Resident Evil: Requiem Aims Back at Horror—Developers Reject Endless Action Escalation

At Tokyo Game Show 2025, Resident Evil: Requiem’s creative leads—director Koshi Nakanishi and producer Masato Komazawa—outlined where the series is heading next. Their message was clear: Requiem won’t chase ever-bigger set-pieces; it’s steering back toward survival horror. 

Nakanishi contrasted recent entries: RE7 “returned to survival horror,” while Village “pushed further into action.” He doesn’t want an endless arms race that tries to top the previous game with more spectacle—because that path risks repeating the extremes of Resident Evil 5 and 6, where action overshadowed fear. The goal for Requiem is to “move gently in the opposite direction”—toward dread, tension, and vulnerability. 

So is Requiem horror or action? The team frames it as horror-first, with action used in service of atmosphere, not as a destination. Expect design choices that slow the pace, emphasize resource pressure, and let environments do the scaring—rather than nonstop firefights. Further details are still under wraps, but the creative stance signals a tonal reset fans have asked for since Village. 

If Capcom sticks to this blueprint, Requiem could deliver a modern build of what made the series iconic: claustrophobic level design, dangerous encounters you’d rather avoid than dominate, and the uneasy feeling that something is always just out of sight.