Resident Evil Requiem has sold more than 5 million copies in just five days, alongside a new PlayStation 5 and Nvidia update released this week. But what is it about this survival horror sequel that makes it one of the best entries in Resident Evil history?
Capcom has a strong track record of sticking to proven formulas, but with Resident Evil—arguably its most iconic franchise—the team isn’t afraid to reinvent the series when the moment calls for it. After leaning into a more action-driven adventure with Resident Evil 4, the series swung hard back toward pure horror with Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. Along with its tense first-person perspective, Biohazard delivered a deeply unsettling story steeped in channeling the macobe, backwoods terror of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
A new “final girl” for Resident Evil
The reveal of Leon in Resident Evil Requiem was one of the most hype-worthy moments at last year’s Game Awards, but I was pleasantly surprised by how invested I became in RE9’s new protagonist: Grace Ashcroft. She’s not a special forces powerhouse in the vein of Chris Redfield or fan-favorite Leon S. Kennedy. Instead, she feels grounded in the real world—underpowered, scrambling just to survive, and always seconds away from going code brown. Her story calls to mind one of horror cinema’s most iconic survivors: Sidney Prescott from the Scream franchise.
The comparison feels especially fitting with Sidney’s recent return in Scream 7. Like Sidney—created by legendary horror director Wes Craven—Grace fits the mold of a classic “final girl,” the horror trope of the lone female survivor who endures a nightmare and escapes through grit, determination, and a fundamentally human resilience.
As a “final girl,” Grace represents a refreshing new direction for the Resident Evil Requiem series. In earlier entries, a character like her might have been relegated to the damsel-in-distress role—think Ashley Graham in Resident Evil 4. But in RE9, Grace is the one at the center of the horror. Grounded and vulnerable, she stands in sharp contrast to the near– superhero abilities of franchise icons like Leon Kennedy. And honestly, that shift might be exactly what Resident Evil needs.
Balancing the Action with the Horror of Vulnerability.
While the action-heavy exploits of Leon S. Kennedy remain a crucial part of Resident Evil Requiem gameplay, much of the game’s tension comes from playing as Grace Ashcroft in Resident Evil Requiem. When you step into Grace’s shoes, her fear is palpable—you can feel the tension in every movement, from the way the gun shakes in her hand to the uneasy rhythm of her breathing as she creeps through dark hallways.
Grace’s terror isn’t just narrative flavor; it’s built directly into the gameplay. She breathes heavily as players cautiously navigate the hospital corridors, and her hands visibly tremble while holding the limited ammunition she manages to scavenge. These subtle details make survival feel fragile and immediate, reinforcing how Resident Evil Requiem leans into vulnerability during Grace’s sections.
While the new protagonist’s sections are played in first-person by default, switching to a third-person camera reveals even more subtle character animation. She stumbles over her own feet, bumps into objects while trying to sneak through tight spaces and moves with the kind of awkward urgency you’d expect from someone way out of their depth.
Sidney Prescott’s long horror legacy
Much like Grace’s shaky beginnings in Resident Evil Requiem, Campbell’s Sidney Prescott also evolves over time. The character grows from a terrified teenager running up the stairs in the original Scream to a hardened survivor with a fortified panic room by the events of Scream 7.
Campbell previously announced in June 2022 that she would not return for Scream 6 due to a salary dispute with Paramount.
“As a woman I have had to work extremely hard in my career to establish my value, especially when it comes to Scream,” Campbell wrote at the time. “I felt the offer that was presented to me did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise.”
The titular Hand Cannon Shows How Resident Evil Requiem Balances Horror and Action
Resident Evil Requiem knows exactly when to shift perspectives, and Resident Evil Requiem gameplay thrives on that balance. The push and pull of scrambling through corridors as Grace Ashcroft and then shifting to Leon S. Kennedy’s badass, sometimes overpowered loadout is the difference between hiding behind a door terrified—and kicking that same door off its hinges with a shotgun in hand.
That contrast becomes even clearer through Resident Evil Requiem’s weapons, especially The Requiem, the game’s titular hand cannon. The way each character handles the massive firearm is the perfect metaphor for how they handle themselves. Leon slings the cannon with his usual flair, even spinning it like a cowboy revolver after delivering one of his many one-liners that land somewhere between a dad joke and an action-movie pun.
Grace Ashcroft, on the other hand, tells a very different story. The first time you fire one of those Hellboy-sized rounds, the recoil nearly dislocates her shoulder. She staggers backward as the bullet smashes a zombie’s head like an exploding watermelon. In short, using the Requiem is cathartic and undeniably badass with both characters. But in Grace’s hands it leans into the desperation that defines Resident Evil Requiem, adding tension to every moment of her gameplay.
‘The Girl’ is a relentless horror monster, and Grace’s own Ghostface
Both Scream’s Sidney Prescott and Resident Evil newcomer Grace Ashcroft begin their stories carrying the trauma of mothers deaths who both died under mysterious circumstances. That emotional weight shapes their journeys as they are forced to confront unimaginable violence. For Sidney, survival means facing the Ghostface killer again and again over a decade of Scream films. Grace encounters her own relentless stalker in the form of “The Girl” — a seemingly unkillable monster that appears when she first awakens inside the Rhodes Chronic Care Center.
Grace’s encounter with the The Girl is horror film tension at its finest. She carries her only a lighter at this moment in the game as RE9 throws you face first into the survival horror titles’ first nail-biting stealth sequence. Much like Sidney Prescott, Grace Ashcroft is forced to confront her demons — both literal and psychoclogical. Sidney crossed 6 Ghostface killers off the board during her time on the Scream franchise. By Requiem’s Grace finds a way to confront her survivors guilt over her mother’s death, and her character arc isnt hinged on the presence of Leon Kennedy, and isnt relagated to a hallow love interest.
What’s next for Resident Evil?
Grace Ashcroft represents a major evolution for Resident Evil protagonists, tying the series back to its horror-movie roots. Over its pulse pounding 15-ish hour run time, Resident Evil Requiem tells a powerful story of trauma and unrelenting heroism and sets a high bar for story-telling in single player games. Its a great way to kick off Resident Evil’s 30th Anniversary, with the latest entry serving as a finale and a new jumping on point for one of gaming’s longest running franchises.
Footnotes
- Grace Ashcroft’s voice actor is new to game acting and credits her performance to her chemistry with Nick Apostolides (Leon Kennedy), Emma Rose (Emily), and Jane Perry (Alyssa Ashcroft) (via Nintendo Life). ↩︎