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- How Requiem picks up the RE Engine momentum
- Two protagonists, two gameplay approaches
- Story beats and the pull of Raccoon City
- When nostalgia helps — and when it hurts
- Core mechanics: corpses, Blister Heads and hard choices
- Visuals and sound: gorgeous, grotesque, and persistent
- Performance on modern hardware
- Practical tips and where Requiem shines
- Who will get the most out of Resident Evil Requiem?
I wasn’t always a Resident Evil fan. Nightmares, clumsy controls and a childhood refusal to open creepy doors kept me away. Then Resident Evil 7 changed everything. It pulled me into a darker, smarter version of the series and left me chasing that tense, haunted feeling ever since. Resident Evil Requiem arrives as the ninth mainline entry and wears its love for franchise history on its sleeve.
How Requiem picks up the RE Engine momentum
Capcom’s RE Engine era restored the franchise’s identity after its action-heavy detour. Requiem continues that run of polished, cinematic horror games. It stitches together the survival instincts of RE7, the scale of Village, and the modernized combat of the recent remakes.
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At its core, Requiem is a story tied to one of the series’ most pivotal moments: the Raccoon City Incident. The game treats that event like a cultural landmark, revisiting characters and locations with deliberate reverence.
Two protagonists, two gameplay approaches
Grace Ashcroft: fragile, resource-starved first-person horror
Grace is an FBI analyst investigating the Wrenwood Hotel and searching for answers about her mother’s death. She plays in first-person, and the experience prioritizes fear over firepower. Ammo is rare, weapons are limited, and stealth often outshines confrontation.
- Survival focus: avoid fights, manage scarce supplies, and choose when to finish enemies.
- Unique tools: the Blood Collector lets Grace harvest infected blood to craft injectors.
- Vulnerable hero: Grace’s trauma and guilt drive her choices, creating tense, character-driven moments.
Leon S. Kennedy: action-horror in third person
Leon returns as the seasoned agent fans expect. He controls in third person and leans into firefights and mobility. The game borrows much from the RE4 remake’s control scheme and pacing.
- Added melee: a hand axe gives Leon satisfying close-quarters options.
- Sharpen and maintain: the axe dulls and must be tended, encouraging varied approaches.
- Personality: Leon’s humor and trauma remain intact, balancing one-liners with survivor’s weight.
Story beats and the pull of Raccoon City
Requiem frames itself as a remembrance of what happened in Raccoon City. The Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center sits at the heart of the mystery, connecting Grace’s personal history to Leon’s ongoing investigations into Umbrella’s legacy.
Most of the campaign keeps the two leads apart, which lets the game alternate between claustrophobic dread and bigger, shoot-first set pieces. The narrative leans heavily on callbacks and Easter eggs that reference earlier titles.
- Recurring references to RE2 and its characters.
- Environments that echo familiar buildings, such as police stations and grand lobbies.
- Villains who feel derivative rather than revolutionary.
When nostalgia helps — and when it hurts
Requiem wants longtime players to smile. It offers many moments designed to trigger recognition. But the game sometimes crosses the line from homage into repetition.
Areas in the Care Center mirror the structure of the Raccoon City Police Department. Layouts, objectives and enemy placements can feel eerily familiar. At times this fosters comfort; at others it creates a sense of deja vu.
Requiem is at its best when it borrows tone and atmosphere. It falters when it leans on those references to carry whole sections instead of offering new experiences.
Core mechanics: corpses, Blister Heads and hard choices
One of Requiem’s defining systems is the way killed enemies can return as stronger variants. Not every enemy stays down.
- Blister Heads: tougher reanimated foes that repopulate cleared areas.
- Risk versus reward: deciding whether to kill enemies now or leave them for a better-equipped character later.
- Hemolytic injectors: Grace crafts injectors from infected blood to permanently remove threats.
This design amplifies tension. As Grace, combat feels like a calculation. As Leon, you can tackle those same threats more confidently. The interplay between characters adds strategic depth.
Pacing stumbles and forced sections
The game sometimes stretches objectives. Certain escort sequences and puzzle encounters feel contrived and slow gameplay momentum.
An example: a late-career puzzle requires Braille reading to solve. The solution depends on a blind character who must be carried into danger to progress. That mechanic can feel more like padding than compelling design.
Visuals and sound: gorgeous, grotesque, and persistent
Requiem is visually striking. The RE Engine renders gore with unsettling fidelity. When you use certain injectors, rooms stay drenched in blood. That permanence makes spaces feel lived-in and haunted.
Audio choices strengthen the mood. The game often forgoes a sweeping score in favor of ambient details: pipes, distant shuffles and fragmented speech from the infected. Those murmurs sometimes hint at the lives people led before they changed.
The hemolytic injector is a standout spectacle. Enemies don’t just die; they explode into a carnage that lingers on surfaces and in memory.
Performance on modern hardware
On PS5 the game is generally stable. Frame rate and loading times hold up well. I encountered only minor graphical hiccups that resolved with reloads.
Capcom’s engine remains impressively optimized for launch windows, which matters in an era of buggy premieres.
Practical tips and where Requiem shines
- Play Grace’s sections carefully. Conserve ammo and use injectors sparingly.
- Switch playstyles: embrace Leon’s action scenes as a release from survival stress.
- Explore thoroughly—resources and lore are tucked into side rooms.
- Expect callbacks. Enjoy them, but don’t rely on them for novelty.
Requiem excels at mood, tension, and technical polish. It knows how to make you recoil and then lean forward to see what happens next.
Who will get the most out of Resident Evil Requiem?
If you love polished action-horror and deep callbacks to franchise lore, Requiem offers a satisfying ride. Fans of the RE Engine titles will find mechanics that feel familiar yet refined.
If you’re seeking radical reinvention, this entry might frustrate. The game often revisits old ground, sometimes without adding new layers.
For players who prioritize atmosphere over novelty, Requiem delivers. For those craving bold, genre-shifting ideas, it may feel safe and comfort-driven.
