Leon S. Kennedy might be pushing 50 in the world of Resident Evil, but that doesn’t seem to be slowing him down, if his action hero hijinks in this year’s Resident Evil Requiem – including that motorcycle scene – are anything to go by. And Requiem game director Koshi Nakanishi reckons Leon would still make a compelling addition to the series as a 70-year-old.
That vote of confidence for Leon came during Nakanashi’s recent chat with Eurogamer about the making of Resident Evil Requiem, after the conversation turned to its hugely popular protagonists. Newcomer Grace Ashcroft has been an immediate hit with fans – and the response to her DLSS 5 makeover was less than positive – but I was curious to know if the team felt a particular pressure to introduce new faces to the three-decade-old series, given there might be something of an expiration date for its longest-serving characters if they keep on ageing with each new instalment as they have been doing.
According to Nakanashi, though, “It’s not a cast iron rule that whenever [the team comes up] with a new game and we decide to release it here, that we have to exactly age everyone up to match it or anything like that.” To illustrate his point, he noted the Resident Evil Revelations side series is one exception to the rule. Regardless, the team doesn’t “feel the need to replace [its most recognisable faces] with younger characters,” Nakanashi explained. “We don’t really think of it in those terms.”
But if the mainline Resident Evil series does continue aging its characters, will there finally be a time Leon hangs up his action hero hat? Perhaps not. “I mean, I think Leon is really appealing in his current form,” Nakanishi continued. “And who knows, we could bring him back when he’s 70, and I’m sure he’ll still be a great character.” This, mind you, was before Requiem’s newly released game mode opted for a title demanding Leon’s untimely demise.
Leon’s certainly gone down well in his current wise-cracking, roundhouse-kicking form (and not just because of that skintight shirt); Resident Evil Requiem is officially the fastest-selling entry in the series’ 30 year history, having now sold over 7m copies. And its success is well-deserved too – I called it a “masterful bit of suffocating horror and a nostalgic, fan-thrilling victory lap for the legendary series” in my five star Resident Evil Requiem review.
If you’re curious to learn more about the game’s creation, you can check out our full interview with Resident Evil Requiem game director Koshi Nakanishi and producer Masato Kumazawa elsewhere on the site.
