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 loved it! It was so good. (Finally a good review, yay). Go play it, everyone!

I absolutely loved how this game combined different kinds of horror (the villains and their locations) and put it into 1 game. It could've been chaotic but somehow they made it work perfectly.

Even though I wish it was more scary overall, the sequence at the Beneviento house was the most tense and scariest part of a game I have ever played. Never have I experienced fear like that before while gaming. It was awesome!

Omg. When Ethan died I was about to throw hands! The way Miranda killed him was so sloppy and it seemed disrespectful to Ethan to write him off like that. I loved the twist after though. And sure, it was incredibly sad Ethan died anyway but at least this was the epic death he deserved.

I was a little sad we didn't get any scenes with the Bakers. Yeah, yeah, they're dead, I know... But I hoped they'd give us another scene with them in Purgatory, like they did with Jack and Zoë in RE7. The quick flashbacks we got here don't count. But I guess that's just my hyperfixating self talking lmao. I would kill for comics about the Bakers.

I had so much fun. I can't wait for the DLCs. Will definitely keep my eye out for them.

This is definitely better than Resident Evil 7. RE7 was good, but I was disappointed in the lack of enemy variety, and that brought the experience down in multiple ways. Resident Evil Village doesn't make that mistake. They do a good job of mixing things up in both enemies and environments throughout the game.

The map system from Resident Evil 2 Remake returns in this game, and it's was the game's biggest hook for a while. I was obsessed with scouring every building for all the items within until the building on the map turned blue. It hits the appeal of Metroidvanias.

The game is split up into distinct areas with its own boss that runs the place. The devs are still committed to doing the RE1-like puzzles and exploration, and I love that they stuck with this. They also do something special in each area to give the game a good amount of variety which I love, but I have my own likes and dislikes for each area. The thing about the current team working on Resident Evil is they wear their influences on their sleeve, and it's clear they are influenced by games I don't like. These new RE games work to recapture the magic of the old games (RE1 to RE4) while mixing in some of the current horror game trends. My problem is with the current horror game trends. I don't like games like Outlast and Amnesia, so when they put in sections of this game that feel ripped straight from titles like those, it brings down the experience for me. RE Village also reuses some ideas from previous games that aren't as well executed here. There were also some disappointedly uninspired choices made when they could have done something cool and new. None of this makes any area in the game bad, but they definitely could have been much better. Except for the factory level. They 100% nailed what they did there. The level was so good that it made me forget about all the issues I had with the game before then.

Outside of the ending, the story left a lot to be desired. Ethan wasn't never a good character and they didn't do anything to fix that here. He's mostly one-note and surprisingly stupid in this game. The new bosses are also pretty one-note and boring (people excited for Lady Dimitrescu might be disappointed). Heisenberg was a standout though. He had a little more going on than the others. He's not necessarily a good character, but he was at least somewhat interesting. The new merchant character is pretty good though.

This game introduces new Lycan enemies. I was excited for this because Resident Evil has done nothing like that before. I was disappointed to see they attack me just like Las Plagas enemies from Resident Evil 4. They run up to me and then stop when they are a certain distance away. Then they start moving slowly towards move to the left or right before lunging. I just don't think Lycans would fight like this. I can see and hear them moving running around jumping from rooftop to rooftop, but then they get to the ground in front of me all that quick movement and aggression stops. It's a missed opportunity to do something new and cool. There is one underground ruins area where I fought against a group of them. Here, they acted more like Lycans. The area had three levels. Lycans would jump from ground level to the second level to attack me (they also used ladders sometimes which is odd). If I was standing near a platform a level above me, they would jump down right on top of me. The second and third levels had gaps between platforms that I could see them running and jumping over. They felt more threatening in this area.

I have so many mixed feelings on this game, but overall, it's still a really good, satisfying experience that I will play again. Because it's a game that likes to blend the old RE with modern horror games, I just couldn't help but think about how great Jill Valentine is in RE3 Remake compared to Ethan (Leon in RE4 is better than him too), how much more interesting enemy AI is in Resident Evil 4 compared to here (enemies don't even throw their weapons at you in this game), and how much I don't like a lot of modern horror games. It feels like this game is in some ways a step backwards from the games it's trying to modernize.

Side Note: They brought back the RE4 inventory management, and I never had to engage with it. I always had enough space. I did not rotate or move one item in my case through my entire playthrough.

Resident Evil Village is a continuation of the story of Ethan Winters, the protagonist of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. It's a second game in the fresh RE formula, with first-person perspective. The review is spoiler free, but i will refer to stuff from the trailers.

Village has literally everything you loved about Biohazard, but better. Duh, it has everything you loved about Resident Evil series... But better. Below, i will get more specific, but at this point i can already recommend you to order the game, all of you should experience Village as soon as possible.

The game looked absolutely gorgeous on my PS5, I played in 4k Ray Tracing mode and the game was really stable, except some parts where i could notice frame drops for a second, but nothing too big of a deal. The design and diversity of locations and enemies are mind-blowing. The animations are so clean I were simply amaze by them. The game just plays and looks fire.

The gameplay is as good as in the previous game. Ethan is now more experienced with a gun, so aiming is easier, but the enemies are stronger. To be honest they seem a bit too much bullet spongy, but you have plenty of ammo lying around. The game surprises you more with mini boss encounters and just tough situations, so you use everything you have rather than hoarding stuff for God knows what moment. I really loved that about Village.

Thankfully the game provides tons of quality of life changes. Journal and collectibles are easily accessible and really well-done. Your backpack is completely reworked, and it's really easy and comfortable to use, unlike the previous games. Weapons and the character are easily upgrade'able using the game's merchant. Stuff is just done cleaner than before.

The story of Village is just mind-blowing. Ethan is now on a mission to rescue his daughter and he does it with style. Our average guy is now totally chad and i love it. In my opinion he is easily one of the best protagonists of the series. Mr. Winters does impressive things and acts like a real badass, all of it with the actual explanation, not just "i'm now super cool and deal with it" approach. The story features tons of goose bumpy scenes, beyond cool action, moments of joy for fans of the series and some really cool twists. I played through it with my mouth open. I would love to write an essay about the awesomeness of every single part of the plot, but you have to experience it yourselves.

The game is pretty much divided into sections. Every section has a different setting and gameplay approach. There are good old chase segments, shoot them up arenas, puzzles, epic boss fights and more. The game is diverse to the bone and every section is different from the other. There is one part of the game that is really special and i see everyone praising it all over the internet. I'm not different, this one section of the game totally blew me away. There is a segment where they take your weapon and put you through a freaking extreme horror experience. P.T, Silent Hill, Outlast, you name it, it's way more terrifying. It's nearly impossible to scare me, as i watch and play horror games my whole life, but this made me pause the game to catch a break. I naturally played in the middle of the night and I was actually scared to go to the bathroom. Would you expect something like this from Resident Evil? Hell no. But they did it, and they absolutely destroyed it. It was honestly the best part of the game and maybe my horror experience in general. As long as you sink in the atmosphere and you roleplay as Ethan it will most likely blow you away and make your pants dirty. It's really short tho, like 40 minutes at best. The game has tons of villains, all of them unique, interesting and awesome. Well known Lady Dimitrescu is just a beginning.

The game features really nice references to the previous titles, i loved them all. Chris Redfield is absolutely awesome in Village, you won't be disappointed. I won't really elaborate, you will want to check them for yourselves.

The ending was really satisfying and i can sleep well knowing the series is heading in amazing direction, Capcom did wonders with the story.

After completing the game you get access to new game modes, new difficulty and tons of unlockables, i just started playing with them, but first impressions are fantastic. Mercenaries are back and if you liked them before, you will like then in Village.

In conclusion Village left me with open mouth, i'm simply amazed by this game and at this point i want to replay or resident evil games, and i totally will. I'm totally doing the platinum in the game, it's as chad as Ethan Winters... and he's chad af. Everything about the game is amazing so it belongs in my favorites. Can't wait for the next game, dang it, it was worth the wait.

10/10

"Playtime's over! I will take my chances."

~Wo