Resident Evil 2 Director Envisions a ‘Cute’ Zombie Spin on Requiem, Aiming for a ‘Not Scary’ Experience

Resident Evil Requiem is smashing records with its highest sales yet and rave reviews, and now the director of the legendary 1998 Resident Evil 2 has a playful suggestion for Capcom. Following the March 10 announcement of upcoming Requiem DLC, Hideki Kamiya took to X to humorously request a “not scary mode” in a future update.

Instead of dodging the relentless undead in the game’s most chilling medical facility, Kamiya envisions a more lighthearted take on Requiem, where “the zombies get all cute, the blood splatters turn into cherry blossom petals, the music shifts to an upbeat, feel-good vibe, and you can just enjoy the puzzles and battles in a fun atmosphere,” he shared. “I wanna play it, but it’s so scary that I can’t sleep alone at night anymore, so I just can’t bring myself to dive in… Think about how others feel in that situation…”

As the mastermind behind the original Resident Evil 2, Kamiya knows a thing or two about horror. This is the game that brought us terrifying foes like Lickers and Mr. X. Yet, despite his horror credentials, he’s not shy about admitting his unease with scary games. Back in October 2024, he expressed similar sentiments about Hideo Kojima’s iconic P.T. demo in another post: “Man, I wanna play it again… It was so fun… But it’s too scary to play alone…”

Fast forward nearly a year to September 2025, and he jokingly considered creating his own project inspired by P.T.—with a twist. “If P.T.’s revival is impossible, Kojima-san should just make another game in that style,” he mused. “If he won’t do it, maybe I should give it a shot… though I’m not a fan of horror, so it wouldn’t be horror… and I don’t even have any ideas anyway…”

Kamiya’s concerns about the scares in Resident Evil Requiem are certainly valid. The game is packed with horrifying elements, from buckets of blood and guts to massive arachnids and a colossal thresher that turns hordes of infected into a gruesome slurry. While it seems Kamiya might be waiting a while for a truly gore-free version of Requiem, he could always check out the Shrek mod, which transforms the giant toddler Chunk into a cheerful yet deadly version of the beloved Scottish ogre.