5 Things We Want To See For Resident Evil Requiem’s First Major Story DLC

Thanks to the first of two post-credits scenes in Resident Evil Requiem, as well as the dynamic main menu change that is represented after beating the game, it seems fair to say that Grace Ashcroft’s chapter in the Resident Evil franchise is an open-and-shut case. It is therefore unlikely that she will be featured in Resident Evil Requiem’s upcoming story expansion, which was announced recently, but there are other breadcrumb trails this DLC could follow.

Resident Evil Requiem’s newly announced minigame could well be a new edition of HUNK’s 4th Survivor minigame from Resident Evil 2, as there are clues that he truly is the ‘Commander’ who fights Leon in the ARK (his body vanishes, for example, and his hand was exposed to show a similar T-Virus affliction). As for what the story expansion will pertain to, Resident Evil Requiem has no shortage of dangling threads that its story has yet to knot.

Ada Wong

Because Leon S. Kennedy is a main protagonist of Resident Evil Requiem, nobody would have been wrong to confidently presume that the ninth mainline installment would feature Resident Evil’s Ada Wong. Until the details about who or what is explored in this story expansion are revealed, though, Resident Evil Requiem is technically the only Resident Evil game to feature Leon without Ada in a supporting role.

Leon and Ada have even transcended Resident Evil to be together as survivor characters in Dead by Daylight. Instead, Ada is noticeably absent, and it seems like it must be deliberately so. Especially if Leon and Ada have become a romantic couple beyond the ‘will they, won’t they’ of their traditionally clashing ideologies and motivations, it would be quite bizarre that he would not reach out to try to communicate with her once, while he is on his deathbed throughout Resident Evil Requiem.

Still, Leon wears a ring in Resident Evil Requiem’s concept art, and he can be seen putting it back on after he is cured at the end of the game, suggesting the possibility that he got married to Ada at some point between Resident Evil 6 and Resident Evil Requiem. If Capcom decides to announce that he is actually married to someone else, there will absolutely be outrage in the community, but specifically nightmarish for anyone devoted to shipping ‘Aeon.’

Resident Evil Requiem has Ada Easter eggs, to be fair, but a full-blown story expansion starring her would be thrilling. Perhaps she was preoccupied with matters of her own during the events of Resident Evil Requiem, as she was not able to aid Leon from the shadows in his journey from Wrenwood to Raccoon City.

She would have certainly been infected with the T-Virus and exhibiting symptoms if Leon and Sherry were, so what may have drawn her interest elsewhere is anyone’s guess. In any case, Resident Evil Requiem’s story DLC can hopefully answer these questions.

Rebecca Chambers

Resident Evil’s Rebecca Chambers is criminally underrepresented in the franchise. In fact, the modern RE Engine Resident Evil games have so far reduced her to a running gag as a secret Easter egg when players discover a photo of her in Albert Wesker’s desk—yuck. Rebecca was a fantastic character in Resident Evil 0, and she has long deserved to come back to the series as a main protagonist.

However, while it would be fantastic to see her in Resident Evil Requiem’s official story DLC, it may not be the best time or place. Rebecca does not have significant ties to Raccoon City, which is heavily paramount to the events in Resident Evil Requiem, and therefore it is unlikely that she would be the best character for a DLC to focus on. That said, with Rebecca playing as small a role as she has so far in the franchise, there may never be a better time or place for her.

Claire Redfield

Resident Evil’s Claire Redfield is another character who was egregiously absent in Resident Evil Requiem. Claire has as big a stake in the matters of Resident Evil 2 and Raccoon City as Leon, playing an instrumental role as the second playable protagonist and helping a young Sherry Birkin escape the doomed town.

For Sherry, now a DSO agent who behaves like Resident Evil 4’s Ingrid Hunnigan, not to express an honorable mention for Claire while Leon bears witness to the nostalgia of Raccoon City is absurd. They were essentially all in it together, and it's consequently disappointing that there was no moment of reflection or appreciation for Claire in Resident Evil Requiem.

If both Leon and Ada were stricken with a mysterious T-Virus infection that has been marinating for decades, it would be a nonsensical oversight for Claire not to be. This must be addressed in the franchise to ensure that there is not a gaping plot hole, and the DLC for Resident Evil Requiem would be a great opportunity to do so, wherever Claire happens to be.

Claire’s last appearance in the Resident Evil franchise was in Resident Evil: Revelations 2. She may be scheduled for the next Resident Evil game already if the apparent Resident Evil Code: Veronica remake rumors turn out to be true, but it would be incredible to see Claire join her brother to lead Resident Evil 10, too.

Jill Valentine

Resident Evil’s Jill Valentine, like Rebecca, would seem to only be tangentially related to the events of Resident Evil Requiem. A seminal and iconic character in her own right as one of the series’ first playable protagonists, she has not shared the same celebrity that other characters have.

Indeed, after Resident Evil and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Jill starred in Resident Evil: Revelations and had a brief supporting/antagonist role in Resident Evil 5. She has not been seen since, and a return for the story expansion of Resident Evil Requiem would be wholly unexpected.

For her to play any role in the future of Resident Evil games would be terrific, and that may come as a result of a rumored second remake of RE1. Even more wonderful would be a Jill tease in Resident Evil Requiem’s DLC that positions her as a lead protagonist for Resident Evil 10, regardless of how long it will be before we actually see the tenth mainline entry of the franchise come to fruition.

Chris Redfield

Resident Evil’s Chris Redfield is already an oversaturated character, appearing in the following Resident Evil games:

• Resident Evil
• Resident Evil Code: Veronica
• Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
• Resident Evil: Revelations
• Resident Evil 5
• Resident Evil 6
• Resident Evil 7
• Resident Evil Village

Due to Resident Evil Requiem’s pre- and post-credits teases, the surest guess anyone could make about what the game’s announced story expansion will relate to is that it will feature Chris and his Hound Wolf Squad task force, since they were explicitly mentioned as cliffhanger stingers.

For instance, we were not privy to the message that Chris wanted to be relayed to Leon, and it is possible that it has to do with the cliffhanger ending in Resident Evil Village that teased Chris paying a visit to the BSAA headquarters in Europe. Otherwise, we could be playing as Chris or a Hound Wolf Squad soldier in the ruins of Raccoon City.

If the series is preparing to lean more into action-oriented gameplay again, it would not be alarming in the slightest to see this story expansion rest on the laurels of Leon’s gameplay in Resident Evil Requiem, maybe with even more waves of human enemies firing back at the player in tactical shootouts. Pairing an action-heavy Resident Evil Requiem DLC with the success of the Resident Evil 4 remake would bolster Capcom's framework for tackling seemingly inevitable remakes of games as cinematic and action-packed as Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6.