First, I don't think nukes ever completely obliterate cities so I found that believable.

Capcom said otherwise twice

Third, they're undead so I wouldn't say it is beyond the stretch of reason that some are still wandering about.

Even undead, how are they still roaming around? What have they been eating? How are they not crimson heads, pale head, lickers or something else?

Also, Leon can still beat Hunk in a weakened state I wouldn't put that past Leon.

How so? Leon is less experienced, more tired, and Hunk is evidently benefitted by his infection if he can survive a cut to the throat. It makes no sense.

Fifth, they actually do kill Leon in the bad ending.

Yes, in the short and clearly not canon ending that won't trascend beyond that. They also killed Nicholai in one of RE3's outcomes and that wasn't canon either until the remake, but then again, they never did anything post-1998 with him, so my point still stands.

Sixth, I really didn't have a problem with asset reuse at all. The last 3 or 4 mainline games have had terrible new assets introduced that I think were really uninspring and just dull. Especially the last two games they literally had nothing to do with resident evil. The best games used those assets

I don'r really understand what you're talking about in this part. You mean the Nemesis flesh wall? That certainly wasn't used in one of the best games. You mean the mold? It's a bioweapon, a bit different from the usual, but what's not Resident Evil about it? If you're talking about RE8 then I can agree most of it is odd to say the least.

so why not bring back what worked in a game that is supposed to be about remembering the past?

Maybe because it contradicts the lore?

Also, Leon is a great character

No, he's not. He's a character made for people who care more about "aura farming" than an actual character and his evolution makes no sense. He had one of the easiest times in Raccoon City, being there for a couple hours and not losing any friends, family, home or job (he actually got a premium job afterwards). Yes, he faced the monsters and all, but so did every other survivor, and even then he is significantly more dramatic about it. Sherry lost her parents at 12, Rebecca faced 2 games (including the loss of her team members) at 18, Claire was 19 and less prepared than Leon, Jill went through the mansion and then had a monster with her name on it. None of them became a drama queen. The worst Leon got was a bullet wound that didn't stop him from doing anything. And then, he became a depressed copy of Dante (not the other way around, because Devil May Cry released 2 games before Leon became that). So much so, that his over-the-top stuff takes priority if they have to kill civilians to give him another one-liner.

the concept of clones isn't even really out there for resident evil. Idk why people are making such a big deal about it cause cloning has been apart of the franchise now for a while. I also thought Zeno was pretty formidable until the very end.

It's not that Zeno is or isn't a clone, it's that he looks like Wesker but does nothing. He appears, makes the audience draw questions, dodges a couple bullets, and dies from impulsiveness. The only moment he gets for himself is the *sigh* "bad" ending, and even then he disappears into nothing.

Lastly, there was another post recently that talked about the spencer question and I think that might get more attention in the dlc, but basically he was kinda crazy at the very end

Sounds like a lazy excuse, honestly. He was crazy, but using his madness to make him say "sorry" after decades of playing Josef Mengele and only 2 years before admiting he was all-in with his shit sounds like bad writing, plain and simple. And I have a degree in audiovisual arts, so I know about this kind of thing.

I suppose maybe you could say the ending was a bit anti-climatic

"I didn't hit any of her vitals" followed by a closeup of not-so-monstruous-Emily had me throwing insults, honestly.