Resident Evil 9: What to Expect from the New Game?

One of the most beloved franchises and probably the most well-known horror game series of all time is back. Resident Evil: Requiem is the ninth chapter in the saga (not counting the many unnumbered games and spin-offs) and Capcom revealed a trailer for it during the Summer Game Fest.

New Character

In the trailer, we meet Grace Ashcroft, who will be the protagonist of RE: Requiem. If you thought this name sounds familiar, it could be because it reminded you of Grace's mother, Alyssa Ashcroft, one of the characters in Resident Evil: Outbreak.

Alyssa was an investigative reporter who worked in Raccoon City during the 1998 incident and was one of the few survivors to make it out alive before the city was sterilized by nuclear bombs. Afterward, Alyssa dedicated her life to investigating and exposing Umbrella Corporation as the culprit behind the incident and several other crimes involving biological weapons.

From what was revealed in the trailer, Grace will investigate a series of unexplained deaths at the Wrenwood Hotel, the place where her mother was murdered eight years earlier.

Return to Raccoon City

In the trailer, we can also see the ruins of Raccoon City, where the original games took place, showing that there are still buildings standing among the wreckage, and that players may be taken back to this iconic place.

Part of the game may possibly take place in the city. So, there’s a possibility that we may revisit well-known locations such as the R.P.D. police station.

Gameplay

Capcom also revealed that RE: Requiem will have two gameplay modes, one in first person, just like the most recent games in the franchise, and another in third person, which should follow the remakes' style. The player can switch between both modes freely, with the press of a button.

Even though we got few reveals in the trailer, it’s possible to notice some plot details and theorize a lot. Some theories are more obscure and others can already be considered as practically confirmed.

The Return of the T-Virus

In the trailer, there’s a line from a character not yet revealed who says that Grace is special, and we can see that, at some point in the gameplay, she’ll be captured. In this part, we can see gadgets strapped to her arm, as if her blood was being extracted.

If we remember correctly, Alyssa was infected in Resident Evil: Outbreak and, by escaping and living a life after the incident, even being able to raise her daughter, we can assume that the reporter obtained the cure for the T-Virus somehow. There’s then the possibility that Alyssa developed antibodies, just like Jill in RE3, and that these antibodies were genetically developed in Grace, making her special.

So, Grace could have something in her blood that’s important to the game's villains and there could be a return of the original virus from the series, as well as the zombies that made the game so famous.

Return of a Known Character

Nothing concrete about this was revealed or shown in the trailer, but there’s a lot of speculation about Leon Scott Kennedy's participation in RE: Requiem as a second protagonist. This is because there are some mysterious characters in the trailer and some voice lines that may indicate that there’ll be characters who are familiar with the biological horrors engineered by Umbrella.

Leon is a government agent, as far as we know, and it could be that an older version of him shows up to help Grace in her investigation.

Resident Evil: Requiem will be released on February 27, 2026, and we still have plenty of time for a new trailer to be revealed or more gameplay details to emerge, who knows, maybe even a Demo bringing new information about what the game's gonna be like. All we can do now is wait for more revelations from Capcom.

I conclude here another article. Leave your questions, suggestions, criticisms and/or compliments in the comments. Thanks for reading, and see you next time.