In a 12 months filled with heavyweights like Grand Theft Auto 6, 007 First Gentle and Fable, Resident Evil Requiem is throwing down the gauntlet as the primary large triple-A title of 2026. Launching on February twenty seventh for Xbox Collection X/S, PS5, and PC, the survival horror title guarantees further emphasis on horror and a eulogy for the long-running sequence. Listed below are ten new issues you could know after its look on the newest highlight.
Set 30 Years After Raccoon Metropolis’s Destruction
For those who have been struggling to piece collectively the place precisely Requiem falls within the timeline, artwork director Tomonori Takano confirmed that it takes place in 2028, round 30 years after Raccoon Metropolis’s destruction. It was beforehand revealed that Alyssa Ashcroft died eight years earlier than Requiem’s occasions, which suggests someday in 2020. Since a newspaper story was written by her in 2016 (as found in Resident Evil 7: biohazard), we will lastly affirm that she was alive on the time.
Addictive Worry
The bounce from the Summer season blockbuster, Endgame-style crossover of Resident Evil 6 to the smaller-scale, scarier Resident Evil 7: biohazard didn’t simply really feel like a breath of contemporary air – it turned the franchise round. Director Koshi Nakanishi stated that every part in biohazard was “for the sake of worry,” so it’s maybe no shock when he cites “Addictive Worry” because the core idea for Requiem.
It preserves the core of biohazard’s worry however takes issues a step additional, the place even when the participant is terrified, they will’t cease taking part in, to an addictive diploma (therefore the title). There’s additionally the motivation to attempt various things, and if you’ve lastly overcome that worry – which additionally intertwines with Grace’s personal journey – the sense of accomplishment is big.
Grace’s Character
Poor Grace Ashcroft. Haunted by the trauma of her mom’s loss of life, she’s despatched to research one other mysterious loss of life and results in a struggle for her life. In what Nakanishi considers a sequence’ first, she’s a personality who’s introverted and simply scared. Nonetheless, she gained’t be working away from hazard on a regular basis. As seen within the authentic Creator’s Message (not the prolonged model), she wields a handgun – which is smart given her FBI agent coaching – and the idea artwork showcases her with a flashlight. Grace’s “deductive reasoning” lets her keep some semblance of management underneath strain, however she’ll nonetheless react with fright at issues that different sequence’ protagonists ordinarily wouldn’t. Takano emphasised that she’s not a “superhero” like previous protagonists, as an alternative surviving “utilizing her personal energy.”
Even Extra Stalker Sightings
We’ve already mentioned how the sequence’ new stalker, who chases Grace all through the lodge, is clever and large. It slinks out of openings within the ceiling and even investigates locations she could conceal in. Much more unimaginable is the way it could not instantly bust into rooms to seek out the participant however as an alternative play thoughts video games, shutting down the lights. The Creator’s Message higher showcased the sheer measurement of the creature because it falls from a gap within the ceiling in a single fluid movement, its physique blocking the hallway earlier than it even stands up straight. In one other scene, the creature slowly pursues her, hunched over because it strikes via the hallway. The truth that it’s created such an impression and we nonetheless haven’t witnessed its last type is each intriguing and terrifying.
Steel and Noir
Past the precise sort of worry that the crew goes for, Takano outlined the visible idea – Steel and Noir, which mixes movie noir and its trendy suspense with metallic and reflections. The “metallic” facet can also be a stark distinction to the settings of biohazard and Village since Requiem takes place in a extra city setting. Takano additionally talked about there are “many eventualities” set as a “trendy drama,” Raccoon Metropolis included. Whether or not that is hinting at different places that gamers will go to or not, you may anticipate plenty of iron and metallic as visible motifs.
Graphical Constancy and Enhanced Realism
The general constancy of Resident Evil Requiem is a notch above earlier titles, particularly on the subject of the little particulars. Grace’s iris and her cheeks flip pink when hanging the wrong way up from the medical gurney, and the attention motion is way more delicate and refined. We’ve already heard in regards to the high quality of the pores and skin textures and the “excessive constancy sweat droplets,” however there’s one other factor that basically highlights Grace’s character: Her hair.
Whereas strolling round with a lighter, the luminescence realistically shines via, however that’s not all. Takano revealed how an expert wig maker was employed to create one particularly for Grace. For scenes the place Grace is hanging the wrong way up, the wig was additionally turned the wrong way up, giving the crew a greater thought of its in-game look. Apparently, after they couldn’t hit the specified visible high quality, a characteristic that the Pragmata crew was engaged on known as Strand for the android Diana’s hair was used. That very same tech permits Grace’s hair to look as impressively sensible.
The place is Leon?
Rumors proceed to abound about Leon’s inclusion in Requiem and the way he’s simply as vital as Grace. Nakanishi surprisingly revealed that the crew “all the time considered” Leon because the protagonist however that “making a horror sport primarily based round him is tough” since he’s a “dangerous match for horror.” Whereas he revealed this to emphasise the choice to go along with Grace because the protagonist, it’s nonetheless doable that Leon is being saved underneath wraps. Maybe he slots into one of many “many eventualities” that Takano talked about, however there’s another excuse why he (and different acquainted characters) may return. Extra on that shortly.
Experiments With On-line and Open World
Maybe essentially the most surprising a part of the prolonged Creator’s Message is how Nakanishi confirmed rumors of the crew experimenting with online-only and an open world. These have been within the works for “a while,” however the crew finally realized that it wasn’t what followers “wished to see or play,” so that they went again to the drafting board, and Requiem is the consequence. That is consistent with rumors from insider Aesthetic Gamer, aka Nightfall Golem, who reported the sequel that includes an open world and “some multiplayer parts” earlier than a “heavy reboot” in 2021. Therefore the main target is on a single-player offline title.
Why Return to Raccoon Metropolis?
In an interview with the PlayStation Weblog, producer Masato Kumazawa defined the rationale for returning to Raccoon Metropolis. Whereas biohazard and Village broadened the universe as a complete, Requiem is about returning to the overarching narrative of the franchise. Raccoon Metropolis is the basis of so many main occasions, however Kumazawa additionally stated it’s essentially the most becoming setting for the reason that sequence celebrates its thirtieth anniversary in March 2026.
A “Eulogy” for Previous Characters
The “Requiem” of the title additionally means a number of various things, per Kumazawa. For Grace, it signifies going through her fears and presumably shifting on from her mom’s loss of life. Nonetheless, it’s additionally a “requiem for the entire individuals who have been caught up within the Raccoon Metropolis incident,” with Nakanishi calling it a “eulogy to those that got here earlier than.” “Requiem” is thus a milestone for the sequence and if rumors about it being the final title on this ongoing arc earlier than the following sport’s “mushy reboot,” we may see different beloved characters return, or not less than play some type of function within the plot. Regardless of the case, Kumazawa believes that gamers will “discover much more ranges of that means” after finishing the sport.
