Review: Resident Evil Village

Image: Castle Dimitrescu (In Game Screenshot)

The Resident Evil franchise for the past 10 years, give or take, has faced a multitude of backlash, especially since the disappointing Resident Evil 3 Remake’s release in early 2020. Despite the harsh comments and disapproval from fans, CAPCOM managed to secure another hit and continue the success of Resident Evil 7 and arguably RE2 Remake, with various improvements - not just from the design and the storytelling, but from game mechanics and accessibility. However, it is important to note that this is a continuation of the Resident Evil 7 story, and it’s designed to feel that way with its First Person POV. If you enjoy the more "traditional" 3rd Person format of RE, you may be a bit disappointed.

It’s easy to tell at first glance that CAPCOM experimented with the gameplay in this latest installment, and not all of the elements succeeded. Still, they leave pleasing results when executed flawlessly, and the game has many moments for die-hard fans alike. At first, I was slightly apprehensive and confused by the story, but questions and mystery in the beginning segments fuelled my drive to keep exploring. I just had to venture deeper to understand what was exactly happening. The answers to the questions that the game presented, while somewhat cliche at times, did satisfy me, though only to a certain extent due to certain lore elements revealed. The story's flowing was smooth, pacing somewhat fast, and at times messy - but the end: impactful.

Image: Concept Art (Four Angel Statues) | Capcom

The puzzles are not complex and can easily be perceived as far too slow and barren compared to the high-action shooter segments. They’re not like the puzzles you’d find in standard horror / thriller games in that instance, but they do help break up the action to take a moment to breathe and lose yourself in the scenery.

The environments are incredibly stunning. The world isn't large, and so, it shouldn’t be referred to as ‘open-world,’ though it is larger than previous RE games and does give you the initial impression. Still, the way the levels are intertwined with clever designs and hidden areas help cease curiosity as you progress only to go, "oh, so that's where this goes!" The enemy design is demanding, and the attention to detail for the most part is impressive, with CAPCOM’s history. There's a good chunk of variety in here, so you won't feel like you are fighting the same enemy over and over, but it's just large enough that you will think, "oh god, not this guy again."
As for standouts: I think we all can agree that Lady Dimitrescu and her daughters are the perfect example.

As a die-hard horror fan, the most significant moment that I appreciated was the first time the game decided, "okay, you've had fun shooting your way through here. now get ready to be terrified." And fortunately, it leaves you helpless; it plays mind-games with you and surprisingly creates the sheer terror of a genuine psychological horror during plot points of the game. I would've loved these moments more if the story had been a little more cohesive and more thought out, but when they did pop up, I was both terrified & filled with adrenaline.

What sets RE Village apart from other horror games is the balance of action and fear, which are designed to complement each other to provide varied and engaging encounters - the years of experience from the development team truly show. There are certain parts of the game where you will not be able to shoot your way through, no matter what’s in your arsenal. That may be a negative for some players, but this was nothing but a positive for me.

It's rare nowadays to find a game that takes on a risky approach to blend two genres and do it successfully. Once you complete the story, you unlock Mercenaries mode. The Mercenaries, a personal favorite “mini-game” in the Resident Evil franchise, is incredibly fun with lots of replayability. CAPCOM even went the extra mile to make a second or third run more enjoyable beyond the usual ‘you’ve unlocked a new superweapon to use next round.’

Moving on to difficulty - I finished on "Standard," which was surprisingly challenging but not overwhelming. There are harder modes beyond that if you dare, such as Village of Shadows. Still, I enjoyed not having the burden of having to min/max everything and potentially spoil things to understand what I would be facing. During my livestream, I died plenty of times - enough to reconsider strategies and re-adapt my style beyond my usual running and gunning. The bosses themselves, I felt, were on the too easy side of things, but I know most Resident Evil fans play for predominantly the storyline and lore, so keep that in mind.

The lack of a Field of View slider in the settings has been voiced as a major flaw by many people, including myself - due to this, I can’t defend CAPCOM since it’s pretty common in today’s video game culture that newly published titles do, in fact, have this feature. I agree with many others that it's unacceptable that a game in 2021 requires a mod for this; hopefully, though, this will get patched in. While this was annoying, I admit that it did not detract me entirely from enjoying the game in full and was merely a minor inconvenience at best.

For me, there have not been many good "horror" games as of late, and the Resident Evil series as a whole has been lacking. While Resident Evil: Village may not fit the standard of what a horror game is expected to be, it created an enjoyable journey of emotions for me.

For this, I will say, Well done, CAPCOM. It may be just me being a huge fan of the series since I was a young child, but I would definitely consider this installment a success in my book. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute and only wished there was a bit more.

Now, let’s wait for the DLC.


Story: 7.5 / 10
Gameplay: 8.5 / 10
Queerness: 0 / 10

OVERALL: 8 / 10

You can purchase Resident Evil Village for PC via Humble Bundle, which will support Qweerty Gamers as well!