Ever since her appearance in “Maiden,” the Resident Evil Village demo, fans have been anxiously awaiting more content featuring who seems to be the primary antagonist, Lady Dimitrescu. Fans have had incredibly strong, positive reactions to the mysterious 9'6" vampire lady that shocked art director Tomonori Takano, and the hype has yet to calm down. Lady Dimitrescu actually did appear in the announcement trailer, but she’s just recently skyrocketed to fame.
Alcina Dimetrescu is shaping up to be a very interesting and prominent character in Resident Evil Village, which has a clear folklore influence. Even without seeing what are probably the vampire lady’s best scenes, Lady Dimitrescu has taken the internet by storm and inspired numerous memes and several exceptional cosplays. She definitely has a growing fan club, some of whom claim they’ll lose on purpose just to see more of her. That hype will probably continue to increase when the game releases on May 7. Capcom is definitely aware of it, as showcased in its most recent clip.
Resident Evil Village Confirms Photo Mode
In the recently released gameplay clip, Ethan Winters hovers next to a window and eavesdrops on Lady Dimitrescu’s conversation with the mysterious Mother Miranda. During the scene, a small prompt appeared that offered to let the player skip the cutscene or access photo mode.
Photo mode has become increasingly popular in the gaming community and was one of many primary selling points for Ghost of Tsushima, which featured dynamic effects and weather customization. Cyberpunk 2077 and Miles Morales are recent examples of games that had entire trailers devoted to showcasing the photo mode, emphasizing just how important the feature has become in games. So while it’s not necessarily surprising that Resident Evil Village has photo mode as well, it is exciting and didn’t go unnoticed by fans.
Resident Evil Village looks like it will be a stunning game. The mansion Lady Dimitrescu shares with her daughters is stunning, and all of the characters look incredibly expressive. The eerie village will be perfect for virtual photographers to create some masterful works of art with photo mode. That said, expect everyone’s favorite vampire lady to be the star of many of them.
There’s no confirmation of what features Resident Evil Village’s photo mode will have, but it’s worth mentioning that photo modes, especially for bigger AAA games, have only been increasing in quality and depth. Hopefully, Capcom will follow the same trend with Resident Evil Village and provide players with a photo mode experience that allows them to be as creative as possible. Because a lot of the game will be on the darker side, one of the more innovative features that should definitely be included is customizable lighting effects, akin to those in Spiderman: Miles Morales.
When the game releases, don’t be surprised to see the internet absolutely flooded with new screenshots of Lady Dimtrescu. Photo mode is the perfect tool for artistic expression, but it’s also a great way to create new memes and spread fan hype about the game. There are many other photo-worthy subjects in Resident Evil Village, but none of them are nearly as hyped up as the vampire lady. It might be wise to avoid obsessing over Lady Dimitrescu just yet because, otherwise, the barrage of screenshots will get very old very fast. Or, maybe they won’t.
Resident Evil Village’s Photo Mode Could Be More Versatile Than Others
Generally speaking, photo mode doesn’t work as well in cutscenes. While some games do allow it to be accessed while the scene is playing, it’s harder to pause on the right frame. Rotating the camera view, an essential aspect of any photo mode, is usually impossible during cutscenes. It makes sense why; developers don’t often plan for the camera to be spun around in the middle of a cinematic scene, and probably haven’t rendered or animated the other side of the scene.
Sometimes the cutscene limitations are frustrating because except for combat sequences, most of the time playable characters are in one or two poses. Horizon Zero Dawn switched this aspect up with its photo mode, offering different poses for Aloy to strike when the tool was opened. Cyberpunk 2077 also allowed players to select poses for V in photo mode. Most games, however, don’t have this, especially not for NPCs.
However, the timing of the button prompt is interesting in the gameplay trailer. It comes up right as Lady Dimitrescu is sitting down to speak to Mother Miranda and a cutscene begins. This could mean that Resident Evil Village will allow for more involved photo mode options during cutscenes, which could result in a huge amount of photos that could never have been seen otherwise.
And again… most of them will probably be of Lady Dimitrescu. She’s not going anywhere, and Resident Evil Village players may be in for a big treat if photo mode and the vampire’s presence in the game live up to expectations. If Resident Evil Village allows players to truly customize shots from cinematic cutscenes, that would be a huge step forward that a lot of other games should implement in the future.
One thing players can count on is that Resident Evil Village will allow them to get up close and personal with the bewitching vampire lady and that the best is still yet to come.
Resident Evil Village will release on May 7 on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
