For many horror game fans, the jump to a first-person view in Resident Evil 7 was a major talking point. It plunged players right into the nightmare, offering a deeply unsettling experience. But this intense perspective came with a hidden cost for some: it was simply too scary, or worse, it caused motion sickness. This often made the game unplayable for a segment of its audience. The good news? Game developers have been listening closely to player feedback.
Koshi Nakanishi, the director behind Resident Evil Requiem, recently shed some light on this design choice. He spoke with GamesRadar+ during gamescom 2025. Nakanishi openly agreed that Resident Evil 7‘s first-person mode pushed the limits for many players. He understood that up-close horror could be too much. This understanding directly shaped a key feature in the upcoming Resident Evil Requiem. The team decided to include an optional third-person view. This gives players a bit of breathing room and makes the scares more manageable.
"When I think back to Resident Evil 7 and its first-person perspective, I used that idea to make the game scarier and feel more real," Nakanishi explained. "I believe most players and critics saw it as a scary game. It might have even been too scary."
Nakanishi hopes this new approach will open the game up to more people. "Some players probably couldn’t handle the intensity. They might not have finished the game or even started it at all," he shared. "Looking back, I wanted everyone to have fun with this game. If you try the first-person view and find it overwhelming, switching to third-person gives you a little distance from the horror. It makes the experience easier to handle, as the character on screen acts like your stand-in." This player-centric move shows a thoughtful balance between artistic vision and broader enjoyment.
Resident Evil: Requiem is set to release on February 27, 2026. You can play it on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.