Capcom's Resident Evil series has become one of the defining horror games in video game history, and it's quickly approaching its 30th anniversary in 2026. The series has experimented with a wide range of tones within the survival horror genre, some emphasizing feelings of fear and vulnerability, while others rely on horror gameplay to empower players.
Upcoming Resident Evil: Requiem takes the tone of the previous games and gives players perspective options: they can play the game from a first-person or third-person perspective.
During Tokyo Game Show 2025 we spoke with Resident Evil: Requiem game director Koshi Nakanishi and producer Masato Kumazawa on how the film was made Requiem experience the uniqueness from both perspectives—and the value of a surprise celebration of the franchise's 30th anniversary.
Requiem it's a timely game for Resident Evil's 30th anniversary
Kumazawa told the game developer that Capcom did not plan Requiem dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Resident Evil. But he acknowledged that the date “will undoubtedly be remembered by people when the game comes out. Players will think a lot about what they liked about the series.”
While the game isn't celebrating its 30th anniversary, it certainly draws on the franchise's extensive library for its story. It moves away from the Ethan Winters saga. RE7 And Village and into a new storyline dedicated to Grace Ashcroft, the daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft from Resident Evil: Flash. He also recalls the horrors that happened in Resident Evil 2 Raccoon City.
Resident Evil: Requiem follows in the footsteps Resident Evil 7 And Abode of the Evil Villagewhich featured immersive first-person horror after years of increasingly action-heavy third-person games. The first-person view immerses players in an ominous atmosphere filled with heart-pounding encounters rather than gunplay-oriented set pieces.
Image via Capcom.
But these aren't the only two Resident Evil games released in the last decade. Capcom has also diversified the series' gameplay portfolio with action-packed remakes. Resident Evil 2, 3, And 4. We see several trends throughout the series: first-person games that focus on player immersion, and third-person games that emphasize story and character development.
The contrast between the two styles provided a valuable lesson to the development team as they sought the right balance of action and horror for the game. Requiem. According to Kumazawa and Nakanishi, the game aims to combine the best of both worlds.
“The best way I would describe it is Resident Evil 7 While stoic, it focused on being a relatively serious approach to the horrors of indoor survival, whereas Village expanded on this, almost like a reaction to the previous game and it was more action based such as Re4 in terms of how many shootings and shootings there were,” Nakanishi said.
“It was great, but [Requiem]we wanted to go back to scale…there are moments of gun-toting combat, but there's more of a focus on intense exploration of enclosed spaces with enemy encounters that are more sparse but still very intense,” the director continued.
Player cameras can determine the tone of a horror game
Camera controls and how developers think about perspective can be crucial in determining the tone of a horror game. The series began with fixed third-person camera angles that completely directed the player's perspective, and then began to open it up with over-the-shoulder third-person camera angles.
This perspective was brought back again with Resident Evil 7Hard first-person view. Now, Requiem sees the developers taking the unusual step of offering both first- and third-person views.
This extends the feature provided in the downloadable content for Abode of the Evil Village this allowed players to switch to third-person view. This turned out to be something of a trial run for Requiem.
According to Nakanishi, this feature was motivated by a desire to give fans the opportunity to better appreciate the type of horror they experience and allow horror fans who cannot handle first-person gameplay to RE7 And Village in get into Requiem.
There were still people who thought it was too scary to get into,” said the game director. “They tried the game but couldn’t beat it because they felt it was too intense and too intense for them and they didn’t want to play it.”
Having tried both schemes in a demo at Tokyo Game Show, it was impressive how differently the two perspectives could result in certain sequences appearing. It felt like I was playing two unique versions of the game.
Image via Capcom.
Because Requiem strives for a balance between immersive horror and character-focused moments, with first- and third-person perspectives requiring strong design decisions. These include emphasizing the lack of visibility and occlusion in the first person, as well as presenting unique character animations to highlight Grace's mental state in the third person.
“If you're playing in third person, she's actually animated quite dramatically to show her scared and panicked reaction, and she'll actually trip and fall. Her speed doesn't stop, but she looks like she's panicking even more, and it's meant to make you feel even more panicked and worried about her,” the director said.
“It's not included at all in the first-person version of the same scene because it would be difficult to convey it clearly and it wouldn't feel comfortable in first-person,” he said, contrasting this approach with the classic method of creating “optional” third-person modes that are still based on first-person design.
“If you imagine first-person as a base and then switch to third-person, there will be no animation at all. You have to make sure it feels natural in both perspectives so players don't feel like they're missing something in one version over the other.”
With release Resident Evil: RequiemThe developers draw on the series' most dangerous moments to create a blend of immersive and character-driven horror. They also unexpectedly created a game that got creatives and fans thinking about its broader legacy on its 30th anniversary.
Requiem could also show that it makes sense to offer ways for players to customize their horror experience to attract players who may have been hesitant to take the plunge into Capcom's iconic series.
