It’s finally time for another installment in the Resident Evil franchise. On February 27th, Resident Evil Requiem will drop on every platform. It’ll feature a new character, an FBI analyst named Grace, and everyone’s favorite agent, Leon S. Kennedy, who aged like fine wine I must say.

Taking place over two decades after the events of Resident Evil 4, this is Leon’s return to Raccoon City. This is where it all began for him. It seems he’ll team up with Grace, who has a mad doctor named Victor after her. Maybe in this game, we’ll know the real truth behind the virus and how it all began.

I do want to know before I continue with this assessment that I’ve played only RE2 and RE4 remakes. I’m aware Leon appears in other games but I’m only familiar with these two as far as the franchise goes. I will also have spoilers about both games going forward. 

Leon’s Story Recap 

Since Leon’s very first day as a rookie cop, nothing has come easily for him, obviously. He had a bright outlook on his future as a police officer, which all came crashing down when he came to Raccoon City on that fateful day. He had to fight against zombies and other horrible monsters, and teamed up with mysterious agent Ada Wong, who ends up betraying him. She leads him on to believe she’s trying to destroy the virus, using his naivete and moral righteousness to her advantage. It turns out she may have been doing it to secure the virus to sell to the highest bidder. It’s a lot for anyone to handle, never mind a young man new to his job. 

Next time his story continues in 4, he is much more skilled than he was in 2. He underwent rigorous training and takes on a rescue mission on his own. He runs into Ada, who despite her dedication to her job, does have a conscience and subtly helps Leon. She just doesn’t show it to him.

He also receives help from Luis, someone who is also working with Ada, but wants to do the right thing after doing horrible things in the past for Umbrella. He helps Leon and Ashley get rid of the virus in their blood, losing his life in the process. 

At the end of 4, Leon successfully rescued Ashley. Requiem features a massive time skip in which Leon is in his early 50s, but as skilled and sharp as ever. In the trailer where he’s introduced, he is back in Raccoon City at the police station where he began his career. 

Requiem Discussion

With that, what does it mean for Leon Kennedy going forward? some people have speculation that this may be the last installment featuring Leon. Some even suggest Leon could die in this game, which I refuse to entertain. Leon deserves to take a step back from the horrors and have a peaceful rest of his life. However, being the righteous person he is, he may very well continue missions until his death. Either way, I don’t want to believe that they’ll kill off their most beloved character in the franchise in this game. After everything he’s been through, Leon doesn’t deserve such a fate, but it is one he’s acutely aware could befall him.

I also believe Ada will appear in this game. She tends to show up wherever he is. Maybe it would be nice to see the two finally reconcile their differences. As suggested from RE4 and its DLC with Ada, they end up going their separate ways at the end. They clearly have some semblance of care for each other, but they have very different views on things. 

Of course, Ada did manipulate Leon in RE2, and he believed her to be dead for years until she appears in RE4. I think anyone who felt a real connection to someone and thought they died after a betrayal would feel a lot of conflicting emotions. 

Despite it all, I like to think Ada could find it in herself to sincerely apologize for her past actions, given how much you help him in the DLC, and Leon, after a lot of time passing, could forgive and set aside their issues to work together. All this is pure conjecture, but it would be cool to see Ada appear and further develop their complicated relationship. 

I also wonder if any recurring characters will appear as well, given that it’s Raccoon City and not a remote Spanish town. Namely, Claire or Chris Redfield. I still need to complete my run of Claire’s story in RE2, but I know of these characters. 

Ultimately, we will find out very soon all of these answers and more in just a few short days. In the meantime, I need to finish playing as Claire to get as much detail as possible in anticipation.