The upcoming Resident Evil Village is set to provide players with an unforgettable horror experience. Building on the foundation of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard while also taking inspiration from earlier entries in the series such as Resident Evil 4 has put it in a position to satisfy both old and new fans of the series.
Village is set to continue the story of Resident Evil 7's protagonist, Ethan Winters. As the game's May 7 release date draws ever closer, now is the perfect time for players to take a look back at the previous entry in the series and remind themselves of the hell that Ethan endured.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard opens with protagonist Ethan Winters being lured to an old plantation in Louisiana. He has received a message from his wife, Mia, asking him to head to said plantation, but Mia had been presumed dead for years after she mysteriously vanished. Naturally, this is a trap, and Ethan is soon attacked by both his own wife and the deranged Baker family. Jack Baker, the head of the household, knocks Ethan out after he is exhausted from battle with Mia.
When he awakes, he is seated at the Baker dinner table as they attempt to force-feed him assorted viscera. The family consists of Jack, his wife Marguerite, their son Lucas and a comatose elderly woman in a wheelchair. Ethen manages to escape while the family is distracted and is hotly pursued by Jack, who displays phenomenal strength, endurance and the ability to regenerate from fatal wounds. Ethan also discovers horrific monstrosities coated in sludge known as the Molded in the house's basement, giving him even more to contend with. Winters receives a phone call from Zoe, the Baker's other daughter, who explains that the family (and Mia) has been infected with a virus, and a cure must be found.
In search of the ingredients required to produce a serum, Ethan is forced to explore the plantation grounds and deal with Molded. Ethan kills a mutated Marguerite, rescues both Mia and Zoe from the sadistic Lucas and finally defeats Jack after he himself mutates. These events were all punctuated with strange visions of a little girl. Finally, with only one dose of the cure left, Ethan must choose to save Mia or Zoe. Canonically, Mia is chosen and the two escape by boat while Ethan assures Zoe he will send help for her (which is confirmed in the End of Zoe DLC, where Chris Redfield rescues her).
When the duo is capsized, they are split up aboard a wrecked tanker. Mia regains her memories; she was a secret agent for a shadowy organization that developed a bio-weapon known as "Eveline," who is revealed to be the mysterious little girl from Ethan's visions. Eveline was obsessed with the idea of having a family and desperately wanted Mia to be her mother. Eveline used her ability to tamper with victim's minds to infect Mia and the Bakers, who then attempted to lure Ethan, all so she could build the family she wanted. Mia obtains a sample of Eveline's genetic material on the tanker, which was the same one used to transport her, and gives it to Ethan. She then uses the last of her sanity to seal Ethan out of the ship before Eveline once again controls her.
Ethan discovers a hidden laboratory in a nearby salt mine, where he learns the truth for himself. He uses the lab's equipment alongside the genetic material gained from Mia to create a toxin to kill Eveline and end the madness for good. After making his way through the mine, he arrives back at the Baker house, overcoming hallucinations brought on by Eveline and managing to inject her with the toxin. The bio-weapon then reverts into its real form, the comatose woman in the wheelchair, revealing that all along. Eveline had been rapidly aging. Eveline transforms into a giant monster for the final battle just as Umbrella arrives, assisting Ethan by arming him with a powerful anti-BOW weapon.
Ethan and Mia are both extracted by none other than Chris Redfield, who is now working for a seemingly reformed Umbrella Corporation. Following the events of the main game, Chris sets out to deal with Lucas Baker in the Not a Hero DLC. The salt mine lab was Lucas', and he was immunized to Eveline's mind control by the shadowy organization that created Eveline, The Connections, in exchange for data on her performance. Chris battles through tunnels of Molded and traps before finally reaching Lucas. The BSAA agent kills him just in time; Lucas had betrayed The Connections and attempted to transfer all of the obtained data on Eveline to an unknown party. The Bakers, and Eveline's infection, had finally been dealt with.
Resident Evil Village looks set to surprise players in many ways. The initial trailer featured Chris arriving at Ethan and Mia's home before murdering Mia and stealing Winters' child. Fans have been left to wonder what exactly could be the justification for this. Chris Redfield is a hero, so why would he murder Mia after saving her at the end of Resident Evil 7? Why did he join Umbrella? Fans won't have to wait long for these questions and more to be answered. Ethan's story will soon continue and players will be able to enter a brand new hell: a mysterious European village ruled over by four mutant lords as he searches for Chris, his daughter Rosemary and answers.
Developed and published by Capcom, Resident Evil Village will be released for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC and Google Stadia on May 7.