Capcom doesn’t just consider the upcoming Resident Evil Village to be its best survival horror experience yet, but the undisputed best of the genre.
That’s according to producer Peter Fabiano, at least, who has been keen to sing the sequel’s praises in a recent interview. Speaking to Official PlayStation Magazine, he breaks down how the decision near the start of development to carry on telling the series’ ongoing story through the eyes of protagonist Ethan Winters helped the company visualize where the narrative was headed at an early stage. “The team grew quite attached to Ethan as a character so we know we wanted to continue his story arc,” recalls Fabiano, adding: “We wanted to continue to have players experience the game through [his eyes]”.
Knowing from the outset that Village would be a direct sequel to 7 enabled staff to keep their “vision on target,” continues Fabiano, with the end result being what they collectively consider the “best survival horror game to date.”
An incredibly bold statement to make, then, though given what we’ve seen so far of the next chapter in Capcom’s flagship IP, there’s certainly reason to believe it. Besides the incredible world which intentionally draws heavy inspiration from 2005’s landmark Resident Evil 4, the eighth installment is bursting at the seams with an instantly memorable supporting cast. While Chris Redfield’s role has yet to be determined, his presence alone helps to tie the entire franchise together while others, such as Lady Dimitrescu, have kicked up a massive fuss on social media already.
Interestingly, Fabiano makes sure to reiterate that while the aforementioned Castellan and her daughters may have abilities most would describe as vampiric in nature, said supernatural elements won’t feel out of place and that Village will “take into account the overall world and history of the series.” If you weren’t already pumped for Ethan’s return, that ought to do it.
Resident Evil Village is out May 7th for current and last-gen consoles as well as PC. Don’t miss it.