Resident Evil’s Return to Raccoon City Hopefully Isn’t Happening for the Wrong Reason

After years driven solely by vague speculation and widespread rumors and leaks, fans now have a much better idea of what Resident Evil Requiem is shaping up to be. With the latest upcoming mainline installment, Capcom is honing sharply in on a psychological horror approach that the franchise has only dipped into throughout its storied history. Resident Evil Requiem is set to take a notable turn away from the series’ usual balance of action and traditional horror and into a more intensely personal journey through some harrowing territory, both literally and figuratively.

One of its most enticing aspects is that Resident Evil Requiem will be bringing players back to Raccoon City. As was revealed in its surprise announcement at the Summer Game Fest, and further additional information provided about it during the recent Capcom Spotlight, Requiem‘s story will see players revisit the familiar city nearly a generation after it was initially overrun and wiped out, seemingly left largely abandoned in the time since. And given that Raccoon City is so well-known to RE fans, and even those only more casually familiar with the IP, RE Requiem taking this direction should hopefully be much more than merely Capcom seeking to capitalize on the nostalgic nature of it.

Resident Evil Requiem’s Setting is a Nightmare For Its Characters, But a Dream Come True For Fans

Capcom’s upcoming Resident Evil Requiem will bring players back to a familiar yet nightmarish setting for the series ninth main installment

Resident Evil Requiem’s Return to Raccoon City Shouldn’t Be for Old Time’s Sake

Raccoon City is Where it All Began

It’s not hard to argue that Raccoon City is the most iconic location in the entire franchise, even if a number of other entries have sent players to memorable places:

Spain: RE4
Africa: RE5
Louisiana: RE7
Romania: RE Village

The difference is that Raccoon City is ingrained in Resident Evil lore as ground zero for its inciting events. Oswald Spencer, Umbrella, and their conspiracy involving the testing of the virus on the unsuspecting populace of the otherwise quiet and unassuming Midwestern town are at the center of RE. Technically, even the very first game took place just outside the city proper, in the Spencer Mansion nestled away in the nearby Arkady Mountains. It wasn’t until the second title and again in RE3: Nemesis that fans first explored the heart of the city, and it became indelibly etched into the IP’s identity, with a few later entries being set there too.

Not counting the remakes of RE2 and RE3, the most recent entry to feature Raccoon City was Resident Evil Zero, though again one can split hairs on whether that “actually counts.” Regardless, the fact that Resident Evil Requiem will be in Raccoon City is significant, and should come along with elements that go well beyond the simple fact that the City is instantly recognizable and nearly synonymous with RE as a whole.

Resident Evil Requiem Going Back to Raccoon City Should Come With New Revelations

The ground zero description seems doubly applicable for Resident Evil Requiem, as trailers contain images of bomb craters and locations like the RCPD shown lying in ruins. New protagonist Grace Ashcroft is known to be related to Resident Evil Outbreak‘s Alyssa Ashcroft; that game was also set in Raccoon City and followed a group of survivors concurrent to the plots of RE2 and 3.

While going back to Raccoon City is an intriguing idea, and certainly promises to bring Resident Evil full circle from its roots, Capcom’s decision to place Requiem in it will hopefully also provide meaningful story and character developments. Grace’s investigation into her mother’s alleged murder in the city’s Wrenwood Hotel could potentially shed more light on that as well as other unanswered mysteries and lingering Resident Evil plot threads. Requiem‘s grand return to Raccoon City should be sure then that it does the job of satisfying longtime fans, while simultaneously using this framework to push the overall narrative forward and set up interesting future possibilities, rather than banking on players’ nostalgia for the setting to do the heavy lifting.