Man, oh man, what an experience.

Many have played Resident Evil Village since its launch back in 2021. People liked it a lot, from what I've heard. Back then, though, I wasn't into the Resident Evil series. It wasn't because the games were horror focused, though. I won't say I'm immune to horror elements in games at all. In fact, I consider that a bit of a strength, in a way, when it comes to consuming horror media. When you let a horror game crawl under your skin, allowing yourself to be immersed in its twisted world as you cautiously peek around corners for monsters and ready your weapon as you slowly walk through dark corridors, I feel you may get more out of the experience. Then as you travel further in, you begin to familiarize yourself with the concepts, building up the courage to press on as the protagonist does, allowing the player to step further into the shoes of the leading character as they explore the spooky landscape. I think that's what I appreciate the most about horror games: they allow you, the player, to grow along with the protagonist in ways most other genres can't.

What better way to step into the shoes of a horror protagonist then via Virtual Reality?

I owned a PSVR headset back when that was the current way to get a console VR experience and despite the awkward setup, I enjoyed it a lot. Back then, Resident Evil 7 had gotten a PlayStation exclusive VR mode, and needless to say the concept fascinated me. Playing a horror game like that in VR? That must be terrifying!

I never got to experience that game, though. I was interested in playing that game and seeing that world through VR lenses, but what kept me from pursuing this dream was the control scheme. What I liked most about the VR experiences I had with titles like Skyrim VR and Accounting + were how I could move my hands freely as I explored environments and solved puzzles using the move controllers. Sadly, though, a move controller only playstyle was not supported for Resident Evil 7, so that's how I mainly lost interest. Looking back, though, I don't blame them at all for not cooking up a control scheme for those things. I mean, look at them! They don't even have analog sticks! I don't know how Bethesda cooked up a tolerable control scheme for only using these things for Skyrim VR, but using these to navigate in 3D in a horror game? Probably not ideal!

Fast forward to November 2022. Sony reveals the PSVR2, a vast upgrade over the original headset for PS4. Along with this headset came the new Sense controllers, and look what we have here! Analog sticks! All the buttons on a normal DualSense controller! We finally made it! Normal gaming in VR on console with the ability to move our hands freely at last!

Needless to say this headset was on my radar since before it got announced. Rumors everywhere, people seeing it as a no-brainer that Sony would release a follow-up to their original headset. It just had to happen, and it did! Come December 2022, we would get a look at some upcoming VR content, including a release date for Resident Evil Village's VR mode, which would launch the same day as the headset! Excitement filled me as I saw this announcement. I was eager to finally see what this game was all about, and I wanted to see it all in VR. Before I knew it February 2023 would come and so would the VR headset. After watching some other early adopters try out the headset to make sure it was the amazing piece of tech it promised to be, I used my tax return to snag one of my own, along with some games to experience in VR, including Resident Evil Village.

By this point in my life I had become no stranger to the Resident Evil series, having played Resident Evil 2 Remake and Resident Evil 5 with a friend. Now, I could not only experience Resident Evil Village for myself, I could make my first experience of it in VR. Long story short, it was everything I wanted.

I won't go into detail about the story here. I'll say that it's a fun romp, with good emotional moments and great banter from the crew of foes you face. I'll add that seeing these cutscenes in VR can be a little disorienting, though. Sometimes Ethan (a.k.a. you) will be pulled in different directions, which can be disorienting for those that suffer from motion sickness (thankfully not the case for me). You can also move your head freely in cutscenes, which means you may see certain things before the game wants you to. Subtitles are available in VR, and they hover on screen within your peripheral vision. However, these subtitles are usually placed in front of characters or objects, which means they're often too close to the viewer, causing them to appear awkwardly and difficult to read unless the player closes one eye. It gets pretty annoying when this happens, and I wish this wasn't an issue in VR.

Also, a good few number of cutscenes aren't presented in a first-person format. Instead, you're shown a cutscene on a floating screen. It's not terrible and I understand why it was necessary, but it is a little jarring sometimes. I also had this really weird glitch happen after I beat the game where the menus kept flickering in random spots, which could be a problem for those that may suffer from epilepsy. Please keep that in mind before playing this game in VR.

Moving away from cutscenes, let's talk about the gameplay, what it's like to experience the village in VR. I had a blast exploring this place in VR. This game doesn't cause motion sickness for me, so I was able to use smooth turning and walking without teleporting around to allow myself to feel more immersed in the world.

Along with moving around are your arsenal of weapons. What's cool about this game is that you get the option to manually reload your weapons. This means that, rather than just hitting a button to reload, you have to reload guns like you would a real weapon. That means for pistols, for example, you'll need to pull on the slide on top after inserting a magazine to fire it. For shotguns, you need to pump them every time you fire a shot. These mechanics apply for every weapon you find. This can be turned off for a more relaxed experience, but I refused to do that. It was way more exciting and tense to keep this feature on as I played. I've had many memorable moments because of it, like one where I shot an enemy with a rifle, and as they approached I tried to fire again and heard a click because I didn't pull the bolt handle. I then quickly did it as they got closer and got a finishing headshot mere moments before it could touch me.

Aiming is also fun in VR. You'll be holding your weapons two-handed and lining up shots constantly, whether you're holding your pistol out in front of you or looking down the scope of your sniper rifle. This game not only asks what your dominant hand is, but also your dominant eye, which allows it to take into consideration how you'll aim as you play, which is really smart. Honestly, playing this game just makes me want to play more VR games with cool gun mechanics like this, because I think having to manually reload and aim down sights adds a lot to the player experience.

Now for the real question: does playing this game in VR make it spookier? The answer is absolutely. Since you're in a VR headset, you don't get to look away when a creepy foe tries to get up close and personal with you. You either fight or you run (please don't try to run in real life though you'll break so many things) to survive in this world of horror. When you see a new enemy approach you, you're gonna have to face your fear and aim steadily for those headshots. As you progress and get more destructive firepower, you'll be mowing down even the fiercest of foes. Resident Evil Village has many tricks up its sleeves to keep you on your toes, however. They'll introduce new enemies that have specific ways to take them down or just have a ton of health to make fighting them a nightmare. There's boss fights that make you focus on keeping your distance while trying to pour as much lead into them as you can. These moments can be exciting, but not too scary.

There is one moment in this game that is downright terrifying, though, especially in VR.

I won't spoil it here, but I will say that it caught me off guard. I went from gunning down monsters to hiding in closets, my knees shaking as I prayed for it to just leave me alone. I don't think any horror game scared me like that moment did, and I loved every second of it. Seasoned Village survivors will know what I'm alluding to, but if you don't and plan on playing this game, don't spoil yourself. Trust me on this one.

Overall, Resident Evil Village is a great game, and playing it in VR makes it an even more intense experience. Whether you've never played this game before or you want your next playthrough to have a unique edge to it, I highly recommend giving the VR mode a playthrough. It's definitely worth your time, especially if you can afford both a PlayStation 5 and the PSVR2 set. Now I just wish more shooters had VR modes like this. I hope that as this generation goes on we see more VR experiences like this one!

Also, yes, Lady Dimitrescu feels 9 feet tall in VR. The people who simp for her are gonna have a great time. Me, though, I was enjoying the sight of someone else in VR a lot more.