First Impressions of Resident Evil Requiem — An Intriguing Balancing Act Between Horror and Action

The paradox of Resident Evil Requiem is that it feels both like something new and refreshing — and at the same time like a return to the series’ roots. While Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil Village boldly experimented with the formula and settings to the point where they could almost be mistaken for spin-offs, Requiem pulls classic zombies out of the closet, dusts off beloved characters, dives headfirst into references to the old days, and continues the main storyline, which, broadly speaking, hasn’t truly progressed since Resident Evil 6. It’s this pivot back to the franchise’s foundations that sets the project apart from recent numbered entries. As does Requiem’s unusual dual nature: essentially, it’s two games in one. At least that’s the impression after the first four hours of play.

The story of the ninth installment revolves around a string of mysterious deaths among people who survived the zombie outbreak in Raccoon City back in 1998. These incidents are investigated in parallel by the two main protagonists of Resident Evil Requiem — young FBI agent Grace Ashcroft and anti-bioterrorism operative Leon Kennedy. Both are directly connected to the Raccoon City incident, so their storylines inevitably intersect at a certain point.

There’s no need to go into plot specifics: Resident Evil Requiem’s script is packed with surprises for longtime fans, and spoiling them would be a crime — even when it comes to the opening hours. Credit where it’s due to Capcom’s marketing: nearly all footage shown in trailers and pre-release materials comes from the very beginning of Requiem. As a result, if you’ve only watched the official videos, you’ve essentially seen almost nothing. That promotional strategy was clearly chosen to minimize spoilers.

What can be discussed safely are the characters, who so far leave a mixed impression. Grace is positioned as a vulnerable young woman unwillingly drawn into madness, but the writers arguably lean too heavily into her fragility. She avoids eye contact, constantly stutters, and panics easily. It’s believable, yet she’s less immediately endearing than, for example, Claire Redfield, who also faced absolute chaos but adapted far more quickly. Almost certainly, Grace will grow into a comparable heroine by the end of the game, but for now she comes across as overly soft. It’s understandable — this amplifies the horror segments — but still.

Leon Kennedy, on the other hand, is handled brilliantly. After everything he has endured, Leon has become a weary, emotionally drained protagonist who channels his inner collapse into fury toward his enemies. Mr. Kennedy doesn’t waste time with pleasantries — he acts first and asks questions later, coming across as an unstoppable force capable of tearing through anything in his path.

The atmosphere of the ninth installment deserves special mention. Resident Evil games often draw inspiration from various works of pop culture that heavily influence their style. Resident Evil 7, for instance, is steeped in the influence of Evil Dead, while Village leans into gothic horror. In RE9’s early hours, the developers build a dark, modern noir detective story that echoes films like Seven. Meanwhile, the dynamic between Grace and the antagonist Victor Gideon directly evokes Clarice Starling and Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs, down to similarities in visual design. An intriguing direction for the franchise.

Visually, the game looks stunning. I rarely focus on graphics — especially since all modern Resident Evil titles on RE Engine look strong — but Requiem surpasses both Village and the Resident Evil 4 remake in terms of sheer visual quality. That’s the advantage of a game built without having to account for last-gen hardware.

The most interesting — and objectively the riskiest — idea in Resident Evil Requiem is switching between two protagonists throughout the story, similar to Alan Wake 2. For the series, this isn’t entirely new: a comparable structure appeared in Resident Evil Code: Veronica and Resident Evil: Revelations 2. However, in the ninth installment, shifting from one hero to the other radically alters both tone and mechanics.

Grace’s missions are pure survival horror: limited inventory, scarce ammunition, resource gathering, crafting, and a strong emphasis on searching for items and keys within intricate labyrinths, where even a single zombie encounter can prove fatal.

After tense sequences with Grace, the game shifts to Leon, who functions as a release valve for the player: his sections are fast-paced and cathartic. Leon doesn’t have to worry about backpack space — he uses an inventory system similar to Resident Evil 4. Enemies drop ammunition, which doesn’t happen in Grace’s missions, and he can parry attacks with a hatchet and literally kick enemies’ heads clean off.

Gameplay for both protagonists is highly engaging, but in different ways. Leon’s episodes thrive on bloody on-screen chaos: in one early mission, he battles a chainsaw-wielding zombie. After defeating it, either the player or other undead can pick up the tool, often leading to absurd yet thrilling moments. At one point, I watched a zombie grab the chainsaw, accidentally saw off its own leg, collapse flat on the ground, while the saw kept spinning across the floor, dragging the unfortunate creature behind it.

Grace’s missions are the complete opposite of Leon’s sections, yet equally compelling: methodical gameplay in the vein of Resident Evil 7 is elevated by the most thoughtful level design in years (at least in the opening hospital — we’ll see how it evolves later). Countless locked rooms, puzzles, safes — it’s all there, just like in the classics.

In older Resident Evil titles, a crucial element was making tough choices about which zombies to eliminate and which to avoid. You simply couldn’t kill them all due to limited ammunition. In Requiem, this aspect becomes even more interesting: recently infected victims retain fragments of awareness, making them unpredictable. Each zombie has its own quirks — a former janitor keeps mopping the floor, a cook searches for meat, a blind undead reacts to loud noises. Stealth is vital for Grace, so studying enemy behavior and avoiding them is key. Yet they occasionally break their own patterns, adding spice to the gameplay: for instance, if you eliminate a regular zombie near the janitor, she may leave her usual spot to “clean up” the area where the kill occurred.

Resident Evil Requiem hooks you almost immediately, but the final impression will depend on whether it can maintain the balance between dread and explosive action all the way to the end. The key question is whether one half will feel underdeveloped, or whether the developers would have been better off committing either to pure horror or to a full-fledged action game, rather than something in between. But that’s a topic for the full review.

What do you think of the game? Had a chance to try it yet? Share your thoughts in the comments.