Resident Evil Requiem Director Highlights First-Person vs Third-Person Divide

The upcoming Resident Evil Requiem is already sparking heated debates long before its release, not just about its monsters or storyline, but about how fans around the world will actually choose to play it. Director Akifumi Nakanishi recently suggested that Western players are more inclined to pick the first-person mode, influenced by decades of growing up with classic PC shooters like Doom, Quake, and Half-Life.

Meanwhile, Japanese audiences have shown a stronger pull toward the third-person view, shaped by their cultural attachment to role-playing franchises such as Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.

According to Nakanishi, who observed fans at both Gamescom in Germany and Tokyo Game Show in Japan, the preference was visible in real-time: the majority of Western attendees gravitated toward the immersive, close-up first-person setting, while Japanese players leaned into the more traditional over-the-shoulder camera. He pointed out that such habits are deeply rooted in gaming history, yet also shifting as younger Japanese players increasingly embrace games like Apex Legends, Fortnite, and Minecraft – titles that normalize first-person or hybrid perspectives.

Resident Evil as a franchise itself has evolved dramatically. Originally known for its iconic third-person fixed-camera design in the late 1990s, the series took a bold leap with Resident Evil 7, switching to full first-person horror. That decision polarized fans at the time, but also attracted new players who craved raw immersion. Capcom then followed up with the celebrated remakes of classics such as Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4, both firmly third-person, creating a split identity for the series. Requiem attempts to bridge that gap by letting players toggle freely between perspectives – something that might become a franchise-defining feature moving forward.

Playing the demo confirms the significance of this choice. In first-person, Requiem dials up the tension: the monster’s footsteps echo closer, your peripheral vision shrinks, and the sense of dread grows. But this comes at a cost – navigating environments and searching for hidden items feels more natural in third-person, where you can keep track of both your character and your surroundings. The result is a game designed to be experienced multiple times, as each perspective highlights different strengths. As some fans note, a horror game’s fear factor often lives or dies by what you can’t see, and first-person makes that limitation a feature rather than a flaw.

Nakanishi also admitted that Capcom’s veteran developers now struggle to judge what is genuinely terrifying after making so many Resident Evil titles. That’s why public demos matter – they reveal whether mechanics, camera angles, and pacing succeed in scaring players across cultures. Interestingly, fans in both Germany and Japan were equally intrigued by the game’s supersized monster encounters, the return of cult-favorite Lisa Trevor, and yet another mysterious link to Raccoon City. But the absence of Leon S. Kennedy remains a talking point among diehards, fueling speculation about future DLC or sequels.

Ultimately, Requiem’s bold decision to let players define their perspective could reshape survival horror. Some argue that it dilutes design focus, others see it as pure flexibility. Either way, the conversation reveals how strongly players identify with the way they view their digital worlds. Resident Evil Requiem launches on February 27, 2026 for Nintendo Switch 2, PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. The real question isn’t just how you’ll survive – it’s whether you’ll do it staring through your character’s eyes, or over their shoulder.