You Can Play The New Resident Evil Demo Now, But There's A Catch

Thanks to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, the Resident Evil franchise has risen from the grave and reentered the horror gaming limelight. Even though this re-animated popularity eventually resulted in critically acclaimed remakes of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3, Capcom also decided to continue the saga of Ethan Winters with Resident Evil Village. You can get a sneak peak of the game right now, but as with all power in the Resident Evil franchise, it comes with a price. Not a monetary one, mind you, but a toll nonetheless.

The Resident Evil Village demo, also known as the Maiden demo, functions much like the Resident Evil 7 Beginning Hour demo. Instead of controlling Ethan Winters, you step into the shoes of an unrelated character known as "the maiden," hence the demo's name. Much like the way the Beginning Hour demo dropped players into the Baker family house, the maiden is trapped in Resident Evil 8's setpiece location, Castle Dimitrescu, and she has only one objective: escape. However, the Maiden demo is far more limited since it takes away your ability to defend yourself. You can't attack or defend, but then again, the demo doesn't feature any enemies to fight, either. While the Beginning Hour demo gave audiences a taste of combat and the Molded monsters, Maiden introduces some of the game's villains and doesn't allow you to engage them in a fight. Moreover, you can beat the Maiden demo in under 20 minutes.

However, the demo's biggest obstacle for fans is its platform. Maiden is exclusive to PlayStation 5, which helps show off the game's "next generation of beautiful graphics" — Capcom really wanted to show off those ray traced puddles of blood. Even though Resident Evil Village will also release on the PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S. Xbox One, and PC via Steam, these platforms did not receive a demo. However, the game's producer, Pete Fabiano, promised a "separate, new demo" will launch on an undisclosed date in the spring. While this could imply non-PS5 owners will receive a demo unrelated to the Maiden experience, odds are decent that it will simply be an updated version. Capcom used a similar tactic with the Beginning Hour demo, which was updated several times to include more rooms and items. Perhaps the new demo will feature combat?

If you don't have a PS5 and want to see what the Resident Evil Village Maiden demo is all about, you either have to patiently wait for the multiplatform demo — and hope it actually is just an updated version — or you can watch one of the many YouTube content creators who have streamed their gameplay sessions.