For the Resident Evil series, the intellectual property continue to thrives under the Capcom label through different forms. As of late, the franchise faces a rebirth of sorts with the second and now third entries being remade for the standard medium. But, of course, the Japanese firm still works to bring new and unique installments as time progresses as well.

Scheduled for this year, Resident Evil 8 is coming in hot for the now-current console generation. Announced back in June 2020 during the PlayStation 5 showcase, Capcom unveiled a reveal trailer taking not only the protagonist Ethan Winters, but the series to its first European-based setting. Gathered from the returning character, the game will be a continuation of the story from Resident Evil 7.

Although the title is set to arrive sometime in 2021, there is still little context behind the project or an estimated release window. It was suggested the game could potentially face a last-generation port for Xbox One & PlayStation 4, now the ports are official. But during the recent Resident Evil Showcase that took place on Thursday, fans can look forward to this May when the game arrives.

You can watch the showcase in its entirety in the video below:

In the aforementioned livestream, Capcom goes to disclose a stand-alone demo for the game is available now. But more interesting, the hands-on demonstration is only unique to PlayStation 5 (mostly due to marketing arrangements), and it takes place outside of the main Resident Evil 8 experience.

“The Maiden demo doesn’t take place during the main story of Resident Evil Village,”Producer Peter Fabiano answers in a post-stream interview. “Maiden was originally designed as a visual demo that would allow you to explore the inside of Dimitrescu Castle, but it evolved to include a short story and puzzle solving.

“Maiden is not the name of any person, but instead it symbolizes the protagonist, a girl who’s trapped in Dimitrescu Castle.” As for the intentions provided by Capcom for the demo, Fabiano continues by explaining that the developer wants to showcase the new experience at the highest resolution and performance in franchise history. “For Maiden, or rather, for Resident Evil Village, we wanted to create a game with beautiful graphics, high frame rate, and short loading times that don’t spoil people’s immersive experience of the game.

He adds, “the technology we mentioned in the showcase aided the director in realizing his vision of how the game is played, and the art director’s vision of how he wanted the game to look.” Most notably from the Resident Evil Showcase this week revealed the Resident Evil 4-like item management system will be returning to the series after more than a decade. The attribute went on to inspire other games like Deus Ex, for example.

One note: there is no sign of a virtual reality version as of yet. According to a rumor in which Gematsu corroborated through reliable sources, the game is expected to receive support for the peripheral alike its predecessor. But, Capcom has yet to comment on the version as of yet. You can read the initial report by heading here.

Are you excited for Resident Evil 8?

Resident Evil 8 launches on May 7, 2021 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Source: PlayStation Blog