Resident Evil Requiem Difficulty Guide: The Return of the Ink Ribbon
Capcom has officially abandoned the standard Easy, Normal, and Hard menu screen in favor of absolute psychological warfare.
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If you boot up Resident Evil Requiem expecting a simple difficulty slider, you are going to be staring at the menu for a while. Because the game features two entirely different protagonists with two drastically different gameplay styles, Capcom split the difficulty system to match. Leon Kennedy is effectively playing a modern action shooter, while Grace Ashcroft is trapped in a classic survival horror nightmare.
Instead of just adjusting enemy health pools, the difficulty you choose fundamentally changes how the game handles saving your progress. If you make the wrong choice here, you are going to lose hours of progress to a random zombie bite. Here is exactly how the three launch difficulties work, why the game treats Leon and Grace differently, and which mode you should actually pick.
The Three Launch Difficulties
At launch, you are locked into three specific choices. Do not let the naming convention fool you; one of these is significantly more punishing than the others.
Casual
This is the tourist mode. If you are entirely new to the survival horror genre, or you just want to blast through the story without managing your inventory, pick this. Casual mode gives you a heavy aim assist, significantly buffs your health pool, and turns most enemies into fragile bullet sponges. You will rarely, if ever, run out of ammunition here.
Standard (Modern)
This is the baseline experience that mirrors recent titles like the Resident Evil 2 Remake or Resident Evil Village. You get a completely fair, balanced economy of ammunition and healing items. More importantly, Standard (Modern) utilizes a traditional, generous autosave system. If you get ripped apart by a boss, you will respawn right outside the boss room. If you fail, the game over screen will graciously allow you to drop the difficulty down to Casual.
Standard (Classic)
Do not let the word "Standard" trick you. This is the defacto "Hard Mode" available at launch. Standard (Classic) is designed specifically to torture long term fans of the franchise. It completely strips away the generous autosave system during Grace's chapters. Instead, you have to scavenge the environment for highly limited Ink Ribbons. If you do not have an Ink Ribbon, you cannot manually save your game at a typewriter. Every single time you leave a safe room, you are gambling with your actual real world time.
The Grace vs. Leon Dynamic
You might be wondering why Standard (Classic) explicitly states that the Ink Ribbon mechanic only applies to Grace's sections of the campaign. This is not a bug; it is brilliant, intentional game design.
Two Different Games in One
Leon's campaign is heavily skewed toward modern, high octane combat. He is a heavily armed government agent, and his sections reflect that. Forcing you to hunt down Ink Ribbons while playing as an action hero would ruin the pacing.
Grace, however, is a civilian trapped in a traditional survival horror setup. Her gameplay is vastly slower, far more methodical, and heavily reliant on stealth and evasion. Because of this, she also has significantly fewer inventory slots than Leon. Forcing the player to dedicate one of her precious few inventory slots to carry an Ink Ribbon is classic Resident Evil resource management. It makes every single healing item and bullet you pick up a calculated risk.
Post-Game Unlockables and Replayability
If you are a veteran player scoffing at the lack of a "Hardcore" or "Madhouse" option on the main menu, do not worry.
While Capcom is hiding the exact details, it is a massive series tradition to lock the true nightmare difficulties behind your first completion. RE2 Remake had Hardcore, Village had Village of Shadows, and RE4 Remake had Professional. You can absolutely expect one or two brutally unfair difficulty modes to unlock the second you roll the credits on your first playthrough.
Which Difficulty Should You Pick?
Your choice honestly just comes down to your personal history with the franchise and your tolerance for losing progress.
Choose Casual if: You hate inventory management, you have terrible aim under pressure, or you just want to experience the narrative without any friction.
Choose Standard (Modern) if: You started playing the series during the RE2 Remake era. You want a tense, terrifying experience where your bullets matter, but you absolutely refuse to replay a forty minute section of the game just because you forgot to save.
Choose Standard (Classic) if: You are a veteran of the PS1 era. You want the genuine anxiety of limping through a dark hallway on red health, praying you find a typewriter and an Ink Ribbon before a dog jumps through a window. It is the hardest available option, and easily the most rewarding way to experience Grace's side of the story.
Ready to Survive Requiem?
Capcom’s next chapter of survival horror is almost here. Lock in your copy below.