What We Know About Resident Evil Requiem: A Terrifying New Stalker, Camera Switching, and More Details

After a long period of silence, Capcom finally revealed the title of the next Resident Evil installment last weekend and showed the first trailer for the game. The trailer immediately intrigued fans: we saw a new heroine and familiar locations in the ruins of Raccoon City. However, one important question remained unanswered — what will the gameplay of Resident Evil Requiem be like? Yesterday, the first previews were published, offering a partial answer. But yes — only partial. Here’s what we know so far about the upcoming Resident Evil — from official details to leaks and plausible fan theories.

As we learned from the trailer, Resident Evil Requiem centers on young FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft. She is the daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft, a playable character in the co-op spinoffs Resident Evil Outbreak and Resident Evil Outbreak: File 2.

The trailer also revealed that a mysterious new villain — whose face appears to be disfigured by some virus and hidden under a hood — is interested in Grace and considers her "special." The exact reason is not stated, but following yesterday’s previews, there is reason to believe it has something to do with Grace’s blood.

The demo that Capcom showcased behind closed doors begins with Grace chained up, her blood being extracted. After freeing herself, she must escape from the eerie medical facility where she’s trapped.

Fans already have a theory that the Resident Evil Requiem antagonist is trying to use Grace to cleanse their body of the virus. It’s likely that young Ashcroft has inherited immunity from her mother — in Resident Evil Outbreak, players could create a vaccine against the zombie infection. This could explain why Grace is so "special."

Again, this is all speculation from the community. But it does sound reasonable. The same can’t be said about numerous wild theories regarding the hooded villain’s identity: some fans have suggested it’s Leon Kennedy, while others think Capcom might resurrect Albert Wesker or William Birkin. Most likely, though, it’s simply a new villain, not a "somehow Palpatine returned" type of twist.

Let’s return to the secret demo shown to select journalists. Gameplay-wise, the segment set in the medical facility is classic old-school Resident Evil, involving item hunting, key searching, and puzzle solving.

To escape, Grace must unlock an electric gate. The problem: the fuse box is broken, so she needs to find a new fuse and a screwdriver to access the box. This will sound very familiar if you’ve played older games in the series, or even more recent ones like Resident Evil 7 or the remake of Resident Evil 2.

What sets Resident Evil Requiem apart from previous entries is its even stronger focus on horror. In the demo, Grace is unarmed — aside from being able to pick up and throw bottles to create distractions. Additionally, Capcom has implemented numerous clever tricks to heighten the terror: lamps in hallways or rooms can suddenly stop working, plunging the player into near-total darkness where a lighter is essential. Lightning outside dynamically illuminates rooms at any moment, and the floorboards beneath Grace’s feet creak loudly, enhancing the paranoid feeling that someone is following her. And indeed — someone is.

Grace Ashcroft is hunted in the facility by a horrifying creature — a gigantic mutated woman. A dynamic stalker enemy is nothing new for the series, but Capcom has clearly outdone itself this time. The towering hag is so large she blocks entire hallways and fills rooms. She also uses ceiling holes to move around the facility — much like the Xenomorph in Alien: Isolation or the monster in Amnesia: The Bunker. The creature listens for sounds and checks every nook and cranny for Grace. Players can temporarily escape her using the aforementioned bottles.

It’s unclear who or what the monster really is, or how often players will encounter her throughout the game. Who knows — maybe it’s even a grown-up Lisa Trevor from the remake of the first game.

A key gameplay feature in this new entry is the ability to switch between first-person and third-person views via the options menu. Capcom previously added a similar feature to Resident Evil Village in a post-launch update, but it left much to be desired.

First, in Village, cutscenes remained first-person no matter the selected camera mode — whereas in Resident Evil Requiem, cutscenes show Grace from an external perspective. Second, the developers of Village were so determined to hide Ethan Winters' face that they restricted the camera’s turning angle in over-the-shoulder mode, which negatively impacted controls and responsiveness. No such issue exists in Resident Evil Requiem.

Yesterday, one gaming outlet reported that Resident Evil Requiem will feature a second "familiar and fully armed" playable character. Naturally, everyone immediately thought of Leon Kennedy. Several hints point to his presence: the trailer highlights the ruined Raccoon City Police Department, and known insider Dusk Golem — who leaked the Requiem title mere minutes before its Summer Game Fest reveal — claims that players will get to control Leon.

However, it’s worth noting that Capcom has not officially confirmed a second protagonist to the press. While it’s possible, at this stage it remains purely a rumor.

There’s also speculation that Resident Evil Requiem won’t be a pure survival horror — that it may feature dynamic gunplay as well. Intriguingly, an in-game message advises players to tackle the medical facility level in first-person mode. It seems likely that there will be alternate sections where third-person view — better suited for action — will be preferable. And don’t forget: Summer Game Fest host Jeff Keighley mentioned that Resident Evil Requiem is an impressively large and ambitious game. Surely a game of this scope will include more than just horror elements.

In any case, Capcom is currently emphasizing how Resident Evil Requiem aims to scare players senseless. Judging by the first impressions, it will succeed. We expected nothing less from game director Koshi Nakanishi — after all, he was responsible for crafting the series’ scariest entry, Resident Evil 7.

What do you think of the first details about Resident Evil Requiem? Are you now more or less excited for the game? Share your thoughts in the comments.