Resident Evil Village was showcased last night, with a multitude of new features presented, alongside a lot of info. New gameplay, new characters, an overall preview of the game’s aesthetics and more. One thing is undoubtedly clear though. The new entry in the series is heavily influenced by Resident Evil 4. Let us see why.
Colors and atmosphere.
Resident Evil 7 introduced a new protagonist, Ethan Winters. A newcomer to RE’s universe, he found himself in the midst of a ‘family’ issue, with his nightmare taking mostly place at an abandoned house, in Louisiana. Creepy houses are not a first within the Resident Evil franchise but the way it was used in this game, together with a unique tone and perspective, those elements were utilized quite differently than the previous installments. Hence, using different environments and color pallets for most of the game, than what the team is used to. The lack of action is also present, with more focus to the gloomy atmosphere and exploration.
Based on what we saw in the new trailer, Resident Evil Village seems to go all the way back to Resident Evil 4’s world building, with similar scenery and of course, colors. Who doesn’t remember the infamous castle and its architecture, Leon S. Kennedy visited in his journey. We see Ethan now wondering around a similar establishment, with heavy emphasis to grey walls and light brown furniture, reminiscing of those found in RE 4.
The whole atmosphere is also extremely similar to the feeling we had when we explored Salazar’s ‘home’. Mysterious artifacts, secret floors, tricky puzzles, everything seems to be coming back in this sequel, and we couldn’t be more excited about it. Don’t forget about the what-look-like to be vampires and the breakable objects that include goodies. It wouldn’t be a RE4 lookalike after all, without the option to break huge barrels with a knife.
The best inventory menu in the series makes its comeback.
Resident Evil 4’s inventory style looked a like a game on its own, with players trying to find the best way to fit their items within, trying to keep as many as possible with them. With the assistance of the beloved Merchant, this Attache-like inventory could be expanded further. From what we’ve seen through the trailer so far, this grid system makes its return, and for some odd reason I’m so happy about it. Feeling excited about how the inventory looks like in a game, is an odd feeling, but I can’t help it.
This also means that Resident Evil Village will follow the franchise’s origins again, having many more items and weapons to find, than its most recent predecessor. Again, what Resident Evil 4 did exceptionally well, which offered players an abundance of unique weapons and tools to fight their way through the endless hordes of zombies and monsters.
We can further support this prediction, due to the many different enemies they showcased. From creepy old ladies and ‘villagers’, to huge hammer-wielding abominations. Does this remind you of some game in the same universe that had these? Yup…
The Merchant is back! Kind of.
Aside from any other small things that indicated of RE4’s presence in this entry, one was what intrigued old players the most. The return of the best NPC in the series, the Merchant. Not quite though, since from what it seems now, it’s a different person, named ‘The Duke’. This, or the mysterious looking guy from RE4 got ‘bigger’, which we highly doubt. In any case, just the confirmation of being able to buy and upgrade weapons through an NPC in the game, is a reason alone to expect a lot more action than what Resident Evil 7 had to offer. Ethan is also able to guard, so we can’t wait to see how combat really feels like.
Resident Evil Village is shaping to be an exciting addition to the franchise.
There are many more little things here and there that show a return to older gimmicks of the series, like collectibles to destroy/find and more, so it is really exciting to see what they have in store for us in the future. Resident Evil 4 is considered to be one of the best in the series, and sometimes is claimed as one of the greatest video games of all time, so it’s really nice to see that the continuation of this universe is influenced by it.
Resident Evil Village is set to release on May 7, 2021, on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
