Resident Evil Village Review (PS5)

Resident Evil Village is a consistently entertaining survival-horror game that expands on the story which began in its direct predecessor. But it falls frustratingly short of being a true evolution for the series as it treads the line between wanting to play the greatest hits in amongst some interesting newer concepts.

Before we dive into the details of the latest in the 25-year-old series, I have to disclaim a couple of things. First off, I am a relative newcomer to the franchise, I know it by reputation and videos/memes I see online. My first RE experience was ploughing through Resident Evil 7: Biohazard the weekend before Village came out. Second, I am going to discuss a few light story spoilers, which were already shown off in the demos and gameplay trailers released prior to the game. So, if you still haven't played and wish to go in with no preconceived ideas, go and get it, it's definitely worthy of your time.

WHAT'RE YA SPOILIN'? (Spoilers next, caution)

Resident Evil Village is a direct sequel to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, and takes place three years after Ethan Winters and his wife, Mia, escape their nightmare experience at the Baker house. Having been relocated to an undisclosed location in Europe by the returning (and once again redesigned) Chris Redfield, they're trying to raise their new-born daughter, Rosemary, and forget the terrors that still linger in their minds.

During an argument over dinner, Chris and a team of operatives gun down Mia, and proceed to kidnap Ethan and Rose. When Ethan awakes after his convoy is attacked, their guards are dead and Rose is gone.

Following a spine-tingling trudge through some woods in pitch black, you happen across the titular Village, and the game gets under way. The townsfolk are cowering in fear with their home being overrun with Lycans, and their mysterious leader, Mother Miranda, is nowhere to be seen. They remain devout, but terrified. It's up to Ethan to take down the four lords that rule over the village in order to rescue his daughter.

Outrunning The Fear

From there, the game flies by at breath-taking pace. You barely have time to assess what on earth happened while you were tackling one lord before you're flung hands first into the next; each bringing their own distinct style of horror which is neatly reflected in the environments in which they reside.

The main gripe I had with the game could be perfectly encapsulated in the first lord as much as their location: I didn't find it that scary. Granted, they're not all for the same reasons I didn't find Lady Dimitrescu scary (who were the developers kidding, they knew what they were doing, she's stunning). Perhaps if the internet hadn't taken a liking to her as much as they did (unlikely), or her involvement had been kept a surprise, then maybe there could be some level of fear surrounding the tall, vampire lady.

Instead, most of the promotional videos, and two of three pre-release demos, centred around her and her castle. In an effort to recapture the anxiety of being relentlessly pursued by the brutal Mr X, Lady D's sophistication, her elegance as she strides through her dominion doesn't bring about the same feelings. More often than not, players are curious to let her cut you up. I guess I wouldn't say no to her sampling my blood... wait, no, put those hooks away.

Part of what keeps Biohazard seared into my memory was that I never felt safe, the tension was constant. For someone like me, who is anxious by default, RE7 felt draining because there was no real room to breathe up until the third act on the cruise ship. The tension dropped because it became a shooting gallery of the Mould, the scares evaporated.

It baffled me to find that, given how I felt during Biohazard, that I came away from Village wishing it was scarier than it was. There is one section of the game that I found absolutely horrifying. That part of the game had perhaps some of the most perfect horror in terms of presentation and serious, mind-searing scares. But that was it, one portion of the game. Everything that came after paled in comparison.

What followed was still entertaining, but it wasn't scary. I don't think I could handle a full game of the type of horror experienced in this particular section, I would need counselling. However, I think the story and world would've more than justified some more scary moments than what we got. Please take this with a grain of salt. Like all art, horror is subjective. I'm speaking from a place where I am easily triggered by horror, and it personally didn't affect me all that much.

Be Careful What You Wish For, Everyman Winters.

One of the things that kept things light for me during both Biohazard and Village was wondering what great quip would come out of protagonist Ethan Winters's mouth next.

I get why Capcom wanted to switch to a fresh face (not that we ever see it), to someone more realistic and relatable, but did they have to make him an idiot? This isn't a critique of the acting, the acting is perfectly fine, worlds apart from the travesty that was the acting in the early days of the franchise. This is, however, a critique of some of the things he says.

If Ethan Winters is supposed to be an everyman, why is he not in near constant distress? This is a man who lived a happy, quiet life before Mia went missing prior to the opening of Resi 7. The nightmarish things he endures throughout, and he barely raises his voice above a mild shout. My personal favourite was when he sees Marguerite crawl down a hole like a spider in Biohazard, and he says "Well, that's special" in a deadpan manner that made me laugh out loud, after witnessing something visually disturbing that any normal person would've had a stronger reaction to.

Everyman ≠ Boring. That's what I'm trying to get across. He gets some heartfelt moments in the latter half of Village, but this is a game and a half into his story. For me, that's a little late. Where he ends up, I did start feeling for him, so imagine how much more you could feel as a player, invested in this world and story, if we'd had just a little more from the off?

While we're at it, whatever may come in the next Resident Evil, can we please stop being so mean to our protagonists' hands?! It was pretty gratuitous in Biohazard, you do get your hand chainsawed off very early on in that game after all, but Village just loves showing you all the ways Ethan can be hurt right up in your face. It's close enough to torture porn, and that's not a bit of me.

Cusp of Greatness

On the topic of wanting more from characters, I really loved what we saw of the four lords of the village. They're stunningly realised, each taking from different tropes and classic horror monsters. Each one a myriad of different textures and designs that look great on the PlayStation 5. They have really great character too, but there's just not enough meat here to really get chewing on. Perhaps the meteoric rise in popularity of Lady Dimitrescu has inadvertently became detrimental to her role in the game. Your time in her castle is limited to about three hours. She could've done with either being the central villain (she could easily carry a full game as easily as she carries me, I mean Ethan).

Some of the other lords get equal or even less time to shine in some cases. It's a shame, because they're definitely all interesting enough to do more with. I wouldn't be surprised if we get some extra DLC adventures set before Village to give us some more of the lords. A lot of their story is relegated to random documents scattered across the map. I get this is what Resident Evil is known for doing, and some of the time it makes sense, there's just a little too much telling and not enough showing. The popular clip of Lady D throwing the table shows some genuine frustration for Mother Miranda and her fellow lords, I wish we'd gotten a few more scenes showing this divide, it could've opened up opportunities to really turn the narrative on its head. You can be a game that celebrates your heritage while also taking a few more risks to push the series, and the medium, forward.

What A Lovely Day

I've made my gripes clear, I think they're fair, but I would be lying if I said I didn't have a great time with this game, much more than Biohazard.

Firstly, the game is undeniably stunning on the PlayStation 5. As far as I can remember I didn't suffer any framerate issues even with raytracing turned on. I've played it on several TVs and Monitors (some had HDR, others did not) and it looked incredible on each one. There were several times in the game where I just had to stop and appreciate the insane level of detail on display. From the intricate details of characters skin, hair or clothing textures, to the jaw-dropping picturesque views that you have to remind yourself is in a video game.

Resident Evil Village plays like demented theme park, except all of the attractions are varying houses of horror. There's boss battles aplenty, and while they're all shades of bullet-spongey, they are all well-designed and play swimmingly. They ranged from claustrophobic, to tragic to downright ridiculous and I bloody loved it. In terms of gameplay value, they were a little lacking, as were the puzzles. They weren't that complex, but they did just enough to allow you to come to the right conclusions.

Yet, I couldn't tell you I didn't like them. But if you are looking for a truly next-gen feeling game beyond the gorgeous, gory visuals, you may feel a bit let down.

Where horror-purists may turn their noses up at the lack of scares, Village makes up for it by being much more replayable than its predecessor, its moment-to-moment gameplay is thoroughly entertaining, be it as a player or as a backseat gamer. That's before even getting into the brilliant returning mode, The Mercenaries. My brother and I played through the story together, and neither of us wanted to look away because we were curious to see what the game would throw at us next. From launch day, we completed it over the long weekend.

Village heavily borrows from Resident Evil 4, being much more akin to an action game at times than pure survival-horror, but I believe that's what made it such a joy to play. Especially in the latter half of the game. Where Biohazard dropped the scares (and the ball) and became a bit of a dull slog, Village straps its action pants on and has you blasting away hordes that you'd have been running from at the start of the game.

The villains really ham it up in places and at times it is leaning back towards that old campy/silly nature the classic games are renowned/infamous for. While I wish they had a bit more agency to truly test the limits of these characters, they're anything but boring. The unique flavours they all bring to the table make you want to see what may come next.

The Duke, in replacement of RE4's merchant, is a weird delight. His store encourages you to scour the world for every last piece of scrap and collectables you can find. It gives you a moment's pause to consider what you may need more for the road ahead. The one moment I told my brother I felt "too safe" was due to having what felt like a lot of ammo, within five minutes, it was gone and I had already pillaged the Duke's bullet reserves.

While I have, and will continue, to grill Ethan for being a bit of a plum, I can't help but like him. Everything he's gone through for his wife and daughter, and refusing to give up at any stage, it's endearing. Sure, he is a bit of an idiot, but he's a loveable idiot. By the end of the game I was cheering him on, I wanted him to have a happy ending. That doofus deserves it.

Danger Lies Ahead

As a newcomer, I didn't ever feel overwhelmed by the 25-years-worth of lore that the series has amassed over time. Resi 7 did a great job of cutting away most of the ancillary bullshit that the series had found a hard time getting rid of. In doing so, it delivered a tight, terrifying experience that only loosely ties in to the larger Resident Evil universe.

Resident Evil Village continues to forge a path mostly of its own, though it manages to neatly tie into the overarching story of the franchise.

BUT.

Some of what ties it to the series lore, as well as where future instalments could go, concerns me. The final boss and the way the story "ended" was fine, even a little emotional. However, what came after suggested that Capcom are gearing up to throw all their unnecessary backlog of bullshit back in. Similarly, it also feels like they may be looking to forge a new, interesting path.

I can't describe it in any more definition without spoiling it, but once you see it, you should get what I mean.

Final Words

On the whole, I found Resident Evil Village to be an immensely enjoyable action-horror game. It's just a shame that it comes within touching distance of being a truly incredible one. The right ingredients were there, I wish there were more of them. It delivers a constantly entertaining hybrid of new ideas as well as recalls to older days.

If you're looking for a tense survival game that's just scary enough to keep you on toes, then look no further.

Welcome to the Village of Shadows.

8.3/10