Resident Evil fans and enthusiasts of horror games looking forward to the upcoming Resident Evil Village were recently provided a treat from the developers, with a short demo of the game called “Maiden.” This brief but spooky glimpse into the terrors that await Ethan Winters send the best kind of chills down players spines, hinting at the secrets of the narrative and showing off the improvements made to the RE engine.
The calm yet unnerving rooms and hallways of Castle Dimitrescu paint a picture of what’s to come, with fans already scraping for any hidden clues within the demo. A similar strategy to wet player appetites was done back in 2016, when a demo was surprise dropped the same day as the reveal of the previous mainline entry Resident Evil 7. This demo, simply called “Kitchen,” served the same purpose as “Maiden,” offering a small portion of the overall experience and to satisfying curious fans.
Aside from both being within the Resident Evil series, both “Kitchen” and “Maiden” feature other similarities that tie them closer together in terms of style and overall purpose. Despite the short length, “Maiden” has many hidden clues to to discover, warranting multiple playthroughs. The same can be said for “Kitchen” upon its release, as both demos carefully conceal disturbing secrets underneath the macabre exteriors.
A key component to every Resident Evil game is having a memorable, terrifying location where the horror takes place. In Resident Evil 7, inspiration was drawn from classic films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre for a dingy, rural homestead complete with cobwebs, creaky floorboards and broken windows. Resident Evil Village is taking the complete opposite approach, with much of the game taking place within a colossal mansion owned by a powerful family that dates back several generations. While polar opposites in terms of pure aesthetic appearance, both of these locations are equally chilling for similar and different reasons.
Both of the demos place these locations front and center, allowing the player just enough time and room to get a feel for the haunting locations that await them when the full release launches. Much of the scare factor for Resident Evil 7 is very much demonstrated on a surface level, with the absolutely disgusting and horrific condition of the surroundings being the cause for the sense of dread. Walls are covered in blood splatter, there are body parts in fridges and creepy memorabilia littered around the Baker estate hinting at who this family was before being turned into the monsters Ethan faced.
The Dimitrescu fortress approaches this differently, but still creates the same unnerving effect. If Resident Evil 7 opted to show a location that has fallen apart over the years, then Resident Evil Village showcases a place seemingly frozen in time, unnaturally halted and maintained to be kept as it was. The Dimitrescu family is clearly in a position of wealth and power, with countless pieces of art, furniture, and cutlery neatly organized around the environment.
The devilish thing about it is that its all deceiving, concealing the true horror underneath. Resident Evil 7’s location holds its scares on its sleeves, but Resident Evil Village hides its true terrors, causing a sense of unease that something can go wrong at any time.
As is common with every release in the Resident Evil series, Resident Evil Village has a bunch of new adversaries to contend with. Prior to Resident Evil 7, it seemed like the more outlandish the better; with tons of zombies, giant monsters, and even the freakish Regenerators from Resident Evil 4. The “Kitchen” demo showed that the series was swerving to a more subtle, nuanced approach going forward, with fewer overall enemies but this was made up for by making them far more intimidating. In that demo in fact, there are no enemies to contend with whatsoever, with Jack Baker only showing up at the very end.
“Maiden” is a bit more aggressive with its enemy encounters, as Daniela (one of the main three female antagonists) suddenly appears towards the end of the demo to stalk the player. This preview of Resident Evil Village additionally ends in a similar fashion, with the player being caught (in this case by Lady Dimitrescu) before the screen cuts to black, concluding the experience. While “Maiden” does tease what to expect in terms of what enemy encounters will feel like in comparison to what “Kitchen” demonstrated years ago, it still lets the atmosphere and areas create much of the anxiety, saving the villains themselves for carefully timed and placed set pieces.
Finally, with a continuing shift away from the action focus many fans disapproved of in Resident Evil 6, both “Kitchen” and “Maiden” perfectly setup the vibe that this is survival horror in its purest form. The primary goal is to run, hide and get out of these terrible places as soon as possible. The fear is palpable and foreboding sense of something terrible happening is suffocating, and these short demos communicate that extremely well.
Both of these demos begin with a text placed on the screen with the simple instructions to leave immediately, with “Kitchen” saying “Get Out of the House” while “Maiden” was instead “Escape the Dungeon.” These simple, yet daunting tasks perfectly establish a series of objectives that are easier said than done, as mild spookiness is heightened to sheer terror and events go from bad to worse. If Resident Evil Village follows up on “Maiden” with just as much finesse as its predecessor did with its own demo, then fans are in for a great time.
Resident Evil Village will be released on May 7, 2021 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
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