Rather than another quality guaranteed “Resident Evil” game in the series, Resident Evil Requiem performed as the culmination of the “New Resident Evil Era”. Capcom’s Resident Evil Requiem launched on January 27th, 2026, received 96% positive reviews on Steam, and an average score of 90 from major gaming media outlets.
The New Resident Evil Era
Since Capcom launched Resident Evil 7 in 2017, they have steered the series from Resident Evil 6’s Hollywood-style blockbuster combat back to its roots of tense, atmospheric, exploration in confined spaces. Coupled with the enhanced visual fidelity afforded by the new RE Engine, Capcom has successfully ushered the series into a new era.
In 2019, Capcom launched “Resident Evil 2 Remake”, started a “Remake” epoch followed by classic IP from other companies as “Final Fantasy VII Remake”, “Demon’s Souls Remastered”, and their “Resident Evil 3 Remake”.
“Resident Evil 2 Remake” brings back the classical indoor exploration and strategic resource utilization play style, while leveraging modern lighting effect to deliver an immersive and visceral horror experience for the audience.
This successful formula was carried forward by RE3 Remake, RE8, and RE4 Remake. Although their 10-20 hour campaigns are relatively short compared to other AAA games, they prioritized quality over quantity with tight storytelling and polished production level resonated deeply with the gaming medias and players.
Why Requiem?
Although the previous iterations laid the groundwork of survival horror game play, the “New Resident Evil Era” reached its peak with Requiem. Unlike the previous games, this title is not only another sequel to the series but also a true masterpiece in terms of atmosphere and character development.
In order to reach this immersive atmosphere, the next level of graphic is necessary. The graphics of Requiem represent the biggest progress since the release of 2019 remake of RE2. Thanks to the latest version of the RE Engine, which features full path tracing, the lighting in the game is no longer an additional element of the horror. In addition, the developers used a level of texture detail that was noticed by PC Gamer and considered enough to make the decay of the setting “almost tactile”.
Having grown older, Leon has transformed into a mature man whose “haunting gravitas” has made him more interesting than ever. His aged look, characterized by fine lines, greying hair, and tired eyes, tells the story of the past two decades of Leon’s life without even a single word being said.
The quality of animations that allow players to see every emotion on the face of Leon made his vulnerabilities more evident. As mentioned by Game Informer, every tiny flinch or hand tremble when Leon faces a high-threat scenario bridges the gap between the player and their hero. It is worth mentioning that the way Leon is presented in Requiem can be considered one of the best examples of creating character engagement in a video game.
On top of that, Requiem brings a change of perspective regarding the nature of the horror, taking a step further beyond the biology of monsters. Choosing the character of an aged Leon as a basis for the game, the creators managed to achieve this goal. As stated by The Verge, Requiem questions if a life spent fighting monsters does not eventually transform a person who has vowed to stop those horrors into a ghost himself. Indeed, the theme of entropy and the endless cycle of evil become crucial for the plot, which is in line with the philosophy of the “New Resident Evil Era”. Thus, unlike its predecessors, the plot of Requiem is elevated to the philosophical level and reflects the Sisyphus’ tragedy of the protagonist.
Perfecting the idea of “tight loop” exploration presented in RE7, Requiem removes almost all HUD elements and relies on spatial audio. The result achieved by developers can be described as suffocating immersion, as mentioned by Eurogamer. The game has a special spatial audio engine, where sound is considered a tangible object. According to Rolling Stone India, ‘the soundscape becomes a kind of non-linear director, which moves the player’s anxiety through dissonance and calculated silence’. Diegetic sound like the heavy thud of Leon’s boots and labored breathing after a fast dash plays a key role in creating this sensory claustrophobia and makes players share the physical state of Leon.
Resident Evil Requiem shows the developers of the “New Resident Evil Era” have moved the bar forward. Instead of just copying previous titles, they managed to introduce new features of both survival horror and cinematic approach.
Shoujie Wang 
Yinan Zhou 
SUN Yinchen