After experimenting with different perspectives in previous Resident Evil entries, Capcom finally decided to go all-in with Resident Evil Requiem’s swappable first-person and third-person perspectives. This decision carries more weight than just catering to player preferences – it could mean the franchise is working on creating new ways of scaring players than just hiding things off-screen.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard’s first-person perspective required a different approach to horror
Fans were ecstatic when it was announced that Resident Evil 7: Biohazard would be a first-person, horror-focused game. The tighter field of view meant players could see less of their surroundings, and what they could see was often grotesque and in their faces. This put a greater emphasis on graphical fidelity and sound design, two categories that Resident Evil 7: Biohazard excels in.
The infamous Baker family shows the franchise’s penchant for combining the familiar and the strange, as their human appearances hide something more sinister. Wounds and injuries look shockingly realistic. Creaks, rattles, and other ambient noises build up tension that may or may not culminate in a full-out scare (thus leaving you feeling increasingly paranoid). Even if players are expecting to be scared, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard’s volatile antagonists and first-person perspective increase the number of blind spots to watch out for.
Resident Evil Village’s Shadows of Rose DLC and third-person perspective for the main campaign shows how planned development can affect horror
The base version of Resident Evil Village includes the same first-person techniques used in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, but the shift to a more action-oriented direction often forces horror to take a back seat. It was the inclusion of the third-person-only Shadows of Rose DLC and a new third-person perspective for the main campaign (both are part of the Winters’ Expansion DLC), that hinted Capcom was working on bringing back the over-the-shoulder perspective popularized by Resident Evil 4 into future entries.
Shadows of Rose is proof that there are still plenty of scares to be had in the third person. Segments like the dungeons of Castle Dimitrescu filled with several dead Rose copies and the mannequin chase in the House Beneviento basement include scary scenes that do not solely rely on players’ fields of view. Since Shadows of Rose can only be played in the third person, all of its horror elements cater to this one perspective.
Playing the main campaign of Resident Evil Village from a third-person perspective is quite interesting. Though combat, exploration, and puzzle solving are easier thanks to the increased field of view and spatial awareness, horror elements that require a more focused view pull you back into the original first-person perspective. That said, certain segments, such as in-game encounters with the giant Lady Dimitrescu, lose some of their impact in the third person.
Given Resident Evil Village was not initially made with the third-person perspective in mind, it’s surprising that the gameplay experience is, for the most part, intact. As the main campaign’s third-person perspective can only be activated from the main menu, you are essentially locked to a perspective until you reach a checkpoint or manually quit your playthrough. While this can compromise immersion, it provides players with a chance to experience the game in a more traditional, over-the-shoulder manner.
Where does this leave Resident Evil Requiem?
Though you will still need to access a menu to toggle between perspectives (source: IGN), Resident Evil Requiem is being developed with both of these options in mind. This means combat, exploration, puzzle solving, and horror will receive the same attention in first-person and third-person as Capcom did when creating Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Shadows of Rose.
It will be interesting to see how and when people playing from different perspectives get scared, as it looks like Resident Evil Requiem’s cutscenes will be told from a third-person perspective (at least, based on the reveal trailer). We’ll have to wait and see whether the scares translate over to gameplay, but from the looks of things, the game is shaping up to be another haunting entry in the franchise.
Resident Evil Requiem is set to release on February 27, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows (Steam).
