Resident Evil Requiem absolutely stole the show at Summer Game Fest

The general sentiment surrounding this year’s Summer Game Fest (SGF) was that it was rather underwhelming.

Between what felt like a dozen different “Soulslikes,” anime games and even a cringeworthy politically-charged hat, there was a lot that fell flat. Honestly, it felt like the product of an industry that’s very much been waiting for the one-two 2025 punch of the Nintendo Switch 2 and Grand Theft Auto VI as it reels from a string of terrible business decisions that have led to studio closures, game cancellations and mass layoffs. (And this is even before you consider that GTA VI got delayed to next May.)

But having been in attendance at SGF, there was one big game that seemed to have won over everyone I talked to: Resident Evil Requiem. After two admittedly weird fakeouts, the live SGF showcase concluded with the grand reveal of the ninth mainline entry in Capcom’s beloved survival horror franchise, promising an unsettling experience centred around a new character named Grace Ashcroft.

That alone would have been cause for Requiem to “win” SGF, but it didn’t stop there. At SGF Play Days, a media-only event featuring behind-closed-doors looks at upcoming games, Capcom showed off the first-ever Requiem gameplay demo, and I was fortunate enough to be among those checking it out. And I have to say: it’s looking even more phenomenal than that grand reveal trailer would have you believe.

First and foremost, it feels at once lovingly familiar and fresh under the direction of Kōshi Nakanishi, who last helmed 2017’s Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. That game was effectively a reinvention for the series, moving it back towards its survival horror roots while making a bold pivot to first-person and focusing on a brand-new character, a systems engineer named Ethan Winters, in a story largely removed from the broader Umbrella Corporation and t-Virus threat.

In a similar vein, Capcom teased in our demo that Requiem‘s lead character, FBI agent Grace, offers a “fresh, vulnerable perspective.” The developer described her as more of a cunning character who will have to use her wits to conquer her fears over the course of the game. In other words, while she’s an FBI agent with some arms training, she isn’t a badass action hero like Leon S. Kennedy, Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine. What’s more, Grace has an unexpectedly deep cut connection to franchise lore: she’s the daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft, one of the characters from the oft-forgotten PS2 multiplayer game Resident Evil Outbreak.

Establishing her as a troubled character by the beginning of the story — one whose trauma is rooted in a legacy character, no less — is a nice shift from many of the other RE games. It also immediately helps add to the spooky vibes. Our demo starts with a wounded Grace craftily freeing herself from the medical bed seen in the trailer by knocking over a vial of her blood and cutting her restraints. From there, she slowly skulks around what looks to be a care facility.

Without any music playing, the only sounds we hear are her harrowed breathing and laboured footsteps which, alongside the first-person perspective, really enhances the suspenseful atmosphere. It’s here that director Nakanishi’s experience with Biohazard feels most apparent, bringing to mind the tension of sneaking around the Baker estate while the deranged family patriarch chases you.

And on that note, Requiem already seems even scarier than Biohazard because of its “pursuer,” a monstrous, toothy being that appears to have once been a woman wearing a dress. It’s briefly seen in the trailer, but in our demo, we got a much closer look at the way it skulks around and smashes through interiors. It brings to mind “Mr. X” from the Resident Evil 2 remake, except more frightening in its garish design and ability to traverse through the ceiling. Indeed, multiple moments of nail-biting tension came from the Capcom rep slowly panning the camera upward to see if the beast was lurking above in conveniently shaped holes in the roof.

In classic RE fashion, Grace also has an objective during all of this: locating a fuse to unlock a door. That “mouse-in-a-maze” gameplay loop of trying to evade an unbeatable fiend while searching for an item necessary to progress is something that Resident Evil does so well, and it looks like it’s better than ever here thanks to the photorealistic visuals, top-notch audio design and the nightmarish monster. To further keep you on your toes, the lights even went out in one room Grace was hiding in, forcing her to rely on her less effective match. Eventually, the creature gets the jump on her and rushes forward to take a giant bite out of her neck.

That would have been the end of the demo, except Capcom left us with one final tease. Rewinding a little bit to before that final encounter, the demo player opened the menu and showed that there’s an option to freely switch between first- and third-person perspectives. That was introduced with the DLC for Village, so it’s wonderful to have that as an option in the base game, further marrying two generations of RE players in the process.

All in all, it was a perfect first look at the game that has me eager to see more. It told us just enough about what to expect from the survival horror gameplay while also raising tantalizing questions about what’s to come. For one, it’s easy to fantasize about how Capcom might take the best of what it’s learned from both the first- and third-person games — both of which are excellent in their own regard — to create the ultimate Resident Evil.

And there are plenty of questions about the narrative, especially with respect to how it fits into the larger RE canon. First, there are plenty of nods to the dilapidated Raccoon City in the trailer, and seeing what that will all look like years after the events of the original games is exciting. On top of that, though, many rumours have pointed to fan-favourite hero Leon making a grand return in Requiem and, perhaps, even having a larger role than Grace.

In a similar way to how Chris played an increasingly large role in Ethan’s story throughout Biohazard and Village, it’s easy to imagine Capcom having plenty of surprises regarding Leon or even other legacy characters. And because this story is years later, we might get to see an even more grizzled version of some of our favourites, deepening the appeal of this sequel.

But best of all, we won’t have to wait too long to find out any of this. As confirmed during SGF, Resident Evil Requiem will launch on February 27, 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. After this demo, Resident Evil Requiem has quickly shot up to the top of my most-anticipated games list, and I’m anxious to see what sorts of horrors Capcom has in store for us.

Image credit: Capcom