How Long to Beat Resident Evil Requiem? Unpacking Story vs. 100% Completion
The highly anticipated release of Resident Evil Requiem (often informally referred to as RE9) has fans buzzing with excitement and, naturally, one of the most pressing questions is: how long to beat RE9? As with any title in the beloved survival horror franchise, the answer isn't a simple number. Your personal journey through the eerie world of Requiem will depend heavily on your playstyle, skill level, and how much you delve into its secrets.
From a focused sprint through the main narrative to an exhaustive hunt for every last collectible, Resident Evil Requiem promises a varied experience. With two distinct protagonists, Leon and Grace, whose paths intertwine but offer different gameplay mechanics, the potential for replayability and extended playtime is significant. Let's break down what you can expect in terms of game length, whether you're a story enthusiast or a dedicated completionist.
Resident Evil Requiem's Core Campaign Length: What to Expect on Your First Run
According to early previews and insider reports, a standard first playthrough of Resident Evil Requiem is expected to range from 10 to 16 hours. This places it firmly within the typical modern Resident Evil game length, akin to recent hits like Resident Evil Village and the Resident Evil 4 Remake. Unlike some past entries that featured entirely separate campaigns for multiple characters, Requiem is structured as a single, cohesive narrative where Leon and Grace's scenarios eventually merge, offering a unified storyline that benefits from their distinct skill sets.
Notable Resident Evil analyst and leaker, Golem, has offered further insights, suggesting that RE Requiem will be longer than Resident Evil Village but slightly shorter than the Resident Evil 4 Remake. This sweet spot in game length is often ideal for survival horror titles, providing ample narrative depth and scares without overstaying its welcome. It allows players to feel a sense of accomplishment while leaving them eager for more, often through subsequent playthroughs.
For most players diving into Requiem for the first time, a "standard playthrough" often means focusing on the critical path but still taking the time to explore a reasonable amount, engaging with some side content, and upgrading weapons. This balanced approach usually falls towards the higher end of the 10-16 hour estimate, giving you a comprehensive taste of the game's story, atmosphere, and mechanics.
Diving Deeper: Story-Focused vs. Standard Playthroughs
Understanding the nuances between different playstyles is crucial when estimating how long to beat RE9. Not every player approaches a game with the same goals, and Resident Evil Requiem is designed to cater to various preferences:
- Just Story / Critical Path: 10-12 Hours
If your primary goal is to experience the gripping narrative of Resident Evil Requiem as quickly as possible, bypassing most optional content, puzzles, and extensive exploration, you can likely complete the game in approximately 10 to 12 hours. This streamlined approach focuses purely on progressing the main plot, moving from one objective to the next with minimal deviation. While efficient, players choosing this route might find themselves less equipped for tougher encounters, as they'll miss out on valuable resources, weapon upgrades, and lore scattered throughout the environment. It's a brisk horror experience, but one that might sacrifice some strategic advantages.
- Standard Playthrough (Story + Some Extras): 15-20 Hours
This is arguably how most players will experience Resident Evil Requiem on their initial run. A standard playthrough involves advancing the main story while also engaging with a fair amount of optional content. This means taking the time to explore rooms thoroughly, solving some of the less obscure puzzles, completing a handful of side quests, and ensuring you have decent weapon upgrades. This approach allows for a richer, more balanced experience, where the tension of the narrative is interspersed with satisfying moments of discovery and strategic preparation. The dual protagonists' distinct playstyles will likely encourage a more exploratory approach to maximize their individual strengths and gear.
Choosing between these styles for your first playthrough often comes down to personal preference. Some prefer to soak in every detail from the outset, while others prioritize the narrative flow and save the deeper exploration for subsequent runs.
The Completionist's Quest: How 100% Runs Unfold
For the dedicated Resident Evil enthusiast, simply "beating" the game is just the beginning. The true challenge and longevity of titles like Requiem lie in the pursuit of 100% completion. Early indications suggest that a full completionist run of Resident Evil Requiem could take well over 40 hours. This substantial playtime is a testament to the game's depth and the sheer amount of optional content hidden within its world. To understand why such a significant time investment is required, consider what a completionist run typically entails:
- Collectible Hunting: Finding every file, treasure, key item, and unique weapon. Resident Evil games are notorious for their hidden lore and valuable pickups that often require keen observation and puzzle-solving.
- Side Quests and Challenges: Completing all optional missions, mini-games, and side objectives that may not be directly tied to the main narrative but offer unique rewards or expanded story elements.
- Weapon Upgrades: Fully upgrading all available weapons, which often requires significant resource management and finding specific upgrade materials.
- Achievements/Trophies: Unlocking every in-game achievement or trophy, many of which demand specific conditions, like beating the game under a time limit, using only certain weapons, or completing on the highest difficulty.
- Multiple Difficulty Playthroughs: Often, 100% completion mandates beating the game on various difficulty settings, including the toughest ones that significantly alter enemy behavior and resource scarcity.
- New Game Plus (NG+): Resident Evil games are built for replayability, and NG+ is a core component. It allows players to carry over progress (weapons, upgrades, currency) into subsequent playthroughs, often unlocking new modes, challenges, or even more powerful weapons that are essential for higher difficulty runs or speedrunning. For more on this, delve into Resident Evil Requiem: How 40+ Hour Completionist Runs Unfold.
The Resident Evil series has always been designed for replaying, offering fresh perspectives and challenges with each attempt. While your first time through might feel like a tense, 15-20 hour ordeal, the game truly expects you to come back, refine your skills, and conquer everything it has to offer.
Factors That Influence Your Playtime in Resident Evil Requiem
Beyond the fundamental choice between story and completion, several other elements will dictate how long to beat RE9 for you personally:
- Player Skill Level: This is perhaps the most significant variable. Players who frequently die, struggle with boss mechanics, or get lost easily will naturally take longer. Conversely, seasoned Resident Evil veterans might breeze through sections more quickly.
- Difficulty Setting: Choosing an easier difficulty will result in faster progression due to less challenging combat and more forgiving resource management. Higher difficulties, however, will extend playtime as you'll spend more time strategizing, retrying sections, and managing scarce resources.
- Exploration Tendency: Are you the type of player who checks every nook and cranny for items and lore, or do you push forward relentlessly? Meticulous explorers will always log more hours.
- Side Content Engagement: Resident Evil Requiem will likely feature optional puzzles, side quests, and collectibles. How much you engage with these will directly impact your total playtime. Skipping them might make you less equipped for future encounters, potentially leading to more struggle and thus more time spent anyway.
- Chapter Length Variation: As seen in past Resident Evil titles, not all chapters are created equal. Some early chapters might be longer and more methodical, while later ones tend to be shorter, punchier, and more action-oriented, affecting your perceived pace of progression.
- New Game Plus (NG+) Impact: Subsequent playthroughs, especially in NG+, can vary wildly. With powerful unlocked weapons and a better understanding of the game's layout, speedruns can be remarkably short (some RE titles have dedicated achievements for sub-6-hour runs). However, NG+ often introduces new, incredibly difficult modes that can make even a familiar path incredibly challenging and time-consuming.
Conclusion
So, how long to beat RE9? For the average player focusing on the main story with some exploration, you're looking at a solid 15-20 hours. If you're a narrative purist, you might shave that down to 10-12 hours. But for the true completionist, Resident Evil Requiem promises an epic journey well in excess of 40 hours, filled with secrets, challenges, and high-stakes survival. Ultimately, RE Requiem is poised to deliver an experience that caters to all types of horror fans, encouraging multiple playthroughs to truly uncover everything its terrifying world has to offer.