There’s a lot to like about Resident Evil Requiem based on everything the developer has told us about the game. Its promotional materials and appearances at the 2025 editions of multiple events like Gamescom, The Game Awards, and the Tokyo Games Show have given us glimpses into a title that has great visuals, combat, a solid narrative, terrifying new enemies, and a generally creepy vibe to the whole experience.
That’s Resident Evil as it should be, but there’s something special about this one that just calls to us. However, we’ve been burned before. A great game is when all of its disparate elements come together to present a cohesive experience. And yet, this is Resident Evil we’re talking about, and it’s a franchise where its extensive experience with the genre is sure to be a factor in Requiem’s success.
So what is it about Requiem that has us believing that it’s a game that’s going to blow our minds? The answer to that is quite straightforward, really. There’s a sense of balance that permeates it all, bridging together the best parts of the franchise with exciting new additions that could make it the Resident Evil game to beat, and a fine addition to the survival horror genre.
A Visual Feast
Let’s begin with the game’s visuals. If you’ve been looking at the trailers with as much excitement as we have, you already know that the RE Engine is doing a lot of heavy lifting in terms of presenting an eye-catching experience. Those excellent visuals are the first showcase of an underlying balance that could make Requiem stand tall in a franchise that already has so many great titles (well, there have been some awful entries, but let’s not go there for now).
In various gameplay demos, Grace is relentlessly pursued by a stalker. The ambient lighting is a key facet of the experience, alternating between light and dark in a way that adds a lot of weight to the atmosphere in the Wrenwood Hotel. But it gets better. You actually get to use the light to your advantage, with the Stalker dynamically adapting to your actions, which we think is going to be a crucial pillar of segments involving Grace.
That’s quite a plus if you think about it, allowing Requiem to tie its environments to its narrative and core gameplay loop. It’s a great way to bring the experience together, the visuals being a storytelling vehicle rather than a fresh coat of paint on a tried and tested formula.
Furthermore, the ability to switch between a first-person and third-person point of view showcases how the developer has chosen a suitable middle ground for franchise veterans who swear by the former while also catering to players who prefer the camera as it was in Village, for instance. It couldn’t have been easy to implement, and to have the option to switch seamlessly between the two is a great design choice.
Once again, having the scope to change your perspectives on the fly gives you, the player, a lot of agency over your own experience. It’s a fresh touch to the Resident Evil experience that can work wonders for the enjoyment that its players can get out of it. For me, those seamless transitions are going to be a huge asset when we’re out in the field as either Grace or Leon, where we enjoy the traditional first-person camera while we explore gorgeously rendered environments, switching things up to give us better response times when in combat against the many threats we’re sure we must face over the course of the adventure.
But it’s more than just a matter of implementing dual perspectives. It’s in the way that you see Grace stumble and fall as she evades the Stalker that makes Requiem truly shine. That sense of balancing its options comes to the fore, allowing you, the player, to experience the game in a way that amps up the tension no matter how you choose to look at it, while staying true to Grace’s characterization as a relatively inexperienced field operative thrust into a horrifying situation.
That balance between options also extends to the gameplay.
Good Cop, Better Cop
It could have been too easy to have Grace as a single protagonist in Requiem. Ethan Winters was the sole hero of the last game (other than Rose taking the lead in the DLC), and the experience was a great one. But the game’s inclusion of Leon as a sort of counterweight to Grace’s own inexperience is a great way to balance stealth and action in an experience that does both of those gameplay loops quite well.
It’s Resident Evil at its finest, bringing back the dual-protagonist approach from Revelations while also managing to bring in an enemy akin to Mr. X or Lady Dimitrescu from their respective titles. Furthermore, it allows the gameplay to flit between two distinct playstyles, forcing players to adapt on the fly as they alternate between Grace and Leon.
The dual protagonist approach is also a great way to bring varying perspectives to the story and moment-to-moment gameplay in Requiem. We’re expecting to see a lot of contrast in the way Grace and Leon respond to similar situations, their respective strengths and weaknesses informing their decisions in ways that make narrative sense while providing context to what’s in front of them. The developer likely spotted early on that how and why they operate the way they do is an opportunity worth exploring, and that may be exactly why it chose to bring Leon back into the fold.
For Grace, sticking to the shadows is the way to go if the gameplay showcases are to be believed. Her cushy desk job at the FBI is definitely not doing her any favors, and she must rely on her tenacity and hold her nerve if she’s to survive her ordeal. That means that we need to be mindful of our movements and the way we use the tools at our disposal.
And then there’s Leon. We’re loving the new seasoned and grizzled aura he brings to the table, his extensive experience from past titles on display as he presents a calm, poised personality that belies his ability to be a deadly force in the field. The series is no stranger to bringing back fan-favorite characters whose younger versions evolve to a more balanced personality that can mentor a younger protagonist.
Leon’s potential to take over from Chris, who served a sort of similar role in past titles, should not be understated. This is a character who has been a part of the franchise’s very successful early days, and his inherent ties to Raccoon City are sure to be a factor in his potential alliance with Grace. From the looks of it, her only familiarity with Raccoon City is a traumatic memory of a time spent on the run with her mother. It’s going to be interesting to see how she navigates those memories and the less savory ones that are surely waiting for her once Requiem’s story kicks into gear.
Those contrasting personalities are a great example of how Requiem is balancing the old and new with aplomb, making this game a potential gold mine for the franchise’s gameplay. It’s going to please long-term fans and new players alike, and probably have them marvel at a title whose story seems equally poised to bring new touches to a great formula.
A Story That Sticks To Its Guns
The developer clearly kept the fact that the Resident Evil franchise turns thirty this year in mind, cleverly taking the narrative back to Raccoon City (and likely having the Umbrella Corporation return to the fold after its decline). While the developer has kept mum about details, it isn’t hard to see a connection between new antagonist Dr. Victor Gideon, Epsis, and the shady corporation that started it all.
But it’s in how it has managed to tie in so many important narrative threads from the franchise’s extensive story into a single game, setting the stage for Leon’s return while also managing to bring a new protagonist to the fold in the form of Grace. I am quite adamant that the stalker is indeed Alyssa, her current predicament tied to Gideon in some way, with Grace being central to his plans.
It’s a great way to have players invested in her character arc, which we expect is going to mirror Hinako’s journey in Silent Hill f as she goes from a terrified rookie into a reasonably talented fighter under Leon’s eyes. It’s logical, thanks to how the game has already established that she will likely bump into Leon and is poised to benefit from his guidance. That’s a heady blend of the old and new that’s the perfect way to usher in a new era for the franchise in our book.
Even the game’s combat systems seem poised to bring a solid mix of stealth and action to the table, and from what we’ve seen, it’s going to take all we have to stay on top of the story and whatever threats it brings our way.
A Fight For Survival
As Grace, we don’t expect to be tearing through enemy ranks as an absolute badass like Jill or Claire. The game’s use of lighting and her narrative arc might not support that sort of thing in the early parts of the story, although Leon could have something to say about that. But it’s a contextually great way to present stealth mechanics that require a more careful, tactical approach. That third-person camera is going to come in handy on that front. We’re also expecting Grace’s path to self-actualization to bring a better balance between stealth and action in her missions.
But from the limited glimpse we got of Leon’s skill set, it seems that the franchise’s excellent shooter mechanics from titles like Village are going to get their time to shine. Leon doesn’t need to be quiet; his experience and general aptitude for violence against beings beyond his physical limits underlie his animations and almost smug confidence.
With firearms and melee finishers at his disposal, he’s shaping up to be quite the loose cannon, and a love letter to fans of his character over the years. But there could be threats that force even him to stick to the shadows, a potentially interesting reflection of Grace’s own journey.
Having two distinct approaches to dangerous situations for two very distinct protagonists once again highlights a balanced approach to Requiem that we believe is going to make it among the franchise’s best ones yet. That’s probably going to extend to the enemies, the monsters we face, reminding us of the ones that came before them while bringing engaging twists of their own to the table.
The Long Wait’s End
With Requiem is a little over a month away from its release date, we’re adamant that it has the potential to be the vehicle that takes the Resident Evil franchise down a very successful path in the coming years. It’s looking like survival horror done not just right, but done with so much style and sincerity that it’s hard to temper our optimism with caution in this case.
It isn’t going to be too long before we find out if we’ve been right all along, but we don’t expect to be eating any humble pie considering the evidence of greatness that’s already there to see. The impressive track record with the franchise is a big plus, too.
That balance between franchise traditions and the boldness to bring a lot of new stuff to the fold shows a confidence in the upcoming title that makes Requiem stand out among its peers in the franchise and the survival horror genre as a whole.
And given how solid Resident Evil has been over the years, that’s definitely saying something.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
