Resident Evil Requiem’s Gameplay is “Almost An Upgrade” Over Resident Evil 2, Says Director

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When people think of Resident Evil, they usually picture one of two styles of gameplay – either the slower, more suspenseful survival horror seen in Resident Evil 7: biohazard (and classic games like the original) or the faster-paced, action-packed style of Resident Evil 4 and Village. It looks like Resident Evil Requiem is aiming for increased frights, and the game’s main character, Grace Ashcroft, suggests this will be the case.

So, I was chatting with director Koshi Nakanishi and producer Masato Kumazama at Tokyo Game Show 2025, and they explained how they balance horror and action in the Resident Evil games. Basically, they see the games falling somewhere on a spectrum between how similar they are to Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4. Nakanishi said Resident Evil 7 really leaned into the 2 side of things – going back to those survival horror roots, which everyone loved. Then, Resident Evil Village took that foundation and added a lot more action and shooting, pushing it closer to the Resident Evil 4 end of the scale. They called it an “inflation effect” – the more action you add, the more it shifts that balance.

However, continuing down that path could create a sort of escalating effect – you’d constantly need to add more and more action to surpass what came before. Ultimately, this is where Resident Evil 5 and 6 ended up. While they’re still enjoyable games, most people agree they shifted Resident Evil too far towards action, losing its horror elements.

I didn’t want to approach Resident Evil’s ninth game by simply trying to top the action of Village, but that’s what happened, and I wasn’t happy with the result. Therefore, Requiem is shifting its focus to be more like the gameplay of Resident Evil 2, and I consider it “almost an upgrade.”

However, there’s also the question of whether the game’s scares will be as effective as those in past titles, and Nakanishi admits they won’t know for sure until players experience it themselves. “We’ve created so many of these games that we lose our own sense of what’s frightening until someone else plays. There was genuine concern within the team before we showed the [Resident Evil: Requiem] gameplay at SGF and the first hands-on session at Gamescom. We were asking ourselves, ‘Is this actually scary?’ because, honestly, we don’t even know anymore. Creating horror games is what we do every day.”

When questioned about removed content that leaned heavily into horror, Nakanishi explained, “We never actually put it *in* the game, so it wasn’t a matter of cutting it, but-we can’t really judge what’s frightening. We’ll suggest ideas, add more and more, and eventually we wondered things like, what if [Grace] suffered a severe wound to her leg, or even lost her leg, during the attack? It seemed incredibly scary, but we ultimately decided against those ideas.” He clarified that this doesn’t mean bad things *won’t* happen, so viewers should stay tuned.

Resident Evil Requiem will be released on February 27th, 2026, for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. You can learn about how the developers are working on a Nintendo Switch 2 version and see their request for fans to “calm down a bit” about the circulating rumors – particularly those concerning whether Leon S. Kennedy will appear in the game.

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2025-09-30 14:13