February 2026 isn’t going by fast enough for our liking, and Resident Evil Requiem is to blame. With a little over two weeks left before we finally get to join Grace and Leon on an investigation into the Racoon City Incident, many years after it devastated so many lives, it’s kind of hard not to let our minds wander in the general direction of what it’s going to bring to the table.
That’s why we’ve been poring over the game’s promotional materials, and in doing so, came to a realization. While the developer has been quite emphatic about Requiem taking inspiration from Resident Evil 2, we began to think about ways in which it departs from the gameplay loop that introduced Leon to the franchise.
Those deviations are quite interesting, and we felt compelled to elaborate on them, just as much as we’re celebrating the similarities between the two games. Let’s get started.
5 Things Requiem Borrows From RE2 Remake
1. Back To The Beginning
All of the promotional materials made available for the game are betting big on Grace and Leon uncovering more about the Racoon City Incident, which formed the stage for RE2’s narrative centered around the latter. It’s going to be interesting to watch the former RCPD rookie take a look back at a time that shaped the course of his life.
It’s great that Requiem is choosing to go back to the franchise’s most iconic location, making the RE2-coded nostalgia an important part of its identity on the narrative front, while the gameplay is also slated to reflect the best of the game that came before it.
2. A Return To Survival Horror (Sort Of)
Grace’s screen time has largely been advertised as a return to the cautious, resource-limited, tension-filled gameplay loop that RE2 thrived on. As a rookie with no field experience in dealing with bio-organic weapons, Grace must rely on stealth and her own wits to survive. That’s a lane that RE2 absolutely owned back in the day, and in its very successful remake.
It’s also an interesting callback to Leon’s own origin story within the franchise, as he was sort of like her when he first confronted the threats that Umbrella’s machinations had unleashed upon his city. As far as first gigs in the field go, Grace and Leon definitely got the short straw.
3. A Stalker On The Hunt
We still get the shudders when we think of how relentlessly Mr. X hunted us in RE2, and we’re kind of morbidly thrilled to have a new Stalker trying to bring Grace’s investigation to an abrupt, and rather grisly, end. As a roaming threat that could surface at any given moment, Mr. X was an excellent way to build pressure as you explored RE2’s levels, forcing you to think long and hard about routing through spaces.
Requiem brings a Stalker back, and has made it even more terrifying than Mr. X (in terms of how you hide from or mislead it), something we will talk about in the next section. It’s a similarity that brings the two games closer; the intervening years only serving to provide the developers with the scope to up their game.
4. Looking Over Our Shoulders
Although you can choose to experience Requiem entirely in first person, the option to switch things up and see things from a third-person perspective is a very welcome addition. But the way in which the third-person camera has been implemented showcases RE2’s focus on bringing the camera close to you, forcing you to be careful in tight spaces while being deliberate with your aiming if you choose to let a few bullets fly at your enemies.
It’s suffocating and claustrophobic, nailing down the vibe that RE2 has been praised for over the years. It helps that Grace’s clumsiness shines through when you choose to see things from that camera angle, making the entire ordeal feel all the more immersive as a result.
5. Puzzles In Scary Places
The Resident Evil franchise has always placed puzzles in our way, and RE2 is quite memorable on that front, thanks to how solving those puzzles usually meant navigating contained spaces that were packed with hostile presences just waiting to tear us apart. It was part of that game’s charm, and Grace’s sections see them making a triumphant return.
From what we can see of the game so far, the puzzles bring the same intense energy that was a part of RE2’s design philosophy, and we suspect that Requiem might even surpass the game that inspired its horror sections if it does justice to its mechanics.
5 Things Requiem Is Doing Differently From RE2 Remake
1. A Two-In-One Approach
Requiem might have two protagonists leading its narrative, but it’s structured differently from RE2, which has Leon and Claire’s storylines running in parallel to each other. However, it was essentially the same gameplay loop with minor variations to set the two characters apart.
Requiem, however, has been touted as a title in which Grace and Leon bring distinctly different gameplay loops to the table, with Grace being nudged towards the horror side of things while Leon is an absolute wrecking machine let loose on the zombies in an action-focused approach that’s more in line with Resident Evil 5. It’s a solid distinction that works well to make the new title feel like two different games rolled into one intersecting storyline.
2. A More Seasoned Version Of Leon
Leon’s quite the deadly force in Requiem, bringing him closer to his appearance in RE4 Remake, another title that has inspired the gameplay in the franchise’s latest outing. The developers have been quite proud to showcase their new combat abilities, their action-forward toolkit, and rhythm being a major talking point (a very cool ride notwithstanding).
It’s another way Requiem sets itself apart from RE2, where Leon didn’t have years of working with the DSO under his belt, and was way more vulnerable as a result. That’s made even more interesting by the fact that he has secrets of his own this time around, and his search for answers could shed even more insight into his battle-hardened personality. For our part, we don’t think there’s any amount of training or experience that could let us stare a zombie in the face without even blinking, but Leon’s certainly made of sterner stuff.
3. Switch Perspectives On The Fly
RE2 Remake came with fixed perspectives, while Requiem lets you switch your POV as you please, a factor that automatically sets it apart from its predecessors. While the fixed camera did work well in RE2 and the remake, the option to switch things up would have been nice, and the fact that Requiem is addressing the issue showcases how the franchise is constantly evolving over the years.
It’s a solid addition that we believe could elevate how the horror reads from moment to moment, while helping with spatial awareness when it’s needed. It’s evident from how Grace’s sections have been showcased from a first-person perspective, while Leon’s combat scenes are seen from the third-person POV, which allows players to manage the space around them and be aware of attacks from any direction.
4. A Smarter Stalker
Yes, Mr. X was terrifying, his ominous frame and general aura being among the most memorable parts of RE2. But as a humanoid, he was limited in the options he had to come at you and would hunt you on foot for the most part. The game’s systems didn’t create the scope for a more dynamic hunter with several different moves, something that Requiem seems to have taken to heart and worked to improve upon.
The Stalker in Requiem isn’t held back by such constraints, using the vents, grates, and pipes to keep Grace on her toes as she tries to evade an enemy she’s ill-equipped to handle. That’s more in alignment with titles like Alien: Isolation or Amnesia: The Bunker as opposed to RE2’s comparatively more heads-on approach.
5. Protagonist Framing Is Very Different
Since Requiem takes place years after the Racoon City Incident, it’s automatically different from RE2, which placed Leon and Claire in a survival story with rookie cop vibes. That made sense for the story it was trying to tell and the experience it was going for, its horror stemming from the fact that its protagonists were trying to survive a zombie outbreak with little to no answers and even fewer options for safety.
Requiem, however, comes at its horror from a different angle, its story framed around investigating the aforementioned outbreak through the eyes of Grace and Leon. While Grace does bring a smidge of a rookie cop to her tale, Leon’s now more of a legacy agent who’s seen his fair share of BOWs and lived to tell the tale. That differentiates it from RE2 by a long shot in our book.
Bonus: The Inventory System
RE2 Remake starts you at 8 inventory slots, and even with Hip Pouches taking you up to 20, you’re still leaning on the item box to stay efficient. Requiem mirrors that survival squeeze with Grace, an 8-slot setup that pushes frequent storage-box returns and packs to expand capacity. Leon, though, plays by different rules with a 7×10 attaché-style case (rotate/auto-sort), turning inventory into a layout puzzle instead of pure scarcity.
And that’s a wrap on how similar yet different Requiem is from one of the titles that has inspired its new and improved approach to the franchise’s formula. We’re quite certain that we’re all going to see our fair share of nostalgic callbacks once the game is finally in our hands, though.
Until then, we’re right with you in wishing that the days could go by faster!
