The 8th mainline franchise installment and the 26th(!) game in the franchise overall. Taking place after the events of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. Resident Evil Village sees Ethan Winters having started over with his wife Mia, where they are finally living in peace and putting the past behind them. However, Chris Redfield suddenly disrupts their life, throwing a devastated Ethan into a new and twisted nightmare searching for answers in the heart of a Romanian village.
My relationship with the Resident Evil game franchise hasn’t been the most conventional in terms of the order I have played them. Starting off with utterly bland Operation Raccoon City (a franchise installment that no one remembers) and then jumping to the Revelations spin-offs, before finally hitting gold with 7 and its gnarly and disturbing reinvention of the franchise. Since then I have loved the RE2 remake (and enjoyed the RE3 one a year later despite its incredibly short duration) and only just this year I played through the legendary RE4 and its two decent (if disappointing) direct follow ups. Village however continues the current hit ratio for the franchise and frequently met my lofty expectations.
I finished the game in just under 9 hours on standard difficulty (I was hooked for the past couple of days so it may take a little longer for those not as invested). After a brutal opening, you (and Ethan) are thrown straight into the snowy nightmare that is the village and its looming Castle Dimitrescu. Structurally the game follows a semi-open world layout. Without spoiling anything, the plot backbone is made up of you hunting down each of the main antagonist: Mother Miranda’s ‘children’ in 4 separate locations on the outskirts of the village. Fans of the franchise will immediately feel at home in the interlinked pathways, backtracking and puzzling to access keys, items and weapons to progress through the myriad of locked gates and pathways. The level of exploration is ripe, and on my next playthrough I shall be sure to collect as much treasure as I can and uncover the few hidden secrets still hiding in the dark.
Gameplay-wise this takes the established first person perspective introduced in 7 and adds a 4 inflicted combat heavy boost, with a variety of weapons and heavier emphasis on action over stealth and hiding. The inventory system is heavily inspired by 4 as well as the return of a merchant character (here known as the Duke) who provides the in game store and economy. One thing that I found noticeable is that the game isn’t as difficult as its predecessor or the heavily influential 4. Sure, I definitely died several times, however the always growing gung-ho heavy approach does neuter the excellent tension seen at the start of the game and as epic and creative as some of the boss fights are, a few of them are very familiar and intentionally callback to and even remake some of RE4’s. The puzzles are certainly challenging throughout though and aside from a couple of physics based frustrations, there is some damn smart game design and creativity on display here.
The titular village is one of the most thoroughly detailed, mysterious and eerie locations the franchise has ever seen, and for me, one of the most immersive and grin-inducing I have ever played, as it seems tailor made for my niche of visual stylisation and approach to horror imagery. Desolate broken down houses, ancient graveyards, a seamless blend of modern and medieval and lycans roaming the streets, hell this is just the opening area. You also visit the staggering and labyrinthine gothic joy of Castle Dimitrescu and the utterly spine-chilling House Beneviento, both of which are a horror fan’s dream. Both the industrial nightmare of Heisenberg’s factory and Moreau’s vast reservoir are suitably bleak, but undeniably pale in comparison to the previously mentioned locales. The graphics are stunning and show the RE Engine at full force. I could gush on and on about the location interiors and personalities (the obese and Jabba-esque Duke’s wagon has more personality alone then whole games), but the character models and antagonist variety also ticks all my villain design boxes: the giant vampiric and now pop-culture infused Lady Dimitrescu and fly spewing daughters, the maniacal living doll Angie, the bloated, moaning and grotesque merman Moreau, the steampunk infused Heisenberg and the ruthless Mother Miranda all look fantastic and will be ingrained in my mind forever.
The voice acting is strong all around. Ethan gets a substantial character arc here with someone genuinely emotional and effective payoffs and his interactions with Chris help bridge the gap and expand and intertwine the universe even more. Neil Newborn’s Heisenberg is the highlight, delivering his lines with a smarmy Nicolas Cage-esque drawl. Aaron LaPlante’s chortling, wide-eyed Duke injects substantial personality to the role and is easily up there with “What are ya buyin’?” The rest of the antagonist and ally cast also all excel and they truly cement these characters into some of the franchise’s most memorable.
Resident Evil Village once again excels in moving the franchise forward. A beautifully horrific setting, intense combat encounters, a memorable cast of characters and a strong (if a little short) story. Some of the combat encounters may be extremely familiar and the game does abandon the relentless white knuckle tension established in its predecessors for a combat focused approach, but it is undoubtedly a game that frequently had me saying: “I love this so much!”
My relationship with the Resident Evil game franchise hasn’t been the most conventional in terms of the order I have played them. Starting off with utterly bland Operation Raccoon City (a franchise installment that no one remembers) and then jumping to the Revelations spin-offs, before finally hitting gold with 7 and its gnarly and disturbing reinvention of the franchise. Since then I have loved the RE2 remake (and enjoyed the RE3 one a year later despite its incredibly short duration) and only just this year I played through the legendary RE4 and its two decent (if disappointing) direct follow ups. Village however continues the current hit ratio for the franchise and frequently met my lofty expectations.
I finished the game in just under 9 hours on standard difficulty (I was hooked for the past couple of days so it may take a little longer for those not as invested). After a brutal opening, you (and Ethan) are thrown straight into the snowy nightmare that is the village and its looming Castle Dimitrescu. Structurally the game follows a semi-open world layout. Without spoiling anything, the plot backbone is made up of you hunting down each of the main antagonist: Mother Miranda’s ‘children’ in 4 separate locations on the outskirts of the village. Fans of the franchise will immediately feel at home in the interlinked pathways, backtracking and puzzling to access keys, items and weapons to progress through the myriad of locked gates and pathways. The level of exploration is ripe, and on my next playthrough I shall be sure to collect as much treasure as I can and uncover the few hidden secrets still hiding in the dark.
Gameplay-wise this takes the established first person perspective introduced in 7 and adds a 4 inflicted combat heavy boost, with a variety of weapons and heavier emphasis on action over stealth and hiding. The inventory system is heavily inspired by 4 as well as the return of a merchant character (here known as the Duke) who provides the in game store and economy. One thing that I found noticeable is that the game isn’t as difficult as its predecessor or the heavily influential 4. Sure, I definitely died several times, however the always growing gung-ho heavy approach does neuter the excellent tension seen at the start of the game and as epic and creative as some of the boss fights are, a few of them are very familiar and intentionally callback to and even remake some of RE4’s. The puzzles are certainly challenging throughout though and aside from a couple of physics based frustrations, there is some damn smart game design and creativity on display here.
The titular village is one of the most thoroughly detailed, mysterious and eerie locations the franchise has ever seen, and for me, one of the most immersive and grin-inducing I have ever played, as it seems tailor made for my niche of visual stylisation and approach to horror imagery. Desolate broken down houses, ancient graveyards, a seamless blend of modern and medieval and lycans roaming the streets, hell this is just the opening area. You also visit the staggering and labyrinthine gothic joy of Castle Dimitrescu and the utterly spine-chilling House Beneviento, both of which are a horror fan’s dream. Both the industrial nightmare of Heisenberg’s factory and Moreau’s vast reservoir are suitably bleak, but undeniably pale in comparison to the previously mentioned locales. The graphics are stunning and show the RE Engine at full force. I could gush on and on about the location interiors and personalities (the obese and Jabba-esque Duke’s wagon has more personality alone then whole games), but the character models and antagonist variety also ticks all my villain design boxes: the giant vampiric and now pop-culture infused Lady Dimitrescu and fly spewing daughters, the maniacal living doll Angie, the bloated, moaning and grotesque merman Moreau, the steampunk infused Heisenberg and the ruthless Mother Miranda all look fantastic and will be ingrained in my mind forever.
The voice acting is strong all around. Ethan gets a substantial character arc here with someone genuinely emotional and effective payoffs and his interactions with Chris help bridge the gap and expand and intertwine the universe even more. Neil Newborn’s Heisenberg is the highlight, delivering his lines with a smarmy Nicolas Cage-esque drawl. Aaron LaPlante’s chortling, wide-eyed Duke injects substantial personality to the role and is easily up there with “What are ya buyin’?” The rest of the antagonist and ally cast also all excel and they truly cement these characters into some of the franchise’s most memorable.
Resident Evil Village once again excels in moving the franchise forward. A beautifully horrific setting, intense combat encounters, a memorable cast of characters and a strong (if a little short) story. Some of the combat encounters may be extremely familiar and the game does abandon the relentless white knuckle tension established in its predecessors for a combat focused approach, but it is undoubtedly a game that frequently had me saying: “I love this so much!”