeah, no, I um Look, uh uh a a game that runs on nostalgia and celebrates the thirtieth anniversary, and there's a lot of characters that um uh that we haven't seen in a while, like Jill and Claire and uh Rebecca and and and some other characters there. But

This game doesn't like overstay its welcome for nostalgia and the fact and it makes sense that Chris Chris has been operating in the backgrounds. He's had this like wolf squadron with B SAA And but Chris isn't present. He's sorta like they even make a reference as like, oh, you know, it's too bad Chris was late to the party. We almost we almost didn't make it.

And they show up at you know, right at the end there and and they're like, Where is Chris? It's like, I don't know, but I I feel I'll run into him eventually. It's very like You know, wink wink non non see in the DLC type stuff. You know, maybe see what Chris is up to or or I the you've heard the rumors about ten, right? Uh no. Let me know. What do you think?

The the rumors that uh uh that have been floating around is that ten will take place with you playing as both Leon and Chris. Yeah. One of the reasons why Leon is being rescued by Chris. is he needs him to go do something because he's in the middle of something else. And that 10 is going to take place almost immediately after this, within like within like 48 hours of this. where Leon is going to have to like do his spy secret agent thing to get intel for Chris who's like in a combat zone.

That's the rumor I've heard. Yeah. You know what I want is I want the reference of like I'm sure I'll run into him soon is that like Leon is married to Claire and they'll see each other at Thanksgiving. Isn't what I would I want. That's my Everybody is speculating that he's married to Ada Wong. Yeah, I don't buy that. We just played the Resident Evil 4 DLC that stars Ada Wong. Like, I just I don't know. I can't see it.

I really think Claire is probably look, here's what it could be. It it could everyone's like assuming it's a character. It could be something totally different. Could be just a random person, you know? So that's fine too. I I think the fact that the developers have said like this is this was just a moment to show that look, Leon is dying. When he went away to do this adventure, like he he very well knew that he wasn't gonna come back.

So he doesn't wear the w wedding ring. He puts it on at the very end when he's been cured and he's like, Okay, I get to go home. I didn't think I would, I get to go home now. And I think that's sort of the the message there and and to that it it works is like, okay, it doesn't need to be Claire, it doesn't need to be ADC. It it can be whoever you think fits uh as a as you know as a fan of the game. However, Capcom will likely confirm it at some point, maybe in the DLC.

Uh oh they uh I think they will have to confirm it in the deal. Yeah, like I I think that it's fine to sort of tease it out and be like, because they did this when remember when people were like, Oh, Leon's in the game and they're like, Well, don't believe everything you read on the internet and sure enough, Leon's in the game. Uh The way they've responded to the marriage question has really felt like they are gonna reveal that answer in

in the DLC and and I I'd be fine with with Claire or Ada. Like I but I think people point to those two options as like those are the two primary female characters that have been present with Leon adventures. And I I don't think it needs to be that simple. I think it can be just Nope. Maybe a new a new character, you know? So we'll see. Uh but yeah, overall I really enjoy the game. I do love a good nostalgia trip and I think they balance it well with new and old.

Um I'm glad we finally got to return to Raccoon City and they did it justice, especially considering like I don't think they'll return again anytime soon. They've kind of done their piece there. Maybe the DLC will explore it a little bit more. I don't think there's a reason for us to go back there. No, no. They uh they did it they did what they needed to do going back. I mean it was

It i it it it's a wasteland. Like you go back, like it's not like much has changed unless they redevelop it and then a zombie apocalypse hits again, which no it it the Rackham City's done. And I think going forward, I think I don't think we'll go back to what was it, Spain? Is that where where four takes place? I don't think we'll go back there. That's over. Yeah, yeah. Um

I think uh I think we'll move on to some th we b we we there's the tricell thing in Africa. I don't think we'll go there again. Um I think we're gonna end up Going some place different. Something more unique. Yeah. Like Canada. No, probably not. Um Um, can't say Antarctica'cause you end up there in a game that you haven't played. Yeah, maybe they'll do um maybe they'll do Japan, you know?

That that would be cool if we ended up in some kind of Asian country. That would be new and that would be different. I I would love I would love to see that. Or Australia. That'd be good. Yeah, that'd be good too. Uh I again there's lots of things that they could do. There's lots of places that this could th th that this game these games could lead us to. But we'll have just have to see. Yes, I'm not going to be able to do that.

Yeah. Uh this is the thirtieth anniversary. We've got a lot more Resident Evil that we're gonna be covering uh this year with the movie and uh additional um content for Resident Evil Requiem and announcements for new Resident Evil. remakes. So stay tuned for all of that in the coming months. Uh, but as for what's coming up in the next couple weeks, now that we've covered Resident Evil Requiem, we're gonna be moving on to check in on one of Molly's extra life donation movies.

to watch an Italian zombie movie of our choosing and Lou has chosen City of the Living Dead. So we're gonna watch that next week or next episode, I should say. Uh and then as we mentioned, with twenty-eight years later the Bone Temple arriving on Netflix in the US at least, we are gonna watch that one after City of the Living Dead. And that should be the end of that should be the end of April.

Yes, exactly. So you've got your April planned. Look forward to that. And uh yeah, we'll check in with Requiem as more content is added. So look forward to that as well. Uh that's gonna do it for this episode of Zamp. I wanna thank our patrons at patreon.com slash zombies8mypodcast. You can visit us on the web at zombies8mypodcast.com.

You can send us an email and we may read it on the show, info at zombies eight mypodcast dot com. You can join our Discord at tiny dot cc slash zamp discord. It's the best place to connect with fellow listeners as well as Lou and I. This has been Zombies Eight My Podcast, and as always we close out the show with some fine zombie knowledge from the busy zombie lord himself. Take it away, Lou. Save those bullets for the big gun. Save'em.

But don't save them too long. No, actually when I was playing as Grace, I still had like six when I ended her segment. She gave it back to Leon. And I was like expecting him to have those bullets and it was like, Oh no, he didn't get the bullets. Oh Magically he only has three. Yeah. I was like, What the hell?