I’d argue one of the biggest comic storylines of the past half-decade came not from people in spandex and capes, but instead from half-shell heroes in the IDW mini-series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin. Now, the sequel series picks up 15 years after the conclusion of the original storyline with a new team of turtles released as an all-in-one collection – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II: Re-Evolution. To celebrate this release, Amazon has it on sale for $24.49. As an added bonus, even with it being Prime Day, you don’t need a Prime membership to take advantage of this deal.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II–Re-Evolution
Re-Evolution isn’t a brand-new comic; instead, it is a graphic novel that combines the five issues that composed The Last Ronin II’s story into a single release. As someone who grew up with the 1987 animated turtles series, the original Last Ronin broke me, but being able to step foot back in this timeline with Ronin II felt a bit cathartic for me. Despite being their own characters, the new mutants do things that make me want to believe they would get along just fine with Donny, Leo, Raph, and Mikey.
For fans of any era of Turtles, the Last Ronin and Ronin II stories are must-reads and thanks to its popularity with fans, we already know that the original tale is getting its own video game courtesy ofBlack Forest Games and even alive-action movie that is planned to be rated R to do justice to the dark nature and tone of this series. Hopefully, with the release of this Re-Evolution graphic novel, Odyn, Yi, Uno, and Moja will endear themselves to audiences enough that we see them hit the silver screen or game console in the future as well. In the meantime, snag this book while it’s on sale because it really kicks some shell.
Grab your cards, Samurai. CMON’s Cyberpunk 2077: Gangs of Night City is getting in on the Prime Day savings with a nice 36% discount, making it only $69.99. Instead of trying to cram the massive video game’s story into a box, Gangs of Night City instead puts you in control of one of the universe’s various gangs (each gang having unique asymmetric abilities), and you wage war as you and the other players try to carve out more territory.
Cyberpunk 2077: Gangs of Night City The Board Game
This game isn’t just a bloodbath, and while you can expect some good ol’ shootouts, Gangs of Night City will reward strategic planning more. For those of you who may be hoping for some story, this does manage to inject some narrative elements into the mix, thanks to the scenarios you play with. These will mix things up for you and your fellow players with some new rules or mechanics, or even some alternative victory conditions. That said, this game is about seeing who is best at dishing out the most pain, and it just feels fun to cause some chaos with some friends over some drinks during a game night.
Board game adaptations of popular video games have become pretty commonplace these days, and we have covered a bunch, including Gangs of Night City! In our review, we said, “It’s a proper board game where factions vie for turf and street cred,” so grab a few friends (the game plays 1-4 players), have everyone chip in a bit, and at this price that would only be about $20, and you have the makings for fun game night.
Other Prime Day Deals
If you are looking for more Prime Day Deals, check out some other things that are on sale!
Scott White is a freelance contributor to IGN, assisting with tabletop games and guide coverage. Follow him on X/Twitter or Bluesky.
The four-day marathon that is this year’s Prime Day is live now, running from July 8-11. There’s hardly any product category that’s not on sale at Amazon at the moment. But each year Prime Day is one of the best times to stock up on board games, and this year is no different. It seems like most board games are on sale right now for Prime Day 2025, and the prices are mostly excellent. Below, we’ve highlighted our picks for the best board game deals available now – but you’ll need a Prime membership to get most of them. You can sign up here.
Save Up to 50% Off Board Games for Prime Day
As an added bonus, a bunch of the games are part of another sale that’s also going on right now that saves you $10 when you spend $40 on select items. So if your game(s) are eligible and you spend more than $40, you’ll get an additional $10 off. As a deal-focused commerce editor, I love it when you can stack a deal on top of a deal. It feels like you’re working the system.
So what worthy board games are on sale right now? A whole lot of them. Azul is always one of our top sellers when it goes on sale, and it’s currently on sale for $19.49, which is great considering it usually hovers around the $33 range. Check out our Azul board game review for details.
Nineteen employees have been laid off from Star Trek: Bridge Crew and Tom Clancy studio Ubisoft Red Storm, IGN has learned.
Ubisoft confirmed the layoffs to IGN in a statement as follows:
Today, Ubisoft made the decision to eliminate 19 roles at Red Storm Entertainment. This step is part of our ongoing, targeted restructuring and global cost-saving efforts, and reflects the needs on the studio’s projects. While this was not an easy decision, it was a necessary one given our operational priorities. We remain committed to supporting those affected with comprehensive severance packages, extended health-care benefits, and career transition assistance. We deeply appreciate their hard work and the impact they’ve had on Ubisoft.
Ubisoft PR also confirmed that no other Ubisoft locations were impacted by today’s layoffs. However, the company did not respond to IGN’s request for information on how many employees remain at Red Storm or the status of the company’s current projects.
Ubisoft Red Storm was originally Red Storm Entertainment, founded by author Tom Clancy specifically to make games based on his novels, including Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six. The studio was acquired by Ubisoft in 2000, going on to create hits such as the Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon series and assisting on other popular Tom Clancy games such as The Division. In more recent years, it has taken a backseat role as more of a VR and support studio beginning with Werewolves Within in 2016. and continuing more recently with Star Trek: Bridge Crew and Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR.
Red Storm also worked on a canceled Splinter Cell VR game, and the also-canceled The Division Heartland. Most recently, Red Storm assisted on XDefiant, which just shut down completely last month after an announcement last year. At the time, Ubisoft shut down the San Francisco and Osaka studios behind the game, with some layoffs occuring at Red Storm as well. It is unclear what project Red Storm is currently working on.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
If I say the name “Hideo Kojima” what comes to mind? Is it his latest creation, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (a game we rather enjoyed) or would be it be one of his earlier creations? I would be willing to bet a large portion of folks would immediately think of Metal Gear Solid and the gravely tones of David Hayter.
Thanks to Prime Day, the Nintendo Switch version (which will also run on the Switch 2) of the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 is the lowest it has ever been at only $16.99 – that’s a whopping 58% discount.
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol.1 (Switch)
This collection contains a bunch of tactical stealth goodness from the original Metal Gear Solid that first called the PlayStation home, and its PS2 follow-ups, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, in addition to plenty of other goodies.
These three games alone are packed with memorable gaming moments, such as the emotional conflict between Boss and Snake in MGS3, to the back-of-the-box Codex number in MGS, that it’s hard to count just how many there are. Even if you are only familiar with Kojima from his newer games, for this sale price, even if you are only slightly interested or intrigued, you can’t go wrong trying this series out. If you are a longtime fan, you already know how good these games are.
Just ask yourself, is having these games with you on the go worth the price of less than it costs to go see a movie and get some popcorn? Heck, even if you already own it on another platform, for 16 bucks, why not get another copy?
As a note only Metal Gear (MSX), Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, Metal Gear (NES), and Snake’s Revenge are on the cartridge, with the other games requiring a download.
More Prime Day Deals
Prime Day is one of the best times to buy pretty much anything. Even Best Buy’s joined the fun with tons of Switch game discounts. Here are some other deals to check out.
Scott White is a freelance contributor to IGN, assisting with tabletop games and guide coverage. Follow him on X/Twitter or Bluesky.
This week Maxroll has two major updates to share: the launch of Maxroll’s beta Borderlands 4 planner and a massive update to Maxroll’s Elden Ring section with a new, comprehensive database.
Maxroll’s Borderlands 4 Planner
Maxroll has released a beta version of their Borderlands 4 planner, with skill trees for two of the game’s playable characters: Vex and Rafa. This is a work in progress that Maxroll will add to as more information is known about the game, but for now, you can play around with the planner for yourself, check curated builds from Maxroll’s Borderlands 4 Team (Moxsy, AbbyHour, Byrdman & Chadly), or browse community builds.
Vex is the Dark Siren, and her powers focus on summoning companions and enhancing herself. Conjure up dark clones, a large cat named Trouble, or create Eldritch bombs that annihilate the Timekeepers’ forces.
Phase Familiar summons Trouble, a large cat companion who wreaks havoc among Vex’s foes.
The Incarnate tree adds a powerful Eldritch Blast to your toolkit.
Use Dead Ringer to transform Vex into a master of minions, summoning multiple Phase Clones and commanding them against her foes.
Rafa
Rafa is an ex-Tediore soldier on the run from his former employer. He uses his exo-suit to slice and blast his way through the Timekeepers’ minions.
With Peacebreaker Cannons, you gain an auto-firing turret ability.
Rafa swaps his guns for Arc Blades, and he dashes around the battlefield, slashing enemies with Blade Fury. Use the Arc Knives tree to enhance your slashing expertise.
Equip the APOPHIS LANCE cannon to Rafa’s arm and use it to obliterate foes.
Maxroll’s Elden Ring Database
If you’re more of an ARPG enthusiast than a looter-shooter fiend, you might be more interested in Maxroll’s new Elden Ring Database, where you can learn more about the weapons, armor, Ashes of War, spells, Talismans, Spirit Ashes, Great Runes and Goods.
In Maxroll’s Weapon Database you can see attribute scaling, affinities, Guard Absorption and more for each of the game’s weapons. You can also select weapon upgrade levels to see how the damage changes with upgrades. For regular weapons, this info also includes different affinities so you can check whether it’s better to run the weapon as is or swap it over to Heavy on your unga bunga build.
Maxroll also has information on the Armor sets (and pieces), Ashes of War, Spells (including the rather esoteric spell types), Talismans, Spirit Ashes and Great Runes. This is especially helpful for more complex things like Ashes of War, as in the Maxroll database you can see the FP cost and even the default affinity change when adding it to your weapon.
Last but not least there’s Goods, a catch-all category for consumables, crafting materials, key items, Crystal Tears (for the Wondrous Physick), upgrades, maps, lore items and more.
It’s been a month since Magic players were able to dive into the realms of Final Fantasy and its casts of memorable characters, but now it is time to look at the stars and prepare to blast off with the trading card game’s next set, Edge of Eternities. IGN recently had a chance to check out some new cards and get a breakdown of the set’s new mechanics players will get to play around with when the set launches on August 1 (preorders are available now).
Edge of Eternities Important Dates:
July 18: Full Card Image Gallery
July 25-31: Edge of Eternities Prerelease Events
July 29: MTG Arena Release Date
Aug. 1: Worldwide Tabletop Release
From spaceships to alien races, this new release marks a drastic departure from the more high-fantasy aesthetic that Magic is known for, but at its core, this is still very much a Magic: The Gathering set. One thing the team wants to make very clear is that Edge of Eternities is science fantasy, not science fiction, which means you can expect to see both flying space whales and spaceships.
As it is still early days in the spoiler cycle, Wizards is still keeping a vast majority of the set’s contents under wraps, but we do have confirmations that some of Magic’s scariest creatures will be making their appearance around the Blind Eternities. Once again, Eldrazi, residents of the Blind Eternities, will be causing havoc for players with the reveal of ‘Anticausal Vestige’. For six mana reads “When this card leaves the battlefield, draw a card, then you may put a permanent card with mana value less than or equal to the number of lands you control from your hand onto the battlefield tapped” with Warp 4 (more on Warp in a moment). More exciting, however (and I admit I am partially biased towards this next one because I love them and have decks of them), it looks like Slivers are making their return! We got to see a new alternate showcase art version of the Sliver Overlord, and the narrative that Wizards has been releasing for the set also implies the return of these fury-enducing creatures, which I can’t wait for. After all, being a hivemind and all, what good would only a single Sliver do?
Edge of Eternities also sees reprints of the highly requested and sought-after Shock Lands – special dual-colored lands. These lands will allow you to tap for one of two colors of mana, and while similar cards normally come in tapped, by taking a little damage, Shock Lands will enter untapped, meaning you can use them right away!
Compared to some of the more recent sets, Edge of Eternities takes it easy with only four new mechanics – Void, Warp, Station, and Lander Tokens. Station was first revealed during MagicCon Vegas and is similar to Crewing vehicles, whereby tapping creatures grants a benefit; however, Station has some important differences. Firstly, tapping creatures to Station something can only be done on your turn at sorcery speed, doing so will put a counter on that card based on the total power of the creatures you tapped, and once a threshold is met, the card will gain access to new abilities. While we have seen examples of Starships that include the Station mechanic, Wizards has now revealed a new land type, planets, that will also benefit from this mechanic. Each of the five main colors will feature their own speciality planet that when stationed will have some pretty powerful effects, such as blue’s ‘Uthros, Titanic Godcore’ that by default will tap for a single blue but when its Station 12+ requirement is met, for a Blue and tapping Uthros will add a blue mana for each artifact you control.
Next up is Warp, an alternate casting option for the cards with it. By casting a card for its Warp cost, which looks to be less than its normal casting cost, it will enter the battlefield and then get exiled on the next end step. The twist with these cards is that they can then be cast at a later time for their normal cost from exile. From what it looks like, many of these cards with Warp will have “when they enter” trigger effects, allowing you to take advantage of that effect twice. However, being able to play these cards from exile is only available if they are sent to exile due to paying the Warp effect, so if another card exiles them instead, they are gone for good and can’t be played.
Paired with Warp, Void provides players with new options to enhance the effects of the cards it appears on. By playing a card with Void after a non-land permanent has left the battlefield or a card has been played for its Warp cost (referred to as spell warped), then the Void card’s effect will be strengthened. I’m intrigued by the sort of synergistic opportunities that may arise between various Warp and Void cards.
Lastly, there are the Lander tokens that are being introduced in this latest set. By paying two colorless mana and sacrificing the token, you can search your library for a basic land and put it into play tapped. Right off the bat, I can already see how cards that generate these Lander tokens will prove to be powerful additions to any Landfall deck, and coming off of Final Fantasy, cards like ‘Tifa Lockhart’ whose power doubles whenever a land comes into play will be able to easily take advantage of the additional lands dropping in. For even more utility, if you are playing a deck with ‘Wandering Minstrel’, this would make the lands that the Lander tokens bring out, come out untapped instead of tapped, letting you use them right away! Talk about mana ramp!
Outside of the mechanic like Warp, with cards like the newly revealed Cosmogoyf (“This creature’s power is equal to the number of cards you own in exile and its toughness is equal to that number plus 1”) and Sothera, The Supervoid (“Whenever a creature you control dies, each opponent chooses a creature they control and exiles it. At the beginning of your end step, if a player controls no creatures, sacrifice Sothera, then put a creature card exiled with it onto the battlefield under your control with two additional +1/+1 counters on it”) gives me the sense that Wizards is aiming to make your exile zone into a resource all of its own. If that ends up being the case, cards with Flashback or something like Agatha’s Soul Cauldron that let you exile cards from graveyards could easily make a card like Cosmogoyf super scary. We will have to see how much they lean into messing around with exile (hopefully, there won’t be too many “exiled this way” cards so you have to keep track of what cards get exiled with what).
Edge of Eternities continues to push Magic: The Gathering into new dimensions with this space fantasy adventure. Who knows what other mysteries lie in wait out near the Blind Eternities and what horrors await players? This peak at the set has given us a taste of starting to concoct new deck ideas, and over the next month, more and more will be revealed. In the meantime, be sure to enjoy the amazing cards from the recent Final Fantasy set, including keeping your eyes open for the cards everyone seems to want and are chasing after. For a full look at what the rest of the year of Magic is looking like, check out our full release schedule, and for fans of Secret Lair, including the upcoming Sonic The Hedgehog drop, check out our breakdown of every drop so far this year.
Scott White is a freelance contributor to IGN, assisting with tabletop games and guide coverage. Follow him on X/Twitter or Bluesky.
The Last of Us Part 2 developer Naughty Dog has surprised fans by releasing a Chronological Experience option that reorders the game’s storylines into a linear narrative.
The fresh mode, available as part of a free update today on PC and PlayStation 5, shuffles Part 2’s non-linear narrative as a fresh option for season players. Intriguingly, Naughty Dog makes it clear that it sees the new Chronological Exprience option as something extra, rather than a replacement for the game’s original storytelling that was “very intentional and core to how our studio wanted Part 2’s themes and narrative beats to impact players.”
Naughty Dog even goes as far as to say that new players are recommended not to use the Chronological Experience option for their first run through the game, and instead experience Part 2’s story in the way it “was originally developed.”
“Through the new Chronological mode, we believe players will gain even deeper insight into Part 2’s narrative,” Naughty Dog’s Jonathon Dornbush said today.
“Players will be able to see how Ellie being gifted a guitar flows so neatly into her learning to play, for example, while the journey through Seattle will showcase the fascinating parallels between Ellie and Abby’s crisscrossing journeys. You’ll see just how close they come into running into each other, how their actions impact each other, and more.”
Chronological Mode was worked on by Naughty Dog in collaboration with co-development partner Nixxes, and once completed will award new PlayStation trophies, as well as a couple of bonus outfits.
Today’s update adds costumes for Joel dressed as Uncharted hero Nathan Drake and Tommy as, appropriately, his brother Sam Drake. Finally, a smattering of additional bug fixes and performance improvements are also included.
Sony will hold a PlayStation State of Play broadcast this week offering a deep dive into Ghost of Yōtei’s gameplay, the company has announced.
Expect a 20-minute look at the upcoming highly-anticipated sequel to Ghost of Tsushima, from 2pm Pacific / 5pm Eastern time this Thursday, July 10. In Europe, that’s 11pm CEST, or 10pm BST.
The gameplay will be introduced by Sucker Punch’s two Ghost of Yōtei creative directors, Jason Connell and Nate Fox.
Watch the Ghost of Yōtei State of Play gameplay deep dive on Thursday, July 10! Tune in live at 2pm PT / 5pm ET / 10pm BST on PlayStation’s Twitch and YouTube channels.
PlayStation’s description of the showcase teases that fans will see more about main character Atsu’s quest for vengeance, as well as a look at her weaponry, and “new ways to personalize your journey at the edge of Japan, new special modes, and much more.” More to follow…
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
Is Leon S. Kennedy Resident Evil’s most popular character because he starred in one of the best Resident Evil games of all time? Or did he star in one of the best Resident Evil games of all time because he’s the series’ most popular character? I’ll never know for sure. Nevertheless, ever since his first day on the job at the Raccoon City Police Department back in 1998, Leon’s influence over the Resident Evil series has only grown to the point that his popularity threatens the future of the series… again.
When Resident Evil 4 hit shelves on January 11, 2005, everything we knew about Resident Evil was upended. The series’s famous fixed camera perspective gave way to a fully 3D camera, and the infamous tank controls were replaced with fast-paced action and melee combat. And Leon Kennedy, who was introduced to the series in Resident Evil 2 as a fresh-faced rookie police officer, was promoted to a secret agent action hero tasked with rescuing the U.S. President’s daughter from an evil cult. Leon became more Ethan Hunt and less Ash Williams.
Resident Evil 4’s status as a Hall of Fame video game is undisputed, but the 2005 release also caused Capcom to enter a period of being lost in the wilderness. The overwhelming success of Resident Evil 4 shifted the series towards a more action-focused tone, at the expense of its horror elements. Resident Evil 5 took us to Africa, where Las Plagas-infected militia troops engaged in car chases and gunfights. Resident Evil 6 pushed things to the next level, with Call of Duty-like street battles and explosive plane crashes. But while these games followed the blueprint set by Resident Evil 4 to tremendous financial success, fans weren’t wholly satisfied with the overall direction of the franchise. It increasingly became clear that turning Resi’s former everyday cops into MMA-trained super agents had eroded away the series’ core.
To rediscover the horror at the heart of the franchise, Capcom effectively rebooted Resident Evil in 2017 with Biohazard, the series’ seventh mainline game. It ditched Leon and many of the franchise’s iconic (now incredibly powerful) characters in favor of unknown newcomer Ethan Winters who, despite a surprising resilience to a variety of gnarly hand injuries, was essentially an “everyman”. Resident Evil 7 also adopted a new first-person perspective that not only put players directly face-to-face with the game’s many scares but also restricted Ethan’s moveset — there would be no roundhouse kicks here. This new formula led to sales success and the start of a new storyline focused on the Winters family (with an occasional cameo by legacy character Chris Redfield.)
Leon became more Ethan Hunt and less Ash Williams.
During the era of Resident Evil 7 and Village, there was little demand for Capcom to revisit the more action-prominent design of Resident Evil 4. That’s likely because, while Leon might not have been at the forefront of the series during this time, he was still hanging around thanks to remakes of older games. Resident Evil 2 reinvented the PS1 classic in a guise that more closely resembled the over-the-shoulder, gun-heavy design of Leon’s most famous adventure, while the Resident Evil 4 remake replicated the original’s balance of horror and suplex tackles. But as time has gone on, it’s become clear that fans have been getting antsy to see Leon headline a new adventure, not just retread old territory.
Earlier this year, Capcom finally announced the highly anticipated Resident Evil: Requiem, and once again, the studio debuted a new protagonist: FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft. But if you look around the internet for information on Requiem, you’ll see the name of Leon S. Kennedy brought up so often that you would think he was the main character of the upcoming game. That’s because rumors, both substantial and otherwise, claim that Leon will appear in Requiem in some capacity, whether that’s as a second protagonist, cameo, or even the secret star, depending on who you ask.
Capcom, for its part, seems adamant that Grace Ashcroft is the face of Requiem, and there is enough information about her to believe this. Unlike Ethan Winters, who was a complete unknown when he debuted in Resident Evil 7, Grace Ashcroft is the daughter of journalist Alyssa Ashcroft, a playable character from the Resident Evil Outbreak games. This makes Grace something of a legacy character in her own right, giving her greater importance and stronger ties to the overall canon of the series.
Also, during the Capcom Showcase, Resident Evil: Requiem director Koshi Nakanishi directly addressed some of the online rumors surrounding Leon Kennedy being the game’s secret protagonist, saying, “We always thought about making Leon the protagonist, but making a horror game based around him is difficult… No one wants to see Leon scared by every little thing. So he’s actually quite a bad match for horror.”
Having played a slice of Requiem, I can confirm that Capcom is continuing the revised formula it introduced in Resident Evil 7 and putting a lot of emphasis on horror in the new game. One of the standout details is how Grace audibly reacts to different jump scares throughout the demo, which effectively ratchets up the tension. Nakanishi makes a good point about Leon being a bad match for this type of game: by this point in the series’ timeline, which is 30 years after the events of Resident Evil 2, Leon is a veteran who has no problems facing off against even the scariest monsters.
This makes Grace something of a legacy character in her own right, giving her greater importance and stronger ties to the overall canon of the series.
Even the decision to maintain the series’ real-time timeline feels designed to get fans used to the idea that their beloved characters face a ticking clock. Even if Leon Kennedy does appear in Resident Evil: Requiem, it’d be as a member of the old guard. After all, he will be around 50 years old when the events of Requiem take place, and while I’m sure he can still roundhouse kick a zombie at that age, having him age in real-time since his introduction in 1998 feels like a deliberate attempt to put Leon closer to retirement than in the thick of the action.
I think there’s plenty of room for Leon Kennedy to appear in Requiem as a seasoned veteran helping the new protagonist, similar to Chris’ role in Resident Evil Village. But the problem is how the Leon rumors have sucked up so much of the oxygen around Resident Evil: Requiem, so much so that some fans of the series are outright disregarding Grace as the game’s protagonist. There’s a good chance Leon could appear in Requiem, but Capcom’s attention to detail on Grace tells me that developers are quite passionate about her as a character. It must be a little frustrating to see fans brush her aside for an unconfirmed appearance by Leon.
But Leon and Resident Evil 4’s grip on the newest game isn’t just limited to which characters fans want to see. Resident Evil: Requiem made waves when it announced that, in an attempt to appeal to all Resident Evil fans, there will be the option to play Requiem in both the scarier first-person perspective introduced in Resident Evil 7, or in the iconic third-person perspective.
My concern, and something I noted in my preview, is that switching between first- and third-person perspectives has an immediate impact on how scary the game is. That wider viewing angle reveals threats that would otherwise go unseen, spoiling jump scares and instilling additional fear-conquering confidence. And for a game that’s supposedly focused on horror, as Nakanishi claims, having an option that immediately dampens the terror feels like it undermines the director’s goals.
The last time Capcom chased the ghost of past Resident Evil games, it took years for the franchise to find its way back again.
Just like in the aftermath of Resident Evil 4, Capcom finds itself again in a position of balancing giving fans what they want, between the potential appearance of everyone’s favorite zombie-hunting agent and the choice to play in both first- and third-person, and pushing both the design of Resident Evil and the story of Raccoon City forward through the use of a new protagonist and contemporary timeframe.
If the developers of Requiem believe that the game can be scary and compelling in both first- and third-person, then I look forward to seeing that for myself next year. Similarly, if they feel that Grace Ashcroft can carry the next mainline Resident Evil game as the protagonist, I’m even more excited to find out how she fits into the story of Raccoon City. After successfully reinventing Resident Evil with Ethan Winters’ story and establishing a slower, creepier design that directly opposes the high-octane horror action of Leon’s trip to Spain, fans should extend Capcom the benefit of the doubt about Grace, Leon, and Requiem. And for the developers, I hope they pursue their vision for the Resident Evil franchise without compromise.
Because the last time Capcom chased the ghost of past Resident Evil games, it took years for the franchise to find its way back again.
