Honestly I don't really have much to say about Resident Evil Village. It's very similar to Resident Evil 4 Remake in it's action-horror approach and that style of gameplay doesn't vibe with me at all. Whereas I was able to enjoy RE4 for the most part due to how masterfully crafted that game was, I don't think the same can be said about Village. Village kind of feels like a bootleg version of Resident Evil 4 Remake as it does a lot of the same things -just worse.

I don't want to harp on the game though, as it's clear that my expectations were way too high coming from Resident Evil 7 -expectations that an action-horror Resident Evil would never be able to match. The story was pretty interesting at the start and I think some of the areas were pretty fun like Castle Dimitrescu or House Beneviento. I also found Ethan's characterization in Village to be a large upgrade over how he was in RE7 so that's also a plus.

Overall Village was a serviceable game. I can't say it was masterful in it's approach like RE4 or that I loved it like any of the other RE games I've played. Village certainly wasn't a bad experience however, and I would definitely recommend it for fans of Resident Evil. This is especially true if you enjoy the action-horror style gameplay that Village contains.

3/5

I've heard many things about Resident Evil 7 since its release back in 2017. Words like 'savior', 'masterpiece', and 'renaissance' come up whenever RE7 is mentioned. Feelings of worship and thankfulness seem to resonate with fans of Resident Evil when talking about RE7, but are these words of praise justified?

As a new fan of the series who has only touched the remakes of 2, 3, and 4: I can't quite relate to the history of the Resident Evil franchise or how it may have fell or rose in quality over the years. What I can do though is play the game myself and report on my feelings and I'll say this: the praise is much justified.

Resident Evil 7, apart from one aspect, is everything I wanted in a Resident Evil game. Survival-Horror is back, and it's never been so beautiful. Slow and suspenseful exploration where you're encouraged to check every nook and cranny, not just for items that can help you but also to sate your curiosity through environmental storytelling. Combat is just how I like it with a steady methodical pace. Resources are scarce but so are enemies, so long as you play skillfully you shouldn't get overwhelmed.

The general atmosphere is amazing in this game. The level design grounds and pulls you in immediately with a stunning attention to detail in sound design and ambient music -all working together to create a world that keeps you on your toes like any good horror should.

The story is interesting and pushes you forward at a good pace to sate your curiosity. Puzzles are well made with some really great sections and the environments are always visually interesting -especially so the starting area. Boss fights are also some of the best in the series, never once feeling frustrating or unfair yet still being difficult enough to be enjoyable.

If I had to find one issue with the game it would probably have to be with the cast. While I found the cast of antagonists both entertaining and interesting, I can't quite say the same about the protagonists. Particularly Ethan as a character is honestly lacking to the point of feeling hollow -almost as if he is simply there not as his own character but as a point of self-insert for the player.

Perhaps this is fitting in a way given the point-of-view change from the traditional third-person to RE7's first-person view. Either way he is far less interesting than a Leon, Claire, or Jill... not to say that I disliked him, just that there was nothing particularly interesting about him and he was regularly outshined by other members of the cast.

Though I still have many other games in the franchise to play (I plan on going back and playing RE0/1 Remakes as well as RE5 and 6 with a friend when I can after Village), so far Resident Evil 7 is my favorite game in the franchise. It takes everything I like about Survival-Horror and packs it into a nice and tight experience that never overstays it's welcome. A stunning atmosphere, an interesting story, and a set of great areas: what more could you want? I highly recommend this game to anyone who hasn't already played it. Seriously, it's great.

4.5/5

Resident Evil 4 is a masterpiece for many. If you look into any user's top 10 game list there is a pretty good chance that Resident Evil 4 -either the original or the remake- will be in there. This is especially true for fans of horror games. After putting around 22 hours into the game and finishing it on Hardcore, I have to admit that RE4 is regrettably my least favorite of the three that I have played. This is in no way due to the quality of the game though, as I have come to understand that the type of game I want Resident Evil to be simply isn't in Resident Evil 4 or it's DNA and expecting it to be what I want is like expecting an orange to be an apple.

Resident Evil 4 marks a major shift in the Resident Evil formula. Moving from the slower and more traditional survival-horror gameplay loop found in the earlier games into the faster and somewhat high-octane genre of action-horror. This was likely a necessary change for a franchise that was at risk of growing stale, but it is a change that ultimately hurts my personal enjoyment of it.

Action-Horror is done exceedingly well in Resident Evil 4 Remake. Combat is fluid and easily responsive which is largely important as you will find yourself in firefights very often. But it's not just about the guns and how well you aim, but also how you use the environment for yourself and against the enemies. Level design is generally great with a variety of options for the player to position themselves during combat.

The shift to Action-Horror isn't all roses though as mainstay aspects of the franchise take a few hits here or there due to the transition. Firstly the 'horror' aspect is flimsy at best. There were very few segments in the game that had me feeling any levels of tension or fear. This is mostly due to the majority of segments in the game being large-scale shoot-outs, segments that while epic and fun are largely lacking in any amount of fear.

Puzzles in this game are also largely uninteresting. You'll usually just find a key or shape in a chest and play a small 'fit the shape' or 'pick the right key' mini-game once you backtrack to wherever you need to use the item. The loot that you get from some of the puzzles tend to just be treasure that you sell to the merchant which I also found largely boring.

The story is great though, with Leon returning alongside a few familiar faces and a few new ones. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and while I preferred Leon's personality in RE2, I still liked the 'grizzled vet' version of Leon in RE4 and I thought his chemistry with Ashley was fun. Ashley was also great and her escort AI was fairly good though not quite up there with someone like Elizabeth (Bioshock Infinite). I found the sections where she was heavily involved to be major highlights to both the gameplay and story.

Resident Evil 4 is a really good game. The graphics are stunning, the characters and story are awesome, and the gameplay is fun. It is regrettable that the general gameplay loop and genre design philosophy simply don't mesh well with what I enjoy in horror games.

If you're coming into Resident Evil 4 having played the earlier games (specifically in my case the remakes) I'd really recommend that you don't base your expectations for RE4 on those games, because as similar as this game is to those games, it is also really different. You'd do both yourself and this game a major favor if you just let it be itself and don't place unnecessary expectations on it. Resident Evil 4 is a masterpiece in action-horror, but the thing is: I don't really like action-horror.

3.5/5