The release of the ninth installment of Resident Evil has raised fans’ expectations to unprecedented heights. Following the great success of RE7 and Village, as well as remakes of the second, third, and fourth installments, Capcom has established a solid reputation.
But at the same time, the responsibility and expectations of fans increased. Resident Evil Requiem was expected to be not just a high-quality game, but something that would put an end to the classic era and answer the questions that the series had been dragging along for years. Did it succeed? Almost completely. And where it didn’t, at least they tried. I spent fifteen hours playing the game, completing it in that time, and now I’m ready to tell you all the details.
The plot and world of Resident Evil Requiem
The events of Resident Evil Requiem take place in 2026, while the events of the first three games in the series, namely the Raccoon City incident, occurred in 1998 according to the internal chronology of Resident Evil. Through simple math, we understand that one of the main characters of the franchise, Leon Kennedy, has been successfully fighting viruses, zombies, and other biohazards for a full 28 years.
Thirty years have passed since Raccoon City was reduced to ashes by the actions of the Umbrella Corporation. We play as two characters, switching between them throughout the story. Grace Ashcroft, an FBI analyst and daughter of Alice from RE: Outbreak, arrives at the hotel where her mother was killed eight years ago. But now new murders are taking place here, and the frightened girl is determined to get to the bottom of it. At the same time, Leon S. Kennedy, who is well into his fifties, is pursuing scientist Victor Gideon. He is a former Umbrella employee who caused trouble with the T-virus.
These two storylines converge and hold together perfectly until the end of the game. At the same time, Capcom did not overload the script, as was the case in Resident Evil 6, where each of the heroes tried to save the whole world at once. There is also a clear division of roles and a certain focus on each of the characters. For example, Grace is looking for the truth about her mother and just trying to survive, while Leon, as always, wants to stop the next catastrophe and also resolve some personal issues. As a result, both find themselves in the same hell and logically join forces.
The plot of Resident Evil Requiem develops evenly and allows the player to comprehend and digest the information received. And there is plenty to think about here, because the game will pull old and familiar heroes out of the closet, get monsters out of there too, and show new faces that I am sure fans will like, because they have a wonderful, stylish look and fit perfectly into the existing world.
Yes, certain details will definitely be unclear to those who are not familiar with the classic parts, so you definitely need to prepare yourself before playing Requiem. Ideally, of course, you should play through all the parts. However, it’s good that the internet is full of various texts and videos on this subject. And even if you’ve only played RE2 Remake or RE4 Remake, you’ll have enough context to get the most out of it.
The heroes start out separately. Grace investigates the unexplained death of a man and, in the process, falls into the hands of Gideon, a former scientist associated with the Umbrella Corporation. Leon follows Gideon through the Rengwood Hotel and gradually moves toward the same point. Grace goes to an abandoned hotel, which holds painful memories for her, and falls into a trap. Grace is kidnapped and held in a creepy hospital, where, of course, Leon arrives. He has his own mission, but his upbringing won’t allow him to ignore a lady in distress.
Both end up at the Rhodes Hill Medical Center, a former psychiatric hospital, behind whose facade a laboratory is hidden. The deeper the heroes delve into the center, the more obvious it becomes that the roots of what is happening go back 30 years, to a city destroyed by the government and the consequences from which no one has yet recovered.
Grace and Leon spent most of my screen time in Rhodes Hill. The clinic is divided into three sectors and a basement, and the game constantly ran between them for key cards and codes. Because of the hordes of monsters, backtracking remained consistently nerve-wracking. If they gave you a chance to relax, it was only for a short time.
At the same time, you want to run through Rhodes Hill just for the sake of the locations themselves. Empty wards, corridors bathed in red neon light, a bar with a piano and a singing zombie woman. For the first three minutes, I listened to this eerie melody, almost mesmerized, but after twenty minutes of staggering around to the howling, I wanted to kill her. Fortunately, there was no one to stop me.
In Resident Evil Requiem, a new MacGuffin appears, which the villains are chasing after. It turns out that not all of Ozwell Spencer’s legacy has been studied, and there is another virus that, according to rumors, is capable of controlling the human mind. It is called “Elpis,” after the Greek goddess of hope — according to legend, she remained inside the box that Pandora opened, releasing disease and suffering into the world. References to mythology are not new to the series — remember Nemesis, named after the goddess of retribution, and if you want, you can even bring Grace into it — Grace is also a title from mythology.
How Elpis kept it a secret all these years is an open question, and not the only one I would like to ask the scriptwriters. While playing, I had a lot of uncomfortable questions about the behavior and logic of the heroes and villains, and I’ll just come out and say the bitter truth — the plot in Requiem is bad even for a series in which it wasn’t a strong point. Fortunately, however, the story is the only questionable thing in the game.
Resident Evil Requiem and Resident Evil Requiem gameplay
Resident Evil Requiem is clearly built on contrast, which has literally been made into gameplay mechanics. The sections for Grace and Leon are so different that sometimes it feels like you’re playing two different games that have somehow been stitched together.
The gameplay for Grace turns into a classic horror survival game in the best traditions of Resident Evil 2. The girl has few weapons, a limited inventory (which can be expanded a little later on), and a bunch of enemies that she can’t always afford to stop. Therefore, it’s better to simply avoid them, hide, or just push them away and run on.
Although Grace works for the FBI, she is more of an office clerk. The girl reacts very vividly to all the frightening situations in the hotel and then in the mansion-hospital — she breathes loudly, sobs, and trembles. In short, the character is clearly not a fighter against zombies and global bioterrorist threats. This is hinted at by the girl’s modest arsenal and limited inventory. However, Grace’s training as a criminal investigator allows her to make many useful things from improvised means and the infected blood of her enemies — from preservation tapes (typewriters in her classic campaign are in place), knives, and ammunition to various medical injectors that increase health and combat power. If I were Grace, I would, of course, be wary of injecting myself with something made from zombie blood, but she, as an expert, knows better!
When the plot shifts to Leon, it’s no longer about hiding behind cabinets, but rather a real bloody battle with any mutant that gets in the way. There is a classic inventory, a bunch of weapons that can later be upgraded or replaced with others. There is also auto-sorting of items, parrying blows, and spectacular kicks.
And anyway, Leon provides a ton of action, which is what fans loved so much about RE4. So in this respect, the gameplay really does resemble the cult classic fourth installment. Leon is also a carrier of the T-virus, which gives him superhuman endurance, but gradually kills him. This is also one of the reasons he is searching for Victor Gideon.
By default, we play Grace in first-person view and Leon in third-person view, but this can be changed in the settings. However, the developers recommend playing this way, which is what I did, because first-person view intensifies the claustrophobia and fear in Grace’s missions. Third-person gives you a tactical advantage during Leon’s fierce battles, and from this position, you can easily see more enemies and so on.
Resident Evil Requiem has also received the so-called Zapping system, which was a feature of Resident Evil 2. Back then, Leon and Claire’s actions affected each other, as well as the objects, monsters, and things around them. However, in the new game, this interaction system has become much more complex and sophisticated. Now Grace’s actions directly affect what Leon encounters. He literally walks the same corridors after her, sees the things she left behind, the monsters she didn’t kill, and so on.
Grace herself is often limited by inventory space and storage chests, so she is sometimes forced to leave found items behind and is unable to kill certain enemies. Leon will find all of this later, just as the zombies that Grace did not kill will remain alive and meet Leon in the same place. Open safes, broken doors, and leftover resources are all saved and carried over from campaign to campaign.
As for the difficulty, the medium level is manageable, but you’ll have to survive, just like in any other part of the franchise. However, I found the puzzles a little simplistic, at least compared to previous installments. For example, in RE 2 Remake, I got stuck in several places and couldn’t figure out the solution to the puzzle or where to find a particular item for a long time. Here, everything always went as it should; I literally understood right away where to go, how to open it, and so on.
It seems that in the episodes featuring Leon, the player should be able to relax and unwind, so to speak. And in part, this is indeed the case. But many scenes involving him, as before, are designed in such a way that the player feels constant tension from regular battles with opponents who vastly outnumber him. Here, Requiem ceases to be a horror game and becomes more of a survival action game with rare elements of horror.
Almost the entire game is built on the synergy of two contrasting but similarly rooted emotions: fear and adrenaline rush. As soon as it seems that an episode is dragging on, Resident Evil Requiem immediately changes the conditions and forces the player to adapt to the new situation, squeezing the most out of it. Diversity exists not only within the marked stages from the perspective of the two characters, but also within them.
Enemies and atmosphere
The new zombies in Resident Evil Requiem mumble fragments of phrases from their past, talk about their work or everyday trifles, or try to do what they did when they were alive. The big chef in the kitchen habitually chops meat with a large cleaver, but now he’s not averse to chopping you up, too. The cleaning lady tries to wash the blood off the mirror, but she can’t do it and desperately searches for a victim. There are many such characters, and they all say something.
In addition to these, the classic bestiary from previous installments has been brought back, including some bosses and familiar heroes, which I cannot discuss due to embargo conditions. However, I will say that the old acquaintances have become more cunning, reacting to sound and light, using their surroundings, and not allowing the player to feel safe even in a relatively calm room.
Some bosses will also be very similar to previous installments. Especially the last one. Perhaps it would have been better to make them completely new and unknown. Although some people will definitely enjoy the familiar look and threats from previous installments.
I can’t help but mention the initial boss, who is a remarkable and formidable pursuer, more than compensating for my certain questions about the appearance of the bosses. She climbs through walls and ceilings, is afraid of bright light, and every encounter with her turns into a stressful test for the nerves. Of course, this is relevant for Grace because Leon can definitely handle this lady. In addition to her, there will be several other frightening creatures in the locations, whose task is to cause the player to lose their mind, interfere with completing tasks, and generally prevent them from thinking. In my opinion, they all do this very well.
The overall atmosphere of Resident Evil Requiem reminded me of a combination of RE 2, RE 4, RE 7, and Village. However, there wasn’t enough of the creepy, nightmarish mood of the latter two, and in my opinion, there should have been more of it. Since I was scared of the monsters and atmosphere of the seventh and eighth parts at the time, and I was already a grown man, I was never scared.
Well, the general mood of fear is partly offset by the large amount of action and fan service. The game is packed with references, mentions, characters, heroes, locations, and monsters that evoke nostalgia, recognition, and other similar feelings. And when all this happens, you’re more excited about the recognition than scared.
The only thing that seemed rather weak and underdeveloped was the boss battles. As before, they are based on two scenarios: either running around the arena and periodically shooting at the enemy, or shooting at vulnerable points. Compared to the elaboration of most other game scenes, this seems boring and bland.
Graphics and technical condition of Resident Evil Requiem
Resident Evil Requiem was created using the proprietary RE Engine. The game features excellent lighting and shadow effects, especially in small and tiny locations, which often look very realistic. The detailing of the main characters’ faces deserves special praise, especially Grace, whose facial animations realistically convey the heroine’s fear and confusion.
However, in the second part of the game, the graphics are no longer as high-quality and modern in large locations. Either the developers or the engine or both are unable to cope with the modern depiction of a post-apocalyptic city, large-scale destruction, and the like. In these locations, the game looks like a failed remaster of an even older game, and the detail and quality of the objects are significantly reduced.
Admittedly, the terms of the embargo prevent me from sharing these photos, but when you play the game and get there, I’m sure you’ll immediately understand what I’m talking about.
Let’s start from afar — with the technical state of the game and its visuals. Capcom’s proprietary engine, RE Engine, is still good and optimized even for less powerful configurations. Overall, there are no complaints about the performance of Resident Evil Requiem: the game maintains a stable frame rate and is virtually free of the typical problems of modern releases. Visually, everything is also more than decent — high-quality lighting, correct shadows and reflections, detailed materials: wood, stone, translucent surfaces. However, the familiar problems of the engine have carried over into the new installment — at times, there are flickering textures and slightly “soapy” contours of objects.
Ray tracing partially solves these flaws—especially distorted reflections caused by the use of SSR. And with path tracing enabled, some scenes take on an almost photorealistic authenticity.
Although 2026 has only just begun, Resident Evil: Requiem is already a worthy contender for Game of the Year. It incorporates the best of the series’ 30-year history. This ninth installment offers two different gameplay modes and the essence of Resident Evil in all its diversity.
Resident Evil: Requiem is a carefully thought-out, high-quality combination of two important elements of the franchise. Capcom seems to have satisfied both longtime horror fans and new players alike.
Grace Ashcroft is one of the most vivid and sincere characters in years. Leon, in his fifties, looks and acts like the legend he has become. However, the game isn’t perfect. Some players may question the final boss, and not everyone will appreciate the abrupt transitions between survival and action. However, these are minor issues compared to what the game has to offer overall.
In the end
Although 2026 has only just begun, Resident Evil: Requiem is already a worthy contender for Game of the Year. It incorporates the best of the series’s 30-year history. This ninth installment offers two different gameplay modes and the essence of Resident Evil in all its diversity.
Resident Evil: Requiem is a carefully crafted, high-quality blend of two key elements of the franchise. Capcom seems to have satisfied both longtime horror fans and new players alike.
Grace Ashcroft is one of the most vivid and sincere characters in years. Leon, in his fifties, looks and acts like the legend he has become. However, the game isn’t perfect. Some players may question the final boss, and not everyone will appreciate the abrupt transitions between survival and action. However, these are minor issues compared to what the game has to offer overall.
Capcom knows its audience and legacy well and knows how to provide cool fan service, scare players, and focus on action simultaneously. Some might say that the developers tried to please everyone but ended up angering horror and action fans. But that’s definitely not the case. Resident Evil: Requiem combines survival and combat elements, offering players atmospheric locations, interesting new characters, and new monsters. At the same time, the new installment brings back old characters, monsters, and mechanics that are now even more refined and get a second life.
