Capcom has revealed new gameplay, artwork, and a behind-the-scenes look at Resident Evil Village, and it sounds like it's not holding anything back.
The footage was shown off during Capcom's Tokyo Game Show 2020 showcase, and was accompanied by commentary by art director Tomonori Takano, director Morimasa Sato, and producer Peter Fabiano. Of course, Village is an evolution upon the other entries in Resident Evil, taking place in an isolated and snowed-under settlement that is plagued by evil forces reaching out from the forest. The extra insights offered by the development team in this new video are a window into Capcom's ambitions in survival horror, and Village's place in the series.
Back in June, the reveal trailer for Resident Evil Village was hair-raising, but one of the more eyebrow-raising announcements was that Ethan Winters would return. The milquetoast hero of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Capcom acknowledged that Ethan was originally conceived as a clean slate for players to project onto. However, during development of Biohazard, the team found themselves attached to Ethan and wanted to round out his story after the events at the Bakers'. As a result, he's back, baby, and presumably more experienced and more... personable.
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Biohazard is a tough act to follow, in spite of its wobbly final act. "Compared to 7, Village definitely has just as much horror - if not more," said Takano, and explained that this new experience will offer beauty and terror in equal measure. This is already evident by the sharp whites, blues, and shadows in what we've seen of Village so far. Yet, that isn't to say that Biohazard is being left behind.
Elements of the previous game have been emphasised and exaggerated for Village, such as the sort of world that players will traverse. This new game will offer a sense of scale that is different to the homestead of Biohazard, expectedly. "When people imagine a single village, I think most would tend to envision something quite small," explained Sato. "But when you look at Village, even the far off landscapes are extremely realistic... we want the player to walk through and encounter things that make them think, 'Wow, you can even get to this place!', 'I didn't expect to find something like this,' or 'There's so much detail here!'" I, for one, am extremely excited to explore that mansion inhabited by those three odd ladies. It looks so decadent in comparison to the run-down hamlet that surrounds it, and I'll bet there's puzzles in every nook and cranny, like a return to those earlier entries in the series.
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Oh yeah, and what was with that storybook we saw in the most recent cinematic trailer? This might be very different to what one would expect from a Resident Evil title, admitted Tokano, but these elements will be vital to understanding the themes of the game. Nothing will be left as a loose thread, and with a premise as eccentric and as eerie as Village, we're well in.
Resident Evil Village is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and PC sometime in 2021.Featured Image Credit: Capcom
Topics: Resident Evil, Resident Evil Village, Capcom