Resident Evil 8 Village has certainly made a strong impression with its recent reveal trailer, showcasing a more supernatural or folklorian horror aesthetic and direction, with werewolves and other ominous themes. But underneath its surface are the apparent visual and thematic similarities in some of Resident Evil 8's trailer and game content cut from earlier versions of Resident Evil 4 a long time ago. This may suggest where some of Resident Evil 8's inspiration was drawn from, in speculation any way.
Hallucinations and insanity characteristics are rumored to play a strong role in Resident Evil 8 Village. This rumor comes from Dusk Golem, also known as the AestheticGamer, so there is some room for credibility given much of his past rumors turned out to be true regarding Resident Evil 8, including its overall setting. It may just be a coincidence, but one of the original versions of Resident Evil 4, a 2003 build, is known as the "Hallucination build."
Earlier Resident Evil 4 Builds
Resident Evil 8 also shares some thematic characteristics with the scrapped versions of the earlier Resident Evil builds, the earlier one known as the "Castle build" before the "Hallucination build" of Resident Evil 4. Both versions would have included some of the same plot elements, such as taking place in a castle, so there may be some inspiration for Resident Evil 8's themes which may have drawn from these concepts.
The "Hallucination build" of Resident Evil 4 was essentially going to have developers create a hallucinatory version of each area or room in the game, with hallucinatory enemy encounters which could happen randomly. Due to memory issues with the GameCube hardware at the time, the technology made this theme difficult to bring to fruition and it was ultimately scrapped. With next-generation technology, such a system could be deployed much more easily to create a dynamic village full of terror and exploration in Resident Evil 8.
Hiroyuki Kobayashi, the original Producer of Resident Evil 4, stated that he initially wanted Resident Evil 4 to have more supernatural horror elements similar to the Silent Hill franchise as a means to make Resident Evil more atmospheric. Given the capabilities of next-generation technology and much speculation of Resident Evil 8's village being a living and breathing life of its own, it sounds to be a ripe ground for triggering confusion and distress in players. Resident Evil 8's aesthetic and art style certainly look to be heading into similar directions of psychological horror which early Resident Evil 4 builds aimed for, and they all include a large medieval castle.
Furthermore, there are other rumors as well which seem to resemble much similarity to other scrapped themes and content from Resident Evil 4's earlier builds. Another rumor from AestheticGamer suggests that Resident Evil 8 will have a castle siege that will include zombies with armor and swords. Armored versions of Resident Evil 4's Ganado, the enemies infected with the Las Plagas parasites in Resident Evil 4, were also included in some context at some point in Resident Evil 4's early game development, but were scrapped.
Also, there is a short clip in the Resident Evil 8 trailer showing a woman, presumably a witch, with a tornado of insects buzzing around her in mass. This matches other previous rumors by the AestheticGamer that Resident Evil 8 will include an invincible Witch that "turns into a swarm of insects if you shoot her enough." Graphically, the technology and theme looks similar to the "black fog" monster from another scrapped version of Resident Evil 4. The original "black fog" creature was also scrapped due to technological limitations at the time, and the graphics required to present it properly. Though fog and insects are very distinct from each other, obviously, the graphical technology used to design the concept looks to share some similarities.
Furthermore, in the original plot for this version of Resident Evil 4, known as the "mist version," it was revealed to be a new virus created by Albert Wesker and his HCF. Rumors suggest that Resident Evil 8 will be a direct sequel to Resident Evil 7 and will address the origins of the Mold fungal infection, as well as Eveline. It may be relevant to note that the Mold's original creation had involvement of Albert Wesker's HCF paramilitary force, though the exact capacity and involvement is a mystery thus far.
Resident Evil 8 Utilizes Psychological Horror
Depending how and if hallucinations are used, this could present an additional theory for some of the game's more supernatural elements, such as the inclusion of what appears to be werewolves and occult themes. It may be possible that some of the supernatural elements may be hallucinations, and they may actually be something else in reality. It is also yet another possible explanation for hris Redfield's violent behavior in which he seemingly murders Ethan's wife, Mia, with a pistol. That, too, could just be a hallucination of sorts. For example, it may not really be Mia or it may not actually have happened at all. It may even be one of many psychological tricks or mind games projected by the Mold or its leader, in order to turn allies on each other. It should be noted that Ethan is still likely infected with the Mold at the end of Resident Evil 7.
Whatever plot elements transpire, it is clear that Resident Evil 8 will be delving deeper into the dire of psychological horror, which the original Resident Evil 4 aimed for long before its final version. Another rumor from the AestheticGamer also stated that Resident Evil 8 Village was originally going to be Resident Evil Revelations 3. The case for psychological horror becomes stronger in taking into account the rumor that Alex Wesker is a returning antagonist in Resident Evil 8, and she was the main antagonist in Resident Evil Revelations 2. Her style, technique and strategy in deployment of bio-weaponry has always been one of psychological tactics.
It should first be mentioned that Alex Wesker was part of Project W, which was a eugenics program by Umbrella's founder, Oswell Spencer. She was part of an experiment, along with Albert Wesker, to become superhumans who could lead and shape mankind's future, according to Spencer's twisted vision for the world.
Are Alex Wesker's Mind Games Back Too?
In Resident Evil Revelations 2, Alex Wesker created the T-Phobos virus which would only mutate human hosts into zombies if their mentality could not handle a certain threshold of fear when they endure it, with the emotion of fear being the mutation's trigger point. The island setting of Resident Evil Revelations 2 became Alex Wesker's testing grounds in order to identify hosts with the psychological temperament to handle more powerful experiments which require certain psychological thresholds, such as the Urburus virus.
Perhaps Resident Evil 8's village is yet another one of Alex Wesker's self-contained experimental simulations for bio-weaponry, and the psychological properties of the Mold and its ability to remotely interfere with the thoughts of hosts would certainly fit in well for this type of horror architecture. It may also explain Resident Evil 8's supernatural elements as a means to foster psychological horror, but without abandoning biological and scientific explanations for their existence, rather than delving into the supernatural realm.
In all the of Resident Evil 4's early builds, which were scrapped, the castle Leon Kennedy is shown exploring is one that belongs to Oswell Spencer, the founder of Umbrella. Given some of the similarities between Resident Evil 8 and scrapped Resident Evil 4 content and themes, including a large castle overlooking the village, along with an Umbrella emblem shown in the trailer, it is entirely possible that Resident Evil 8's trailer may be referencing Oswell Spencer in promising that "his story comes to a close," and it may be his castle as well. This is despite more popular belief that the trailer is referring to Chris Redfield or Ethan Winters story.
While it may just be a coincidence in regards to some of the similarities between scrapped Resident Evil 4 content and Resident Evil 8's, it is apparent that in the most general sense, Capcom is taking Resident Evil 8 in a direction that the original Resident Evil 4 at least aspired to in some factor originally.
Resident Evil 8 Village is set to release in 2021 for the PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.