Resident Evil Requiem

Capcom has been on a horror hot streak that would make most studios jealous, and Resident Evil Requiem continues the tradition of making grown adults check behind their shower curtain. The game splits its DNA between two playable characters: Grace Ashcroft. An FBI analyst and daughter of Outbreak's Alyssa Ashcroft. Creeping through first-person survival horror with limited resources and a typewriter save system, and Leon S. Kennedy doing what Leon does best: third-person action carnage with firearms, roundhouse kicks, and an attitude problem. The dual-perspective system isn't a gimmick. It's the entire thesis of the game, and it works.

Grace's sections are genuinely terrifying. The Wrenwood Hotel and Rhodes Hill care center are masterclasses in atmospheric horror. Every creak, every flicker, every encounter with 'The Girl' (a monster you can only damage by exposing it to light) had me reaching for the pause button. Meanwhile, Leon's chapters are pure Resident Evil 4 energy cranked to eleven, with boss fights that demand both skill and resource planning. The fact that you can toggle between first and third person for either character shows a level of polish that most studios can't even dream of. Five million copies in five days doesn't lie. This is Capcom at the peak of their powers.

Where Requiem stumbles is in the pacing of its final act. After masterfully building tension across two interwoven storylines set in and around the ruins of Raccoon City, the conclusion rushes to wrap up threads involving Victor Gideon and the Connections syndicate in a way that doesn't quite earn the emotional payoff it's reaching for. The Switch 2 port is also noticeably rougher than its console siblings. Playable, sure, but you'll notice the sacrifices. And while the RE Engine's ray tracing is gorgeous, some performance dips in the more complex areas remind you that even Capcom can't fully optimize perfection.