Resident Evil Requiem is Capcom’s latest mainline entry in the long-running survival horror series. The story follows two playable protagonists, Grace Ashcroft and Leon S. Kennedy, across a reimagined Raccoon City and a new location called Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center. The game masterfully combines first-person horror sections with third-person action, and it offers a range of difficulty settings to suit every skill level. However, one setting stands apart from the rest entirely, and that is Insanity Difficulty.

All Difficulty Settings In Resident Evil Requiem

Before diving into Insanity Mode specifically, it helps to understand where it sits within the full difficulty lineup. Resident Evil Requiem features a total of four difficulty settings, and here is how each one works:

Casual

Casual is the easiest option in the game, designed for those who want to focus on the story without heavy survival pressure. Enemies deal less damage and hold lower health pools, resources like ammo and healing items appear more frequently across the map, and the game provides heavy aim assist to make shooting easier for both Grace and Leon. Autosaves are frequent, and Ink Ribbons are not required to save manually.

Standard (Modern)

Standard (Modern) is the default recommended experience and mirrors the pacing of modern Resident Evil titles and remakes. Enemies pose a reasonable threat, and both Grace and Leon have enough resources to survive if you manage your inventory well. Autosaves are plentiful, and the game does not require Ink Ribbons. Notably, if you die during a Standard (Modern) playthrough, a prompt appears offering the option to drop down to Casual difficulty. However, this change is permanent for that save file and cannot be reversed.

Standard (Classic)

Standard (Classic) matches Standard (Modern) in terms of enemy damage, enemy health, puzzle difficulty, and item placement. The key difference is the save system. While playing as Grace, you need to spend Ink Ribbons to save manually at Typewriters, and the game autosaves far less frequently than in Standard (Modern). This adds a layer of tension every time you leave a safe room. This difficulty suits experienced Resident Evil fans who want the resource management feel of older entries in the series. Unlike Standard (Modern), you cannot switch to an easier difficulty from this mode.

Insanity

Insanity is the hardest mode the game offers, and it unlocks only after you complete Resident Evil Requiem for the first time.

What Is Insanity Difficulty In Resident Evil Requiem?

Insanity Difficulty is Resident Evil Requiem’s post-game challenge mode. It functions similarly to Hardcore or Nightmare difficulty settings from previous games in the series, but it goes further in several specific ways.

How to unlock Insanity Difficulty:

You unlock Insanity Mode by completing Resident Evil Requiem once from start to finish. Once you do that and return to the main menu, Insanity becomes available as an option when starting a new playthrough.

Key features of Insanity Difficulty:

• Enemies have significantly higher health pools and deal substantially more damage, with many capable of taking more than half of Leon’s health in a single attack
• Enemy spawns increase across the game, meaning you encounter more threats in areas that felt manageable on lower difficulties
• Slain infected reanimate and mutate into Blister Heads more frequently than on other settings
• Enemies recover from staggers and stuns faster, which makes combat more unpredictable
• Grab attacks from bosses carry a much higher chance of instantly killing your character
• Checkpoint autosaves are less frequent, and you still need Ink Ribbons to save manually as Grace, carrying over the mechanic from Standard (Classic)
• Some item locations change completely compared to your first playthrough, so knowledge from a previous run does not always carry over
• All five safe combinations change entirely, so codes you memorised from an earlier run no longer work
• A small number of new items appear in select locations to compensate for the added difficulty

Can You Change Difficulty In Resident Evil Requiem?

Difficulty switching in Resident Evil Requiem is limited and works differently depending on which setting you start on.

• On Standard (Modern), the game offers a one-way switch to Casual after you die. If you accept, the change becomes permanent for that save file and you cannot revert
• Casual and Standard (Classic) cannot be changed once selected at the start of a playthrough
• Insanity Mode follows the same save rules as Standard (Classic), requiring Ink Ribbons for manual saves and offering fewer autosaves

Because of these restrictions, selecting the right difficulty at the very start of a playthrough matters considerably.

How Does Insanity Mode Change Specific Sections?

Insanity Difficulty does not simply apply a blanket damage multiplier across the board. It actively tweaks the behaviour of specific enemies and sections in ways that will catch returning players off guard. Here are the confirmed changes:

The Girl in the Nurse’s Station

During Grace’s early section in the Nurse’s Station at Rhodes Hill, The Girl chases you through the hallways. On lower difficulties, running from one end of the hallway to the other is a manageable strategy. On Insanity Mode, The Girl moves at a drastically faster speed, which means you need to use the adjacent rooms and manipulate the lighting strategically just to escape her.

The Chef in the Kitchen

Pushing the cart in the Kitchen to clear a path through the double doors already requires careful timing on lower settings. On Insanity Mode, the cart pushes noticeably slower, which extends the window during which the Zombie Chef can spot you. The Chef also peeks and checks your position more frequently during the process, making the whole encounter considerably more stressful. Additionally, the Zombie Chef drops 2 Antique Coins when defeated on Insanity Mode.

Blister Heads in Leon’s Opening Section

On Insanity Mode, several Blister Head enemies already appear during the very first section of the game where you play as Leon. On a standard playthrough, Blister Heads tend to show up later in the campaign as the challenge escalates. Encountering them this early signals immediately that Insanity Mode plays by different rules from the moment the game begins.

Item Location Changes

Some weapons and items move to entirely different spots on Insanity Mode. Confirmed examples include:

• Grace’s B934 handgun no longer appears in the Care Center’s 1F Dining Room
• Grace’s S&S M232 handgun remains in the 2F Bar and Lounge
• The Unicorn Trinket Box moves to the back table in the Chairman’s Office, where a zombie now guards it

Antique Coin Changes On Insanity Mode

Antique Coin locations also shift on Insanity Mode. Approximately 19 coins exist compared to 23 on standard difficulties. However, some new coins appear in spots where they did not previously exist. Confirmed new locations and changes include:

• An Antique Coin in the receptionist’s desk in Wrenwood Hotel
• An Antique Coin in the Kitchen near the Zombie Chef, plus 2 additional coins from the Chef drop
• Various regular infected throughout the Care Center drop Antique Coins on Insanity, including Cleaner Zombies, light-sensitive zombies, and the Surgeon Zombie. This does not happen on lower difficulties
• An Antique Coin on a stoop in Wrenwood Streets at the start of Grace’s section
• An Antique Coin in the weighing scales in the Kitchen
• Each safe yields 3 Coins when opened with the new Insanity codes

What Changes In The Parlor On Insanity Mode?

The 1F Parlor in Rhodes Hill Care Center also changes its reward pool on Insanity Mode. The Hip Pouch inventory upgrade and the Matsuoka Master Manual upgrade remain available as normal. However, the Steroids and Stabilizer that appear in the Parlor on lower difficulties are replaced on Insanity with the following:

• 30x Handgun Ammo for 5 Coins
• A melee weapon called the R.I.P Knife for 5 Coins, which Grace can also find in other locations across the map on this difficulty
• Matsuoka Master Manual (plus 50 Blood Collector capacity) for 6 Coins

Insanity Safe Code Changes

All five safe codes change on Insanity Difficulty.

Why Should You Play Insanity Difficulty?

Beyond the personal challenge and bragging rights, Insanity Mode serves a very practical purpose in Resident Evil Requiem’s progression system. The game uses CP (Challenge Points) as its in-game currency for unlocking bonus content, and completing Insanity Mode generates significantly more CP than lower difficulties.

Completing the game on Insanity Mode also unlocks the “Remarkable Agent” achievement, which awards a substantial 40,000 CP on its own.

You can spend CP on a range of bonuses through the Special Content shop, including:

• Infinite Ammo: Guns (both characters) at 50,000 CP
• RPG-7 (Leon) at 15,000 CP
• Infinite Ammo: RPG-7 (Leon) at 35,000 CP
• Kotetsu (Grace), an unbreakable knife, at 5,000 CP
• Freya’s Needle (Grace), a machine pistol that uses handgun ammo, at 4,000 CP
• Tactical Tracker Modded (Leon), which earns more credits per kill, at 3,000 CP
• Mortal Edge (Leon), an axe with exceptional parry capability, at 3,000 CP
• Advanced Tuning (Leon), which unlocks an extra upgrade level for weapon parts (requires destroying all 25 Mr. Raccoon Memoriams)
• Matsuoka Master Manual (Grace), which permanently upgrades the Blood Collector with plus 50 capacity, at 1,000 CP
• Infinite Ribbon (Grace), which allows unlimited saves even on higher difficulties (requires completing the Speed Demon challenge by beating the game and releasing Elpis in under 4 hours)

Completing Resident Evil Requiem with 100% completion also requires you to clear Insanity Difficulty at some point, making it an essential part of a full run rather than just an optional extra.

Tips For Preparing For Insanity Difficulty

Insanity Mode rewards preparation above everything else. Here is what the community recommends before diving in:

Complete a second run on Casual first

After your first playthrough, consider starting a second run on Casual Difficulty before tackling Insanity. Casual offers a much more relaxed experience, which gives you a clean opportunity to complete some of the more demanding challenges in the game, including Speed Demon, Minimalist, and Never Touch the Stuff. These challenges combined can net you approximately 90,000 CP to spend before your Insanity run even begins.

Unlock weapons and upgrades with your saved CP

Going into Insanity Mode with powerful bonus weapons makes a significant difference. The most recommended items are the Kotetsu unbreakable knife for Grace, the Freya’s Needle machine pistol for Grace, and the Mortal Edge axe for Leon. If you have accumulated enough CP, Infinite Ammo for guns is also a major advantage worth considering.

Use New Game Plus

Completing your first playthrough on any difficulty unlocks both Insanity Mode and New Game Plus simultaneously. Starting Insanity on a New Game Plus save means you carry your previous loadout into the new run, which provides a meaningful head start against the tougher enemy placement and damage output the mode introduces.

Quick Reference: All Four Difficulty Settings At A Glance

Difficulty	Enemies	Save System	Resources	Unlock Requirement
Casual	Weakest	Autosave, no Ink Ribbons	Plentiful	Available from the start
Standard (Modern)	Balanced	Autosave, no Ink Ribbons	Fair	Available from the start
Standard (Classic)	Balanced	Ink Ribbons required	Fair	Available from the start
Insanity	Hardest	Ink Ribbons required	Scarce	Complete the game once

Final Thoughts

Insanity Difficulty in Resident Evil Requiem is not just a harder version of the base game. It actively reshapes item locations, enemy behaviour, and specific encounter designs in ways that surprise even returning players. However, the CP rewards it generates and the 40,000 CP achievement attached to completing it make Insanity Mode an essential part of getting the most out of Resident Evil Requiem’s full content offering.

If this is your first run through the game, Standard (Modern) is the most balanced starting point. However, once you know the layout, the enemy patterns, and the puzzle solutions, Insanity Mode is waiting with something genuinely new to offer.