Previously Resident Evil 8 was rumored to be poised to “piss off long term fans.” Or so the claim was made by known Resident Evil leaker AestheticGamer1 who at the time was in the midst of damage control after going woke and losing a significant amount of his credibility in the process. At the time of reporting, I speculated the “pissed off fans” sentiment was mere resentment following the blow-back he received following the interjection of politics into his platform to virtue signal then play the victim when people wanted nothing of it.

Information from multiple sources has now surfaced revealing details from the various builds of the demo Resident Evil Ambassadors were invited to play back in March. From this point forward consider what you are about to read potential spoilers for the game, but as always take what you read with a grain of salt despite the multitudes of reports.

Overall the game does not appear to be overly controversial. Titled Resident Evil 8: Village or Village Resident Evil with the “Vill” being the roman numeral 8, the game will be set in a remote and highly “spiritual” village. One source reports this spiritually will be akin to the same variety seen in Resident Evil 4, which could mean series antagonists Los Illuminados have a role to play in the game’s events, but this is not confirmed nor hinted at by any of the reports. Though it is worth noting all builds played appear to be set in early stages of the game, and such a revelation would be reserved for later in the game, so it cannot be ruled out either.

Ethan, now a more witty “Ash Williams” esque character will return as the protagonist having moved to this village with his wife Mia after the events of Resident Evil 8 in order to lay low. Why they need to do so was not specified, but likely involves Blue Umbrella and both Ethan and Mia’s affiliation with various corporations dabbling in bioweaponry.

During the opening sequence, a villager shows up acting funny before turning into a zombie causing an outbreak in the village. Blue Umbrella then shows up slaughters most of the village with Chris Redfield reported to have done something to Mia and her child leaving him to be a potential villain. Ethan does not see this directly only seeing Redfield leaving in a helicopter, but will see it in various visions/hallucinations as the game proceeds forward. Leaving it debatable if Redfield has gone to the dark side or if “The Witch” is merely messing with Ethan attempting to break down his relations and sow doubt in his mind. With one build offering a path that leads Ethan into taking refuge with some survivors only for one to hallucinate causing him to become violent slaughtering the other survivors this is a distinct possibility that should not be ruled out.

Most of the controversy is supposed to revolve around Chris Redfield. Were they to indeed denigrate his character that would indeed invoke ire from long term fans, but to presume that is what has happened from the earliest moments of a game that obvious is setting you up for numerous plot twists is absolute folly. Whether they will or not, it is reported Chris does have a new model that has been overhauled from 7s to more properly look like the character, so the developers are taking his implementation seriously.

In a later section, Ethan will run into werewolves leaving him with one of two possibilities depending on the build. In one he has no weapon and must run away. In the other, he has the pistol likely used from the earlier segment with the zombies. This weapon proves ineffective against the beasts forcing Ethan to run anyway until he acquires a shotgun which proves vastly more effective against the werewolves. Shortly after the tables have turned the werewolves are reported to be called off of their attack by The Witch, a figure described having a distinct laugh, an ability to melt into bugs when injured, and will pursue Ethan throughout the course of the game. Along with a “Gorilla-like” monster in chains carrying a staff. Both will lead the werewolves off to another location, and this is where the demo effectively ends.

Overall the game is reported to be a mixture of Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 3.5. With the latter being the version of Resident Evil 4 that was axed in development following the lackluster sales of the Gamecube re-releases of the series. It had a strong focus on spirituality that turned out to be vivid hallucinations that resulted from a virus the main character was infected with. A trait Resident Evil 8 potentially carries, but it is unknown if it will go “it was science all along,” or “some things are in fact spiritual” route with its overarching narrative.

Regardless, provided it isn’t attempting to take potshots at religion or any particular religion it hardly seems particularly controversial or able to piss off hardcore fans whom have long talked about how awesome Resident Evil 3.5 would have been had it been finished.

Further, with no confirmation that Chris Redfield is even a villain; there is no means to presume his capacity in the game will enrage long term fans. Fans who eagerly debated whether it was actually Chris Redfield in Resident Evil 7. How he went even or if he even was evil and not undercover. Only to be disappointed with the eventual expansion’s direction. That fans who came up with vastly better plot ideas would find some of them utilized in RE8 offensive is absurd.

Perhaps the addition of new elements will be a departure for the series, but with them already having existed inside Resident Evil 3.5 it is hardly entirely revolutionary. With the game being handled by the main Resident Evil team it is unlikely they will go the western route of denigrating religion or proclaiming spiritually to be non-existent.

As it approaches release we’ll learn more, but as of right now the “pissed off hardcore fans” quip appears to be more a mountain out of a molehill. By a stressed out and bitter leaker.

(Thanks for the tip Hakase)