• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Resident Evil Village Maiden Demo on PS5 available Jan 21, 2021

kingpotato

Ask me about my Stream Deck

To borrow a line from Barry Burton in the original Resident Evil, “Wow, what a showcase!” To all the old-school fans and those who were welcomed to the family with Resident Evil 7 biohazard, we hope you enjoyed today’s presentation.

Now that the Resident Evil Showcase is a wrap, there’s quite a lot to talk about. We’ve revealed the launch date of Resident Evil Village as May 7, 2021 on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4, presented gameplay footage of a timeworn castle and its deranged denizens, put the spotlight on a new trailer that sheds a bit of light on the world of Resident Evil Village, revealed the rotund merchant known only as The Duke, and hinted at another malevolent person that Ethan Winters will have to contend with. And, of course, for the 25th anniversary of Resident Evil, we unveiled Resident Evil Re:Verse, an online multiplayer game featuring fan-favorite characters that will be available for free to those that buy Resident Evil Village. We’ll have more on that soon.


Play VideoResident Evil Village Maiden demo hits PS5 today
Watch the full Resident Evil Showcase.

For those of you wondering about that tall, mysterious woman that’s been featured in various RE Village trailers so far… don’t worry, we see you. She’s the highlight of the latest trailer, literally standing head and shoulders above a trio of other women that also seem to call the gothic castle their home. The identities of all four remain shrouded in mystery, but for now, one thing we can give you is a name for everyone’s favorite towering mistress: Lady Dimitrescu. One thing we can’t give you: How she can find a hat in her size.


The imposing Lady Dimitrescu towers over protagonist Ethan Winters.

Of course, we had one more major drop to share with you all: a stand-alone demo for Resident Evil Village, known as Maiden, that’s available for download only on PlayStation 5 starting today. As Resident Evil Village Producer Peter Fabiano mentioned in the Resident Evil Showcase, you don’t play as Ethan Winters in this demo. Rather, you’ll be playing as a character known only as “the maiden.” Unable to fight or even block, you’ll be in control of this character as she attempts to escape from Dimitrescu Castle. This is a stand-alone separate experience from the main game that is a kind of short story set within the world of RE Village.

Because of this unique take on a demo, we asked Peter why the team decided to create a demo separate from the main game, and how they used the power of PS5 to make it happen. So, without further ado….


The maiden
We asked Peter about who the protagonist of this demo is, as she’s only known as “the maiden.” As Peter explains it, “Maiden is not the name of any person, but instead it symbolizes the protagonist, a girl who’s trapped in Dimitrescu Castle.” Rather than playing as Ethan and seeing a part of his story, the character in this demo is separate from the main story of Resident Evil Village. According to Peter, both the maiden’s story and Ethan’s story take place at different times.

“The Maiden demo doesn’t take place during the main story of Resident Evil Village. 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.” Long-time fans of Resident Evil are familiar with various castles that have appeared throughout the series, so they should feel right at home in this one, too. With RE Village and Maiden taking place in the same place but not the same time, it left us wondering if the two would be tied together somehow.

The experience
There might be a few things that eagle-eyed players should look out for as they wander the castle in search of an exit, so we asked Peter if there was anything the team wanted them to notice as they explore. “Maiden is a demo that’s separate from Resident Evil Village,” he explained. “However, it does take place in the same world as RE Village does.” He even suggests that there are a few nods between the demo and the full game, ones that you’ll only be able to catch if you play both. “When you play Resident Evil Village, or, perhaps, you come back to Maiden after playing the main game, you might discover the connections they have to each other.”

We won’t spoil the fun of figuring out the links between the two games, of course, but we do hope you have fun exploring both the demo for now, and then come back to it with fresh eyes once the full game is released so you can find out for yourself what those links are!


Resident Evil Village’s inventory shares some similarities with RE4’s.

The technology
Finally, we asked about the Maiden demo being on PlayStation 5, and how the team took advantage of the technology that the PS5 offers. Simply put, “you’ll be able to enjoy the ray tracing and 3D Audio that PS5 offers,” according to Pete. The demo is designed to take full advantage of tech that will also be included in RE Village, so Maiden also functions as a sneak peek at the next-gen leap for survival horror. Of course, we also had to press Peter a bit about his comments during the RE Showcase about how art design and technology come together to create such a hauntingly beautiful and detailed environment.

“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. 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.” You’ll see this reflected in both the full game and the demo in the environments, objects, and character models, right down to the smallest details.


Buy, sell, and upgrade weapons with RE Village’s enigmatic merchant, The Duke.

That about wraps it up for now; as a reminder, the Maiden demo for Resident Evil Village will be available starting today on PS5. You can also pre-order the game on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 via PS Store to secure a bonus exclusive mini soundtrack. Don’t have a PS5 yet? Don’t worry; PS4 purchases of Resident Evil Village will be entitled to a digital upgrade to the PS5 version at no additional cost.* A Deluxe Edition is also available for both platforms, which will include various in-game perks reminiscent of Resident Evil 7 biohazard. This includes swapping save room music, changing the device you save on from a typewriter to a tape recorder, a “found footage” visual filter, and other fun bonuses.

For those looking for the ultimate conversation starter, a Collector’s Edition is available for both platforms from select retailers that includes all of the above, plus a Chris Redfield figure, art book, reversible cloth map, a special Collector’s Edition box and SteelBook case. Keep an eye out for the Maiden demo, and don’t forget – Resident Evil Village will launch on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 on May 7, 2021. Purchase of the game also includes access to the online multiplayer game Resident Evil Re:Verse.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
I don't hate P.T. but I hate what its done to survival horror genre.
robert-downey-jr-face-palm.gif
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
RE7’s Beginning Hour wasn’t exactly the second coming. It was a very moody look into the world. I downloaded this, but I can’t get to it until later.
 

ethomaz

Banned
I can’t play because my 2012 PLASMA is on technical support... seems like the Z board failed and the guys is having a hard time to find circuit replacements for that old model.

It is already 3 days.

I’m already starting to put in my head I will need to buy a new TV.
 
Last edited:

MiguelItUp

Member
Meh. As a tech demo the controls feel sluggish and some of the textures aren't even that good

EsSyMCGW8AIWJoC
Ah, I personally wouldn't have control expectations on tech demos, lol. The final product will be fine I'm sure. Muddied textures wouldn't surprise me. This whole thing feels pointless. I feel like it was quickly put together honestly.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Yeah that was super short, graphics are nice artistically, would look great in a Resident Evil game.
Seems they replaced The Family with Vampires
nice to hear music though, shame it's wasted on this.
 

Fake

Member
Watching the demo, nothing special. Almost like Outlast to be sure.

Damn the tall lady at the end
 
Just finished playing it.
The demo is really short, 30 min max if you take your time. Graphics are ok but obviously being held back by last gen.
As people said before, the actual castle is really nice, but I think we won't be spending to much time inside it in the final game, and I doubt the outdoors will look this pretty.

Kinda disappointed so far
 

MiguelItUp

Member
Kinda disappointed so far
The majority apparently feel that way, it's a shame really. Watched Aris stream it and it took the wind out of his sails so bad he stopped streaming early, lol.

I wonder if the future demo will be more of an actual demo that functions like the RE7 one did. This just seems like some random exclusive content they threw together for Sony.
 
I wonder if the future demo will be more of an actual demo that functions like the RE7 one did. This just seems like some random exclusive content they threw together for Sony.

100% this.
I'm sure the next demo will feature a bit of combat, perhaps outside the castle. Let's see, but unfortunately I'm not optimistic now =/
 
The majority apparently feel that way, it's a shame really. Watched Aris stream it and it took the wind out of his sails so bad he stopped streaming early, lol.

I wonder if the future demo will be more of an actual demo that functions like the RE7 one did. This just seems like some random exclusive content they threw together for Sony.

The RE7 demo wasn't really any different to this
 
Last edited:

Entroyp

Member
Smooth 60? I recall rumours from insiders claiming PS5 hardware having troubles with the game, unlike Xbox.

I was expecting a 720p 20 fps experience with this demo. It runs and look pretty good though, so maybe those rumors were not accurate. Shame this is still a cross gen game.
 
Last edited:
Low resolution textures in many objects, low poly objects that stick out (those statues in the walls in that circular room) and when you look at the main hall from the balcony I could notice some slight slowdown which could be a bad sign considering that isn't a complex room.

And I can't stand first person in RE...I really tried but that will be another main RE on ignore list....
 

THEAP99

Banned
Also I just finished the demo. Wasn't impressed. Even the sound sucked. Like this random vampire lady was above me but it sounded like her saying "im following u" or whatever she said played loudly over the rest of the game. like it sounded as if someone called me in gta, not like there was a scary vampire above me.

Even the controls felt like I was walking in mud. Pass
 

MDSLKTR

Member
3d sound is top class, frames drop pretty bad in the main hall but the environment looks crazy good with massive RE4 vibes. Main game gonna slap.
 
How can you be sure? Because look like ass don't mean last gen is holding back.

Well, I'm not actually saying it looks like ass, it looks ok. I just think it would look a lot better if it was designed specifically with the new gen in mind. RE Engine is impressive, I'm sure they could do a lot better than this.
 
Top Bottom