Besides the transition from third-person action to slow-burn first-person horror, another tradition that Capcom broke away from with Resident Evil 7 was the series’ otherwise unremarkable naming convention.
Despite being the seventh main installment, the survival horror sequel’s official title hides its numerical designation within the title itself and makes no mention of the fact in box art or other promotional material. As revealed last month during Sony’s PS5 showcase, then, Resident Evil 8 is set to follow in the same footsteps as its predecessor but does the Village name hold any importance beyond that of a stylistic title? The short answer is yes, but to what extent exactly remains unclear.
As part of a recent interview with Famitsu, RE8 producers Tsuyoshi Kanda and Peter Fabiano were posed with the question of why the VIII numeral – incorporated into the Village subtitle – hasn’t led to Resident Evil 8 being the game’s official name, to which the pair responded:
You could call the actual Village another character in the game, and we did that because we would like players to understand that.
When asked for clarification on whether the official abbreviation for Resident Evil 8 was RE8 or Village, Kanda and Fabiano revealed that there “isn’t really an official abbreviation,” and that they would be content for fans to just remember the “Village” moniker. Honestly, we’re not entirely sure what, if any, significance Capcom’s comments have, though at the very least, it appears as if the rural setting is intended to play an integral role in the story it wants to tell.
Resident Evil 8 is scheduled to release in 2021 for Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5 and PC. Have your own theories as to what the studio is alluding to? Sound off in the usual place below!
Published: Jul 3, 2020 09:45 am