Resident Evil Village coming in May, watch the bonkers new trailer and gameplay

In today's Resident Evil Showcase, Capcom announced a May 7, 2021 release date for Resident Evil Village, alongside a batshit new trailer and gameplay demonstration. 

The trailer shows glimpses of who Ethan Winters will meet in the castle, including a troupe of those tall vampire women the internet fell in love with last week. An extra spicy detail: They're made of bugs! One of them jabs a sickle into his foot from the get-go. Friendly bunch.

Our first extended look at the combat hews very close to the first-person action of Resident Evil 7, but with increased scale and enemy variety. We get a look at hordes of mangy, hooded rat men in a pitch black dungeon, and full-on werewolves accompanied by a shed-sized monster wielding an even bigger hammer. We'll also get into it with the bug women, but shooting them doesn't end well for Ethan. 

VIDEO: The full Resident Evil Village showcase. Action starts at 23 minutes.

Resident Evil 4's grid-based inventory returns, alongside a weapon crafting system. It's a welcome addition and a necessary one, seeing the size of the stuff we'll be shooting at. In another very clear nod to Resident Evil 4, Village has a recurring merchant character, too, named The Duke. He looks like a pretty odd, goofy guy, and he'll be more of an integrated character this time. Ethan will find The Duke in new situations with fresh commentary throughout Village. 

Besides a quick promise that Village will also feature the series' usual puzzles involving statuary, odd keys and bizarre mechanisms, Capcom announced an exclusive demo for PlayStation 5 owners. We'll get one of our people to try it out.

James Davenport

James is stuck in an endless loop, playing the Dark Souls games on repeat until Elden Ring and Silksong set him free. He's a truffle pig for indie horror and weird FPS games too, seeking out games that actively hurt to play. Otherwise he's wandering Austin, identifying mushrooms and doodling grackles.