Resident Evil Village (2021)

I forgot that 20 hour games existed. After nearly 100 hours in Pharloom (I still haven’t rolled credits), 70 in Tsushima and God knows how many hours in and around Midgard I've started treating the first 20 hours of any game as a sort of trial period before I truly commit to it… which is absurd. It's incredibly satisfying to watch a game come to a close way before I've grown tired of it and Capcom specifically has built its legacy on an economic approach to game design, with dense spaces meant to be revisited and only a handful of mechanics that slowly build over time. Horror with a touch of Metroid-RPG that never feels too overwhelming to fully master.

Village is fascinating because it iterates on that approach to design by mashing up the history of Capcom into shorter inter-connected games. The YT channel Skill Up referred to it as a Theme Park ride and though I don't agree with his larger sentiments for the game I completely agree with that analogy.

Dimitrescu’s mansion feels like an homage to RE 2 with her click clacking heels echoing ornate halls, the big lady stalking, ever looming over every choice you make, every corner you turn. Moreau’s grotesque transformations an homage to RE 4 and really the titular village as a whole constantly calling back to the rural horror of Leon’s ordeals in the outskirts of Spain. The first person body horror, the psychological torture and near sadistic loss of control presented in the Doll house very reminiscent of 7 with Ethan trudging through and impossibly surviving ordeal after ordeal, all interconnected by you and some very campy ‘girl dad against the world’, Van Hesling-esque, Anne Rice ah writing.

Its by definition derivative, it's restrained and safe, and in anyone else's hands it would be mediocre but in Capcom's it's masterful and dare I say one of the greatest Videogames ever made. I had such an incredibly fun time with this and man with every game of theirs I jump into, Capcom becomes more and more important to me, playing with the medium in such intelligent ways while still managing to serve their audience a thrill ride. Bravo.

And here we have it. I finally finished the last game. One month and 3 days, and I'm finally FREE!

Having played the whole series now, it really feels like Capcom finally found the balance between survival-horror and action with the Remakes and RE7-8. Especially RE7, that one really was a step in the right directions and every RE game since has been absolutely amazing. One criticism I have is the fact we can't see Ethan's face. Hiding it has to be one of the stupidest decision I've seeing this series do, on par with releasing RE0.

Anyway, since I'll won't be playing another RE for a very long time, I'll just do my ranking here:

1. RE2 Remake
2. RE4 Remake
3. RE1 HD
4. RE7
5. RE8
6. RE5
7. Code Veronica with a guide
8. Revelations 2
9. Revelations 1
10. RE3 Remake
11. RE6
12. Code Veronica without a guide
13. RE0

So... Yeah, that's it. Not much to say other than I look forward to play the series again sometime in the future. Especially the Remakes plus RE7-8, definitely the most fun I've had.

12th Game Completed In 2023

This will be a somewhat unorthodox review, because I didn't actually play RE8. I watched a couple different full plays of it, and concluded I had very little interest in the first, like, 90% of that game. But Its ending? Hoo boy, that almost made the action dreck that came before entirely worth it. But when I saw info about the incoming story DLC covering Ethan's daughter Rose... I was pretty hyped.

Fast forward to now, I waited for the Gold Edition to drop in price, and man oh man. It was worth it. The Shadows of Rose DLC is excellent, and if I had the option of submitting a review for just it, I'd have another star tacked on that score.

Shadows of Rose is a short story DLC taking place entirely within the psychic mindscape of our favourite humungous fungus, the Megamycete. In this ethereal realm, the memories of anything that died in the mould's proximity are locked in this psychic plane, and Rose delves in to try and rid herself of her powers and become a normal teenaged girl.

This is definitely a case of quality over quantity. I beat it in just over 3 hours with numerous deaths along the way. It takes place over three chapters - one action-oriented, one focused on several different flavours of stealth (think the Orphanage scene in RE2make, but better), and a third chapter that's essentially a cutscene and a final boss.

The story told here is just... Really good. Without spoiling anything, this DLC fully embraces the best parts of the Winters Saga of RE games and just runs for a touchdown with it. Loose ends are tied up, interesting new story beats are introduced, and Rose looks primed to be a fantastic addition to the RE character pantheon.

If you have the means, even if you did not like RR8 all that much, this DLC is worth the entry fee.

To give my brief thoughts on the base game though... Resident Evil is simply better when it's not trying to be a schlocky action game. You can have crackling villains. Sure. But when you're essentially building a game around a Mega Man boss wheel of goofy enemies in a game full of "BRO DID YOU SEE THAT" action set pieces, you're really not letting the subject matter breathe, nor letting the atmosphere do the talking.

The doll house level midway through the game was pretty good, probably the game's highlight overall until the final hour or so, but it was weird. In the same way the Evil Within games feel like an homage to Resident Evil, RE8 often feels like an homage to The Evil Within. It feels like a trend-chasing copycat and not letting the series' own identity do the heavy lifting. Which is a shame.

For that reason, I'm gonna give the complete package 5 stars. For just RE8, I'd give it 2 stars. For just Shadows of Rose, I'd give it 4 stars. So we'll settle in the middle. To be clear, I don't think RE8 is a bad game - far from it. I think it's incredibly well-made, and for me, 2 stars represents something of an "average" game. But it's not a direction I particularly like for the series, and I long for the days of the sterile underground labs, the retro-futuristic police stations, the macabre mansions... That's where the series's magic lies - not in globe-trotting secret agents and boulder punching.

When the devs came up with the concept for RE8, they obviously took RE4 as a blueprint and built on top of it. My biggest gripe with RE4 is that isn't scary at all (which the Remake might have corrected, I haven't played it yet), so the idea of a scarier version in a new setting is very appealing to me. I didn't know that the game was like this, but it became very clear close to the beginning of the game after you enter the village, which is super reminiscent of RE4's beginning. If you played both, you probably know what I'm talking about. I was hooked right after that.

What excited me the most before going into this game was the fact that it is set in Romania, of all places. They even had Sarmale and Ciorba at the dinner table at the start of the game. And you can cook those meals yourself, too, for permanent stat boosts. Suffice it to say, I expected a strong vampire angle, especially with Lady Dimitrescu. Unfortunately, she plays a rather small role among a whole host of villains that are all generously presented in a cutscene very early in the game, which completely dismantles any sense of mystery. This and the excessive use of cutscenes in general are my greatest issues with the game. The small mysteries that are left for interpretation can't compare to how intriguing RE7's beginning was.

Further than that, gameplay-wise, I wasn't always feeling it in the way I felt in the predecessor's first half. Particularly at the lake level, which was the low point of the game. But still, this game is otherwise pretty consistent from beginning to end, while switching between scary and action-heavy sequences at a moment's notice, and actually pulling it off. RE7 on the contrary, took a complete nose-dive in the last act, after the fantastic first parts of the game.

The game even managed to make me feel scared in daytime outdoor sequences, which is pretty commendable. The village looks exactly how a devastated Romanian village should look like and the castle was as beautiful as I had hoped. The spooky house was super freaky. The other locations were cool as well, but not that special; they just look like game worlds we've all seen before. Speaking of game world, the level design was great. Very Dark Souls-y (I'm sorry) with how interconnected everything was - exploration and backtracking for previously unreachable loot was fun.

While there were quite a few things I didn't love about RE8, it was still a great experience. Can't wait for RE9.

Yay! My first PSVR2 game!

I haven't played it on a flat screen at all. One reason is because I'm a huge fan of VR and I wanted to justify my purchase. Another is that the game keeps the two modes separate, having distinct savegames for each one, which is a bit odd. Most games usually allow you to seamlessly switch between the two modes as you please.

From a technological standpoint, it's evident that the game wasn't originally designed specifically for VR. Some odd camera angles and cutscenes can break the immersion. There are a few brief cutscenes that switch to flat screen momentarily. Personally, it doesn't bother me much, but it feels odd when a cutscene plays in VR, briefly switches to flat screen, and then returns to VR. Another invertedly funny aspect is how, in VR, Ethan can turn his head completely backwards during cutscenes. Nonetheless, playing the game in VR feels enjoyable and visually stunning, although I did experience some motion sickness issues despite my prior VR experience. However, after taking a break, I could usually resume playing without any problems. In terms of gameplay, the game seems like a fusion of RE7 and RE4. These two games are widely regarded as the best in the series, so one would expect an incredibly outstanding experience. However, in practice, I found the game's tone to be inconsistent. It ended up feeling more like a thrilling ride in a theme park than a deeply memorable journey. While RE4 had a camp, B action movie style, RE7 delivered bone-chilling horror. RE8 seemed to lack a cohesive tone. In one level, you may find yourself immersed in a quiet, intense, and chilling psychological horror level, while in another, you're suddenly engaged in a battle within a colossal mech suit. I recall a scene in RE7 where a deranged hillbilly would chase you around a house, creating an intensely terrifying atmosphere that surpassed any encounters with giant monsters. So, although I liked the game, I didn't adore it the same way I did RE4 and RE7. That's not to say the game isn't enjoyable and well-crafted, though.

On a side note, I am from Romania (Transylvania) and was really excited to see a game set in here. The game actually has romanian architecture, currency and even the meals have romanian names.

So this was a fun romp. The monster designs of the lords and their minions were fantastic, a great throwback to classic movie monsters. Of course it has the usual convoluted, bizzaro story but I liked that it was a bit more personal for the main villain; it wasn’t just all about bio weapons and taking over the world. The late game had a number of good plot twists and that led to a cathartic, large scale fight with a ton of monsters you could just mow down.

My big criticism is the huge info dump at the very end combined with a bit too much artificial mystery at the beginning. I much prefer there to be more fragmented clues scattered throughout the game as to the creature origins, and what is going on. Also the critical event that kicks everything off (as shown in the trailer) involves Chris Redfield running in and gunning down your wife without any explanation, when clearly he could have said two sentences to let you know what he was up to.

Gonna make this one quick, I was worried I wouldn't like RE8 before I replayed RE7 because I heard they leaned into action more than horror, as RE7 is a mix of both at least attempting to lean more into the latter.

I ended up liking RE8 a lot, the plot ends up being reasonably interesting and compelling (albeit not as high concept as the Bakers reflecting Eveline's fucked up vision of family), and it has a lot of good moments. Ethan's voice acting is pretty great overall, with only a few missteps. The gameplay is addictive, and while horror is pretty much out the window, there's some tension (at least early game) in what I should spend my materials on in order to survive. Enemies and bosses are fun and satisfying to fight, especially due to your upgraded arsenal. House Beneviento is easily my favorite part of the game, and really tunes into horror with its pacing, how it explains more plot, and has some decent puzzles. The visuals of the boss design are honestly fan fucking tastic, I love all of them! Ranging from the disgust of Moreau and the mechanical hybrid of Heisenberg, it's so damn good to look at. The final boss, Miranda, this corruption of vaguely Christian iconography alongside the Eldritch horror allusions mixed throughout the game ends up looking excellent.

My biggest criticism with this game is that it ends up being a lot more generic than RE7. There isn't any of what made that game special in this game in gameplay or atmosphere, no found footage segments, you're no longer in this claustrophobic environment trying to survive, so it feels a lot more like a generic Resident Evil title instead of a sequel to 7. That said, it succeeds on every other front enough to where I can't complain too much. Capcom doesn't push any boundaries in Village, not by a long shot, but it's fun and cool enough that I was satisfied.

RE8 feels like a it piggy backs on the new ground of RE7 much the way that RE3 was a follow-on to RE2. There is a very similar formula, which is still fun but not as fresh. Ethan is captured by the monster family, manages to escape and then proceeds to run into the family members one at a time fight them and solve puzzles.

The opening scene was a bit frustrating since it felt like I was just running around trying to hit invisible script triggers. I died a couple times and it wasn't clear what I was supposed to do. I realize that is supposed to add to the horror and helplessness but it wasn't executed well.

For some reason I really like the Resident Evil story and lore. The slow reveal thru various clues about the strange chain of events that brought about these monsters and death, that only somewhat explains everything. This is mainly what is driving me forward in RE8. However, I feel like there has been too little lore after 5 hours in and I hope that will change.

I liked it. Liked it more than RE7. Still in the process of playing the Shadow of Rose DLC.

Pros

• I liked upgrading weapons, it reminded me of RE4.
• Did a good job of continuing the story from RE7. Also thought it did a good job of making me invested in trying to solve the mysteries of the story.
• All of the lords have unique designs and levels associated with them. Each section felt fresh.
• RE7 lacked enemy variety, this game fixes that issue

• I'm salty that they let you sell ingredients even though they're finite resources. Game suggested I go to The Duke before I unlocked cooking and I sold a ton of ingredients that would've helped.
• The difficulty balancing is a bit strange, there were a few times where I had a surplus of money just to unlock more weapons later on. The problem was it caught me off guard and I ended up wasting money on getting weapon upgrades for old guns (it's my fault for not selling off my old guns to begin with though).
• Game kind of peaks early on. My favorite part of the game was the first lord's level.

Finally, found a game up there with Resident Evil 4 (which is my favorite game of all time). This is the vampires, werewolves, and more freaks game that I didn't know I needed. All under the seal of Resident Evil. Dream come true.

Village has the perfect balance between horror and action. Loved the monsters, the ambiance, the pacing. And yes... it gave me enough bullets!!! Thank you!

I really don't have much negative to say. Every thing that bothered me from RE7 was fixed for this game. The movement was smooth, easy aim and most importantly, the item management was on point. It was easy to access the weapons and switch between them even if they were assigned in quick slots. And a lot of questions about RE7 were answered. I really appreciate that.

So much of this reminded me of RE4. I am sooooo happy! Do we even need a RE4 remake?

I have officially finished all of the main resident evil titles.This one i tried my best to not hype myself from seeing other reviews and went in expecting a good experience.During the initial stages the game was fun but i kept wondering is this the best they've got.I was wrong.It got better and better and towards the end it was just absolutely beautiful.The story starts off kinda slow but towards the end it gets really good.I liked Ethan Winters but he wasn't a stand out for me.This game changed that.By the end i frikkin loved Ethan Winters.

In terms of Spookiness it is no way near as scary as re7 but that one baby level was enough to make up for that.I couldn't complete that level with my headphones on,the sounds were too spooky for me.

Gameplay wise its something u expect from RE engine by now,really good.The shotguns weren't that satisfying but the sheriff was on point for me.In terms of boss fights,the final boss fight was a little bit disappointing especially since it looked really good visually.Tbh the heisenberg bossfight was the only one i really enjoyed. Overall,super good game.Definitely worth a shot even if u havent played other resident evil games.

I didn't expect myself to enjoy Resident Evil Village as much as I did, even though it's not a perfect game, and that I'm not actually a huge fan of the RE series, only played the remakes of 2 and 3, but Village was a great experience for me, however it's still has its flaws that are worth mentioning.

Story is quite decent. Well look, to be honest according to what I saw in the 2 and 3 remakes, the story in Resident Evil seems to be always campy and full of awful dialogue and nonsense plot, but still entertaining to follow and covers everything with mystery and ton of questions that are fun to explore and find the answers for. This is no different. The dialogue is really cheesy but the mystery around the village was done really well, and the revelations at the end for what you have been experiencing and seeing throughout the journey will catch you by surprise no matter what you're expecting. It's a fun story to follow, even if it was cheesy and campy as usual. It just does the job.

The gameplay though is where the meat of the game is. First things first I have to say, I didn't find this game scary or even tense at all, bar one famous segment you probably heard about it by now, but I'll still not mention it to avoid spoilers. This segment was alright terrifying, disturbing and nightmarish, but the rest of the game ? I think for the most part this is a pure action game. RE2 remake left me literally terrified and tense throughout its whole campaign. This one didn't. This doesn't make it bad though, the gameplay loop was just super fun, but it's worth noting because that's what makes RE2 remake better.

The reason for this is, in my opinion, the lack of feeling of danger in RE8. There's no time in the game that I felt I might encounter a combat scenario I don't have ammo or weapons to deal with. The enemies AI is great actually, and they fight well, but you have too many weapons and ammo to deal with anything. Meanwhile in RE2 remake, the real cause for feeling tense throughout the whole of it is that I never felt safe. I always felt that what I have isn't enough, and I might get into a fight I can't win. This leaves you tense and scared of every corner. Zombies were outright dangerous enemies, they take ton of bullets to die and you will mostly have to either maneuver around them or shoot them in the legs to cripple them. RE8 on the other hand just felt like a normal day in the office for Ethan.

Again I'm not saying this is bad for RE8, it's just a flaw I have to mention, considering its genre (Survival horror). I feel though it kinda makes sense in a way, because both Leon and Claire were rookies in 2 and were dealing with supernatural stuff for the first time while this is the second experience for Ethan and he received military training. Actually I feel like that's the direction Capcom really want to take with Resident Evil, they want the series to gradually progress from horror to action since characters gain more experience and become more prepared for this stuff, but the fans keep on asking them to keep the game at its roots as survival horror. It's a little bit of a tricky situation, but even if it annoyed the horror lovers, I think the action in this one was done really well. We also still have this terrifying segment I talked about, which will bring you nightmares regardless, so a good surprise for horror lovers.

Now back to the gameplay loop, I found the shooting to be excellent. The weapons are fun to use, and the enemies AI as I said are great. They know how to move to become hard targets to aim at and in groups they can be tough. The enemies variety is also a high point. The game keeps on throwing new enemies at you till the very end of the game, and they all act and move differently and might require different strategy from time to time.

Exploring the village is excellent. This isn't an open world game, but it leaves you some space of freedom between each linear segment dealing with each of the 4 lords to explore the village as you please. New routes open up after you defeat every lord, and there're hidden treasures and sometimes optional bosses to fight. Exploring is always rewarding, gives you things to sell for money, even new weapons some times, and of course ammo and supplies. You never feel like you wasted your time by going out of the way. It's a good direction to take the series in, even though some might complain it's one of the reason there's not much tension or horror in it ? A bit like The Evil Within 2 in which open area made the game not that much tense. I feel though the series should be moving into these kind of environmental design, not open world but gives you some freedom to go out of your way and be rewarded.

The linear segments of the 4 lords were excellent. Each one of them was unique in their own way, and offer completely different experiences than the other, from focus on exploring the area to legit horror, to puzzles focused..etc. All of them are memorable and not easily forgotten. Of course, some are better than others, but I enjoyed all of them.

The shop was a mixed bag. While I liked the Duke's character, and he offers ton of valuable items, I felt money was plenty in this game, like I was mostly swimming in cash to be honest, and I didn't get all the optional treasures. Felt easy to buy upgrades for the weapons and inventory. Felt like they missed a trick here, the money should have been sparse and force you to focus on things more important than others for you, so that it plays a part in the "survival" aspect of the game, but at the end it felt way too easy to gather a lot of money and buy most things and upgrades you want.

The game still has puzzles, and they were mostly decent, but nothing groundbreaking to be honest. Some of them requires thinking for few seconds but nothing more. Some are environmental puzzles, you search for something to open paths for something else..etc, basically classic Resident Evil. These were done well, but overall they weren't the strongest aspect of the game. Probably one or two times I didn't know where to go, but most of the time you won't get lost, the game makes it clear which direction you should go in, especially in the 4 lords segments as these are mostly linear.

Graphically wise the game looks stunning. The village and the lords' areas all look great and well designed, and the performance is mostly fine. Frame rates are mostly stable, however, I have to note that huge frame drops happen during the first Lord's area, the castle, whenever one of the daughter's bugs attack you, the game becomes unplayable with the stuttering and frame drops till I get away. Other than I didn't encounter many problems, and this issue feels like a common one from what I read, so I hope Capcom releases a patch to fix it, since it's not a difficult issue. I have heard a lot of complaints about the performance in general, but fortunately I didn't encounter any other issues bar this one, and my rig is actually a mid one, not a high end PC or anything.

Voice acting was mostly good and did the job, though as I said above, most of the dialogue was cheesy and poorly written, but the actors did a fine job with what they have. The voice design in the areas is good, but the soundtrack was nothing worthy of note. I honestly don't remember any soundtrack I have heard in the game.

Overall, RE8 is a very entertaining game. It's a lot of fun just to explore, shoot, and solve the mysteries you're facing, and the game is actually quite long enough for a RE game, it takes at least 9-10 hours to complete and can be stretched to even more. However, it's mostly not a horror game, not that it's tense, bar one area, and otherwise leans heavily more towards action. This might annoy some of the fans, but for what it was aiming, I think it mostly succeeded. Some flaws here and there but this is a quite solid, mostly action game, that you'll have a lot of fun with. Definitely a game worthy to be played, even if you're not a huge fan of the series in genera.

Story : 6.5/10.

Gameplay : 8/10.

Graphics : 9/10.

Performance : 6.5/10.

Voice acting : 7/10.

Soundtrack : 5/10.

Overall : 8/10.

Capcom for the past five-ish years has been out here clapping goddamn cheeks and rising from the ashes, truly becoming one of my favorite developers of the current gaming landscape.

Monster Hunter: World brought a ton of polish, quality of life, and graphical fidelity improvements to a series that always felt a little too much like a beta for me to truly invest a ton of time into and has become one of my favorite games of all time and my most played game on Steam by a huge margin. It also sold like hot cakes and brought a ton of new people into the franchise.

Devil May Cry 5 was the best entry to that franchise in fifteen years.

The Resident Evil 2 remake is one of the only instances I can think of where a remake of a game seriously competed for game of the year at multiple publications and in the hearts of gamers. And it wasn’t like it was a weak year, either. A goddamn remake held its own against the likes of Control, Sekiro, Outer Wilds, Outer Worlds, Disco Elysium, and Fire Emblem. That’s insane.

And of course there’s Resident Evil 7, which is the foundation Village is built on and was a massive reinvention of a series that had gone completely off the rails since Resident Evil 4. It changed the POV to first person for the first time ever, released a PlayStation VR version (PC VR when?!), and just generally leaned harder on the series’ horror roots. As much as I enjoyed Resident Evil 7, I am not a huge horror video game person. They are hard to play for me and while I can appreciate them I don’t REALLY enjoy them perse because it’s hard to enjoy anything when your underwear is filled with feces.

While Resident Evil: Village is definitely still scary (and still keeps the claustrophobic first-person POV), it is nowhere near as exhaustively so as 7. Most of the really bad spooks are confined to the first half of the game and even then there are large breaks from it to catch your breath, and it gets a lot more action heavy (ala Resident Evil 4 & 5) later on. Perhaps more crucially for me, it brings back a lot of the ridiculous, set-piece-filled energy, charmingly terrible dialogue, and over the top plot of Resident Evil 4. Hell, this game gets so crazy at the end I had to wonder if Kojima was involved. A giant mold fetus blotting out the sky seems crazy even for resident evil.

Every area and boss fight is memorable, the gunplay feels a little better than it did in 7, the dialogue and situations you find yourself in are way more ridiculously stupid (in a good way) than 7, which took itself a tad too seriously for my tastes. It is the closest Resident Evil has gotten to the core of my cold heart since Resident Evil 4.

I think Capcom accomplished the impossible here and were able to satisfy pretty much everyone, the old school fans of Resident Evil 2 that want pants shitting survival horror, and the fans like me that only started caring about the series when 4 came out and have been holding a torch for that game ever since. It’s a very hard tightrope to walk but they make it look pretty effortless here. I'm curious to see what the next entry looks like, as it seems to imply you might be playing as Chris.

Resident Evil Village is the twelfth game in the Resident Evil franchise I’ve played completely through over the course of the last 25 years. I felt the need to look this up about halfway through Village, because I realized that considering how many games I’ve played in this series, and how much time I’ve spend playing these games, I’ve always been blown away by how Capcom consistently evolves and tries to things with this franchise. Those experiments aren’t always great, but I admire they’re ability to explore the possibilities of this franchise.

For example, even though Resident Evil 6 was the best-selling game in the series, Capcom saw that the installment was a disappointment, started from scratch, and rebooted Resident Evil in an exciting new way with Resident Evil 7. There are few successful franchise that I can think of that have consistently reinvented themselves as much as Resident Evil has, and it’s always fascinating to see how Capcom will evolve this series with the next installment.

My biggest problem with Resident Evil 7 was that it didn’t quite feel like a Resident Evil game, until the final moments when Chris Redfield shows up to remind the player that, yes, this is in fact a Resident Evil game. I must not have been alone in this feeling, as Resident Evil Village has come at this criticism in two ways: it makes this installment integral to the RE mythos and makes us rethink the events of this franchise, while also making us completely reconsider what a “Resident Evil” game can be.

I’ve heard people say that Resident Evil Village is episodic in a way that will makes fans of specific installments happy. The opening segment and the village overall feels very much inspired by Resident Evil 4, while the first area of the game is a clear throwback to the first three Resident Evil games, and the second area is reminiscent of 7. But I also think this is simply a game trying to explore the limitations of Resident Evil as a franchise. There are vampires, werewolves, sea monsters, giant fetus slug things, and many other, and by the time Resident Evil Village is done, it all actually makes sense.

I love how Resident Evil Village segments this world to allow for different gameplays. By mixing up what this game can do, we get to see all the possibilities of what a Resident Evil game can be all at once. It can be action-oriented, or centered around puzzles, or just an eerie house that you desperately want to leave. I thought Resident Evil 7 didn’t quite feel like a Resident Evil game until the very end, and Resident Evil Village shows me that almost anything can be a Resident Evil game at this point.

But I also find that Resident Evil 7 and Village are both testing the limitations of this franchise so they can break out. This seems like a definitive way to open up the possibilities, while it also moves past the mythology that ties this series down. As much as I like the characters that I’ve played as for the last 25 years, I’m excited about what comes after Village, and what new paths this installment opens up.

I have A LOT to say about this one, but I'ill get one thing out of the way already: I fucking loved it! While I don't think it's better than RE7, I do think that Village was bold enough to come close.

The two first things that astounded me when I pressed start on this title were the graphics and sound design. Capcom nailed it AGAIN with the RE Engine, as they have been hitting the perfect spots since 2017. The soundtrack might not be very memorable, but the haunting sounds and imagery of the village will forever stick with me.

After being in awe with Village's incredible presentation and set-up, I fell in love with the gameplay. Yes, the similarities with RE4 are all there, from gameplay, to pacing, mechanics and even story bits, but the biggest comparison should be done with RE7. Basically, RE8 carries over its previous installment's gameplay, but perfects it. Every addition made to the gameplay loop worked perfectly. Ethan moves better, aims better, the Duke is not only a great character but also a fantastic shopkeeper, the ingredients system keeps you invested and everything else was well-developed in order to make the exploration and combat feel joyful to play. And they did it.

And not only exploration and combat were tweaked for the better, but puzzle solving too! Each puzzle feels light and not frustrating at all. Backtracking is rarely a chore and the interconnected levels are brilliant. I love this soft-puzzle-solving approach that Capcom has been taking the RE series and I hope they keep it up. One other thing, this game was the easiest Resident Evil that I've played in a long while and while I don't think that this is objectively bad at all, I do recommend playing on harder difficulties if you enjoy the "survival horror" challenge.

Village's atmosphere is also one of the main things that kept me hooked. I felt that, like RE4 did in the past, RE8 manages to perfectly balance horror and action moments. Things get a little out of hand during the final hour, but it never felt out truly of place. Sure, it's not as scary as RE7 or RE2REMAKE, but it DEFINITELY kept me on edge and tense throughout the entire experience. Fuck that Beneviento bitch!

And the story: I also loved it! Probably one of the craziest stories told in an RE game. Ethan, his family and even Chris are way more fleshed out than in RE7, and not only that, but the main cast is presented along with plenty stunning supporting characters. The Duke, Dimitrescu and her daughters, Heinsenberg, Miranda, Beneviento, Moreau and even Chris' goons or the poor villagers - they're all great! Each area of the game is varied enough and fits perfectly with each villain. Environmental storytelling, packed with the stunning level design, was key to make it all work. Nothing felt out of place and the story benefits greatly from that. From beginning to end. It's surprise on top of surprise. And better yet - most of them were written pretty well!

Few things prevent this game from being the masterpiece that RE7 was. I'll be brief. The thing that most bothered me is how little the story showcases its biggest strenghts. Despite being very good, Village has TOO MANY good things to show, and they do show them, but not for long! I just wish they expanded more about characters and the village itself. Especially during the final moments of the game. Village didn't need to be longer, just... a bit broader? The story also had the weirdest post-credits scene. If it wasn't for that, everything would fit naturally. In my opinion, RE8 did little when they had a lot and RE7 did the opposite, which worked better.

Gameplay-wise, I didn't like the amount of missable items and areas. I mean, yes, if you miss them, it's your fault, but I wish there were indications about missing them other than the map. And while the bosses were mostly very good, one of them felt a little too.... anime? Also, the final hour of the game is TOO fast-paced. It does answer plenty of questions, but they say goodbye to the scary atmosphere and hello to FIRST PERSON SHOOTER. I didn't like that very much. Oh, the Mercenaries mode! It felt ok, but not as fun as in RE4 or RE5. Shame, though.

I could spend hours talking about Resident Evil Village. It truly is an amazing game, with a few minor issues here and there. Thank you for this game Capcom. Just give them your money, whether you're a survival horror fan or an action shooter freak.

Now give us RE9, already.

PROS

• Weaves together disparate elements from previous REs to make a unique, diverse experience
• Gorgeous art direction and character designs
• Dense levels are a pleasure to navigate and highly immersive
• Plethora of optional areas and activities makes exploration feel meaningful
• In-your-face combat is panic-inducing at times
• Some really great boss fights
• Functions effectively as a "Part 2" to RE7's narrative

CONS

• Uneven VA (this is something that RE just can't seem to get down)
• Overabundance of ideas causes a few sequences to feel under-cooked
• Never quite reaches the heights of intensity of RE7

Resident Evil VII laid an excellent foundation for the future of the series, bringing its classic action-adventure formula into a new first-person perspective, a shiny new engine, and a new genre of horror. Village, actually the 10th main game in the series, was not content to merely repeat the same trick again. Once again, it completely swaps out its setting and style, and pulls from other genre greats to assemble a varied, exciting horror action-adventure package.

The tense action gauntlets and big setpieces of Resident Evil 4, the uneasiness and powerlessness felt in something like P.T., and the adventure game puzzle progression of the originals are all here. The result is something that can be compared to all kinds of things, even drawing aesthetic comparisons to something like Bloodborne, but that ultimately is a beast of its own.

The FPS gameplay of REVII is back and better, with more aggressive and plentiful enemies like some of RE4's more chaotic sections. Inventory and progression also works more like RE4, and I found that losing the item box and having a giant inventory suited this game's fast pace really well. The crafting system also felt well-balanced to me, letting the player prioritize certain ammo types or healing items at will. This is not a methodical RE title where you must carefully consider everything, and I don't consider that a bad thing here with Ethan already being well-experienced for his task.

On Standard, I found the game a perfect difficulty. I never died to any enemies or bosses, only to certain "event" situations where you had to dodge or run away from something -- but on many occasions, I was brought to the brink of death, particularly during boss and miniboss encounters, that fun and tense kind of action that I liked in games like RE3-5 and Revelations. But it's not just dumb fun like RE6, so purists do not need to be completely worried about it.

Story-wise, I was generally satisfied, even when it briefly veered into a Metal Gear-esque attempt to tie the series's entire overarching plot together. That aside, there are some great characters in this game. While nothing reaches the heights of REVII's Jack Baker, there are more total memorable characters in this entry. There's a real sense of mystery and desperation established early on in the game. Ethan's grueling quest to get his daughter back takes some interesting twists and turns that really surprised me on a few occasions.

The last thing I'll call out is the game's cool designs for its locations and characters. The six main boss characters in the game are all extremely distinct, and each brings its own twisted enemies and obstacles for you to face. The ornate, blood-and-wine-filled Castle Dimitrescu and the titular village are obvious highlights, along with a certain house full of dolls, and perhaps the series' best obligatory factory level. The final boss fight also looked really cool, way better than the last game's final fight in every way.

It's hard to say where this ranks among the rest of the series so soon after playing it. I'm not sure that I would put it right at the top tier, but it was loads of fun, and it's one of the games that I had the fewest complaints and annoyances with, which can go a long way. It earns its place as a very solid entry, one of the best of recent times, and proof that even as they churn out remakes, Resident Evil is still able to move in new directions decades later.