Resident Evil Village is so far shaping up to be a heavy-hitting game of the year contender and we’re only in May. The main campaign may be relatively short by today’s standards, but when taking the extra modes, bonus challenges, and hidden secrets into account it truly is the horror game that keeps on giving.
But Capcom’s latest macabre masterpiece also paradoxically keeps some of its most interesting details to itself. Yes, Village has no shortage of points of interest that even the most hardened Resident Evil veterans may not notice on their first playthrough, but still entirely deserve unearthing.
10 Joseph Kendo
One of the most memorable locations in Resident Evil Village was not part of any disquieting gothic estate, deadly reservoirs, or even part of a village. It was just Ethan and Mia’s cozy little home. One thing that especially helps the family abode stand out can be found on the upstairs bookshelf.
Players may notice a self-defense book written by a certain Joseph Kendo but may forget this seemingly mundane name belongs to the brother of Resident Evil 2 gun shop owner Robert Kendo. Joseph also has one of the most impressive resumes in the Resident Evil universe, having trained the S.T.A.R.S. whilst designing the famous Samurai Edge and Leon’s starting pistol in Resident Evil 4.
9 George Trevor
George Trevor is another unseen man of great influence to the world of Resident Evil and has written another book found at Ethan and Mia’s place. This character was a famous New York architect who designed the trap-filled Spencer mansion that serves as the first game’s setting before being murdered for his troubles. There are also some hints suggesting he may also have designed the Baker residence seen in Resident Evil 7.
Trevor’s book is titled A Historical Look Into the Architecture of Eastern Castles and Keeps, which just so happens to be the exact kind of architecture that surrounds the player throughout the rest of Village’s campaign. It seems more than likely that George Trevor designed this game’s locales, as well.
8 Fog and Mirrors
Speaking of Ethan and Mia’s home, the house’s only visible mirror can be found in the bathroom and doesn’t actually reflect anything due to being covered in fog. Other mirrors exist of course, but they’re all covered by sheets.
This may have been implemented as a means to keep Ethan’s face a mystery, but also serves as subtle foreshadowing to the eventual reveal that Mia is really the villainous Mother Miranda in disguise. Mirrors revealing the truth about a monster is one of the oldest tropes of horror fiction — especially concerning vampires. Miranda has more than just a passing affiliation with them so it makes sense that she would want to cover her tracks in such a manner.
7 The Dulvey Incident
Unless you’re the type of player who likes to go over their games with a fine-toothed comb, you may have missed a key piece of finality to Resident Evil VII hidden — yes, you guessed it — in Ethan and Mia’s house.
A newspaper clipping found atop the TV reports that the evil Baker family died from a “natural gas leak.” The implication seems to be that the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance covered up the terrifying truth players know all too well.
6 Throwing a P.T. Party
Straight out of Ethan’s house and into that of mutant dollmaker Donna Beneviento. This villainess’ abode has been widely considered by fans as the single scariest location in the game, but that’s partially thanks to its connection to one of the scariest games of all time.
At this point, it’s hardly controversial to say that Resident Evil’s switch from third to first-person was heavily influenced by Hideo Kojima’s P.T. While the house’s design is almost completely original, the main hallway is an undeniable homage to the classic playable teaser, replicating such minute details as the timing of the phone ring.
5 The Hallucination Dolls
The Beneviento mansion ends on a note just as high as the one it starts on thanks to another reference hardcore horror fans are sure to love. The closing segment calls back to an unreleased Resident Evil 4 prototype informally dubbed “the Hallucination” version by fans.
This unreleased version saw protagonist Leon S. Kennedy hallucinate a group of evil dolls just like the ones seen around house Beneviento that proceed to attack him. But it was scrapped due to the limitations of the Nintendo Gamecube’s hardware. Since it took 16 years for us to finally see the concept brought to life, it’s probably understandable that the 6th generation console couldn’t do it justice.
4 The Duke’s Great Taste in Music
Have you played Resident Evil Village’s Mercenaries mode? Did the theme that plays in the Duke’s room between rounds sound oddly familiar to you, somehow? If so, that’s probably because the track is actually a killer remix of the first Resident Evil game’s already epic save room music.
It’s easily one of the most iconic melodies in a series already overflowing with them, so it’s a bit odd that it would be tucked away in the game’s side content, but it makes for a fun easter egg for Resident Evil fans nonetheless.
3 You Killed the Hero
Killing the undead can quickly grow tedious without a healthy peppering of pickups from defeated foes. But one enemy stands out in this regard by dropping a unique item simply called Ingrid’s necklace. That’s an oddly specific pickup from an otherwise generic zombie.
The answer to this mystery can be found in Resident Evil Village’s Maiden demo, wherein players stepped into the shoes of a young woman named Ingrid as she tried to escape from Lady Dimitrescu. Things didn’t seem to end well for the titular maiden though, as the demo ended with her capture, leading to her apparent death at Ethan’s hands in the main game.
2 That Bobblehead
Does anybody actually like bobbleheads or do people just end up owning them somehow and never get rid of them? Either way, Ethan appears to be in the latter camp. Despite having such a figure on clear display in his house, the protagonist immediately reacts to his bobbling buddy with a surly “Why do I even keep this around?”
This is probably because this bobblehead is identical to the ones that served as collectibles in Resident Evil 7, making it a source of less than pleasant memories for the reluctant hero.
1 4 x 2 = 8
Resident Evil Village seems to take every opportunity it can to riff on the series’ fourth entry. The plot follows the second adventure of an already established Resident Evil protagonist traveling to Europe to investigate a small off-grid town hiding a cocktail of dark secrets blended from an evil cult and a zombie-esque parasite. There’s also the whole rescue a young lady thing.
As if those weren’t enough similarities between the 8th and 4th entries, Resident Evil Village also directly recreates its predecessor’s opening by surrounding the player with monstrous villagers who retreat at the last moment after hearing a tolling bell. Even lycans don’t want to miss a perfectly good game of bingo.
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