Resident Evil Village is three years previous now, and searching again, it’s nonetheless a recreation that fills me with immense pleasure. Despite the fact that the franchise has definitely put out video games that have been higher than Village, Village itself felt like a really distinctive sort of Resident Evil recreation, making a flavour of horror journey that no different recreation within the sequence has even tried capturing. On prime of that, after all, it was additionally a rattling effective recreation in its personal proper, in the end making for a recreation that stands out in reminiscence as one of many brightest highlights in Capcom’s storied survival horror franchise.
There was no scarcity of issues to like in Resident Evil Village, however maybe its single greatest power was simply how assorted it was- and that was true in additional methods than one. One thing that’s typically been mentioned for the sport is that it appears like a theme park of various horror types, and that actually is kind of an correct method to describe it. Village captures a number of completely different tastes of horror and forms of horror gameplay experiences, which it does by splitting itself into a number of distinct space.
From the titular village itself, which served as a compelling hub for Ethan Winters’ complete nightmarish journey, to Heisenberg’s Manufacturing facility, which took the all-too-familiar “lab location on the finish of the sport” Resident Evil trope and injected it with an industrial vibe, from Home Beneviento, which boasted a chilling psychological horror sequence not like the rest Resident Evil has ever completed, to Fort Dimitrescu, which felt like the proper, traditional Resident Evil setting, full with a stalker enemy. Each location in Resident Evil Village felt like its personal, distinctive expertise, coming with distinct tones, aesthetics, stage design approaches, enemies, and extra.
Equally, the sport additionally did a spectacular job of capturing the numerous completely different sorts of gameplay experiences that the Resident Evil franchise has delivered over time. As time has passed by, Resident Evil has are available many various forms- third-person and first-person, horror-focused and action-focused, exploration-driven and set piece-driven, you identify it. Resident Evil Village, which Capcom releasd hand-in-hand with the sequence’ twenty fifth anniversary, in some way managed to efficiently and, most significantly, cohesively seize all of these completely different flavours in a single expertise.
Fort Dimitrescu’s layered and looping design was traditional Resident Evil, as was the fixed menace of Woman Dimitrescu stalking the halls and making an attempt to hunt you down. A number of sections within the remaining third of the sport have been rather more action-focused, and sometimes felt like they have been evoking the perfect moments of Resident Evil 5. The setting of the village itself and the inclusion of different components like a service provider character and a briefcase stock system, in the meantime, had greater than just some shades of Resident Evil 4. No matter which period of the sequence you favored most, Resident Evil Village had loads of like to share with everybody.
It helped, after all, that the sport’s underlying mechanics and gameplay loop have been as sturdy as they have been. Fight, for example, was an absolute blast. There was a strong number of weapons on supply, the development mechanics felt genuinely rewarding and value investing time in, and better of all, the sport had all kinds of enemy varieties. From lycans within the village to vampires in Fort Dimitrescue, from a literal large child and ghost dolls in Home Beneviento to fish monsters in Moreau’s Reservoir, from terrifying twisted mechanical monstrosities in Heisenberg’s Manufacturing facility to rather more, Resident Evil Village went out of its method to handle complaints concerning the lack of enemy selection in RE7. To cap all of it off, it additionally boasted some actually spectacular boss fights, together with some that will even rank as among the finest in the whole series- which is saying rather a lot, given Resident Evil’s wonderful observe document with boss fights.
Past that, exploration was simply as compelling because the fight was thrilling. Exploration has, after all, typically been a core part of Resident Evil video games. Although there have been some notable exceptions to that rule (like RE5 and 6), as a rule, exploring environments, unlocking shortcuts, backtracking, and the like have been key hallmarks of Resident Evil video games. Village had all of that in spades.
In fact, there have been some areas that didn’t put as a lot emphasis on exploration as others did, like Moreau’s Reservoir, which was pretty quick, or Home Beneviento, which was fairly linear. However you then had areas just like the densely designed Fort Dimitrescu, or the labyrinthine Manufacturing facility, each of which weren’t solely fairly prolonged sections within the recreation, however have been additionally an absolute pleasure to discover, because of their traditional Resident Evil-model looping design and lightweight Metroidvania component (which is one thing else that the franchise has typically been identified for). Better of all for exploration enjoyers was the Village itself. Every time you returned to it, new areas would change into accessible for exploration, and every time, it was an absolute pleasure, whether or not due to tense fight encounters, or genuinely priceless rewards, or just the enjoyment of searching down non-obligatory goals.
And although this subsequent level might largely solely apply to longtime Resident Evil followers relatively than the much less rabid enjoyers of the sequence, however past its gameplay facets, Village additionally had stunning strengths within the storytelling division. No, it wasn’t a story masterpiece or a bit of fantastic writing. Like all Resident Evil video games, it was a goofy, pulpy, b-movie horror plot, one thing that it embraced proudly. However for veteran followers of the sequence specifically, it felt like a excessive level for it from a narrative perspective.
For starters, there’s the pure and easy incontrovertible fact that Resident Evil very hardly ever does direct narrative sequels, so to having Resident Evil Village following up on RE7 within the method that it did was a refreshing change of tempo for the franchise (helped by the truth that it introduced Ethan’s story to a satisfying finish). Then there was the entire Chris Redfield angle- taking the type of the antihero for the overwhelming majority of the sport’s story, Chris felt like an absolute wildcard, to the purpose the place his portrayal in Village might even be among the many finest he’s ever had in the whole sequence. Past that, with the likes of Woman Dimitrescu, Karl Heisenberg, and naturally, the Duke, the sport boasted an unusually sturdy forged of memorable personalities.
For longtime followers of the sequence, Village was additionally a very rewarding expertise for the way its story related again to a few of Resident Evil’s older and most central lore. Clearly, I received’t be stepping into any spoilers right here, however suffice to say, the sport very successfully established itself as a massively vital entry within the sequence’ overarching story.
Now three years out from Resident Evil Village’s launch, we’re attending to the purpose the place sequence followers are starting to get antsy about when the subsequent mainline recreation will launch. Capcom itself has been tightlipped on that entrance up to now, and given the purpose the place Village itself ended, there’s actually a variety of vastly completely different instructions that Resident Evil 9 might take. If, nevertheless, it have been to finish up taking cues from its direct predecessor in issues resembling its stage design, gameplay selection, fight, exploration, and extra, it’s protected to say that we’re going to be in for an additional hell of a recreation.
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