Note: The following is a demo impressisons article from New York Comic Con a few weeks back. Apologies for this article being late due to personal issues.
With Resident Evil's 30th anniversary on the horizon for next year, Capcom swung by New York Comic Con for their yearly festivities to promote Resident Evil Requiem, the 9th main game in the series, along with Pragmata, Onimusha Way of the Sword, and Monster Hunter Stories 3. I swung by the booth specifically that Thursday to cover Resident Evil, and thank goodness it was the first thing I did. The lines for this demo alone were crazy all weekend, so it was best to come early to give it a shot.
Each demo station had different systems for playing the demo at, such as PS5 and Xbox, while I got saddled with the Switch 2 port. This may be a benefit, as I, myself, had not played the Switch 2 yet, so I was curious to see how it would hold up compared to the other 2 big consoles. After having played the demo twice (I stupidly kept dying the first time due to mistakes, so I returned Saturday for round 2 and sucessfully beat it then), I can easily say Nintendo fans will be very happy with this port. The Switch 2 graphically is on par with the PS5 and Xbox. No more worries about downgraded graphics like Mortal Kombat 1 or forced "cloud versions" requiring a constant internet connection like the infamous Kingdom Hearts Switch 1 ports. Everything runs smoothly and plays like a dream. My station was using a Switch 2 pro controller, though I'm sure the normal controllers wiork just as well.
From there, the story and gameplay are from the same demo as shown at Gamescom and other recent events. You play as Grace Ashcroft, a technical analyist at the FBI (think Jack Ryan) sent to investigate a series of mysterious deaths at the same hotel her mother was killed years before, eventually spilling out into the ruins of Raccoon City. The demo starts not dissimilar to the opening of a Saw movie, with Grace waking up strapped to a table. Fortunatey, she quickly frees herself and starts exploring the rooms around her. The hallways are dark with very little light, adding to the tension and suspense, with Grace completely weaponless (this is clearly set early in the game) aside from bottles she can collect. Unlike past protagonists, Grace is far less composed, even when compared to Ethan from the last 2 games. At times, she could be heard quivvering quietly as she makes her way around, ultimately finding that she needs to get a fuse to open the gate to the next area. The game can let you chose between first or third person, depending on preference, but I stuck with the default first-person view to preserve the scares.
While exploring a nearby kitchen, a zombified, but thankfully dead corpse falls on Grace....only to have it's head eaten by some sort of hulking monstrous woman. I raced back through the dark hallway to the lit starting room, the beast on my heels, as I found it can't handle light and it retreats. Now I had to sneak around the creature in a game of cat and mouse while trying to find a screwdriver to get the fuse I found earlier. This is where the bottles come in as distractons. I was able to lure the beast down the hall past the kitchen, and thus sneak around into a small labratory. The tricky part was moving a cabinet over to the shelf the toolbox containing the screwdriver is on so I could climb up and get it. This is what trippedd me up previously, but it's not impossible. You just need to be careful the monster isn't nearby and lure it away if needed.
Screwdriver in hand, I carefully make my way back out into the hallway seemingly safe....until the monster burst through the lab wall a la Jack Baker in RE7! Only one thing I could do now: run! I gave the ogress the runaround into the kitchen and lab and back out into the hallway. Grace claims the fuze and flees the monster that's now using holes in the ceiling to get around. The demo ends with Grace unlocking the gate only to be pulled back into the darkness.
So far, Resident Evil Requiem is shaping up to be another solid hit for the series, and owners of every console can now play equally without worries. Where Grace's investigation leads from here remains to be scene (as does whether or not rumors of series mainstay and Racccon City survivor Leon Kennedy appearing are true), but I'm sure we'll find out in late February.
You can watch the full gameplay of the demo as shown at Gamescom below:
Resident Evil Requiem released on February 27, 2026 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. You can pre order it here.