Games To Play As A Perfect Follow-Up To Resident Evil Requiem

Have you finished Resident Evil Requiem, only to feel like there's a giant, survival horror-shaped hole in your life? Do you need some more spooky, scary experiences now that Leon and Grace's adventure has wrapped up for the time being? Well, good news: we've got you covered.

Whether you're looking for a survival horror game that hearkens back to Resident Evil's early days, something that leans more into the action or survival sides of the genre, or just another game to play that will scare your socks off, these next games are the perfect way to follow up a playthrough (or two) of the excellent Resident Evil Requiem.

Resident Evil 2

Back To Where It All Began

If Resident Evil Requiem was your first foray into this series, or if you're simply unfamiliar with where it all began, a great place to continue Leon's story is to pick up where it started in Resident Evil 2, and even better, its 2019 remake.

There are a lot of references that call back to this game in Requiem, from Leon's return to RPD to the flashbacks he experiences in Raccoon City. If you want to get the full context for what those moments mean to his character, jumping into RE2 next is the best route to take.

Silent Hill 2

Check In On The Competition

If you're looking for a similar experience to RE9 but in a totally different franchise, you can't do much better than Silent Hill 2, and in particular, Bloober Team's 2024 remake. This is a much heavier game emotionally than Resident Evil Requiem, but that's what makes its story so affecting.

To be clear, Silent Hill 2 is a much scarier game. Imagine the most terrifying segment in RE9, the orphanage or the save room fake out, for example, and then imagine that feeling throughout an entire game. It's an experience worth braving for the exceptional narrative beats littered throughout, but be prepared to carry the feeling of it with you when you stop playing.

Cronos: The New Dawn

An Excellent Evolution Of The Survival Horror Genre

Speaking of Bloober Team, the studio's most recent release, Cronos: The New Dawn, also takes a lot of cues from Resident Evil, especially in its inventory management aspects. That said, this is more of a post-apocalyptic survival horror, so don't expect to encounter many side characters. Instead, its gameplay still expertly merges with the narrative in interesting ways.

Cronos excels in its finely-tuned resource scarcity. You'll always feel like you just barely scraped through a fight, even against less dangerous enemies. If you loved that feeling of tension from playing as Grace and scrounging for any supplies you could find, Cronos will deliver on it in spades.

Luto

Subversive Horror That Gets Under Your Skin

Luto starts without much fanfare, coming across as a PT clone, but with an omniscient narrator akin to The Stanley Parable. Don't let the inauspicious beginning fool you; things take a turn very quickly, making this game one of the most unnerving horror experiences in recent memory.

That narrator will eventually shift from discussing the game you're playing to discussing you, the player, in uncomfortably sinister fashion. This is as you descend further and further into a house that twists, distorts, and mutates the deeper you go, seemingly squeezing its grasp tighter the harder you try to escape.

Outlast

Why Not Explore Another Asylum?

If your favorite part of RE9 was cautiously exploring the Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Centre as Grace while it's overrun by the undead, you'll love your time with Outlast. Set in Mount Massive Asylum, you play a reporter who arrives to investigate reports of horrific experiments taking place within its walls.

While she may feel helpless at times, Grace can still defend herself from the monstrosities hunting her. That's not an option in Outlast. Your only hope of survival is to find a good hiding spot and wait for danger to pass. To make matters worse, you'll spend most of your time exploring in the dark, with nothing but your camcorder's night vision mode to help you see.

In Sound Mind

Descend Into The Psyche

If you're more interested in the psychological aspects of an asylum, In Sound Mind casts you as a practicing therapist who becomes trapped in an impossible building and surrounded by victims of an unknown chemical. As you progress, you'll witness surreal visions and disturbing memories as they bleed through into your reality.

Then again, maybe what drew you to Resident Evil Requiem was its unsettling puzzles and intense boss fights. If that's the case, In Sound Mind has you covered as well. It features some genuinely inspired boss battles and strikes that perfect balance of puzzles that aren't exactly hard but still feel great to solve.

Fear The Spotlight

Old-School Visuals With New-School Mechanics

The Resident Evil series didn't start in 4K 60 fps glory, even if that's where it has evolved with its latest entry. It began as a PS1 game with low-poly textures, fixed cameras, and tank controls. If you want a modern take on those retro horror trends, it's worth your time to check out Fear the Spotlight.

This is a stealth game at its core; you play as a high school student, so combat isn't exactly in their repertoire. Instead, you'll sneak your way through levels, uncovering the mystery of a deadly fire that took place in your school in 1991 while avoiding a monstrous entity with a spotlight for a head.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

The Modern Classic That Cemented The Walking Sim Horror Genre

The first-person horror craze didn't start with Resident Evil. It didn't even start with PT, although that definitely jump-started its popularity. It even predates the oft-maligned Resident Evil 6. Back in 2010, a little indie game called Amnesia: The Dark Descent took the horror world by storm, and it's still considered one of the best horror games of all time.

While technically a walking sim, Amnesia has a lot more going on under the hood. Its sanity mechanic pushes you to stay in well-lit areas as much as possible, yet when monsters are near, the darkness makes for the best hiding place, even if it might drive you insane. The game also features some excellent chase sequences that mirror the tension of Grace fleeing her encounter with the hideous Chunk.

The Evil Within

Resident Evil Creator Shinji Mikami's Latest Franchise

Back in the 90s, Shinji Mikami made his name as a game director with the first Resident Evil, before stepping aside to act as a producer on the ensuing two sequels. He would return to the director's role for Resident Evil 4, along with a couple of other cult classics from the era (Vanquish, anyone?) before departing Capcom and founding his own game studio, Tango Gameworks. There, he would serve as director one last time (for now) on the studio's debut title, The Evil Within.

This is a game that owes a lot to Resident Evil, and it wears those inspirations on its sleeve. The first look you get at a zombie (or a Haunted, as The Evil Within calls them) is almost identical to the first shot of a zombie in Resident Evil. While The Evil Within doesn't reinvent the survival horror genre, it is still a great addition to the library, and a great way to follow up a Resident Evil game.

Routine

Sci-Fi Horror Over 13 Years In The Making

When a game like Routine takes as long as it did to release, there is understandable uncertainty about whether it will live up to expectations. 13 years in development is a long time. One can't help but wonder whether all that time will translate into quality. Well, wonder no more, because Routine is an excellent, atmospheric, and tense sci-fi horror game. The only downside is that it isn't longer.

As far as environmental design goes, Routine is second to none. Every single room you explore in Union Plaza, a tourist resort on the Moon that is mysteriously abandoned, is stuffed with ambient storytelling, eye-catching details, and subtle lore. This is something that RE9 does as well. Be it the Rhodes Hill maid zombie cleaning up the blood from your kills, or Easter Eggs and callbacks to the series' past, both of these games are loaded with subtly delivered information.