One of the biggest reveals during Sony’s PlayStation 5 event was definitely the long-awaited next main installment in the beloved Resident Evil series. The game will be titled Resident Evil: Village, with the letters in “Village” stylized to resemble the Roman numeral “VIII,” or 8, confirming this as the 8th game in the main series rather than a remake or spinoff.
Village is set to release sometime in 2021 for the Xbox Series X and PC as well as the PlayStation 5, which we recently received more information on. It will be the first main series title since 2017’s Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, with developer Capcom choosing to focus on the Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 remakes in the meantime. The trailer seems to indicate that the game will be a direct sequel to 7, featuring the return of protagonist Ethan Winters, a focus on combat and exploration, and a first-person perspective which was praised for making the series’ trademark survival horror encounters more terrifying than ever before.
A representative from Capcom has confirmed that the game will take place several years after the conclusion of Resident Evil 7, and will feature Ethan reuniting with series mainstay Chris Redfield as they investigate a mysterious, sinister village. The trailer’s focus on the words “His story comes to a close” indicates that this may not be a pleasant experience for Chris, Ethan or both.
The trailer doesn’t reveal much else, but it does seem to indicate a greater focus on the supernatural, rather than the more traditional zombies and mutants of earlier Resident Evil titles. There’s creepy folk tales, suspicious rural residents, possible witches, nature shots that wouldn’t be out of place in the Blair Witch series, a sinister goat, and even what appears to be a full-blown werewolf. Rumors hint that the residents of the titular Village may make up a cult which worships the mutated monsters – which could put Chris and Ethan in some serious danger indeed.
Hopefully, more information regarding Resident Evil: Village will be announced as the game’s 2021 release date draws closer. But for now, we’re absolutely enthralled – not to mention more than a little bit frightened – by that trailer.
