The long-awaited ninth installment in Capcom's beloved horror franchise. Resident Evil: RequiemAlmost here, launch will take place on February 27, 2026. The wait seems like an eternity as most of it marketing was very secretand Leon S. Kennedy's big reveal at The Game Awards 2025 was clearly something Capcom had been so adamant about hiding.
In case you missed it, Grace Ashcroft and series veteran Leon S. Kennedy will act as the main characters of the duetas many assumed, spending the same amount of screen time. This means that Capcom is once again looking to mix horror and action, and this, in my opinion, suggests one important thing.
The mix of RE2 and RE4 gameplay sounds phenomenal.
I'm sure many fans will agree that Remake of Resident Evil 2 is one of the best games in the series when it comes to horror, right behind it Resident Evil 7.
Many argue that this epithet belongs to Resident Evil 1 remake, but (hot take enters) I'm not a fan of this game and really hope it can be remade again in RE Engine in third person, but that doesn't matter.
Director RequiemKoshi Nakanishi emphasized that Grace Ashcroft's game segments will be very similar to Resident Evil 2where players will have to fight for their lives on the edge of their seats as Grace's vulnerability and ignorance of the outbreak can lead to some truly horrific scenes for both character and player.
We've already seen A prime example of this with the first gameplay revealas the old witch or “Big Mama” (as most people call her) stalks Grace through a chronic care center before being recently revealed to be rescued by Leon. That doesn't mean there will be a complete lack of action in Grace's segments, so there is a combat element to explore for her character as well.
Nakanishi stated that Leon's gameplay is based on Resident Evil 4 remake, this tells me that Capcom is aiming for Requiem surpassing the beloved games from 2005 and 2023, with some of the best horror and action films running simultaneously.
Leon is expected to be at the peak of his powers in this new title and will push himself to the limit more than ever before. I'm afraid of what the latter means (I don't want our favorite boy hero to die), but Kennedy is at the peak of his career and the descriptions of “martial arts” and “close combat techniques” in Requiem indicate that we will see the most extensive and creative combat system yet.
It's not just the elements from RE2 and RE4 that will make it great.
Obviously there's a lot more Requiem must offer; the addition of Leon's ax appears to be a knife swap compared to what we experienced in Resident Evil 4 remake, and it seems like we might also see a dynamic weapon “stealing” system, with the trailer showing Leon getting the chance to use an enemy's chainsaw against them.
The collaboration with Porsche doesn't seem to be limited to just cutscenes. I fully expect players to have plenty of opportunities to drive around Raccoon City and other places we haven't seen yet. Requiemsimilar to the short boat bypass section in PE4.
Grace also brings something completely new to the table; in the franchise's main titles, we've never seen a character as scared as Grace in Requiemat least in the beginning, with Nakanishi describing her as a “scary cat” before eventually gaining courage as the story progresses.
It will be very interesting to see how our new “newbie” (in terms of combat experience with monstrous enemies), Grace, will interact with the older and experienced Leon S. Kennedy, who has fought numerous deadly enemies, and how the juxtaposition of horror and action will affect the overall experience.
From what I've seen so far, this will be Capcom's best entry in the franchise and a near-perfect celebration of its 30th anniversary. Let's hope it is implemented well.
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