REVIEW – Resident Evil turns 30 in 2026, and Resident Evil Requiem doesn’t show up with candles – it shows up with closure, tying off the Raccoon City thread like this is the last big act. It juggles two leads with two very different flavors: one leans into brittle, classic horror, the other rides on a battle-tested “professional survivor” who treats chaos like routine. We tested Resident Evil Requiem on PlayStation 5 Pro, and yes, it’s the first taste of games boosted by the new PSSR.

We’re at mainline entry number nine, in a series that’s grown a forest of spin-offs and side roads – most of them living in their own lane, rarely snapping cleanly back into the “main” Resident Evil timeline. Requiem is one of those rare bridges: it pulls characters, threads, and moods into the same frame without forgetting where the franchise started – or where it’s landed over the last few years.

Thirty Years of Nightmare, Now With a Final Chord

Resident Evil Requiem plays like Capcom assembled a big “best of” album – except the tracklist swings between whisper-quiet, gut-tightening horror and faster, Leon S. Kennedy-style damage control. The question hanging over the whole package is whether this blend is the “perfect mix” we’ve been waiting for, or whether the game would’ve been stronger picking one lane and sticking to it until the credits roll.

This series has always been comfortable changing shape. The third-person entries steadily leaned harder into action, while Resident Evil 7 and Village focused on tension, claustrophobia, and raw nerves. Requiem says it wants both. For a surprisingly long stretch, it looks like it can actually pull that off.

Two Leads, Two Tones

You start as Grace Ashcroft, a cautious, inward FBI agent – the daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft, an old standout from the online co-op Resident Evil Outbreak. It’s a bold pull from a corner of the franchise plenty of people have filed away, but it makes the universe feel more connected. Grace is also the right foundation for horror because she isn’t a “ready-made soldier”: survival isn’t muscle memory, it’s panic and improvisation, and the story can build real growth on top of that.

Then there’s Leon. He’s the kind of character the world can’t really “surprise” anymore – it can only annoy him. He’s experienced, brutally capable, and equipped with an arsenal and movement toolkit that occasionally reads as straight-up superhero energy. Structurally, Requiem is mostly split in half: the first part through Grace’s eyes, the second through Leon’s, with some swapping around the edges. As a backbone, it works.

Grace – Horror That Actually Puts a Hand on Your Throat

Grace’s campaign is sharper on tension and leans harder into classic survival horror. It borrows a lot from Resident Evil 7 and Village – not just the first-person perspective, but the atmosphere, pacing, and puzzle cadence. The puzzles aren’t as cruel or layered as the old days, though: they’re more competent than memorable, even if the map design flirts with a metroidvania-style key-and-detour flow.

Her section also reaches back, almost beat for beat, toward the original Resident Evil fantasy: you’re trapped inside a large, maze-like manor, and the environments – even some monster beats – strongly echo Resident Evil Remake. You don’t need that history to follow the story, but if you’ve played the original or the remake, you’ll catch more small tells and a few satisfying “oh, right” moments.

Grace’s half is basically a modernized reimagining of classic Resident Evil – just with a newer tempo.

Leon – Nostalgia on Turbo, With Less Pressure

Leon’s campaign sits on the other end of the spectrum. Requiem is broadly approachable for newcomers, but Leon’s half practically expects you to have Resident Evil 2 in your bones – otherwise a lot of references, flashbacks, and very specific Raccoon City echoes won’t fully land. Action is more pronounced here: Leon has a much heavier arsenal, and where Grace can struggle with a single infected, Leon handles waves, often calling back to the more aggressive back half of Resident Evil 4.

The downside is that Leon’s competence makes it harder for the game to create real tension. A lot of the fun comes from the density of callbacks and fan “winks”, but that also means the campaign can cling too tightly to the past and feel less alive in the present. It’s not bad – it just doesn’t stick the way Grace’s half does.

Our full run clocked in at roughly 15 hours, with a big chunk of that time spent sampling the contrast between the two halves. Grace’s manor leans into detours, keys, and puzzle loops, while Leon gets more breathing room and more firefights. Longtime fans will likely enjoy how the character threads ultimately tie together, and most cameos land – though there’s one moment that feels more like “did we really need that?” than an essential beat.

RE Engine, PSSR, And PS5 Pro – When the Details Bite Back

Horror lives and dies on image and sound, and Resident Evil Requiem is brutally strong on both. The RE Engine has rarely looked better: environments feel eerie but plausible, ranging from desolate city space to a laboratory that’s almost unnervingly clean. The lighting, shadows, and high-detail character work sell that constant “something bad is about to happen” feeling – especially in Grace’s section, where it hits hardest.

On PlayStation 5 Pro, there’s an extra layer: Resident Evil Requiem is the first title to use the updated PSSR upscaling, and it’s more than a sticker on a box. Fine detail – hair, small textures, lights moving in “real time” – holds together more cleanly while performance stays stable. Out of the available modes, the more image-forward setting hovering around 60 fps delivered the best “cinematic” look for us, while the higher refresh option is there for anyone who prioritizes raw smoothness.

On audio, Capcom still knows exactly how to squeeze a room. Creaking boards, distant moans, noises that sound like they were born in the walls – and silence that feels louder than music. Jump scares aren’t the main tool here, though there are a few. It’s the steady anxiety and the soundscape that carry the pressure. Some creatures also genuinely “patrol” or hunt, and once you hear their footsteps, your comfort level changes instantly.

A Requiem for New and Old Fans

Resident Evil Requiem tries to feed both camps without tearing itself apart. Most of the time, the horror-action braid holds, and Grace’s campaign is the clear highlight – the section where Requiem captures that “old school” survival-horror squeeze in a modern wrapper. Leon’s side leans more on nostalgia and faster encounters, but it’s also less suffocating, and the puzzles never quite aim for legend status.

As a closing note, it understands what the Raccoon City myth means to this franchise – and it knows that after 30 years, you can’t survive on looking backward alone. Its rough edges show when it leans too hard on the past and dulls the new voice Grace’s section builds. But if you want a new nightmare and a sharp hit of fanservice in the same sitting, there’s a good chance Requiem gives you both.

-Gergely Herpai “BadSector”-

Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Genre: Survival horror
Release: February 27, 2026.