Resident Evil Producer Explains Why Village Isn’t as Scary as Biohazard

Gamers everywhere are rejoicing this weekend, as the highly-anticipated eighth installment in the mainline Resident Evil game series has finally arrived. Resident Evil Village hit shelves and digital storefronts on Friday morning, bringing to life Lady Dimitrescu and the horrors of the new installment. As folks have started to play through the game, many have noticed that Village isn’t quite as scary as its predecessor, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. There’s a reason for that.

As it turns out, Biohazard may have been too scary for a lot players. During an interview with Axios Gaming, Resident Evil producer Tsuyoshi Kanda explained that the team received a lot of feedback about the terror in Biohazard, with players thinking it was too intense.

“When we develop a new Resident Evil game, our goal is not always to make it scarier than the previous title, but find a balance to deliver a scary but fun experience for players,” Kanda said.

“Some of the feedback we received regarding [Resident Evil 7] was that it was too scary to play,” he continued. “In one regard, that’s exactly what we were striving for, so it’s a huge compliment for us. But at the same time, it’s always our goal to create something that anybody can feel comfortable jumping in and playing, so we eased up on the tension curve [in Resident Evil Village] relative to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, so that players aren’t in constant fear.”

Like Kanda explained, being told Biohazard was such a scary experience was a compliment in a lot of ways. After all, shouldn’t horror games be frightening?

While that game hit the mark, the creative team didn’t want to take things too far in the sequel. The goal was to make another great game that still delivered excitement, thrills, and a great story. Nothing says each Resident Evil game has to solely focus on being a more terrifying experience. So the creative team wisely focused their efforts on the former.

There are still going to be some frightening things in Resident Evil Village, there’s no doubt about that. But if Biohazard was a bit too freaky for you, don’t let that factor into your decision to check out its successor.

Are you excited to finally check out Resident Evil Village? Let us know in the comments!