Resident Evil Requiem convinced me that a Resident Evil 1 remake would work if it were in first person.

Whenever people say that the original Resident Evil remake needs its own remake, I cringe a little. It's always been that 'the tank controls are outdated' and 'the fixed camera angle feels outdated'. The reductive suggestions of those who tirelessly demand the same over-the-shoulder action games because they differ from the uniformity of modern standards blatantly ignore artistic intent. Considering how widespread these ideas are among players, it's no surprise that triple-A games have become one big, homogeneous mass.

But let me step off the podium and stop moaning about the state of the game for a moment. If there's anything that can convince me that the original Resident Evil is worth remaking, it's Resident Evil Requiem. Specifically the first-person segment featuring Grace Ashcroft.

Requiem for a Capture the Voyeuristic Paranoia of the Original Resident Evil

In Resident Evil Requiem, Grace Ashcroft shines a flashlight down a tunnel.

What I love about the original game is that the fixed camera angles give it a detached, almost voyeuristic feel, as if you're looking at the protagonist through a CCTV camera. This hints at the fact that they were being stalked by Albert Wesker and Umbrella the whole time. It's a paranoid atmosphere rarely seen in horror games. This is especially true when you adopt an over-the-shoulder perspective that keeps you firmly focused on the action.

Resident Evil and Village brought us closer to us through their first-person perspective, giving us a new, much more intimate kind of horror. Ethan Winters' lack of personality and light-hearted dialogue only helped this approach, and both games were more immersive than any other game in the series. It's no surprise that Resident Evil 7 is known as one of the most unsettling survival horror games in the genre, and the realness we felt in its story and setting is even greater. However, neither game captured the unique tone of the original trilogy.

Requiem is like that. And although it adopts a first-person perspective (clearly designed with Grace in mind), the game allows the protagonist's personality to flourish. Meanwhile, the camera is more responsive, with panicked breathing resulting in more shaky movement and utilizing a lower field of view for a more realistic vantage point. Rather than feeling like you're controlling a character safely behind a screen, you're peering into real-life scenarios through found footage, as if you've stumbled across an abandoned body cam. This is the closest thing to the voyeuristic feel of the original.

Resident Evil was originally conceived in first person, and Requiem is the closest we get to that vision.

The first Resident Evil game was conceived as a first-person experience, but the limitations of the time forced series creator Shinji Mikami to change his approach. Of course, this does not mean that the original is flawed. Creative solutions lead to some of the most innovative games, and none do so better than Silent Hill's iconic fog, a staple that emerged to obscure the PlayStation's shortcomings, especially in an era when triple-A titles weren't expected to be copies of each other. But now that Capcom has gained experience, revisiting that idea from the first game could give the Spencer Mansion a whole new life 30 years later.

I wasn't completely sold on the first-person remake of the original Resident Evil, only looking at Resident Evil and Village. I was afraid it would be too action-oriented, too much of an attempt to force the game to appease modern audiences instead of allowing them to experience the Spencer Mansion as intended. But there are a few standout moments in Requiem that got me hooked on the idea.

During the first half of the game, Grace moves through mansion-like wards connected via strange puzzles, eventually leading to an underground crypt where an unkillable monstrous girl, similar to Lisa Trevor in The Mines, stalks her every move. In the meantime, she is running low on resources and ammunition. That means you'll have to avoid your enemies rather than force them into a Leon Kennedy-shaped meat grinder.

Further into the game, she wanders the pristine halls of the Umbrella Lab, hiding from Lickers and other infected while searching for keycards. This is a moment that rivals the tension of the hunter chase in the original. This gave us confidence that Capcom had what it took to reimagine the original game without sacrificing what made it special. Every moment with Grace, trapped and helpless, is one of the most unsettling in the series.

In the Umbrella Lab, Grace Ashcroft is looking through a door at a mutant monster in the hallway.

I still don't think it's my first time playing Resident Evil. necessary Another remake (both the original and the first remake are available on modern platforms anyway). I don't think the tank controls or fixed camera angles detract from the experience. That's the experience. But I'm not too worried if Capcom inevitably decides it's time to remake the original.

Requiem has proven that it has a way of retaining what made that game special, and I'm rather excited to see what Spencer Mansion will look like through this new perspective.