Resident Evil Village is way scarier than you might expect

Is Resident Evil Village less focused on horror scares than Resident Evil 7? Well, it’s tricky, because each section of the game feels super different. Running from Lady Dimitrescu in her castle is certainly thrilling, but Ethan ultimately puts an end to that threat with a shotgun, so it loses some of that scare factor.

This was an intentional decision. In an interview with Axios Gaming, Capcom producer Tsuyoshi Kanda said that he didn’t want Resident Evil Village players to be “in constant fear,” and that the game is less scary, overall, than Resident Evil 7. Sure enough, parts of the game are just a little scary, or even action-oriented. But the second major section, with House Beneviento, is when stuff really starts to get wild — and when a ton of scares are concentrated into a small space.

[Ed. note: This article contains spoilers for Resident Evil Village.]

Ethan escapes from Castle Dimitrescu none the worse for wear — he even manages to heal some of the damage done to his poor, fleshy hands. He discovers that the titular village is run by Mother Miranda and four noble houses. Each house is pretty different; characters like Heisenberg and Lady Dimitrescu argue with each other about the best way to approach things. Donna Beneviento, the second Lord, has a super fucked-up lair.

Donna speaks to the player through her doll, Angie. If you’re at all concerned about creepy haunted dolls, this is alarming enough. But, in escaping from Donna, Ethan encounters an even more terrifying threat: a giant baby. And Ethan has no weapons to take that baby down.

This baby is even deadlier than Lady Dimitrescu; it can one-shot kill Ethan, eating him feet first while cooing “da da yummy.” You can hear the wet, squelching footsteps of the baby from afar, and the heavy thump of its umbilical cord hitting the floor as it searches for you.

This section of the game would feel right at home in Outlast 2 or P.T., and it’s hugely effective at being scary as hell. Ethan is worried about his baby daughter, who was stolen by a huge Chris Redfield at the start of the game and now seems to be the core element of some mysterious evil ritual from big bad Mother Miranda. Ethan has to face that fear, quite literally, and it culminates in a sequence where you have to wait for a slow, rickety elevator while the big baby shambles behind you in a dark hallway.

The Beneviento section is pretty short, but it’s also incredibly intense. Let’s just say that when I now hear the words “Boss Baby,” I will no longer be thinking about the Dreamworks movies. Instead, I’ll be sweating profusely and thinking about Resident Evil Village. I do not want to see the baby, please. That thing ought to stay in the dark.

Source: https://www.polygon.com/22423396/resident-evil-village-scary-house-beneviento-monster-baby