Capcom invited us to a behind-closed-doors theater presentation featuring 30 minutes of Resident Evil (9) Requiem gameplay, and it looked… fine?
Now don’t get me wrong, graphically Resident Evil Requiem is a stunner. The RE Engine is particularly impressive in non-open-world titles. We got to see the gameplay after the FBI agent-woman was strung upside-down on a gurney from the trailer. Her blood is being drawn, and in a series of moves, she smashes the bottle holding it, cuts herself loose, and immediately starts panting in terror.
From what this demo showed, mixed with leaks like those from Dusk Golem, RE9 is looking to blend the horror of 7 and potentially the bombastic combat of 4 Remake. In this demo, we saw a pre-recorded 30-ish minutes on a PS5 Pro. It took place inside a dilapidated building full of cherub keys, barely working lights, and one gigantic and hungry monster. She was a big lady, straight out of our nightmares. Instead of stepping on you, she’ll bite your head off and swallow it whole.
The focus on feeling terrified was evident, with how often our voiced protagonist sounded like she was about to shit her pants in terror. Constant moans of pain and being terrified grew a little tiresome after a few minutes. Pair that with the constant, insanely loud thud of her footsteps as she moved around in first-person, and I started to get a headache.
Do not despair, though, as you can swap the camera to third person via the menus whenever you like! It was great seeing that view and hearing far less of her anvil hitting the deck of a ship, sounding footsteps. Rumors are that the “main” protagonist of the game will be someone familiar, and fully armed. Our FBI heroine has weapons training, but much like Ethan in 7 (less so in 8), ends up having to run away more than fight.
The majority of the demo was watching her struggle to do anything. Whether it was moving around, turning on lights, or opening doors, she was having one hell of a time getting it to go. It was full of survival horror game/movie tropes. For you horror sickos it’ll be a refreshing change of pace compared to combat Ethan (in RE Village) and Leon “super kick” Kennedy in 4 Remake.
While the inventory system looked familiar, the hypo spray was replaced with a quick-hitting syringe that healed up the character after the big lady took a bite out of her shoulder. I saw the theater presentation with my co-workers Jon and Aarsal. While I was decently intrigued by what I saw, both of them felt let down. I get it, as the section of gameplay shown was mostly a terrified woman stumbling around in the dark and sounding like she was about to freeze to death.
Resident Evil Requiem is coming to Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5/Pro, and PC on February 27th, 2026. What I saw interested me, though I’ll need to see the more action-focused side before I know if I’m all the way in or not.
This is one of three Capcom previews I did, you can also check out:
Pragmata | Hands-on Preview & Onimusha: Way of the Sword Impressions
