What Do We Want To See From Resident Evil Village?

Resident Evil Village might not yet have a release date, there’s still plenty to look forward to from what we’ve seen of the game so far. As one of the most lucrative franchises in gaming, there’s a lot that we want from Resident Evil Village – here’s what we’re hoping for.

What do we know so far about Resident Evil Village?  

Box art for Resident Evil Village
Credit: Capcom

Resident Evil Village will be set a few years after the events of Resident Evil 7, and judging by snippets of information provided in the trailers, it seems that protagonist Ethan Winters and his wife Mia have settled down after the horrific experiences with the Baker family.

…That is until Chris Redfield bursts into their home and seemingly kills Mia right in front of Ethan. So does this mean that Chris is now a bad guy?  Only time will tell, but with Chris now working for a rebranded Umbrella Corp known as “Blue Umbrella” it does ask certain questions.

Enough of what we do know. Let’s talk about what we don’t know. Here’s what I would like to see in Resident Evil Village.

Give Us Limited Resources

RE 4 inventory
Credit: Capcom

One of the key aspects about the Resident Evil series is limited resources and inventory management – something that very much played a huge role in original games in the series.  However by the time Resident Evil 4 released (and what followed), resource management wasn’t as much of a thing as it once was.

Thankfully when Resident Evil 7 came out, resources were not as plentiful and while this release divided a lot of opinions, limited resources and inventory management were back. So with talk of inventory management returning in Resident Evil Village, it would be great for this feature to have some added emphasis, because for me personally there’s not many things more worrying than suddenly running out of ammo or health items right in the middle of an intense battle with a monster and having to make a run for it…!

We Want Zombies!

Zombie in resident evil 2 remake
Credit: Capcom

When this series first began it was all about the zombies and while it can be argued that zombies kinda featured in Resident Evil 4, it’s been a while since we’ve had proper old-school zombies, other than in the two recent remakes.

Resident Evil Village will have werewolves, witches and possibly even ghostly entities, so why not see the return of some proper zombies?  It is speculated that Resident Evil Village will be quite the departure from the series in some ways, and like Resident Evil 7, it will also likely divide opinion.  If that is true then why not bring back a little bit of familiarity to the series with some good old groaning zombies, or perhaps even the return of Crimson Zombies?

Not too much Hide and Seek

Witch in RE 8
Credit: Capcom

I admit that I am not a fan of games that feature hide-and-seek mechanics, which is probably why I’ve never gotten on with the Outlast series.  In Resident Evil 7 there were moments where we were stalked by the terrifying Jack Baker and family, and we had to hide for our lives.  Thankfully – depending on how well you ran away and hid – these sequences were not too drawn out and only made up some portions of the game. 

With it being rumoured that you will be pursued by what sounds like a ghostly entity in Resident Evil Village, I hope that this doesn’t dominate too much of the game.  Don’t get me wrong, being stalked by unnerving ghosts will have its place, but I don’t want this to be overly constant, especially as I like to explore for secrets. Take Anima from The Evil Within 2 for example, in the rare times she suddenly stalked you, those few encounters were memorable and enough to have the hairs standing on the back of your neck. Too much of something doesn’t make it a good thing!

Multiple Endings

Jill in RE 3
Credit: Capcom

Multiple endings are something that we’ve not seen all that often in the RE series, especially with recent releases, and this is something that I’d love to see return in Resident Evil Village.  I can remember fondly when I first encountered my first multiple choice scenario in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis and, along with other campaign actions, they could impact the ending you received.  There was even an ending that brought back beloved Barry Burton in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.  So please Capcom, bring back multiple choice scenarios and multiple endings which will result in varied multiple playthroughs.

Albert Wesker

Wesker in RE 5
Credit: Capcom

Let’s find a way to bring back the iconic series villain Albert Wesker! Outside of the series heroes, nobody is perhaps more synonymous with this series than Albert Wesker.  Former Umbrella lab researcher and S.T.A.R.S leader, master manipulator and perpetrator of great power, Albert Wesker is the ultimate super villain – and we miss him a lot!

In terms of main entries in the series, we’ve not seen Albert Wesker since his odd demise during the conclusion of Resident Evil 5 following the events of Chris Redfield’s epic rock-punching heroics. I’m not sure how they could bring Wesker back into Resident Evil Village, (perhaps he could be cloned?) but with Umbrella seemingly being under new leadership and of course with the prominent role of Chris Redfield, this could be the perfect time to bring back the villain we all love to hate.

A Lengthy But Fulfilling Campaign and Content

Images from RE Village
Credit: Capcom

As much as I loved the original games in the series, as well as the two recent remakes, if you know where to go and what to do, you can fly through the campaign in no time. Resident Evil 7 had a lengthy campaign, but I think most of us can agree that the Tanker section dragged on for far too long. That said, as much as I would love Resident Evil Village to have a lengthy campaign that would even test speed runners, it’s also got to be fulfilling, so there has to be a balance. 

I’d love nothing more than an immense story in a world full of secrets, mystery, puzzles and the aforementioned multiple endings. Perhaps even seeing the return of The Mercenaries mode?  The Resident Evil 3 remake was fun, but way too short and Resident Evil 7 was lengthy, but with pacing issues. So if Capcom could find the perfect middle-ground, Resident Evil Village could have the makings as one of the best in the series.

That concludes what I’d like to see in Resident Evil Village, but be sure to let us know what you’d like to see in the game across our social media channels and let us know your levels of excitement by using our Emoji’s below.

Resident Evil Village will release for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in 2021.

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Featured Image Credit: Capcom