Summary

  • Resident Evil Village shifted from classic horror to fantasy with lycans and vampires in a European setting.
  • Lady Dimitrescu stole the show as a villain, underscoring the importance of allowing star characters to shine throughout the game.
  • Capcom must learn from Dimitrescu's success in Resident Evil 9 if it hopes to craft more unique antagonists.

Resident Evil 7 marked another bold shift in the franchise with its Texas Chain Saw Massacre-inspired atmosphere and horror at its center once again, but Resident Evil Village arguably blew it out of the Louisiana bog regarding expectations being upended. Resident Evil Village pivoted abruptly and successfully into fantasy horror by relocating to a European village overrun by lycans and vampires—far from Resident Evil’s humble roots at an Umbrella laboratory beneath the Spencer mansion. Plus, while Resident Evil’s always given rise to star characters, Village exceeded that quota.

Protagonist Ethan Winters still wasn’t a largely beloved newcomer compared to the likes of deuteragonist Chris Redfield, but even he was he never would have stood a chance of maintaining the limelight if it wasn’t for a truly emotional third act that twisted the knife and created an outstanding resolution for him. Otherwise, the four key villains players tackle in Village before Ethan is abruptly confronted by Mother Miranda take that cake. However, while Donna Beneviento, Salvatore Moreau, and Karl Heisenberg all have their quirks, it’s Lady Alcina Dimitrescu who stole the whole show.

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Resident Evil Didn’t Know What It Had with Dimitrescu Until She was Gone

Lady Dimitrescu was a huge part of Village’s marketing even though she only turned out to be the boss at the end of the first region, Castle Dimitrescu. To say she was undercut would be an understatement, not only because of how players would eventually respond to her as an immediately iconic and fascinating character but also how little of the game she actually appears in.

The marketing alone made it seem like the giantess would have a much larger role than she did, and for many who adored her that would’ve surely cut the wind out of Village’s sails for the duration of the game that remained afterward. To be fair, it may have been a bit much to have Lady Dimitrescu in the entire game, and only relegating her to one region meant that section could be action-packed with memorable sequences of her.

It was also largely explorable in Village’s early demo, which didn’t help the fact that most players would’ve already seen quite a bit of it by the time they reached the castle at launch. Either way, Lady Dimitrescu and her three daughters are phenomenal villains and deserve the attention they garnered.

Resident Evil Village’s Lady Dimitrescu Teaches a Lesson Resident Evil 9 Can’t Squander

If Capcom’s learned anything from Lady Dimitrescu, it should be that an antagonist with a ton of star power should be allowed to thrive throughout the game they appear in and not simply punctuate it for marketing purposes. Perhaps Capcom truly didn’t comprehend how much Lady Dimitrescu would be appreciated, but making her Village’s centerpiece seems to suggest otherwise.

It’ll be difficult for Resident Evil 9 to succeed any of Village’s villains, let alone Lady Dimitrescu, but if it has a prominent and unique character on its hands it needs to put all of its eggs in that basket. Mainline installments have the challenge of crafting brand-new antagonists to progress the series, especially since bringing back old, established villains may feel like an inauthentic regurgitation at this point.

Lady Dimitrescu was unfortunately a rare antagonist who was emboldened by impassioned acting and a terrific design, even when she mutates into a terrifying white dragon monstrosity, and recapturing what made her special in Resident Evil’s catalog of peculiar bosses could be an impossible task moving forward.

Indeed, above all else, Resident Evil must find a way to eclipse Lady Dimitrescu with whomever it introduces in Resident Evil 9 to not make that same mistake or fail to seize an opportunity it lobbed up to itself. Reviving Albert Wesker would certainly be one way to achieve that, though doing so carelessly and indifferently to the lore or story would be egregious.