The thing that immediately struck me about the latest Resident Evil is how much it reminded me of the originals.

It does this thing where you immediately feel cast back to that creepy old manor, solving puzzles, cringing as you turn every corner, dreading picking something up because you know something bad is about to go down.

But the oddest thing is that it also feels like the new age rendition of the franchise, with a stronger emphasis on gore, terror, and the most ludicrous abominations you can possibly imagine. Somehow, someway, Capcom have managed to blend both aspects of this legendary franchise and marry them up just perfectly.

Don’t get me wrong – I don’t think this latest cast of characters are as iconic as lovely Lady D herself, she’s a class unto herself. And even though there’s some horrifying moments here, I don’t think I ever felt as terrified as when Mr X was storming down the corridors, making a beeline towards me.

But there’s moments in Requiem that absolutely send shivers down the spine. That make you run cold. That will make you jump out of your skin, both in shock, and this time in genuine horror.

Where Village got a bit ludicrous with some monsters head on, Requiem’s depictions are more subdued. They’ll gross you out, at times they’ll even make you laugh – seriously – but the thing that I just love more than ever about Requiem is that each creature has clear weaknesses as well as strengths.

They follow patterns, routines, there’s always a way to circumvent them – and you’ll need to, at points. As such, you’re almost solving a puzzle by figuring out a way to save yourself from their clutches.

Because this is where Requiem does a wonderful job of merging these franchises in giving two distinctly feeling protagonists, all telling one story. As you know, Leon Kennedy is back and he’s his usual ass-kicking self, more than ever.

Dude has a hatchet that he plunges into enemies heads, tearing them off in one fell sweep. He casually wanders around with a shotgun, blasting zombies left and right. And he’s still full of wisecracks that will make vets chuckle and newcomers fall prey to his phenomenal aura.

But then there’s wonderful Grace, a new addition to the series and a very interesting one. She comes with a lot of questions about who she is and what she’s doing. Her past has drawn her into the worst possible situation and while she knows how to use a gun and has a lot of smarts and cunning – she is not Leon Kennedy.

And this is where Requiem gets super interesting. Because for one half of the game you are hiding, crouching, watching zombie patterns closely to avoid as many as possible, and depending on the difficulty setting you’ve chosen, going back to the series roots of using a typewriter to save your game, storing things in an oversized chest.

Then the other half is smash mouth, round house kicking, hatchet jobbing for fun. Which presents a really interesting dynamic where Grace can and will shoot at zombies in her path, though it might be better to leave those you find to Leon who can dismantle them much easier and for less ammunition.

So it creates a whole new angle of ammo and resource preservation now because maybe it’s better to gut through, die a few times but scrape through using limited resources so you can have a healthier abundance later, and let Leon do the dirty work. Or maybe it’s better for Grace to craft some powerful defensive items that can make Leon’s path easier to run through. There’s more to think about than ever.

And it’s not just the moment to moment gameplay, either. I mean no shade to Ethan Winters, he went through and saw some things, but the combination of Grace and Leon is infinitely more interesting to me. Both are extremely well written, they feel unique and play differently in their own ways, and I was much more drawn into the story which feels less like an attempted reboot and more telling a new story in a world we all remember and recognise.

The perspectives shift intermittently throughout the game, you’ll find yourself playing for extended periods with both characters, but sometimes you’ll move quickly between them as well to keep the pacing of the story moving along. In that way, it made me feel closer to classics I loved like Code Veronica and Resident Evil 0.

The game does sacrifice an aura-farming big bad like Lady D for Victor Gideon who – while he defintely has a compelling tale to tell and delivers his lines in both a sinister and compelling way – doesn’t quite stand apart as one of Resi’s best villians. To be fair, it’s an incredibly tough list to crack into, but he definitely does enough to keep you motivated and want to get one past him.

I generally preferred Village’s setting and the way it delivered atmosphere in abundance with its set pieces, though I do much prefer Requiem’s general aesthetic to Resident Evil 7, which I grew quite tedious of at times. I enjoy feeling like enemies are beatable, that there’s a way to by pass them, and even  the shock of them re-emerging when you least expect it, unlike the Bakers who felt frustratingly invincible at times.

Even the rooms each offer something different, with regular reasons to return to them, but never to the point of them feeling like repetitive backtracking. And there’s also something in each room for the different characters to come back to and investigate.

I’m not sure if I’m quite ready to say this is my all-time favourite Resident Evil game. I think that might be a bridge too far for me, but for someone who was there playing the original on the PS1 and had to have Zero as soon as it appeared on the Gamecube and similarly Code Veronica on the Dreamcast, this series has given me so many great moments over the years.

What I will say is this … Capcom’s respect for the legacy of Resident Evil has never been more clear. With one game, they have catered to old school fans like me, who love the puzzles, the jump scares, the cutscenes and lore deep dives, cemented with quick fire and from the hip action.

And they’ve gelled it with the modern interpretation of the horror. The effective use of a first person perspective, a feeling of helplessness, giving true power to the creatures you face so they don’t seem to be push overs or after thoughts. There’s some incredibly tense moments here that you’re going to need to steady yourself for.

So with that, I am absolutely enamoured with Requiem. I could barely put it down to write this review, but despite my feelings about Village, it is the best modern day Resident Evil game to date – remakes aside. And it sets an exciting precedent for the future, wherever Capcom may take the series next. This is a publisher on a roll right now, and they’ve still got some gems to share with us in 2026.

Verdict

Resident Evil Requiem is an absolute masterpiece in merging two very different aesthetics of the franchise together and bringing them together in a smart, entertaining way. It pays tribute to everything that has come before and paves the way for whatever is coming next. More to the point, it’s just a compelling, tense narrative that furthers its characters stories and presents some truly terrifying monsters to fight against. While its rogues gallery doesn’t quite reach series heights, and its setting isn’t as atmospheric as some past, this game has everything to be one of the best Resident Evil games ever made and is a must for series and horror fans! 

Pros

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Resident Evil: Requiem is out now on PC, PS, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch 2 

Reviewed on PS5 

Code Kindly Provided by Capcom for review purposes