The world map of Resident Evil Village has been shown off in the Collector's Edition of the game, and it looks like you'll have to watch your step in this snowy wilderness, because here be monsters.
Capcom subtly confirmed that Village is an open-world affair in the listing for the game on Steam, which has caused a commotion in the community. In the horror genre, scares are effectively served when the player believes they might not be alone in this haunted house/mental institution/space station/Arctic outpost. Constraining the scale of the experience in this way creates a relationship between the setting and the player, and sometimes these spaces stay with us long after the credits roll. On the other hand, horror games that make use of expansive environments have a very different trick up their sleeves.
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Letting you approach the story at your own pace lulls you into a false sense of security, and lets the designers draw out the terror because you're never sure who or what is coming around the corner. "When people imagine a single village, I think most would tend to envision something quite small," said Morimasa Sato, director of Resident Evil Village. "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!'"
The opulence of Castle Dimitrescu looming over the arcane and ramshackle hamlet, ensconced by the foreboding forests where evil forces reach out to those who've lost their way... personally, I cannot wait to jet off to... well, wherever Resident Evil Village is set. We'll be waiting until May 7th to walk the tracks of the village, but in the meantime, we'll get our bearings with the official game world map found in the Collector's Edition. It's stylised to look like one you'd find in the medieval period, yellowed with age and labelled with fancy plates and flowing scrolls for every location.
The major sights to see are House Beneviento, Heisenberg's Factory, Moreau's Reservoir, and Castle Dimitrescu (of course). From these names, it appears as though the village wasn't so humble at the start, and might have been home to a booming industry at one point. We don't know anything about the Benevientos, Heisenberg, or Moreau, so it's possible that Ethan will encounter them or their descendants as he tracks Chris Redfield. Additionally, these areas encircle the village itself, insinuating that the player will be hopping back and forth from a hub. Standard Resi stuff. I'm also slightly concerned about the giant creatures illustrated on the map, like a ginormous bat-like monster, a spectre wielding a scythe, and something that looks like a beefy angler fish in the reservoir.
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You don't just get a copy of the game and a map in the Collector's Edition. For a meagre $220, the cloth map, the game, a steelbook case, the Trauma Pack DLC, a Chris Redfield figurine, and a 64-page hardcover art book are all included for your perusal. If you're a "try before you buy" sort, there's a demo for Resident Evil Village available on the PlayStation 5, titled "Maiden."
Featured Image Credit: CapcomTopics: News, Resident Evil