Resident Evil Requiem protagonist Grace Ashcroft seemed to be an instant hit with series fans following the game’s launch back in February; so much so that when Nvidia unveiled an AI-powered DLSS 5 makeover for the character just a few weeks later, the pushback was strong and swift. And speaking to Eurogamer in the aftermath of that controversy, Requiem game director Koshi Nakanishi has said he sees the passionate response as positive, suggesting it means the development team got Grace’s original design “right”.
Nvidia, you might recall, revealed its new DLSS5 technology in March, insisting it would enable developers to “deliver a new level of photoreal computer graphics previously only achieved in Hollywood visual effects.” To demonstrate this claim, it shared a video featuring familiar video game faces, albeit now given a makeover using its generative AI trickery.
Notably, both Resident Evil Requiem’s leads – Grace Ashcroft and Leon S. Kennedy – got the AI makeover treatment in the video. But it was Grace’s redesign that drew particular ire among fans, who lambasted the way the technology had smothered her in makeup and made other tweaks to ‘yassify’ her distinctive looks, such as plumping up her lips. The overall DLSS 5 reveal generated so much derision, in fact, Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang was compelled to make a statement calling some accusations “completely wrong”.
All this was on my mind when I recently spoke with game director Koshi Nakanishi and producer Masato Kumazawa in a wide-ranging interview about Resident Evil Requiem’s creation. As our chat moved onto Grace and the way fans have seemingly taken to the character, Nakanishi said the team had “been really glad to see” the positive response to Grace, attributing it to the fact she’s “very emotionally expressive about the fear she goes through, being thrust into this intense experience [and] because she’s so relatable, you root for her.”
So what did the team make of the furore surrounding her DLSS 5 makeover? While Nakanishi couldn’t comment on the team’s involvement specifically, he said he considered it a “positive” that “a lot of players commented they really liked the original design of Grace and didn’t want to see it changed… It meant we got the design right [and] points to the fact that Grace quickly established herself as a fan favourite, that people had such strong opinions on her design.”
Elsewhere in Eurogamer’s extensive Resident Evil Requiem interview, Nakanishi and producer Masato Kumazawa discussed the horror at the heart of the Resident Evil series, Requiem’s return to Raccoon City, figuring out just how wild Leon’s action segments can be, and even some musing on whether good old Leon might still be popping up in his 70s. If you’re curious, do have a read!
