There's certainly many in the gaming community who are looking forward to the release of Resident Evil Village and for good reason. With the return of the first-person camera perspective and the protagonist of Resident Evil 7, Resident Evil Village looks to expand upon everything that was first introduced in the previous entry. However, it seems that for this newest installment, Capcom will be pulling a lot of inspiration from what many fans consider to be the best game in the series.
Resident Evil 4 left a tremendous impact on not just the Resident Evil franchise itself, but also the entire gaming community. With the inclusion of a fixed, third-person camera perspective, more responsive and accurate shooting mechanics, and memorable setting, the game single-handedly took Resident Evil into new and exciting directions. Now, it seems that the developers of Resident Evil Village are looking to recapture the essence of Resident Evil 4.
In a recent interview with IGN, director Morimasa Sato stated that a lot of inspiration was drawn from Resident Evil 4 going into the development of Resident Evil Village. The village setting in particular was introduced in the earliest stages of planning for the newest game. The producer of the game, Tsuyoshi Kanda, followed up by saying that Resident Evil Village would essentially be a version of Resident Evil 7 that inherited the DNA of Resident Evil 4.
Many fans drew comparisons to Resident Evil 4 when Resident Evil Village first announced and now, Capcom has all but confirmed that those creative decisions were intentional. Apart from setting, even the stories of Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil Village are fairly similar. In Resident Evil 4, Leon Kennedy is sent in to rescue the president's daughter, and in Resident Evil Village, Ethan Winters is tasked with rescuing his own daughter.
In any case, Kanda also mentioned that the structure of Resident Evil Village was built with the essence of Resident Evil 4 in mind, so fans should expect to see many elements presented in Resident Evil Village that further remind them of Resident Evil 4. One of the more prominent being the homage to the Merchant in Resident Evil 4 in the form of "The Duke."
It will be interesting to see what comes of Resident Evil Village. Its gameplay demos have certainly left a lasting impression on most, and with the release of the game just one week away, fans won't have to wait much longer now. If Resident Evil 7 was meant to serve as a modern reboot that "inherited the DNA of Resident Evil 1," then it seems as though this game looks to do the same with Resident Evil 4.
Resident Evil Village is set to launch May 7 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: IGN
