Resident Evil 9, officially titledResident Evil Requiem, was officially announced last weekend at Summer Game Fest. Earlier today, impressions from a behind-closed-doors preview event during SGF were released, and we got confirmation that the game will featureboth first-person and third-person camera perspectivesand that the entire game can be played in either camera mode. The vast majority of the demo that was shown was in first-person, but Capcom toggled on the third-person camera at the end of the demo to confirm its existence.
Whether the game would be third-person like the beloved remakes ofResident Evil 2,3, and4or first-person likeResident Evil 7andVillagewas a mystery for a long time. Both approaches have pros and cons, and with the mainline series being more experimental than the safer remakes, it was anyone’s guess as to what Capcom would do next for the newest mainline installment. We now have a few moredetails aboutRequiem, and surprisingly,Capcom teased its biggest change over two years ago inVillage.
The Winters Expansion Made Village Playable In 3rd Person
Camera Settings For Every Type Of Fan
Villagewasoriginally designed as a first-person experience, just likeRE7before it. In a 2022Resident Evilshowcase, available onYouTube, Capcom established that some fans foundVillageto be too scary in first-person, leading them to not finish the game. This inspired Capcom to make a third-person mode for the game and release it in theWinters Expansion DLC update. The third-person mode played very similar toRE2remake, with the addition ofVillage’s blocking mechanics. Cutscenes automatically transitioned back to first-person, though, so it wasn’t a full overhaul, despite being impressive.
Resident Evil Villageis the only releasedREgame to feature first-person, third-person, and VR gameplay. No information about VR support forRequiemhas been announced yet.
Even withVillageclearly designed for first-person gameplay, theadditional third-person mode worked well for the game, and it gave me another reason to play throughVillageeven after 100 percent completion. Still, there were some drawbacks to the third-person mode. For example,Village’s Mercenaries Modewas still locked to first-person, even with lead character Ethan being one of the playable characters. A couple of other sections of the main story were also locked to first-person, like Chris’s assault on the village and the Heisenberg boss fight.
The decision to makeRequiemplayable in first-person or third-person from the start is a great change. An X post from userKAMIreports that Capcom recommends the first-person mode for immersion purposes, but the company has taken great lengths to ensure both experiences are of equal quality.Lead character Grace Ashcroftwill appear and interact with other characters, monsters, and environments during cutscenes, according to Capcom, andthe quality ofRequiem’s third-person mode is allegedly on par with the remake games.
Village Was The Best Of Both Worlds
Even If The Second World Came Much Later
Villageremains the only game in the franchise to offertwo distinct camera perspectives for the entire main game, which lets players choose how to experience the survival horror scares and action. Even though it took a long time to release, around a year and a half after the initial release, it was an experience worth waiting for, in my opinion. Releasing it alongside the relativelyunderwhelmingShadows of RoseDLCfor $19.99 brought some controversy, with some fans wishing it had been a free addition, but the DLC, third-person mode, and Mercenaries additions made it worth the asking price.
Villagehad quite a bit more combat thanRE7, so the game was noticeably faster in first-person and on par with the remakes in third-person.Villageattempted to bring elements of the whole franchise togetherinto a melting pot, and was mostly successful. There was a village attack action set piece likeRE4, a stalker segment with the beloved Lady Dimitrescu, which was similar to Mr. X in theRE2remake, and the creepy and infamous no-weapons House Benevientoscary puzzle section.
With so many different mechanics and design choices coming together forVillage’s core gameplay, the third-person mode fit like a glove, even if it wasn’t originally intended for the game. The ability to bring both styles of gameplay together and let fans customize their experience with the title worked wonders, and it seems to have set the precedent for what is coming inResident Evil Requiem.
