Resident Evil Village Maiden demo walkthrough, secrets and discoveries explored
How to complete the 'visual' demo - and some things you might be miss along the way.
Resident Evil Village has been given a PS5 exclusive demo following January's Resident Evil Showcase.
The Maiden demo shares some similarities with Resident Evil 7's demo - offering a standalone experience set in the same environments as the upcoming game.
Though not as elaborate as that demo - there appears to only be one ending, and only a few things you can miss - there are one or two light puzzles where this demo walkthrough might come in handy.
There are obviously spoilers ahead, so be sure to play the demo before reading.
On this page:
Note this is different to the April and early May teaser - which will be staggered across multiple Resident Evil Village demo dates and times
.Resident Evil Village Maiden demo walkthrough
Though there are some optional things to see, we'll be mainly keeping the following walkthrough to key interactions for clarity. The end section of this page, meanwhile, delves into additional interactions and things you may miss.
Escape the Dungeon
To get started, check the hole in the wall to find a note. Inspect it in your inventory with the triangle button, then inspect it with the X button, to read it.
To leave your cell, you must crawl underneath the bench along the wall. Press R3 to crouch, then approach.
You'll appear in another cell. To leave, approach the door and it will open.
This corridor here has several other cells, some locked with chains. The only thing of interest for now is a cell on the right which has a woman crouching on the floor - remember where this is.
Go to the end, where there is a door and a locked cabinet on the wall. Interact with the cabinet to hear a noise beyond you.
Return to the cell with the woman to find she has collapsed with Bolt Cutters in her back. Interact with these to add them to your inventory.
You can use the Bolt Cutters to open the cell next to this one. Inside are two buckets.
Investigate the right one to find a lockpick.
Now head to the end of the corridor, use the lockpick on the cabinet, to reveal a switch. Throw it to open the door.
How to escape the cellar
Follow the path through the cellar to a room with a dining table.
Ignore the door in the corner and walk around the dining table, to a cabinet in the wall. This is slightly ajar and can be interacted with, revealing a hidden passage.
Crawl through to the other side.
In this corridor with a dead end, crouch and look into the alcove at the end on the right. Get close enough to the brick and interact with it to reveal a staircase up.
There is a note on the left you can read when you reach the top of the stairs.
Otherwise, take the ladder up, then through the wall into the castle area.
How to escape the castle
You'll emerge in a white furnished room. There is a necklace on the table here, an entirely optional item which we discuss more about in the secrets section at the end - so don't worry if you miss it.
Follow the linear corridors round until you come to a door and arrive at the upper walkway of the entrance hall.
Take it round and on the back wall is a door with a face. Inspect it and you'll see the message: 'One eye is just an empty socket'. Our goal now is to find another eye to fit inside this face.
Turn around and head down the stairs to hallway proper.
There are a few optional things to see here, but otherwise head to the double door at the very end.
Inside is a room looking out into a courtyard. There are locked doors here you can interact with but not open - remember these for later.
On the other side of the table is a glass you can interact with.
Look inside the top to find the Maroon Eye Ring.
Open your inventory and inspect the item, and move it so you're facing it straight on. Press the X button to get the Maroon Eye.
Now return back to the hallway. There will be someone walking up the stairs - wait until they are at the top before going up yourself, and then interact with the face door. Use the Maroon Eye on it to open.
You'll appear in a small room. There are two cabinets to the right in this small room you can open.
The second has the courtyard key.
Now leave the room, head down the stairs, and make your way to the room where you found the Maroon Eye Key and use the key on the door. On the way in the hallway you'll encounter one of the daughters.
She will attack you, but once you are free, sprint round her, through the doors, and then the courtyard door.
Use the key on the door to complete the demo.
Now to wait for the full game. Before that - were there any discoveries you missed along the way?
Resident Evil Village Maiden demo secrets and discoveries: What can be missed in the demo?
The above walkthrough outlines almost everything the demo has to offer - but there are some items and things which you can easily miss as you explore.
Perhaps the biggest 'secret' is a necklace you can find. After you climb the ladder out of the basement, you emerge into a white room adorned with furniture. The necklace is on a table in the centre.
This item isn't used in any of the puzzles, but has an intriguing description when viewed in the inventory: "Necklace of animal bones used to ward away evil. Taken from me when I was thrown in that dungeon."
There is no use for this, but it's the closest thing we have to Resident Evil 7 demo's dummy finger - an optional item with no use which alludes to being used somewhere. It's possible this Maiden demo could see an update in a similar way to give this item a purpose - but that's pure speculation on our part.
Otherwise, here are some other item and observations you could miss during the demo:
Opposite the cell you leave are some shelves with a node referring to medicine for keeping livestock alive. (We don't see any livestock, which means it's likely used on whoever is held in the dungeon...)
There is a second cell you can use the Bolt Cutters on in the dungeon, but besides a hanging corpse, there's seemingly nothing in here.
After the dungeon, you can interact with the dish on the table as well as the record player to the side.
At the top of the staircase after pushing the brick in the alcove is a note from 1958 discussing working for the Mistress and her daughters in the castle, suggesting a hint of vampire-like immortality.
The drawers of the cabinets in the second part of the demo - the entrance hall onwards - can be opened, though none have items to collect.
There are some clothes burning in the fireplace of the hallway, which are "like the clothes I'm wearing".
One of the tea cups to the side of the hallway can be inspected. Look inside to see traces of blood.
There's a note with a list of names of 'candidates' in the corner of the hallway.
When you have the Maroon Eye and head through the hallway again, you'll see and hear one of the daughters go up the stairs. It's actually possible to sprint up to her and cause her to attack you ahead of the mandatory encounter later. (And, if you get attacked twice, you can die - and restart back from where you emerged into the white room after the ladder.)
There is a note on winemaking techniques in the room where you find the courtyard key.
That is seemingly all there is to discover in the demo - fingers crossed for an update or two to unveil a little more ahead of the game's full release.