Everyone’s favourite annual tradition is back! Over the last few years, I’ve been ranking the save rooms in vintage RE games such as Resident Evil (2002) and Resident Evil Zero.

There were a number of directions I could go from here, whether I would revert back to the PS1 classics or continue through the murky 2000s, but we all know what the most important deciding factor is… Clicks! Sweet, nourishing, gratifying clicks!

With that in mind, we’re jumping ahead in the production line to rank all of the save rooms in the newest entry, Resident Evil Requiem. It’s already created quite a stir as one of the best games in franchise history, and now, we can work out which of its typewriters are top-notch.

To spice things up, I’m also including the laptops and terminals that designate save points in Leon’s campaign. Whether or not they should count is a matter of personal taste, so if you disagree, feel free to skip over those entries (you typewriting purist, you).

Also, did you like how seamlessly I dumped all of the relevant links within the opening paragraphs? I sure did! That’s how the pros do it, baby.

16. Lab Entrance

Save Room Music: No
Item Box: Yes

Considering the extensive length of this game, it should come as no surprise that there are more save rooms than what we’re accustomed to. Not coincidentally, a lot of them are entirely unspectacular, so we’ll have a fair few dregs to sift through before we get to the good stuff.

While generally speaking, Grace’s save points have more eye candy than Leon’s, there is simply nothing to boast about in the lab entrance point, because there is simply nothing here. Its most impressive feature is the door to the laboratory area, suggesting that the only thing interesting about this place is the opportunity to eventually leave it.

It’s a stark, barren room that exists only as a fallback option if you get jumped by the Lickers down the hall. For gameplay purposes, that’s all fine and dandy. For immersion opportunities, there is no damned reason anyone would be leaving an item box and a typewriter here, short of a delivery person who kept ringing the doorbell to no response, gave up, and dumped the items at the door.

15. Side Street

Save Room Music: No
Item Box: Yes

It feels so weird calling this a save room, because it’s not really a room at all. It’s a shipping container that lies ahead of an open expanse of space, all but telegraphing that a boss battle is about to occur.

After you’ve bested the upcoming T-501, you’ll be pressing on towards the orphanage, ensuring that you’ll only ever access this save point once or twice. It is so totally just there, and the sole reason it ranks higher than the lab entrance is because the surrounding area is at least visually stimulating.

As an aside, you can expect Leon’s save points to generally rank lower for a couple of reasons. One: they don’t have actual item boxes, just BSAA containers, which is technically different. Two: none of them have the game’s save music (which is admittedly scarce overall). Three: Leon’s campaign has generous autosave points, rendering them largely superfluous.

Ugh, can we just move on, please??

14. Staff Room

Save Room Music: No
Item Box: Yes

Much cosier than the previous entry, the staff room suffers similarly to the other ARK save points thanks to its sterility.

Now that you’re approaching the endgame, safe spots to replenish your artillery and gather your thoughts are a welcome reprieve, but I can’t help but wonder why this staff room is so bereft of facilities.

No coffee machine? No lockers? No adjoining bathroom for stressed out scientists to discreetly vape in? Umbrella sure are a callous lot, though they did at least see fit to place one of their space aged magic crates in the corner. Maybe that’s where they keep the snacks?

It is worth noting that this room is located shortly before you’re accosted by the Connections’ squad of elite guards. With their tactical movement, they’ll offer a steeper challenge than your average zombie, so you might end up respawning here a fair few times. I sure did.

13. B4 Staff Room

Save Room Music: No
Item Box: Yes

Basically the same staff room as we just saw, but with the added benefit of stuff.

The B4 staff room (ironically named considering it is the game’s final save room… get it?) feels a bit more lived in thanks to its various computers and desks. I suppose this is where upper management would get their work done, so it stands to reason that they’d receive luxuries their peon underlings would not.

About my only concern is that this is supposed to be a safe room, however the cabling situation is anything but safe. Look at how it coils around the middle of the floor — such a tripping hazard! Fortunately for Leon, he never snags his foot and injures himself, though his greater concern is likely the last batch of zombies and Lickers lurking beyond.

12. West Point

Save Room Music: No
Item Box: Yes

Another day, another dull Leon Kennedy save point. At a glance, you might think that the Raccoon City west point safe room ought to rank lower, considering its lack of notable features and generally monochromatic colour palette.

Its main positive is that it comes at a helpful time, allowing you to pilfer through the BSAA container and reward yourself for all of the wonderful murders you’ve just committed. Considering the kind of mayhem you’re currently embroiled with up on the dilapidated city roofs, you’ll be thanking your lucky stars that the soldiers holed up here.

Also, I kinda like how snug it is. It’s just a tiny little place with the windows boarded up, like a panic room of some kind, or the final stronghold for a lunatic hermit. I doubt either of these are accurate, but I need to beef up the word count somehow, don’t I?

11. Processing

Save Room Music: No
Item Box: No

It’s a general rule of thumb that the more details a save room has, the higher it will rank on this list. It may be a surprise, then, that the visually stimulating processing facility is positioned so low, until you stop for a moment to consider its ramifications.

From a gameplay perspective, it’s one of the few dastardly typewriters that doesn’t have an accompanying item box, suggesting that you’re here not to feel safe as much as sense imminent danger. And true enough, you’re about to go through a goopy gauntlet of fun once the liquid has been drained.

From an in-game perspective, this is potentially the most distressing safe room in Resident Evil history. You are literally watching as bodies are dumped into a pool of blood, with a great many of them still writhing and lamenting their fate. And even if you stop the carousel of doom, you’ll have to climb down and fend off a horde of zombies whilst they’re fed into a grinder.

Jesus, a grinder in a save room? I don’t care whether it’s a bone-crushing device or Keith Lumley, it’s just a nasty perversion of everything I hold dear. Much like the worst people you’ve ever met, this room is interesting for all the wrong reasons.

10. Storage Bay

Save Room Music: No
Item Box: Yes

I might be judging this safe room too harshly, as it serves exactly as the concept should: it’s a place where you can load up on your ammunition, craft whatever tools you’ll need, and reset your progress should Marie get her filthy mitts on you down below.

And yet, I can’t really say that I would much enjoy my time here. Everything in this place is dark and depressing, and while the power is out, you can’t even flee back up here until the elevator is in working order again. Plus, Emily is quietly dying off to the side, and that’s just not good for a room’s Feng Shui.

As someone who botched the following section of the game multiple times, I appreciate the utility of the storage bay. I simply shan’t be over-inflating its sense of importance when it does little to dissuade my oppressive sense of dread. If only Lisa Trevor was nearby, she probably could have set up a few candles to spruce things up.

9. CEntral Camp

Save Room Music: No
Item Box: Yes

The first save point you’ll happen upon as Leon during your Resident Evil Requiem playthrough, this safe room is a couple features short of being bang average.

It’s a fully equipped tent that the BSAA set up during their Raccoon City operation, and as such it’s well organised and full of important-looking schematics. It’s here that you’ll set up shop as you scour the city in search of detonator parts.

With all that being said, other than the security it offers, can you really say it does much to stand out? It stacks up better than the others we’ve already listed, and yet if you were to put this in a classic RE game, I can’t imagine it would rank nearly as well.

I mean for fuck’s sake, why doesn’t it at least have the save room music? It’s Leon’s main safe room for all intents and purposes, and yet he doesn’t get to enjoy a moment of tranquility? I can only blame those idiot BSAA jarheads, they probably stripped all of the fun out of this little camping trip.

8. Operations Room

Save Room Music: No
Item Box: No

Hey now, operations room, I know what kind of tomfoolery you’re trying to pull here! Tucked away in a quiet corner of the bioweapon repository, you’ll visit this unassuming office midway through a search for the second orb required to progress through a locked door.

It’s another one of those pesky “oh we don’t keep item boxes here, we merely fancy a bit of typing now and then” kind of situations, which makes sense from both standpoints; giving you access to all of your equipment would cheapen the challenge of trying to fend off all the zombies and Lickers unscathed, and this is a tiny little office on an upper floor. How would you even get it in there, huh?!

Maybe it shouldn’t rank higher than the myriad of other ARK save points we’ve laboured over, but I can’t help but appreciate its presence. It’s like a little breather between battles, and it’s suitably cosy, as well.

Plus, unlike the staff rooms, there’s so much stuff to look at! Computers, desks, server racks… I just like having things in my save rooms (unless, as we’ve established, those things are dead bodies being dropped into a river of blood).

7. Reception

Save Room Music: No
Item Box: Yes

Although it’s an entirely pleasant save room, I can’t help but feel as though the reception area for the research facility is rather baffling. To access it in the first place, you have to place a double helix-shaped key within a cabinet, causing the entire room to descend towards an underground compound.

So if this is some kind of secret clandestine location, why does it have a sitting area for visitors? Am I to believe that there’s a receptionist who usually works here, offering people refreshments until they’re ready to be seen?

Weird as it is, it’s Resident Evil weird, so it gets a pass. Beyond that, there isn’t much to write home about. It’s another one of those rooms that warns you of oncoming danger rather than providing you with relief from dangers you’ve just escaped, which renders it far less appealing in my book.

It looks nice and all, but I’m not too fussed about it, quite frankly.

6. R.P.D. Main Hall

Save Room Music: No
Item Box: Yes

This one gets by a bit on its reputation. Technically speaking, the main hall of the Raccoon Police Department looks similar to the other buildings you’ve been frequenting during your urban exploration. It’s rundown and filthy, with an air of misery choking your every move.

But come on, it’s the Raccoon Police Department, man, about as iconic a location as any the franchise has ever seen. Even in this pitiful state, its high ceilings and opulent windows offer an insight into the eccentricity of its glory years.

Thanks to the roundabout design of the surrounding areas, you’ll pop in here multiple times as you navigate the R.P.D., and while it doesn’t have that elusive save room music, its soundtrack is one of the best in the entire game — the solemn refrain of RE2’s main hall theme just hits different.

Some might call it nostalgia baiting, but I care not. Just call me a nostalgia fishy baby, because I am gobbling this shit up hook, line and sinker.

5. Lead Researcher’s Office

Save Room Music: No
Item Box: No

Whereas the guard office marks the quintessential save room of Resident Evil Requiem, the lead researcher’s office is a far more risky alternative. Absent of an item box, saving here effectively plants you in the more dangerous eastern wing for the foreseeable future.

If you’re a first-time player unaware of the dangers of leaving corpses around to rot, you might run afoul of a few Blister Heads strewn about the hallways, and of course, proceeding towards uncharted territory will put you face-to-face with a gargantuan Chunk.

With all this in mind, it’s perhaps prudent to limit the amount of times you save in the lead researcher’s office, and as you’ll come to discover, once you’ve completed the quartz puzzle, you won’t really have much purpose in returning here in the first place.

For all these reasons, it pales in comparison to that trustworthy guard office in every manner except aesthetic. Because oh gosh it looks pretty, but you’d best beware its allure… underneath that veneer of grandeur lies a cruel jezebel who won’t spare you a single opportunity to procure your precious items.

What am I saying? Oh yeah, save room with no item box, lol.

4. Room 201

Save Room Music: No
Item Box: No

The first save room we happen upon in Resident Evil Requiem is humble in nature, but charming in its simplicity.

Shortly after waking up hanging upside down with an IV jabbed into her arm (just your average night out in Detroit), Grace stumbles through the halls of the chronic care centre in search of an escape route.

Unless you’ve got a fairly good grasp of what’s going on, you’ll definitely want to take advantage of the typewriter present in room 201, because you’re about to face off against one of the most horrifying threats in franchise history: Marie, aka The Girl, aka Sugar Mouth.

From this perspective, room 201 holds sentimental value for being our initial home base, particularly since it’s one of the few lit areas that Marie can’t follow you into it… Well, that is until you try to collect the fuse stored in the closet, at which point the power will cut out and the wretched beast will pursue you tirelessly.

As such, it’s one of those safe rooms that isn’t altogether safe, akin to Lisa Trevor’s cabin in RE1. Once you’ve successfully opened the shutter door, this ward of the care centre will be shut off permanently, so your time here will ultimately be short-lived. Hopefully your time on earth won’t be short-lived, too.

3. Guard Office

Save Room Music: Yes
Item Box: Yes

We’ve done it, everyone. We’ve finally reached one of the only true save rooms in the entire game, aka one that actually has the goddamn save music.

Positioned in the tranquillity of the care centre’s main hall, this is the preeminent save room; the one you will be using the most often, and the one that you can rest assured won’t be overrun with nasty customers later on.

Considering its overwhelming utility, you might expect it to have been ranked as the #1 save room with ease, however we have to address the elephant in the room: outside of the comfy couch placed in the middle (the likes of which you can safely deposit your blind child upon whenever you please), there isn’t really much to write home about for this location.

There’s some filing cabinets, a stairwell leading to a pair of holding cells, a printer for you to throw up on… but that’s about it. All this is to say, it doesn’t quite hold up against the big boys that make up the most legendary save rooms. But what could possibly have topped it on the podium?

2. Security Room

Save Room Music: Yes
Item Box: Yes

Cry foul if you must, this save room just screams Resident Evil to me.

Speaking of which, you’ll likely do a lot of screaming while you navigate this treacherous area, because the care centre basement is one of the most terrifying areas you’ll have the misfortune of visiting.

It’s bad enough that there are hordes of zombies roaming the grounds, but Marie will also make her presence felt, stalking you around every corner while you try to locate the joint plugs to free Emily from captivity.

The sense of sanctuary you’ll feel when you just barely cross the threshold into this room is unlike any you’ll find throughout Requiem; gasping for air as you scour the item box for some kind of salve to close up your gaping wounds. If there were a suitable antonym for a victim of circumstance, this room would very much be it.

It also helps that its central location makes it incredibly helpful for inevitable respawns when you meet your demise, cutting down on legwork as you try to correct the errors of a previous life. It looks great and it perfectly delivers on its purpose — plus, it’s got the save room theme, so you know it’s a winner.

1. Custodian’s Office

Save Room Music: Yes
Item Box: Yes

If you were to pick one location in all of Resident Evil Requiem that effortlessly evokes all of the nostalgia with its atmosphere, the custodian’s office is surely it. It’s not nearly as ballyhooed as the guard’s office thanks to its more isolated location, but take one look around and you’ll agree: this one feels like it was plucked right from the pre-rendered backgrounds of yesteryear.

The custodian’s office has a particular energy into it, owing largely to its troubling details; the blinds have clearly been pulled about as if someone was peering desperately out the window, and there is a spatter of blood on the wall.

You can’t collect it as you would with other bloodstains (mind your manners, Grace), so it instead offers you an insight into the danger nearby… This is especially prescient considering you are likely about to come face-to-yucky-face with your first Blister Head back out in the hallway.

The chronic care centre is a fabulous landmark in Resident Evil history, capably standing toe-to-toe with Spencer Mansion or the Baker Estate. And it’s thanks to memorable nooks like this one; somewhere we can catch our breath whilst ultimately understanding that we must remain on the move… or else!