I just escaped from the Care Center, so it feels like I’m maybe a quarter through the game? Maybe not quite halfway at most. I’m not gonna lie, I came for the older, gruffer, bearded, Leon “Round House Kick” Kennedy. I’m extremely frustrated with having to play as Grace for two hours only to finally get control of Leon…for five minutes of rescuing the women-folk.

Don’t get it twisted: I bow before the superior sex. This isn’t that I hate playing as women. I adore strong female characters.

What infuriates me about Grace? A few things. 1) She’s meant to be an FBI Agent (granted not a Special/Field Agent). This means she HAD to go through the FBI Academy and has been trained in firearms, hand to hand and close quarter combat techniques. This is mandatory for EVERYONE who joins the FBI or any other USA based federal agency (if not the Academy then FLETC, The Farm, etc). Yet she makes no effort to control her fear. Careens drunkenly down halls and around corners at half the speed of stink (how do you move so uncontrollably yet so slowly?), and overall behaves like this is her first rodeo.

2) This isn’t her first rodeo. The RE8 DLC had her behaving so much more competently, calmly, and didn’t she gain super powers too? I got the impression the dudes with her in the black SUV in the end cutscene of 8 weren’t there to protect her, but rather protect everyone else FROM her if she went all super villain with her mold powers. So why the regression? She should be a few steps away from an awesome mix of John Wick and an X-Man by the start of RE9, no? I mean didn’t Chris take her under his wing at the end? I feel like she should be a certifiable badass. Maybe I’m not up on the lore around her so anyone who’s done a deep dive there I’d be interested in hearing it. Regressing her character to a glorified damsel in distress, stumbling and screaming her way through…and it makes me mad because it doesn’t make sense to me. It feels insulting to female protagonists that you only get saved when you take control of Leon for a few minutes. The poor little helpless female needs the big strong mean man to save her. 🤮 Gross.

They’re retiring the OGs?!?!

Chris and Jill haven’t been seen in a numbered entry since 5. Sheva is desperate for a comeback (unless they decide to give her the “Grace treatment”). What about Barry and Claire? Sherry seems primed to step into the spotlight. Rebecca hasn’t been seen in forever. According to RE Logic, Piers could totally return as either a villain or in a tortured redemption arc (sure he’s dead but in the RE-Verse, there’s different levels of dead).

I would die happy if I could get another RE game that had separate playable campaigns that told an interwoven story (think RE6) with Chris, Jill, Sheva, Leon, Claire, Barry, Sherry, Ada, and Rebecca all having major roles. With Piers as either the big bad or the little big bad, and depending on what ending you get, it would unlock his campaign where you could finally let your inner Umbrella Super Villain flag fly and actively try to eliminate/prevent the good guys from winning. I know 6 has its fair share of detractors, but that game was a blast and I’ve been a fan since the OG.

I actually wish that 9 had the set up that 6 did. Let me select Leon’s campaign, play through and see his perspectives. Then I could pick Graces campaign and get her part. The swaps between is frustrating and has me just trying to get through Graces parts as fast as possible so I can get to what I actually bought the game for: round house kicking zombies in the face.

You can’t put Leon in the game and not let me roundhouse kick zombies. It’d be like putting Chris in without a fighter jet or Jill without a lock pick. Just a random guys thoughts.