Resident Evil Requiem has been one of the biggest announcements of the year so far, and with an official release date locked in for next year, the wait for the franchise's next chapter won't be too long. Ever since RE Village was released back in 2021, questions about the next chapter have been circulating. Resident Evil Requiem was revealed at Summer Game Fest, and it's already promising a surprising new direction for the horror series.
In RE Requiem, a brand-new character, Grace Ashcroft, leads the story. Working as an analyst for the FBI, Grace is sent to investigate the mysterious Wrenwood Hotel, the very same place where her mother Alyssa was murdered eight years prior. A brand-new Resident Evil protagonist is intriguing enough, but what's even more compelling is that the game has already confirmed a return to Raccoon City. As exciting and nostalgic as this is, it could also be setting the game up to feature a divisive long-running series trope; a lab-based third-act.
Resident Evil Requiem’s ‘Addictive Fear’ Can’t Be Another Broken Promise
Resident Evil Requiem's 'addictive fear' core theme is a chance to go full horror in the story, and the game has to keep that promise.
Resident Evil Requiem Returning to Raccoon City Makes a Third-Act Lab Level Seem Inevitable
Resident Evil's End-Game Moments Have Historically Been Divisive
Throughout the series, many of the games in the Resident Evil franchise have ended with a level centered around either some kind of laboratory or a separate space that's much different than the rest of the game. While some of these levels can be a fun change of pace, the difference in tone that some of these locations bring to the story can also be a bit jarring.
Of course, there's no way to know for sure if RE Requiem will take players back down to the labs featured in RE2 and RE3, but this possibility definitely can't be taken off the table just yet. Whether it's Leon exploring Umbrella's secret lab at the end of RE2 or Jill doing her own investigation of NEST in RE3, these types of end-game levels have continued to be divisive. One of the most divisive in recent memory is RE7's ship sequence. For some players, it's one of the highlights of the game, but for others, it can throw a wrench in the story's pacing.
Grace's mother was Alyssa Ashcroft, an investigative reporter who was first introduced in Resident Evil Outbreak.
Returning to Raccoon City's Secret Labs Actually Has One Big Upside
In the time that has passed since bombs were dropped on Raccoon City, the town has become a barren wasteland. Unless there's a twist that proves otherwise, the Umbrella lab beneath the city has remained untouched for nearly three decades. Over time, there's no telling what horrors lie beneath the surface of the city now.
It has already been teased that RE Requiem will reveal unknown secrets about the Raccoon City outbreak, and this could very likely lead players to Umbrella's hidden labs. Returning to a run-down version of this location that is potentially swimming with the infected could actually flip the script on the franchise's end-game level formula. On the one hand, going back to Raccoon City's lab levels would be a strong dose of nostalgia that potentially has even more scares, but on the other hand, it could feel far too predictable.
RE Requiem will feature both first and third-person perspectives.
Resident Evil Requiem Still Raises Questions
- The game is set to launch on February 27, 2026.
Between theories that Leon is going to be a surprise protagonist to questions regarding why the game is returning to Raccoon City after all these years, RE Requiem is still an incredibly mysterious project. If this return is all for the sake of nostalgia, it could prove to be a letdown. However, if RE Requiem nails its portrayal of a destroyed, barren Raccoon City, returning to both the town and its secret labs also has the potential to be incredibly strong settings.
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