Resident Evil Requiem: Everything About the New Chapter That Changes Perspective and Rewrites Raccoon City

Resident Evil Requiem is the ninth main installment in Capcom's survival horror saga and presents itself as a project of narrative and structural re-elaboration, capable of engaging with the series' tradition without merely repeating it. Set in a now devastated Raccoon City, marked by definitive consequences, the game constructs a narrative that alternates two perspectives and two gameplay philosophies, bringing back to the forefront the tension and sense of vulnerability that defined the franchise's identity.

• The Plot
• Will Leon Return?
• The Gameplay
• The Release Date
• The Platforms
• System Requirements
• The Trailer
• The Poster

The Plot of Resident Evil Requiem: The Story of Grace Ashcroft

The story revolves around Grace Ashcroft, an FBI technical analyst tasked with investigating a series of anomalous deaths at the Wrenwood Hotel in Raccoon City. The investigation takes on a deeply personal value for her, as her mother Alyssa lost her life in that very place years earlier. The setting is not limited to a nostalgic reconstruction but is configured as a city reduced to a wreck, a silent testament to events that the world has tried to erase from collective memory.

In parallel, the narrative follows Leon S. Kennedy, now a D.S.O. agent, engaged in a separate investigation in the Midwest related to the activities of Victor Gideon, a former Umbrella scientist. The two narrative threads proceed alternately and are set approximately thirty years after the destruction of Raccoon City, reconnecting to a period of the saga that has long remained in the background. What emerges is a plot that uses the past as a tool to question the long-term consequences of bioterrorism in the Resident Evil universe.

Will Leon Return in Resident Evil Requiem?

Leon S. Kennedy's presence has been confirmed as an integral part of the experience. Leon is a playable character with an autonomous narrative role, designed to offer a different reading of events compared to Grace's. If the latter embodies the insecurity and fragility of someone untrained for combat, Leon represents the legacy of the series' historical protagonists, hardened by years of missions against bioterrorism.

His return is not built as a self-serving homage but as a narrative counterpoint. Through Leon, Requiem reaffirms the link with the classic saga, without giving up on re-evaluating the hero's role in a world that no longer offers simple solutions or definitive victories.

The Gameplay of Resident Evil Requiem

The gameplay of Resident Evil Requiem is built as a dual-natured system, both narrative and mechanical. The alternation between Grace Ashcroft and Leon S. Kennedy reflects two opposing ways of understanding survival horror, coexisting within the same structure without ever fully merging. Some details were released during the latest showcase. 

The Experience with Grace Ashcroft

The sections dedicated to Grace Ashcroft are based on constant vulnerability. Grace is not designed to confront danger head-on, and the game makes this evident in every choice. Exploration is slow and cautious, often interrupted by the need to stop, listen, and assess the environment. The enemy pursuing her is not an episodic threat but a persistent presence that conditions the space, forcing the player to think in terms of alternative paths, temporary cover, and noise management. Crouched movement, the ability to hide under tables or similar structures, and the use of environmental objects to distract the pursuer transform every room into a small survival puzzle.

A central element of these phases is the relationship between visibility and risk. The presence of a portable light source allows for orientation in darker environments but introduces a continuous compromise, because illuminating also means exposing oneself. Light thus becomes an ambiguous tool, necessary but never neutral, which strengthens tension instead of attenuating it. The design of the spaces, often vertical and traversable also from ceilings and walls, further reduces the sense of security and prevents reliance on predictable patterns.

The Experience with Leon S. Kennedy

The change in perspective is clear when control shifts to Leon S. Kennedy (protagonist of Resident Evil 4). His sections are designed to provide a more action-oriented experience, where combat becomes the primary means of progression. Leon can rely on firearms and melee techniques that allow for more direct management of enemy groups. The pace is faster, combat arenas are more readable, and tension arises less from helplessness and more from the pressure exerted by the quantity and resilience of opponents.

This juxtaposition is not accidental but reflects Capcom's precise desire to keep two traditions of the series together. On one hand, survival horror based on evasion, and on the other, the action legacy consolidated in more recent episodes. The player is not asked to choose which of the two souls to prefer but to confront both, continuously adapting their approach.

First and Third-Person View

Uniting these two philosophies is the ability to freely switch between first-person and third-person view. The first emphasizes immediacy, proximity to danger, and a more claustrophobic perception of spaces. The third, on the other hand, favors a broader reading of the action and is better suited for more dynamic sections. The fact that the choice is left to the player, and not imposed by the game, transforms perspective into an expressive tool rather than a simple technical option.

Overall, the gameplay of Resident Evil Requiem does not seek a reassuring synthesis between past and present. On the contrary, it accepts the fracture between horror and action and uses it as the engine of the experience, building a path that changes tone and gameplay language without losing internal coherence. It is in this controlled tension, rather than in individual mechanical novelties, that Requiem defines its identity.

Resident Evil Requiem, The Release Date

Capcom has announced that Resident Evil Requiem will be available starting February 27, 2026. The date was revealed at Summer Game Fest 2025, an event during which the title was officially shown for the first time.

Resident Evil Requiem, Which Platforms Will It Be Released On?

Resident Evil Requiem will be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC Windows, with a simultaneous release also planned for Nintendo Switch 2.

Resident Evil Requiem for PC: System Requirements

Here are the system requirements for the PC version.

Minimum Requirements

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• Operating System: Windows 11 (64-bit);
• Processor: Intel Core i5-8500 / AMD Ryzen 5 3500;
• RAM: 16 GB;
• Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (6 GB) / Radeon RX 5500 XT (8GB);
• DirectX: Version 12.

Recommended Requirements

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• Operating System: Windows 11 (64-bit);
• Processor: Intel Core i7-8700 / AMD Ryzen 5;
• RAM: 16 GB;
• Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super (8 GB) / Radeon RX 6600 (8 GB);
• DirectX: Version 12.

The Resident Evil Requiem Trailer

The Resident Evil Requiem Poster