(Image credit: Capcom)

Sixty minutes of actual gameplay is what awaits anyone who picks up the Resident Evil Village Demo available on most systems. Those unsure if Village will live up to the Resident Evil name or that gameplay is missing, give the demo its full hour. It is just a little taste of the story and Lady Dimitrescu herself for those who already preordered. While the gameplay does not show more than any parts already revealed through official trailers, The Load Screen team felt engaged and ready for more action.

There is one final week for all to enjoy the demo starting on May 1st until May 9th, but the demo has different rules. Both sections are available for play the entire week and are not limited to the PS4 and PS5 consoles. Xbox and PC gamers can also enjoy the full gameplay demo any time during that week. We will play through one more time on the PC next week. It will have an hour-long limit instead of 30 minutes of the prior dates, and players have the option of choosing either the Village or the Castle map.

We recommend spending some time in both sections since they offer different enemies, experiences, and NPCs. The Village section reveals more of the story, while the Castle spotlighted various enemies and intense designed scenes that tell stories in their stillness. It is easy to spend 5 minutes just looking at the details in every room of the Castle, and there are plenty of explorable spaces to get a fan’s head racing. Both sections do an excellent job of exposing puzzles and presenting the Metroidvania-style design without ruining the narrative.

At first, we worried that a limited time meant that the demo would not contain gameplay or value for gamers, but the Resident Evil Village demo proved us wrong. Both sections have unique action moments and story reveals that will not ruin anyone’s experience with the full game when it releases on May 7th. If the developers at Capcom gave the players too much time with the demo sections, it would diminish the replayability that awaits Resident Evil fans looking for a faster playthrough and better score.

Resident Evil Village

• Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Stadia

• Developer: Capcom

• Publisher: Capcom

• Release Date: 5/7/2021