Silent Hill 2 Remake & Resident Evil: Requiem - Many Doubted. These Games Delivered.
Rich L.
When video games are coming out, there’s usually some level of hype from how the game is being perceived in their marketing. Typically, when games release, they either match the level of hype or are overhyped. It’s rare that games are frowned upon before release and then come out with roaring applause. Here, I wanted to shine a light on two of those games that caught players off guard.
I wanted to discuss two horror games from long running franchises that had some players concerned before they were released: Silent Hill 2 Remake (2024), and Resident Evil 9: Requiem (2026) which came out a week or two ago at the time of me writing this.
Silent Hill 2 Remake (2024)
Silent Hill 2 Remake (SH2) had a lot of things working against it. First, Silent Hill is a franchise owned by Konami. For the uninitiated, Konami was a beloved Japanese developer that fell from grace in the mid 2010’s due to how they cut ties with Hideo Kojima of the Metal Gear series (which resulted in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, a slightly incomplete game) as well as the cancellation of the Silent Hill series. They also moved from console games to pachinko and mobile games with most of their franchises (Silent Hill included). This game was one of their first forays back into console gaming that wasn’t a remaster or port, so Konami was fighting an uphill battle to win back player trust. Secondly, the developer was Bloober Team (BT). At the time, Bloober had a very hit or miss reputation with horror games. Successes like Layers of Fear but also misses like Blair Witch. BT was also guilty of following the “walking sim” trend, where the game mostly involved characters just moving forward.
The trailer from the January 2024 State of Play, was also poorly received. It was criticized for showing off a lot of combat, giving the impression that the game is more combat focused, when Silent Hill 2 was more about the atmosphere and exploration. The animations were also criticized for seeming stiff. Some of the character models were under fire for their how faces looked as well. Along with one of them having “less revealing clothing” when it’s “part of their character to appear more risqué”. The Silent Hill fanbase can be….very, very, passionate.
Bloober Team, in response, made a statement saying this trailer was not how they wanted to present the game, suggesting it was Konami’s choices towards how the trailer was presented. While this could’ve been damage control, this rarely happens with video game marketing.
Things started to cool down when the game’s release came closer. Previewers got a feel for how the overall game plays and opinions were mostly positive. Even more so when the game released with an 86 on Metacritic. As of 2026, it has sold over 5 million copies (Selling 1 million units first week of release). This was a huge victory for Konami, Bloober Team, and the Silent Hill franchise itself.
SideNote: For my experience with Silent Hill 2, I first played the original that was included in the HD Collection that came out back in 2012. I enjoyed it, and yes, I know that version is widely criticized, but I was unphased by those problems.
For me, the remake was just far more polished, accessible, and scary. I highly recommend wearing earphones at night while playing it. There were a few moments where I had to pause the game and take a quick break before continuing.
It isn’t perfect, as there are a few things cut, such as some unlockable weapons, the ability to keep melee weapons once obtaining a new one, and as of now it doesn’t seem like we’re getting a remade version of “Born From a Wish”.
I recently beat the game for the first time around Halloween of last year, and I would love to go back and play it more to get all the endings if I wasn’t already busy trying to whittle down my gaming backlog.
Resident Evil 9: Requiem (2026)
This game is only a few weeks old, and it didn’t have nearly as much going against it that Silent Hill 2 Remake did. Capcom and especially Resident Evil have been on a roll since the release of Resident Evil 7 (2017). Since then, the franchise has been doing better than ever, and even the small missteps of Resident Evil 3 Remake (2020) haven’t stopped this survival horror train (pun intended if a Resident Evil 0 remake is announced).
The ninth installment was announced at Summer Game Fest 2025, and it was to star another new protagonist, Grace Ashcroft, daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft from Resident Evil: Outbreak. There was a lot of hype and mystique around the game, and it was to be the first Resident Evil game that would launch with a first- and third-person camera option (RE7 and 8 either only had first person or added third person later as DLC).
Then came the trailer from The Game Awards 2025, that revealed Leon Kennedy would be a playable character. Grace would have the slower paced survival horror, similar to RE7 and Resident Evil 2 Remake, while Leon’s will be more action packed similar to Resident Evil 3 Remake, RE8, Resident Evil 4 Remake. And while many of us RE fans were overjoyed, this raised concerns for some players with some fans having PTSD from Resident Evil 6.
SideNote: RE6 was essentially the game that brought that the downfall of the series for many, back in the early 2010’s. That period seemed to be rough for many beloved eastern game developers.
The comparison was drawn from the fact that RE6 tried to cram a lot in one package. There were three campaigns (with one slightly shorter unlockable one featuring Ada Wong), that tried to play a bit differently from each other. Leon’s was supposed to have more survival horror, Chris Redfield’s more action packed stages like the Call of Duty series, and Jake Muller’s paralleled Chris’s, but with more of a beat’em up impact. They were also lengthy as well. Personally, I didn’t think RE6 was that bad, but after I finished it, I certainly felt little need to come back.
RE fans felt that RE9 was once again trying to do too much at once with these multiple gameplay styles. They worried the pacing would suffer greatly, and/or that one of them wouldn’t be as well made as the other. It didn’t help that Resident Evil fans were divided as some preferred the horror, whiile others, the action.
So, was this concern warranted? When the game dropped, it was considered the best reviewed (not counting remakes) Resident Evil since the original RE4 (2005), with a Metacritic score of 89. And as of March 2026, RE9 sold over 6 million copies.
Thankfully, people were worried for nothing.
Final Thoughts
Capcom is doing much better now than they were back then and Requiem seems to be the culmination of what they learned from 2017 to 2023. That’s not to the say the game is perfect, as there are some pacing problems, but far lesser than expected. Additionally, there are some automated sections that aren’t a problem the first time around, but repeated playthroughs could be a problem for seasoned gamers. The game also isn’t as long as advertised, though that might be a blessing if you are new to the series.
After SH2R, Konami released Silent Hill F. which encountered a bit more divided reception, but was still critically well received, and has sold even better than SH2R so far. Silent Hill fans can also look forward to Silent Hill Townfall releasing later this year, as well as a remake of the first Silent Hill game also done by BT. Resident Evil 9 is set to receive a DLC, with more rumored remakes, and more than likely a tenth entry in the series.
It’s great to see a redemption story for these companies and their horror franchises—it’s especially refreshing to see games exceed expectations in an era where some of the biggest releases tend to disappoint at launch. Capcom and Konami have had their ups and downs and for 2026, they’ve seemed to have learned from their mistakes, listened to their fan base (thanks Reddit), and are returning to the core elements that made their games iconic in the first place, delivering polished, immersive horror experiences that feel nostalgic and innovative.
