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Resident Evil Village: Lady Dimitrescu, scaring up new characters and the franchise's 25th anniversary

Lady Dimitrescu appears in 'Resident Evil Village.'
Lady Dimitrescu appears in 'Resident Evil Village.'

It's a big year for fans of the classic horror video game series Resident Evil.

On Friday, Capcom released "Resident Evil Village," the eighth flagship title as the franchise celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

The original Resident Evil launched in March 1996 for the first PlayStation video game console, then eventually released on other platforms including PCs and the Sega Saturn.

The franchise helped pioneer the genre "survival horror," where players encounter powerful zombies and other supernatural creatures, using limited resources and their wits to escape. It has also branched out to the big screen, generating several films starring Milla Jovovich.

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In Village, players assume the role of Ethan Winters, the main character from 2017's "Resident Evil 7: Biohazard." Ethan has found a new home with his wife and baby daughter. Ethan's home is attacked, and his daughter kidnapped, sending him on a quest to rescue her.

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This quest takes him through a mysterious village filled with wolf-like enemies and a wild cast of characters, most notably Lady Dimitrescu, the mistress of a castle overlooking the village who happens to stand over 9 feet fall and already has a major following by fans of the series.

In an email interview translated from Japanese, USA TODAY spoke with Resident Evil producer Tsuyoshi Kanda about the new game, the franchise's anniversary, and more.

This interview has been edited for grammar and clarity.

Q: Lady Dimitrescu has earned a lot of attention online. What were the inspirations behind the character?

Kanda: Our guiding concept when creating Lady Dimitrescu was one of a "bewitching" character who is charming but has a dangerous side. Our art director Tomonori Takano shared that he drew inspiration from several sources, one of them being Anjelica Huston’s portrayal of Morticia Addams, the matriarch from "The Addams Family." Another inspiration was Elizabeth Báthory, a Hungarian noblewoman who is regarded as one of the most prolific female murderers in history.

Q: Did you expect this response to Lady Dimitrescu when you first released details about her?

Kanda: It’s always our intention to try to create new characters who are impactful and leave a lasting impression on the player. However, I don’t think anyone on our team expected the reaction Lady Dimitrescu drew when we debuted her character in the January Resident Evil Showcase. We were all blown away with all the positive feedback from fans all over the world, from all spectrums of society. It has been wonderful to see people react positively on a character we created.

Q. Mother Miranda is another interesting character. Were there any overarching themes or ideas you had in mind as you were creating these characters?

Kanda: We wanted to present diversity in "Resident Evil Village," as a sort of “theme park of horror.” Mother Miranda, the four lords (Alcina Dimitrescu, Karl Heisenberg, Donna Beneviento and Salvatore Moreau) and their respective areas all represent their unique type of horror.

We are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Resident Evil franchise this year, and we know to keep the series fresh for fans, we must evolve beyond zombies. We really thought about what makes every creature, the environment and encounter terrifying, and designed the game with elements to make the game both scary and fun. It’s actually a very similar approach to how we developed "Resident Evil 7: Biohazard" as well, where each member of the Baker family represented a different kind of horror. It’s this variety and change in setting that I think is an integral part in making sure the game feels compelling and fresh until the very end.

Character Karl Heisenberg appears in 'Resident Evil Village.'
Character Karl Heisenberg appears in 'Resident Evil Village.'

Q: What earlier Resident Evil games did you lean on most as inspiration in making Village?

Kanda: I think our fans will immediately make the connection between "Resident Evil Village" and "Resident Evil 4," arguably one of the most cherished games in the franchise, which share a European setting and game features. Considering we have returning protagonist Ethan Winters and the direct continuation of his storyline from a first-person perspective, I think it’s easy to see the influence the 7th installment has on "Resident Evil Village." From there, one of the main motifs of "Resident Evil Village" was expanding upon what we had built with "Resident Evil 7: Biohazard." One of the ways in doing so was literally expanding the area from a mansion to a village. Considering the setting of "Resident Evil 4" was primarily in a village, it was inevitable that we drew upon it for heavy inspiration.

One of the other primary objectives was injecting a bit more action into "Resident Evil Village" as well. Some of the feedback we got after the launch of "Resident Evil 7: Biohazard" was that it was far too scary. That was what we were aiming for, so in one sense, it was a huge compliment. However, in another sense, we realized we may have created something that may have deterred some players from even giving it a try.

To try to counter that sentiment, we wanted to balance out the horror a bit more with action elements this time around. Again, it was only natural to look upon "Resident Evil 4" again, because it’s arguably the biggest change the franchise has seen in terms of gameplay and action. We definitely drew influence from it in seeing how the franchise previously had successfully blended together action and horror.

We’ve incorporated new gameplay features that Resident Evil fans might be familiar with, since Ethan’s introduction in "Resident Evil 7: Biohazard." For one, Ethan will be able to buy, sell, craft and cook with a merchant character, the Duke. We also brought back the strategic inventory system based on space management to challenge players to be smart about what they’re carrying. One of the biggest things we brought back is The Mercenaries, an objective-based game mode that has been heavily requested by the community.

Q: How challenging is it to create new ways to scare people?

Kanda: It’s definitely challenging! One thing that inevitably happens when you’re working in a horror medium is that you inevitably get desensitized to it. It becomes very difficult designing something when the usual elements of fear are all lost on you. Thankfully, we have an internal quality assurance team that helps to play the game during the development process, so that we’re able to get immediate, direct feedback on whether something works or not. Often times, we ask for assistance and advice from other development team members as well. It’s a lengthy collaborative process with a hefty amount of trial and error and follow-up discussion.

A scene from 'Resident Evil Village.'
A scene from 'Resident Evil Village.'

Q: Why do you think the Resident Evil franchise has continued to remain relevant after 25 years?

Kanda: One of the biggest dangers is falling complacent to what we’ve already created. I think this is relevant, not just to anyone in the game industry, but for anyone working in the entertainment industry as a whole. The game industry has rapidly grown and changed so quickly over the past couple decades with technological advancements in both hardware and software. It can be challenging to constantly adapt our processes to these new technologies and to keep up with the latest, but we would inevitably be left behind otherwise.

I think a large part of the success and longevity of the Resident Evil franchise is because the development team has been willing to adopt and evolve with the times and offer brand new types of gameplay that keep it relevant. Of course, we also have fans to thank, and we are really moved by the love and support from the Resident Evil community all these years.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Resident Evil Village release: Lady Dimitrescu inspiration and more