After Capcom revealing the first trailer for Resident Evil Requiem during Summer Game Fest 2025, players were allowed to play a 30-minute demo, and it’s already looking like it’s going to be one of the scariest games in the series.
If you missed out on the trailer, you can watch it here:
Pure Survival Horror
No, Leon will not be the main character of this new chapter! You will play as Grace Ashcroft, a young FBI tech analyst and the daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft. If you are a long time Resident Evil player, you should remember this name from Resident Evil Outbreak back in 2003.
The demo starts right after the reveal trailer ends. Grace wakes up hanging upside down in a creepy, abandoned building, the Wrenwood Hotel, which is the same place where her mother was apparently murdered. She has no weapons, no combat skills, and no idea what’s waiting for her in the shadows. From the very beginning, this is pure survival horror.
Two Camera Views but Same Fear
You can play in either first-person or third-person, with first-person being the “recommended” view for a scarier experience. Both modes work well, but no matter how you play, you better make sure you went to the toilets beforehand. The hotel is dark, quiet, and unsettling. You can toggle between the two camera views at any time, which means that, depending on the section you just walk through, you may prefer one or the other. You will be scared no matter which one you pick, so no need to compromise: take what’s the most comfortable for you.
Are We Really in a Hotel?
Wrenwood may be called a hotel, but it looks more like an old medical clinic. There are hospital beds, creepy messages left behind, and even the bodies of dead doctors. What happened here? The game doesn’t tell you right away, but it’s clear something went very wrong.
Classic Resident Evil gameplay is back as well: locked doors with strange symbols, puzzles that need tools like a screwdriver, and searching for missing fuses. Along the way, you’ll find useful items like herbs and healing shots, but no real weapons. The only thing Grace can throw is a bottle to distract enemies. Capcom was NOT lying when they said Grace had no combat experience.
Things get even scarier when Grace triggers a jump scare with a dead doctor falling on her, then a monster appears from the darkness.
It’s huge, with a mutated arm, long grey hair, and a horrible mouth full of bloody teeth. This new creature looks like a twisted hag, and it chases you through the narrow hotel halls. At one point, it even bites Grace, forcing her to heal quickly.
This monster becomes your main threat, most likely your new best friend for the rest of the game: the Resident Evil Stalker. Like Mr. X or Lady Dimitrescu, it stalks you throughout the game, sometimes crashing through walls or crawling through holes in the ceiling. You know it’s here, even when you don’t see it. Sometimes you hear it, and you will not know from which hole it’ll jump scare you next. The shaking lights above you are a clear warning that it’s close, and that’s all you get.
The demo ends with an intense and spooky escape sequence, that will make your heart skip some beats. The final moment is sadly saved for the full release, and this is where the adventure ends, for now.
While Resident Evil Requiem doesn’t seem to try anything brand new, it will give you everything you love: atmosphere, puzzles, spookiness, and a terrifying stalker. Big questions remain: who is Grace really, what is this monster, and when does this story take place? Is it connected to Village’s future timeline, or something else entirely? What happened to Grace’s mother after Resident Evil Outbreak?
We’ll find out when Resident Evil Requiem launches on February 27, 2026. Until then, keep an eye on our latest news for any upcoming information about the game!
