15 Biggest Secrets And References In Resident Evil Requiem

Most successful game series acknowledge the games that came before them, and Resident Evil is no exception. It actively celebrates its history, frequently including hidden references to its story and how the games used to play within its immersive environments – little treats for dedicated fans to discover.

With Requiem, the game keeps delivering fun nods to the past. Exploring Rhodes Hill Care Center and the wrecked city of Raccoon City constantly made us smile with familiar references. We’ve collected some of the best ones we discovered and are sharing them here – let’s take a look!

1. Rewarding A Rather Rare Skill

When you pick a lock for the first time while helping Grace escape in Rhodes Hill, you’ll unlock the “Like Mother, Like Daughter” trophy/achievement. This is a nod to Alyssa’s skills in the earlier game, Outbreak, where lockpicking was one of her special abilities.

Maybe she taught Grace this skill when she was young? Either way, it’s proven to be very helpful to both of them throughout their adventures.

2. The Destroyed Kendo Gun Shop

Robert and Joseph Kendo were the brothers who made all the weapons for the STARS team when Raccoon City was still a bustling city. Their gun shop, once conveniently located near the police station, is now in ruins after the city was destroyed.

Once you reach the city as Leon, you’ll be able to revisit this location, which is a nice reminder of his early days as an officer. We speculate whether the Requiem gun was one of the last projects the brothers completed, but considering what happened to them during the initial outbreak, it’s probably not likely.

3. An Unforgettable Obstacle

Do you remember that burning tanker truck blocking the way to the RPD in both Resident Evil 2 and the Resident Evil 2 Remake? It was a real pain, forcing you to detour through the alleyways, with a shop named after a Street Fighter character helping you find your way around.

The city’s ruins are filled with familiar sights, and you follow the same route as the first game to reach the destroyed police station in Requiem. Even the wall graffiti is identical, which is a nice detail that effectively connects the two parts of Leon’s story.

4. Skeletons From Leon’s Past

We haven’t finished exploring the story of the Raccoon City Police Department and its remains. You likely recall the severely disfigured officer Leon encountered on his first, disastrous day – a truly disturbing sight with his grotesquely twisted face and dangling jaw.

He’s in the same condition as when you last saw him in Requiem, still lacking his lower jaw—a reference to a memorable scene from the RE2 Remake.

5. A Lukewarm Welcome

The destroyed police station still has the old ‘Welcome’ banner made for Leon on his first, disastrous day as an officer – including the extra ‘L’ from when they misspelled it. It was funny at the time, even with everything else going on, but now it’s a bittersweet reminder of how things could have turned out if Umbrella hadn’t interfered.

6. A Typewriter Well Past Its Prime

So, in Requiem, you can save at typewriters, but there’s one in the RCPD main hall that’s totally busted. Leon actually thinks it’s more than just a broken save point – he suspects it might have even helped keep Mr. X from getting to him back in the day. It’s like this old typewriter has seen some stuff and deserves to be put out of its misery!

Now, it’s just a faded reminder of what it once was, a sad echo of the past. While the world may have moved on, it still deeply affects those who lived through it.

7. A Puzzling Reminder

If you’re new to Resident Evil 2 or haven’t experienced the remake, you might easily miss a broken lion statue upstairs from the old typewriter. It used to hide the Lion Medallion, which was locked behind a puzzle. The solution to that puzzle changed depending on whether you were playing the game for the first time or doing a second playthrough.

Even with the correct code entered, the puzzle remains, demonstrating the developers’ careful dedication to consistency as they rebuilt Raccoon City and the police station.

8. The Destroyed Orphanage

Okay, so in Resident Evil Requiem, you’re exploring an orphanage, and it seriously feels like I’m back in RE2 Remake! It’s the same place I helped Sherry Birkin escape from Chief Irons – definitely a cool bit of nostalgia for anyone who played that part of the game.

Okay, so the place looks pretty much the same as before – same layout, all the little details are still there, like the kids’ toys scattered in the nursery and that familiar path to the main hall. It’s like, they totally wrecked everything else, but there’s still one spot that’s unbelievably beautiful, even after all this.

9. The Final Puzzle

So, I found this severed hand, and honestly, I was stumped! Turns out, it kicks off this really hidden puzzle. You have to figure out a specific code, and if you do, you get a reward that’s seriously game-changing – it can really shake things up and make a huge difference in how you play!

To unlock the final puzzle in Requiem, you’ll first need to trigger Marie’s Doll to appear and then start a new game plus (NG+). Then, go to the basement of the Care Center and find the Processing blood pool. Don’t drain it for at least 15 minutes. After the time has passed, drain the pool, jump in, and complete the grinder challenge without shooting the zombies. Instead, you need to get them to fall into the grinder while still alive. Proceed to the next, smaller blood pool area, and look for a message saying “blood flowed out” – this means the setup was successful.

First, get out of the basement and return to the bathroom on the first floor, then flush the toilet eight times – it’s essential! Later, when the Courtyard Research Facility starts to self-destruct, go to Collection and Testing, grab Marie’s Doll near the metal stairs, and store it in an item box to complete the current game. On your next playthrough with Grace, retrieve the doll from the item box. After escaping the basement again, find the Severed Hand on the floor in front of the elevator and take it to the Blood Lab for analysis. This will unlock “Let’s Play” and give you the RNA sequence GGC AAG AUA ACG UGU CAU.

To unlock the code, use these values: G represents the distance from Earth to the Sun (150,000,000 km), U is the distance to the Moon (380,000 km), and C stands for the distance to the nearest star (4.2 light-years). To find A, you need to perform a specific action in Raccoon City: kick the Mr. Everywhere head into the basketball hoop, then examine the body at Gun Shop Kendo to get the clue “Just ignore A”. This simplifies the code to GGC G U CG UGU CU. Finally, while carrying Emily and with Marie’s Doll in your inventory, go to the Lead Researcher’s Office and enter the following sequence into the puzzle box: Sun, Sun, Star, Sun, Moon, Star, Sun, Moon, Sun, Moon, Star, Moon. This will trigger sounds and unlock rewards.

10. Leon’s Movie Appearances

Longtime fans of Resident Evil will recall that Leon S. Kennedy starred in a series of animated films. One of these, Vendetta, features Leon being pursued by terrifying mutant dogs while trying to escape on a motorcycle, shooting back at them as he flees.

When you reach Raccoon City in Requiem, the bike chase with Leon feels remarkably similar to the one in the movie Vendetta. If you’ve seen the film – and fans of Leon really should – you’ll likely enjoy this nostalgic and exciting sequence.

11. Two Brothers With An Appetite

The creepy, baby-faced monsters attacking Leon and Grace are actually brothers named Thomas and Timothy. They were severely affected by something that happened at Rhodes Hill, which caused them to develop an extreme hunger and a craving for human meat.

Patient records are well-hidden in Requiem, and only the most dedicated players will be able to discover this unsettling secret.

12. Tofu Returns!

This little detail is easy to overlook, but it’s a fun throwback! If you walk down the hallway between the skeleton of the deceased officer and the RCPD operations room, you might catch Tofu peeking at you through the wall cracks. He’ll quickly run away if you approach, though.

If you’re unfamiliar, Tofu is a playable character originally created as a temporary stand-in during the development of Resident Evil 2. The developers decided to leave him in the game as a funny surprise. He was tricky to unlock, but he’s a powerful character with several different versions to play as.

13. Look At These Photographs

If you explore the ruins of the Raccoon City Police Department closely, you might find a photograph that fans of Resident Evil 1 and 2 will recognize. It’s a team photo of the STARS team, taken two years before their disastrous mission to investigate strange deaths in the woods near Raccoon City.

Leon points out the tragedy, sadly noting the senseless deaths caused by Umbrella’s pursuit of profit and disregard for human life.

14. Jill’s STARs Beret

If you go to Jill Valentine’s desk at the RPD, you’ll notice her STARS beret is covered in dust from the building’s damage. You might recognize it – it was part of her uniform in the original game when it was still in good condition.

It’s neat that Jill left a recognizable trace after the events of Resident Evil 3, even with Nemesis pursuing her colleagues. It’s a fun nod to a character who’s been important to the series’ story for a long time.

15. A Familiar Pit Stop

When Leon arrives in Raccoon City, he immediately needs to find gas, and a local station has what he’s looking for. Remember the name of this station – it’s the same one where Jill and Carlos were when Carlos blew up a tanker trying to stop Nemesis.

Leon drives the tanker to the station to get the fuel he needs, keeping everything right on schedule.

Bonus: Metal Gear Solid 4 Callback?

There are striking similarities between Old Snake and Leon Kennedy. Both are seasoned veterans nearing the end of their careers, undertaking one final, crucial mission. Similarly, there’s a connection between the organizations Elpis and Fox Alive – both aim to eliminate viruses within their worlds.

We were amazed by how cleverly the developer included references and nods to past games, bringing back fond memories of the franchise’s highlights. It was a really enjoyable experience discovering them, and if this game is like the others, we expect to find even more hidden gems over time.

2026-03-09 22:46