After a couple of remakes, Capcom has finally graced us with the eighth main installment of the Resident Evil series, Resident Evil Village. Linking directly to the events of Resident Evil 7 biohazard, Resident Evil Village keeps players in the shoes of Ethan winters but changes up the scenery for Eastern Europe. But Resident Evil Village connects to more than just biohazard; the game also has a handful of subtle references and direct links to the rest of the Resident Evil franchise.
Resident Evil 7 biohazard
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Of course, Resident Evil Village (RE8) connects to Resident Evil 7 biohazard (RE7) by being a direct continuation of its events. Our main character from RE7, Ethan Winters, stars as the playable character in RE8. Mia, the person Ethan seeks to rescue in RE7, has a child with Ethan and their baby Rose is the catalyst for the events of RE8. But beyond the obvious character involvements, RE8 goes farther and directly explains the very events that started RE7.
Mother Miranda, the main antagonist outside of the four Lords, is very old. So old that her daughter, Eva, died from the Spanish Influenza a hundred years ago. It’s in her despair that Miranda wanders into a cave only to discover the Megamycete, a fungus that seems to be able to absorb the consciousness of those it infects. After this discovery, Miranda spent decades experimenting on people to try to bring Eva back.
But when everything failed, Miranda gave a sample of the mold and Eva’s DNA to an organization called The Connections hoping they could help her. Instead, they managed to create Eveline, who Miranda considered an imperfect vessel. And this is where RE7 kicks off. With Mia having a direct hand in the protection of Eveline, the shipwreck of the ship Eveline was on, and the release of mold into Dulvey Louisiana, you’ve got the spark for RE7.
Resident Evil 5
Beyond the very obvious inclusion of Chris in the game, RE8 brings an interesting Easter Egg harkening back to the final boss fight against Wesker in Resident Evil 5 (RE5). While players are fighting Heisenberg, he refers to Chris as a “boulder punching asshole.” This line is a direct reference to when Chris literally has to punch a boulder in RE5. And it’s this particular moment that has become infamous amongst fans.
The anti-bioterrorist organization BSAA is still around but Chris doesn’t seem to be a part of it like in RE5. In fact, some BSAA soldiers get in the way while Chris and his team are trying to defeat Mother Miranda and the Megamycete. But following their success, they collect the dead body of one of the BSAA soldiers and they learn that the soldiers they saw weren’t human. BSAA is making some sort of bioweapon that looks similar to Resident Evil’s Tyrant which is odd since BSAA has a history of fighting bioterrorism. And likely why Chris immediately sets a course for BSAA headquarters.
Resident Evil 4
While the atmosphere and setting of RE8 certainly share similarities to the setting of Resident Evil 4 (RE4), we have a more immediate connection with The Duke. The Duke marks the return of a Merchant system rather similar to the Merchant in RE4. But there’s more to it than that. If you listen to The Duke’s background chatter, he’ll throw out the iconic line “What’re ya buying?” Although seemingly innocent, this line is the catchphrase of the Merchant in RE4. To further connect the two Merchants, The Duke follows this line up with an explanation that it was something an old friend used to say.
Resident Evil
RE8 relates back to the very man who began this franchise, Oswell Spencer. In the final leg of RE8, players stumbled upon a room filled with Mother Miranda’s writings. One such writing is correspondence between Miranda and Spencer. Through this note, we learn that Spencer was a student under Miranda and visited her village 15 years ago. He speaks of finding the progenitor virus in Africa and starting Umbrella, beginning the events of Resident Evil. All because Miranda’s teachings inspired Spencer.
Resident Evil Village connects to the rest of the Resident Evil franchise largely through the continuation and explanation of Resident Evil 7 biohazard. But beyond this direct relationship, Resident Evil Village has some sneaky references to the rest of the franchise. Some of these references may even have larger implications for future iterations, such as the identity of The Duke and the BSAA bioweapons Chris and his team discovers.
