Next year’s installment in Capcom’s famed survival horror series is going to be an all-new entry, that much we know, but from what we’ve seen so far, there’s no denying that it shares some similar DNA with Resident Evil 4. Like the latter, Village is set in the rural European countryside where Ethan, his wife Mia and their newborn child have settled down following the events of 7.
As luck would have it, however, the neighbor to this otherwise quaint little hamlet is a gigantic castle not dissimilar in appearance to the Salazar estate seen in 4. The obvious environmental similarities will be obvious to every longtime fan of the series, of course, and while that sense of déjà vu is likely intentional on Capcom’s part, it remains to be seen if they have any significance beyond fan service.
While we don’t for a second believe that Village and the rumored remake of Resident Evil 4 are one and the same (though how crazy would that be?), many are certainly of the assumption that something bigger is afoot here. The exact geographical location of Ethan and Mia’s new home has yet to be revealed, remember, suggesting that the answer holds some sort of significance. Could Village take place in the very same area of Spain that Leon infiltrated years prior in order to save Ashley from the clutches of Saddler and his Las Plagas-infected cronies?
It’s certainly possible. Leon and the US government weren’t the only two parties aware of what took place in 2005 and while the Plagas outbreak was originally contained, who’s to say the parasite hasn’t resurfaced yet again? Somewhat of a stretch, for sure, but if this and last year’s remakes of classic Resident Evil games has made one thing abundantly clear, it’s that Capcom wants to make the series’ overarching narrative more cohesive, and this could just be the latest step in that campaign.
In any case, we’ll hopefully get some answers to the above with a new trailer expected to drop at Tokyo Game Show later this month, so stay tuned.
