Thus we reach the time, as always we must, where I talk about one of my greatest guilty pleasures of all time. Yes, it's no secret that I inhale as much Resident Evil content as I can legally get my hands on, I'm a RE fiend, I IV that zombie stuff directly into my bloodstream, so it's with no lack of excitement that I cover the one game that still stands between us and that Resident Evil 4 remake that literally has me biting my nails nervously. (Please don't be a train wreck, pretty please!) Today I want to cover the dark horse of the PS5 reveal event, the title which stole my heart more than any other, the one and only; Resident Evil VIII: Village. (How very both foreboding and cliche all in one neat little package)
So as we settle into this let me tell you, dear reader, that Resident Evil has been a big presence in my life pretty much ever since I started gaming. Back when I was far too young to be playing this kind of stuff, me and my father both got together to plough through 'Resident Evil 1' back in the day (90% certain we never reached the end) and we even tried our hand at 'Resident Evil 2'. (As I recall we got to the Licker and then gave up.) Fast forward many years and I returned to the franchise through the Nintendo Wii port of 'Resident Evil 4' (which I loved) and even played and enjoyed RE5 for what it was. (The game wasn't half bad.) After that I sort of fell off the wagon as the series drove itself off a cliff, and only when 'Resident Evil 2 Remake' danced it's way onto shelves did I spark back up my interest once more. Now I've pretty much played ever mainline entry in the franchise, (Which grants me enough knowledge of the series to question why we're moving to a remake of Resident Evil 4 when 'Code: Veronica' is still a thing) and I drool over the prospect of a Netflix show; so the next main line entry aught to have me doing cartwheels, right?
Well it's been a very long while and I actually still haven't got around to REVII, so watching this is kinda of liking seeing a long-estranged family member and kinda recognising them whilst also finding them totally unrecognisable. And that may come because this game proposes to follow the tale of Ethan, the protagonist who was introduced in VII, or maybe because this trailer has made some questionable choices for the franchise. (I know the leaks called this 'the most extreme departure from the franchise ever' but I'm a little concerned with everything I've seen so far.) Which isn't to say that I'm at all repulsed by what I'm seeing, just that I'm a little cautious to see how everything will play out. (Maybe when I get around to VII things'll clear up a lot more for me.)
So the first thing to note about Resident Evil VIII is it's perspective. Yes, yet again this will be a game that takes place in entirely first person. I have to admit that on the topic of technical capabilities, this does impress me as I'm still blown away at how the RE Engine is capable of rending high quality third and first person gameplay without major switch ups. Usually the choice of perceptive has a serious influence on the direction and focus of the design process, but this engine is so versatile that these games are even capable of sharing assets between themselves. (And only weirdos like me notice when the underground area of the Raccoon City Police department has books about the Louisiana Bayou for some reason.) Functionally the use of first person perspectives works wonders in putting the player in the shoes of the character, which is great for horror situations as one-to-one parity between viewer and victim is sought-after, but I do fear it does disconnect the protagonist from the story. Ethan just seems so milk toast next to Leon Kennedy, Jill Valentine or Chr- well, we'll get to him later. My thoughts; I appreciate the purpose of first person but I fell in love with third person Resident Evil, so I feel a little let down already.
What Resident Evil VIII's trailer does get right, however, is that classic dilapidated Resident Evil atmosphere that we know and love oh so well. Much of the ruin captured in the Baker Family Ranch is reflected in the environments that we see, with homes that look untouched and filthy, ramshackle defences and mechanisms, (in stark contrast to the oddly advanced mechanisms from early games) and that great dim lighting the RE engine pulls off so well. The village, however, has a great much more variety to it with wide open outside spaces, the likes of which we haven't really seen since Resident Evil 5. (And 6, arguably, but I don't count that as a real game.) There is still that sense of rustic isolationism, however, as this here village looks to be remote AF. I get the sense that there might even be a bit of pagan culture entwined into this entry, though it's hard to pin exactly why. Perhaps it comes from the way some side characters dress, the general 'cult in the middle of nowhere' vibe, or the old crone half-way through the trailer who straight up looked like she'd just popped over from 'Things Betwixt' in Dark Souls 2.
"But hang on", veterans of the franchise might be saying. "This isn't the first time that Resident Evil has taken place inside of a village and, whatsmore, the last time they did there weren't any actual zombies, just angry cultists." (In fact, if you think about it, Resident Evil 4 is about an American agent going into an eastern European town and brutally murdering all of the natives under the the defence of "They were monsters. Probably.") So are Capcom going to pull the same thing here? Just how far afield is this Resident Evil going to go from the norm? How about as far as feasibly possible! Yeah, you already know; Resident Evil 8 got Werewolves, baby! And, in fact, that buxom white-clad lady from the trailer? If you pause during the scene of her close-up it very much looks like she's leaning into one of the character's bloody stumps and drinking the blood. So we've got Vampires too. Yahtzee!
In all seriousness, however, I must say that as a series purist who loves what the team have done in bringing Resident Evil back to it's routes; I am unfathomably hyped about this wild card turn for the franchise. As much as I love RE zombies, it's a formula that would get stale on it's own and the games have already sort of leaned away from it as things have gone on. (Are Hunter Gamma's even zombies? Not really.) Going far afield from what we know just means that we have literally no idea what awaits us in terms of scares, and just imagine what the inevitable transformation boss at the climax will end up looking like! (My money is on the white-dress lady getting mutated; she seems to spend so much time on her appearance that the best irony would be her morphing into a hideous monstrosity.) And yes, I am sad to see the zombies go to the wayside, but I have faith in the team to still put the RE engine's enviable gore system to good use here. (Even if it was noticeably toned down for RE3. In fact, they have to make up for that, I was a little disappointed.)
That's really all there is to talk about. There isn't anything else of note in the Resident Evil 8 trailer at all so you can all stop looking at me lik- Okay. We have to talk about it. The elephant in the room. We have to talk about- Chonkers Chris. I mean, really; are you guys at Capcom okay? You've been working with roughly the same cast of characters for 24 years and yet you still can't settle on a single look for Chris Redfield: it's laughable at this point. Chris has gone from looking like the most stereotypical block of polygons you can imagine In Resident Evil 1, to mister spiky-hair conventionally-handsome in Resident Evil Code Veronica, to a steroid-abusing bodybuilder in Resident Evil 5, (Punch that boulder, Chris!) to a normal looking guy in Resident Evil 7. And now, out of nowhere, Chris has evolved into a literal brick s***house. The man looks like a walking rectangle, here to blot out the sun. And that's not to say that none of the other characters have been redesigned over the years, of course they have, but they remain somewhat recognisable. I am being 100% deadly freakin' serious with you when I say that I did not know this was Chris until Ethan addressed him by name, same as at the end of Resident Evil 7. The man is a gosh darn chameleon, he sheds skins between games. I don't even care that he's apparently the badguy now, this whole shifting looks thing is just too damn funny. If Chris comes back in Resident Evil 9 as a black man, I won't even bat an eye at this point.
In conclusion, Resident Evil 8 looks dope. I want it. Graphically the game looks stunning, but then so does everything on the RE Engine, so I won't reward that as a point towards the Playstation 5 just yet. In concept it looks exciting, and might just give the RE franchise the kick in the head that it needs in this late stage of it's life. And in sheer meme value, the title has already delivered with Chonkers Chris: the world's grumpiest boy. I suppose it's hardly news to announce I'm all aboard the RE hype train, I practically have a permanent residence there, they reserve a carriage for me and everything. But regardless, I am absolutely sold with everything I've seen so far and barring some kind of horrific news regarding exclusivity (Don't you dare, Sony) I'm happy to endorse Bloodborne Evil: 8. I wait with bated, anxious, breath.
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