Our Rating: 9.5/10
Resident Evil Village introduces Ethan Winters to yet another nightmare in a new chapter that combines new and classic elements from the series. This time, it’s in a mysterious icy village hidden among the mountains, rather than a mansion hidden in the woods. Let’s get started!
Story Overview
After fleeing the evils of the Baker family, Ethan and Mia Winters lived quietly for three years after the events of Resident Evil 7. They now have a daughter, Rose, and are attempting to make a fresh start while still dealing with the traumatic events they experienced in the past. But everything comes crashing down when Chris Redfield and his troops storm Ethan’s residence, murder Mia, and abduct Rose. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, Ethan gets lost in the mountains and discovers an odd village.
Soon after, he learns two terrible things: the first is that his daughter is hiding somewhere in this village. The other is that the area is infested with Lycans, monstrous-looking creatures straight out of werewolf legends. Ethan yet again finds himself in a nightmare, with only two goals in mind: to stay alive and find his daughter in that hellish location.
Gameplay
Maintaining a first-person perspective. You can explore the entire village and its surroundings, which provides a large, unique area to investigate. In this way, Village keeps drinking from the same well as the first Resident Evil and the seventh chapter, but on a larger scale. The village is just one of the ominous areas on that map, which also includes Dimitrescu Castle. Each of these locations has its own set of horrors and tales to tell.
Inventory
The inventory is very similar to Resident Evil 4’s, in that it is very large (and can be expanded), as well as in terms of item organization, rotation, and other features. There are four different inventories to be aware of:
- 1: Weapons / Consumables
- 2: Craftable Items
- 3: Key Items
- 4: Valuables
You’ll never have to stress about running out of inventory space for a key item again, no matter how big it is. The only management you’ll need to do is make sure your weapons, ammunition, and healing items all fit into the space you have.
Enemies
Enemies come in a wide variety. Even if “cannon fodder” appears more frequently, you have a sufficient number of creatures at your disposal. Some will cause you to flee rather than confront them. Still, on the subject of creatures, there are bosses, who are becoming increasingly common in the series. As a result, expect to run into “powerful bugs” at the end of some steps.
When an enemy dies in the game, they drop an item. Let’s be clear: none of them drop weapons and ammo! They do, however, drop useful items that can be used to make ammunition.
Puzzles
The puzzles are challenging enough. Although, they do not pose a significant challenge. On the other hand, it will force you to think a little harder to proceed. Other than the required puzzles, some can make your life easier while studying history. They aren’t required to progress through the story, but they will give you significant advantages in terms of attributes, weapons, and other items.
There are numerous treasures hidden throughout the game, including in difficult-to-see locations, where you must shoot to knock down a hidden treasure. In addition to the treasures collected from foes, several puzzles reward the player with treasures worth a fortune!
Extra Modes
Duke is a strange omnipresent character who will sell you items, weapons, parts, and even upgrade your arsenal for a reasonable price. To earn money in the game, you have to defeat enemies, and then find and sell their relics. That way, you’ll have some cash to haggle with at the game store.
In Mercenaries Mode, the player explores various areas of the game in timed challenges. Your objective is to eliminate as many enemies as you can before the timer runs out. You gain a few seconds when you kill an enemy. Some spheres provide advantages to the player. Yellow spheres catch up, while blue spheres provide benefits such as increased damage, increased speed, and so on.
The Good, the Bad, and Overall Experience
Resident Evil Village has an unexpected plot. With each new revelation, there are many twists to be found, including scenes that manage to avoid the evident and predictable while delivering truly powerful scenes. We won’t go into extensive detail about all this, but there are many noteworthy instances along the way.
Resident Evil Village is eerily similar to Resident Evil 4, the chapter that helped define the series formula by ditching fixed cameras in favor of a more action-oriented approach. RE 4 was a fantastic game, but its legacy is what has caused the series to fall apart in the years since. Resident Evil Village has the appearance of being the largest of the series’ previous installments. It also has a system that encourages it to be repeated.
Visual Horror
The RE engine continues to amaze, delivering a photorealistic adventure with plenty of violence! The scenery is incredibly detailed, from the dirt and desolation of the village to the refinement and stunning architecture of the castles.
The game is very bloody, and it does not disappoint in terms of delivering a lot of violence from start to finish. With his grotesque foes, he never ceases to surprise. Adding to the enemies seen in the demos are the Lycans, who have bestial appearances and engage in highly violent behavior. Faces that are distorted, teeth that are sawn and crooked, gray skin, and glassy eyes.
The game is a visual show in terms of human visuals, including residents of the village and ordinary humans, as well as the most revolting and grotesque creatures. The way a game depicts dirt is something I like to use as a visual quality criterion. Capcom did a fantastic job in this regard.
Audio
The game’s sound design continues to emphasize ambient sounds, with songs reserved for more exciting moments such as boss battles. And the sound effects are excellent. Wooden and metal squeaks, distant crows squawking, and footsteps on various terrains.
A powerful atmosphere is created by the sounds of enemies, which range from weakened grunts in the dark to growls and screams of Lycans, all of which are combined with the sounds of gunshots, which are different for each weapon, despite some scenes in which the sounds do not roll as they should, being much lower than they should be.
Inventory Upgrade
One disadvantage of Resident Evil Village is the lack of item chests. It does not necessarily obstruct the journey from beginning to end. However, when you return to the game and unlock new weapons, the lack of chests becomes an issue. Thankfully, that’s when Duke comes in.
You’ll need to sell some of your firearms if your inventory is full. You can always buy them back after you’ve sold them. However, they will cost more! At the very least, new weapons are better than old weapons, warranting the sale of less effective weapons. However, in the end, it will be entirely dependent on the player.
Lady Dimitrescu and Enemies
The review would be incomplete if we didn’t acknowledge the characters we met along the way, particularly Lady Dimitrescu, the beloved “vampirone” who stands nearly 3 meters tall. At every appearance, this lady puts on quite a show!
She, like Mr. X in Resident Evil 2 Remake, can chase you around the castle. And, believe me, being pursued by her is mortifying! The level of terror and violence it causes is directly proportional to its elegance, beauty, and height.
The player is constantly surprised by the scenarios and enemies, resulting in numerous jumpscares, both scripted and organic. Not only that, but when you’re in a vulnerable position and you’re out of ammunition, it’s terrifying. And of course, we have the memorable boss battles!
Final Thoughts
Another installment in the series, Resident Evil Village, was a smash hit. Continuing Ethan Winters’ story pleasingly and terrifyingly. It features a plot that is both surprising and full of great twists, as well as plenty of scares and action.
In its current state, the game has a lot of content. We don’t know if more content (paid or free) will be added in the future, but the game does have a high replay value. But the most important thing is that the game manages to expand the series without deviating from its roots, paving the way for more great stories to be told in the future!
