The most recent Resident Evil Village trailer revealed, alongside some spooky and action-fuelled CGI snapshots of the upcoming PC game, a very pretty art book scene. Playing out to (what is presumably) character Mia’s narration of “just a local tale”, the sequence showed stylised figures exploring a tangled forest. If you were wondering whether the sequence would feature in the horror game itself, it seems the answer is yes – but the scenes won’t be playable.
Author of Itchy, Tasty: An Unofficial History of Resident Evil and member of the series’ online community Alex Aniel has posted a series of translations of a Resident Evil Village feature in the most recent issue of Famitsu magazine. Alongside other nuggets of information about the survival game’s plot, characters, and why the village is like its own protagonist, an interview with producers Tsuyoshi Kanda and Pete Fabiano reveals the art book scenes are (via Aniel’s translation) “not playable, but the scenes do appear in the game”.
Elsewhere, the article indicates that (again, via translation) “Mia’s picture book tells a story similar to what Ethan seems to be encountering in the village”, prompting the question of whether it might be a clue to solving the game’s plot.
Elsewhere in the feature, it’s confirmed that Ethan was indeed brought to the spooky, eponymous village by Chris Redfield, though the producers can’t reveal exactly what he’s up to just yet. It also discusses some other intriguing points, such as those unusual-looking clues and symbols in the latest trailer, and those scary creatures that seem to be protecting the scared villagers – it seems they don’t speak a language, as such, but do behave as a “pack” or “swarm”, and “can even wield weapons”. Eek.
Q: We were quite infatuated with the art book scene. Do these scenes appear in the actual game?
A: They’re not playable, but the scenes do appear in the game.
— Alex Aniel (@cvxfreak) October 14, 2020
You can find out more via Aniel’s thread here or head to the Famitsu website here. There’s no Resident Evil Village release date to jot down just yet, but it’s due to drop sometime next year.