Despite boasting a rich universe filled with immediately recognizable faces, Capcom decided back in 2017 that a soft reboot of its most popular franchise required a fresh perspective to deliver its story, and thus Ethan Winters was imagined into existence.
Morimasa Sato, the character’s creator and director of Resident Evil Village, recently spoke to IGN in an interview discussing his attachment to Ethan and why, from a very early stage, he knew it was the ordinary civilian that’d ultimately be the hero of RE7‘s successor. Due to its status as the first-ever mainline entry to adopt a first-person perspective, Sato recalls how nobody on the development team was sure how the title would be received and that the success of a sequel – which had already entered production in 2016 – largely depended on how well fans adapted to the drastic change.
Only in light of the overwhelming praise heaped on Resident Evil 7 did Sato opt to have Ethan come back, in turn leading to Village‘s status as a direct continuation of its predecessor.
Unfortunately, however, that also means more tragedy and despair await the series’ youngest protagonist, including becoming a widower mere minutes into this year’s installment thanks to the actions of a seemingly unhinged Chris Redfield. Robbed of his wife and daughter (the latter of whom is believed to still be alive) by the former S.T.A.R.S. member, the survivor of Eveline and the Baker family’s rampage years earlier is left with no other option than to face an all-new nightmare to retrieve Rose.
It goes without saying, of course, that there are a lot of plot elements intentionally being omitted in order to keep players on their toes and you’ll just have to go hands-on with Resident Evil Village to get the answers. While you count down the hours until release, see here for WGTC’s review