This is the stupidest RE installment yet, the Ethan Winters saga is the most homogenically western and cliche-ridden American horror duology literature I've played in years.
VILLAGE writer Anthony Johnston gets lost in his snobbish American lens delivering a portrait of a lost rural village where the most uninspired monsters clumsily assault us. Licantropes riding horses, Vampires, zombies with swords? A guy with magneto abilities that transforms himself into ... A transformer ??? What the Fuck (well at least this one is more creative, even if it causes embarrassment)
Although inspired by RE4, the cliches also devour the approach to action and navigation, with a standard array of weapons and a first-person perspective, the combat does not differ one bit from the rest of survival FPS of the last decade, feeling The regression of the multiple and superior combat options in RE4, and the semi-open level design does not turn out to be as threatening or challenging to navigate as the corridors of RE2 2019, or Union, the city of The Evil Within 2, seems the Little inspiration of VILLAGE turns to the voyeurism of playing hide and seek with Lady Dimitrescu and her daughters (visual delight for otakus) and the grotesque images of Ethan being injured and maimed,.a waste of energy from my point of view. Not a theme park, not a true gender collage.
It is curious that this game makes me appreciate The evil within 2 more since in essence they are the same, a Japanese collage of universal horror with strong American influences, but while VILLAGE takes it in a bland and voyeuristic way, the evil within 2 is more elegant and creative with its context and spatial flow. Oh! and the setting in rural lost towns has to end, the anonymous rural Spain frozen in time with pesetas included from R4 was fun, but .
BTW, if you are going to comment on something like "American through a non-American lens", please save it, the point is not the lens, it is the cliche and voyeurism to which cities and villages are reduced under that vision
VILLAGE writer Anthony Johnston gets lost in his snobbish American lens delivering a portrait of a lost rural village where the most uninspired monsters clumsily assault us. Licantropes riding horses, Vampires, zombies with swords? A guy with magneto abilities that transforms himself into ... A transformer ??? What the Fuck (well at least this one is more creative, even if it causes embarrassment)
Although inspired by RE4, the cliches also devour the approach to action and navigation, with a standard array of weapons and a first-person perspective, the combat does not differ one bit from the rest of survival FPS of the last decade, feeling The regression of the multiple and superior combat options in RE4, and the semi-open level design does not turn out to be as threatening or challenging to navigate as the corridors of RE2 2019, or Union, the city of The Evil Within 2, seems the Little inspiration of VILLAGE turns to the voyeurism of playing hide and seek with Lady Dimitrescu and her daughters (visual delight for otakus) and the grotesque images of Ethan being injured and maimed,.a waste of energy from my point of view. Not a theme park, not a true gender collage.
It is curious that this game makes me appreciate The evil within 2 more since in essence they are the same, a Japanese collage of universal horror with strong American influences, but while VILLAGE takes it in a bland and voyeuristic way, the evil within 2 is more elegant and creative with its context and spatial flow. Oh! and the setting in rural lost towns has to end, the anonymous rural Spain frozen in time with pesetas included from R4 was fun, but .
BTW, if you are going to comment on something like "American through a non-American lens", please save it, the point is not the lens, it is the cliche and voyeurism to which cities and villages are reduced under that vision
I have a certain level of apprehension about airing my RE takes. Not only do I adore 6 as a madde gonzo fast & furious co-op xperience with movement options the likes of which I’ve never seen..... I've also never played RE4. There's always going to be someone unfavourably comparing any given RE to that one, and it makes me feel wholly unqualified! The basic throughline is that I've essentially liked to adored every title I've played so far;-
...except 7. A dull as dishwater and largely homogenous Outlast-like that, the second it runs dry of horror juices, leaves you with Only Serviceable combat to tide you over for the game's astoundingly creatively barren final third. I was a little displeased to see that 8 would follow the same trajectory, acting as the next step in a kind of “third trilogy” for the RE mainline.
RE8, thankfully, kind of slaps. A virtual ticket to a Tim Burton theme park (sorry for the tired analogy, but it’s the right one) where every ride strives to do something drastically different from the last. A venturesome monolith of genre and series love letters that begs to be explored and interfaced with. I found it impossible to grow weary of the combat when the game reinvented the wheel often enough for tense resource manage-y hostile encounters to end up feeling like returning to a warm blanket. I loved the experience so much that I explored every inch of the map, collecting whatever I could find, solving environmental puzzles and fighting optional bosses for the sheer joy of it. I can’t stress enough how happy I am to have had the exact opposite experience to my playthrough of 7 that I essentially wanted to be over as quickly as possible.
Adored the four lords, the way each of their areas felt like entirely different servings from a Dread X Collection but polished to a mirror shine with some of the best art and technical direction I’ve seen from a Capcom title in years. Mob Psycho Walter White. The journey of RE8 gains momentum towards the end as your arsenal is as kitted-out as possible, and it almost smacks of Lost Planet 2 at points. Also the final boss is probably the most stunningly animated thing I've ever seen in a game. King shit!!!!!!
...except 7. A dull as dishwater and largely homogenous Outlast-like that, the second it runs dry of horror juices, leaves you with Only Serviceable combat to tide you over for the game's astoundingly creatively barren final third. I was a little displeased to see that 8 would follow the same trajectory, acting as the next step in a kind of “third trilogy” for the RE mainline.
RE8, thankfully, kind of slaps. A virtual ticket to a Tim Burton theme park (sorry for the tired analogy, but it’s the right one) where every ride strives to do something drastically different from the last. A venturesome monolith of genre and series love letters that begs to be explored and interfaced with. I found it impossible to grow weary of the combat when the game reinvented the wheel often enough for tense resource manage-y hostile encounters to end up feeling like returning to a warm blanket. I loved the experience so much that I explored every inch of the map, collecting whatever I could find, solving environmental puzzles and fighting optional bosses for the sheer joy of it. I can’t stress enough how happy I am to have had the exact opposite experience to my playthrough of 7 that I essentially wanted to be over as quickly as possible.
Adored the four lords, the way each of their areas felt like entirely different servings from a Dread X Collection but polished to a mirror shine with some of the best art and technical direction I’ve seen from a Capcom title in years. Mob Psycho Walter White. The journey of RE8 gains momentum towards the end as your arsenal is as kitted-out as possible, and it almost smacks of Lost Planet 2 at points. Also the final boss is probably the most stunningly animated thing I've ever seen in a game. King shit!!!!!!
It's weird. I wasn't really expecting a Resident Evil game of all things to get me teary-eyed.
There's a lot of things about the game in general that are a weird intricate combination though. It's oozing with blood from RE4 despite being nowhere even close to that game with 8's current gameplay of keep-stepping-back-and-shoot. It has Silent Hill vibes that eclipses any scares in every other RE game with the dollhouse. Iconography of the series is embroiled in, culminating in a particular 'hype' scene that while nowhere near earned, directly references the action side of 5 and 6 in one extended sequence. A theme park ride and attractions is what I've constantly had the game called around me, but that's really selling it short. They're practically full on Zelda dungeons that you go to between the overworld, each of them tying neatly to the setting and tension and never missing a beat.
And overall it's just grand! A celebratory but earnest almost standalone piece in its own right. Its heart is so strong that thinking of the game now I can only see it retrospectively as an emotional journey about and surrounding Ethan and about family, despite how really the general structure of the narrative only has that come in less subtly in the last quarter, and how it is extraordinarily goofy and far less grounded than 7 was.
Yet I don't think I would have it any other way. I imagine that in time I might even call it one of my favorite games, despite me not really even being attached much to the RE series in general. I'm excited for what the year will bring when stuff like this manages to land familiar punches with meatier landings than anything else of its ilk.
There's a lot of things about the game in general that are a weird intricate combination though. It's oozing with blood from RE4 despite being nowhere even close to that game with 8's current gameplay of keep-stepping-back-and-shoot. It has Silent Hill vibes that eclipses any scares in every other RE game with the dollhouse. Iconography of the series is embroiled in, culminating in a particular 'hype' scene that while nowhere near earned, directly references the action side of 5 and 6 in one extended sequence. A theme park ride and attractions is what I've constantly had the game called around me, but that's really selling it short. They're practically full on Zelda dungeons that you go to between the overworld, each of them tying neatly to the setting and tension and never missing a beat.
And overall it's just grand! A celebratory but earnest almost standalone piece in its own right. Its heart is so strong that thinking of the game now I can only see it retrospectively as an emotional journey about and surrounding Ethan and about family, despite how really the general structure of the narrative only has that come in less subtly in the last quarter, and how it is extraordinarily goofy and far less grounded than 7 was.
Yet I don't think I would have it any other way. I imagine that in time I might even call it one of my favorite games, despite me not really even being attached much to the RE series in general. I'm excited for what the year will bring when stuff like this manages to land familiar punches with meatier landings than anything else of its ilk.
This review contains spoilers
RE8 has been enjoyable I was unsure how I was going to like it due to conflicting friends reviews. The first thing that caught my attention was the sheer majesty and beauty of Dimitrescu castle, the interiors and winding hallways, hidden rooms, all of it was beautiful. The environment as a whole is stunning. I love the attention to detail, right down to the light fixtures and gilded rooms. Lady Dimitrescu is pretty awesome, the four lords are kinda like this small pantheon that you have to take down, I loved the scene where you meet them.
the boss battles are classic resident evil. The plot is still RE, obviously more reminiscent of RE7 and RE4. The cringey dialogue and outlandish plot points are still there. The obese Duke is cool. I like having the merchant back and I’m glad he’s friends with our old merchant.
Donna Beneviento and her doll Angie were creepy. I liked the boss battle, not using weapons and having to solve a puzzle. I like the village being a kind of game hub and the call back to RE4.
Heisenbergs mechanical nightmare was my second favourite location of the game. The boss battle was my favourite.
The ending was good, Ethan Winters is cemented as a great RE character now.
My only concern is that the next RE will be full action, so I hope they maintain what they have going.
the boss battles are classic resident evil. The plot is still RE, obviously more reminiscent of RE7 and RE4. The cringey dialogue and outlandish plot points are still there. The obese Duke is cool. I like having the merchant back and I’m glad he’s friends with our old merchant.
Donna Beneviento and her doll Angie were creepy. I liked the boss battle, not using weapons and having to solve a puzzle. I like the village being a kind of game hub and the call back to RE4.
Heisenbergs mechanical nightmare was my second favourite location of the game. The boss battle was my favourite.
The ending was good, Ethan Winters is cemented as a great RE character now.
My only concern is that the next RE will be full action, so I hope they maintain what they have going.
I was expecting nothing or if something a very average game, so I was pleasantly surprised that it hooked me so much that I actually decided to finish it in one night and be left with an overall positive feeling of the village. Obviously both the case system and treasure system are heavily RE4 inspired but they also added a new mechanic, guard pushing, so if you guard an incoming attack you can retaliate with a strong shove which sends the enemy further away. Apart from that if you've already played 7 you should feel ok with the gameplay. The first few parts are really solid in both the exploration, featuring varied environments and somewhat simplistic but valuable puzzles, and the placement of the enemies which for the most part can be duked out but when you have to fight the game will make it pretty obvious by giving you options to help you out around you. I will say that having played the game on standard, I'd probably wouldn't touch the higher difficulties with a foot long stick because they'd make the enemies even spongier, and it's already slightly bad on standard. The ending section is kind of less interesting than everything else, and the actual ending is pretty depressing considering what went down. Overall though this is a solid entry in the series and a way better game than 7.
Village is a chaotic melding of its past entries, but there is a much stronger sense of pacing and flow here than in 7 - including constant reorientation of what spaces are safe and a more expansive, looping geography. The RE engine (reach for the moon engine?!) has such a beautiful physicality to it, with indulgent texture work & photogrammetry so lifelike that at times it feels like a flimsy/over adorned set of a Hammer film - further layers of artifice mirroring the genre mashup at its core.
A sense of long term consequences haunted earlier RE titles and this is the main area I found Village is lacking. Boss enemies in Village do little to shift how you play (eg. the Licker in RE2 limited when you made noise, Crimson Heads in the REmake forced you to consider returning to cleared areas). As this entry shows they are gesturing to their past confidently, I hope they consider returning to some of these dynamics in the future.
A sense of long term consequences haunted earlier RE titles and this is the main area I found Village is lacking. Boss enemies in Village do little to shift how you play (eg. the Licker in RE2 limited when you made noise, Crimson Heads in the REmake forced you to consider returning to cleared areas). As this entry shows they are gesturing to their past confidently, I hope they consider returning to some of these dynamics in the future.
This review contains spoilers
estoy enojado, hablemos de este juego a detalle.
Podemos y Dividiremos el juego en 6 partes.
1) Intro Stage: El intro está plagado de cinemáticas y set pieces muy trilladas y pobres con fines de tratar de establecer al jugador con el objetivo principal (papa e hijo) para capcom al parecer lo único que necesitas para establecer una trama de esta tematica es ver a tu hija en tus brazos y ponerla en su cuna. estaba mal en Fallout 4, está mal aquí. Luego de esto la introducción del misterio "Chris mata a Mia y te rapta junto a tu hija" esto nuevamente esta solo para shock y es sumamente cuestionable, el juego mismo cree que cuestionárselo al final lo hace Autoconsciente, pero no realmente, (más adelante sobre esto) y la presentación de la villa. Vamos a jugar una sección donde vamos a ver aldeanos morir y no podremos hacer nada al respecto finalizando en una sección horda con en resident evil 4 en la cual nuestro protagonista genuinamente será salvado porque.... si no, no hay juego, unas cinemáticas más tarde, nos encontramos con los villanos quienes en vez de matar por 3era vez en el juego deciden jugar contigo forzando otro set piece donde finges correr del peligro y te salvas con "puzzles" de encontrar donde ir.
2) Castillo Dimitrescu: Dando genuina nostalgia en su arquitectura y su engañoso diseño, te da un pequeño respiro y sensación de que en efecto ya estas jugando el juego. lastimosamente al decidir que este sería la primera sección del juego el diseño es sumamente pobre. El enfrentamiento con la primera hija es solo correr hasta una habitación y abrir una puerta cerrada, siguiente persecución con la misma es hasta llegar uno de los pocos lugares con ventanas que se rompen en la cinemática y bueno... hora de llenarla de balas, hasta ahí quedo tus vampiras inmortales. Lady Dimitrescu está enojada, ahora va a buscarte, su primera sección consiste en mover una palanca y hacer vueltas en circulo hasta que puedas atravesar la puerta, una vez hecho esto estas completamente a salvo. con la llave extra puedes ir por la segunda hija la cual al menos dando crédito te ataca en un ático que convenientemente tiene granadas y puedes tirar las granadas para abrir un oyó y así llenarla de balas. Lady dimitrescu esta tan enojada que aparece en la sala y como dije el diseño del castillo en simple. solo giras a la derecha, das una vuelta y tienes pase libre.
esta sección que sigue es la peor del castillo... luego de ir a tocar un piano Dimitrescu aparece super enojada "nuevamente solo da la vuelta y corre en circulo" y apenas abres la puerta donde debes ir la tercera Hija, por alguna razon Dimitrescu no puede entrar a esta sala y esta hija decide atacar en el UNICO LUGAR DEL CASTILLO QUE TIENE UNA VENTANA QUE PUEDO ABRIR CON UN BOTON. mientras que grita "no quiero morir" "porque me haces esto" Tia... puedes irte si quieres.... no me interesa....
finalmente, ya con todas las máscaras encontradas toca lady dimitrescu que se vuelve un BOW y la llenas de plomo. convenientemente ella decide caer contigo y en el lugar que caes esta una parte de tu hija.
-Intermedio-
el intermedio entre el castillo y la siguiente fase es en mi opinión la mejor parte del juego, puedes sumergirte en la villa y explorar mientras que eres recompensado por tu curiosidad, te da un pequeño vistazo de lo que pudo ser el juego, además a este punto los enemigos y tu están en lo que yo diría un buen nivel, así que el desafío es justo.
3) Doll house: Luego de lo que sería la mejor parte del juego uno esta emocionado por lo que viene se atreve una parte lineal de seudo juego de terror sin armas, el gimick es que eventualmente te va a perseguir un grotesco feto... genuinamente si no tienes asco por texturas viscosas no hay nada aquí para ti. todo termina en una sección donde el jefe juega a las escondidas contigo y solo presionas F tres veces y se acabó. (supongo que el chiste de esto es que la jefe es una muñeca, y nuevamente si no sientes nada por cómo se ve, es bien X)
--Intermedio--
Aquí en el intermedio tienes nuevamente para explorar parte de la villa, en esta ocasión hay 2 mini jefes. el primero es el lobo y un tipo grande con hacha. El Lobo es medianamente cool, puedes jugarlo como sección de sigilo hasta encontrar el lanzagranadas en su arena y destruirlo con ella, algo fun. el grandote por otro lado... solo es una esponja de balas y Capcom no se le ocurrió darle la capacidad de seguirte ya que si vuelves por donde viniste el tipo solo recibirá balas y morirá, fin.
3) el LAGO: esta sección del juego quiere girar la tuerca al darte el frasco que buscas al principio y se va a tratar de encontrar una forma de salir. y como adivinaras salir es llenar de plomo y seguir el único camino posible con puzzles, para finalizar en una boss fight que al menos.... esta entretenida, queda en ti juzgar si hacer un ataque instakill que estas forzado a esquivar para que la pelea no acabe en simplemente meterle granadas al enemigo es buen diseño.
4) Heinsenberg parte 1: Aquí el juego de plano se rinde y te pondrá en arenas de combate constantes, a este punto del juego estas forrado y probablemente los devs lo sabían así que esto solo es para gastar munición. el jefe final de esta sección es otra esponja de balas.
5) Heinserger parte 2: nos vamos al taller de Heinserberg y él explica la trama, además de tratar de reclutarte diciendo que la única forma de matar a la villana principal es usando a la hija de ethan como arma, negándote te lanza a correr de un tipo turbina. y estamos en una sección que combina arenas de batalla con exploración (esta es la parte más similar a re4) el platillo principal de esta parte del juego es un nuevo enemigo mecanico que "Oh sorpresa" tiene un punto débil que brilla de color Rojo, luego de todo esto "son 3 pisos de esto" viene una jefe que es literalmente el garrador de resident evil 4, que se pegue contra la pared y disparar por la espalda. Luego de este seguimos con una cutscene que explica aún más la trama de juego "PLOT TWIST" Chris no es malo solo es idiota y no te dijo la trama del juego. Cool.
El jefe final es un set piece en el cual tenemos que disparar a Heinsenberg en los puntos rojos que brillan, y luego llenarlo de todo el plomo posible. es sin duda la parte más espectacular y cool del juego una pena que no quede para nada con el quest de Ethan de estar desesperado para salvar a su hija.
Todo esto para que al final, el villano final aparezca y mueres.
6) Chris Redfield: Chris nunca se convierte en honbre lobo, pero si es mega testarudo, todo el mundo replicándole porque no nos explicó la trama del juego desde el principio. bueno al menos será más divertido no? lastimosamente a diferencia del DLC "not a hero" de Resi7, no tiene gameplay particular solo te da armas ridículamente fuertes con muchísima munición, esta sección consiste en aguantar olas de enemigos.... Mientras... apuntas con un láser para cargar un arma aérea. luego de eso viene lo mismo, pero con un jefe reciclado de Heinsenberg parte 1 con armor por ende requiere tu laser, finalmente mas exposición de contarte de la trama.
6) FINAL BOSS: Resulta y acontece que Ethan no solo está muerto... si no que lleva muerto desde el comienzo de RESI 7 explicando porque el tipo lo pueden hacer trocitos, quitarle el corazón y seguir vivo. ahora siendo honestos el jefe final es sin duda muy bueno, es el mejor jefe del juego, activamente poniendo a prueba mi capacidad de lidiar con diferentes objetivos mientras ataco al enemigo, luego terminar el juego exactamente que resi 7 disparándole a algo gigante que te tiene agarrado.
aquí procedemos al ending, el cual está Bien actuado y honestamente bien logrado, no pertenece a este juego, Resident evil 4, 5, 6 y 7 con todos sus tropiezos tienen una cohesión temática, aquí acabo de hablar con un gordo gigante que me ayudo a llegar al jefe final luego de eso le compre cosas y mate a punta de balazos a una tipa que supuestamente no debería ser capaz de morir, y ahora resulta que... ¿nos vamos a poner melancólicos? por favor... Mientras que puedo admitir que el final es bonito, está totalmente fuera de lugar, Piers Nivans de RE6 tiene una muerte verdaderamente trafica y te deja con esta sensación de melancolía, e inevitabilidad, mientras que Ethan.... parece que ya no tenían ideas de qué hacer con el personaje así que, para hacerlo memorable, hicieron todo este ending con fin de dejarlo como un héroe. Luego de los créditos el juego quiere copiarle el final a uncharted dando a entender que jugaras con la Hija ya adolescente, si hicimos un Time Skip que prácticamente hará que todos los personajes buenos de REsident evil tengan como 50 solo para jugar con esta niña en que no me importa voy a estar muy enfadado.
Este juego fue una perdida colosal de tiempo. Los veo en Resident Evil 10
Podemos y Dividiremos el juego en 6 partes.
1) Intro Stage: El intro está plagado de cinemáticas y set pieces muy trilladas y pobres con fines de tratar de establecer al jugador con el objetivo principal (papa e hijo) para capcom al parecer lo único que necesitas para establecer una trama de esta tematica es ver a tu hija en tus brazos y ponerla en su cuna. estaba mal en Fallout 4, está mal aquí. Luego de esto la introducción del misterio "Chris mata a Mia y te rapta junto a tu hija" esto nuevamente esta solo para shock y es sumamente cuestionable, el juego mismo cree que cuestionárselo al final lo hace Autoconsciente, pero no realmente, (más adelante sobre esto) y la presentación de la villa. Vamos a jugar una sección donde vamos a ver aldeanos morir y no podremos hacer nada al respecto finalizando en una sección horda con en resident evil 4 en la cual nuestro protagonista genuinamente será salvado porque.... si no, no hay juego, unas cinemáticas más tarde, nos encontramos con los villanos quienes en vez de matar por 3era vez en el juego deciden jugar contigo forzando otro set piece donde finges correr del peligro y te salvas con "puzzles" de encontrar donde ir.
2) Castillo Dimitrescu: Dando genuina nostalgia en su arquitectura y su engañoso diseño, te da un pequeño respiro y sensación de que en efecto ya estas jugando el juego. lastimosamente al decidir que este sería la primera sección del juego el diseño es sumamente pobre. El enfrentamiento con la primera hija es solo correr hasta una habitación y abrir una puerta cerrada, siguiente persecución con la misma es hasta llegar uno de los pocos lugares con ventanas que se rompen en la cinemática y bueno... hora de llenarla de balas, hasta ahí quedo tus vampiras inmortales. Lady Dimitrescu está enojada, ahora va a buscarte, su primera sección consiste en mover una palanca y hacer vueltas en circulo hasta que puedas atravesar la puerta, una vez hecho esto estas completamente a salvo. con la llave extra puedes ir por la segunda hija la cual al menos dando crédito te ataca en un ático que convenientemente tiene granadas y puedes tirar las granadas para abrir un oyó y así llenarla de balas. Lady dimitrescu esta tan enojada que aparece en la sala y como dije el diseño del castillo en simple. solo giras a la derecha, das una vuelta y tienes pase libre.
esta sección que sigue es la peor del castillo... luego de ir a tocar un piano Dimitrescu aparece super enojada "nuevamente solo da la vuelta y corre en circulo" y apenas abres la puerta donde debes ir la tercera Hija, por alguna razon Dimitrescu no puede entrar a esta sala y esta hija decide atacar en el UNICO LUGAR DEL CASTILLO QUE TIENE UNA VENTANA QUE PUEDO ABRIR CON UN BOTON. mientras que grita "no quiero morir" "porque me haces esto" Tia... puedes irte si quieres.... no me interesa....
finalmente, ya con todas las máscaras encontradas toca lady dimitrescu que se vuelve un BOW y la llenas de plomo. convenientemente ella decide caer contigo y en el lugar que caes esta una parte de tu hija.
-Intermedio-
el intermedio entre el castillo y la siguiente fase es en mi opinión la mejor parte del juego, puedes sumergirte en la villa y explorar mientras que eres recompensado por tu curiosidad, te da un pequeño vistazo de lo que pudo ser el juego, además a este punto los enemigos y tu están en lo que yo diría un buen nivel, así que el desafío es justo.
3) Doll house: Luego de lo que sería la mejor parte del juego uno esta emocionado por lo que viene se atreve una parte lineal de seudo juego de terror sin armas, el gimick es que eventualmente te va a perseguir un grotesco feto... genuinamente si no tienes asco por texturas viscosas no hay nada aquí para ti. todo termina en una sección donde el jefe juega a las escondidas contigo y solo presionas F tres veces y se acabó. (supongo que el chiste de esto es que la jefe es una muñeca, y nuevamente si no sientes nada por cómo se ve, es bien X)
--Intermedio--
Aquí en el intermedio tienes nuevamente para explorar parte de la villa, en esta ocasión hay 2 mini jefes. el primero es el lobo y un tipo grande con hacha. El Lobo es medianamente cool, puedes jugarlo como sección de sigilo hasta encontrar el lanzagranadas en su arena y destruirlo con ella, algo fun. el grandote por otro lado... solo es una esponja de balas y Capcom no se le ocurrió darle la capacidad de seguirte ya que si vuelves por donde viniste el tipo solo recibirá balas y morirá, fin.
3) el LAGO: esta sección del juego quiere girar la tuerca al darte el frasco que buscas al principio y se va a tratar de encontrar una forma de salir. y como adivinaras salir es llenar de plomo y seguir el único camino posible con puzzles, para finalizar en una boss fight que al menos.... esta entretenida, queda en ti juzgar si hacer un ataque instakill que estas forzado a esquivar para que la pelea no acabe en simplemente meterle granadas al enemigo es buen diseño.
4) Heinsenberg parte 1: Aquí el juego de plano se rinde y te pondrá en arenas de combate constantes, a este punto del juego estas forrado y probablemente los devs lo sabían así que esto solo es para gastar munición. el jefe final de esta sección es otra esponja de balas.
5) Heinserger parte 2: nos vamos al taller de Heinserberg y él explica la trama, además de tratar de reclutarte diciendo que la única forma de matar a la villana principal es usando a la hija de ethan como arma, negándote te lanza a correr de un tipo turbina. y estamos en una sección que combina arenas de batalla con exploración (esta es la parte más similar a re4) el platillo principal de esta parte del juego es un nuevo enemigo mecanico que "Oh sorpresa" tiene un punto débil que brilla de color Rojo, luego de todo esto "son 3 pisos de esto" viene una jefe que es literalmente el garrador de resident evil 4, que se pegue contra la pared y disparar por la espalda. Luego de este seguimos con una cutscene que explica aún más la trama de juego "PLOT TWIST" Chris no es malo solo es idiota y no te dijo la trama del juego. Cool.
El jefe final es un set piece en el cual tenemos que disparar a Heinsenberg en los puntos rojos que brillan, y luego llenarlo de todo el plomo posible. es sin duda la parte más espectacular y cool del juego una pena que no quede para nada con el quest de Ethan de estar desesperado para salvar a su hija.
Todo esto para que al final, el villano final aparezca y mueres.
6) Chris Redfield: Chris nunca se convierte en honbre lobo, pero si es mega testarudo, todo el mundo replicándole porque no nos explicó la trama del juego desde el principio. bueno al menos será más divertido no? lastimosamente a diferencia del DLC "not a hero" de Resi7, no tiene gameplay particular solo te da armas ridículamente fuertes con muchísima munición, esta sección consiste en aguantar olas de enemigos.... Mientras... apuntas con un láser para cargar un arma aérea. luego de eso viene lo mismo, pero con un jefe reciclado de Heinsenberg parte 1 con armor por ende requiere tu laser, finalmente mas exposición de contarte de la trama.
6) FINAL BOSS: Resulta y acontece que Ethan no solo está muerto... si no que lleva muerto desde el comienzo de RESI 7 explicando porque el tipo lo pueden hacer trocitos, quitarle el corazón y seguir vivo. ahora siendo honestos el jefe final es sin duda muy bueno, es el mejor jefe del juego, activamente poniendo a prueba mi capacidad de lidiar con diferentes objetivos mientras ataco al enemigo, luego terminar el juego exactamente que resi 7 disparándole a algo gigante que te tiene agarrado.
aquí procedemos al ending, el cual está Bien actuado y honestamente bien logrado, no pertenece a este juego, Resident evil 4, 5, 6 y 7 con todos sus tropiezos tienen una cohesión temática, aquí acabo de hablar con un gordo gigante que me ayudo a llegar al jefe final luego de eso le compre cosas y mate a punta de balazos a una tipa que supuestamente no debería ser capaz de morir, y ahora resulta que... ¿nos vamos a poner melancólicos? por favor... Mientras que puedo admitir que el final es bonito, está totalmente fuera de lugar, Piers Nivans de RE6 tiene una muerte verdaderamente trafica y te deja con esta sensación de melancolía, e inevitabilidad, mientras que Ethan.... parece que ya no tenían ideas de qué hacer con el personaje así que, para hacerlo memorable, hicieron todo este ending con fin de dejarlo como un héroe. Luego de los créditos el juego quiere copiarle el final a uncharted dando a entender que jugaras con la Hija ya adolescente, si hicimos un Time Skip que prácticamente hará que todos los personajes buenos de REsident evil tengan como 50 solo para jugar con esta niña en que no me importa voy a estar muy enfadado.
Este juego fue una perdida colosal de tiempo. Los veo en Resident Evil 10
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.
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.
This review contains spoilers
I don't care what people say about this game, I fucking loved it. Truthfully, it is more close to an 8/10 but goddamnit I can't bring myself to give it anything lower than a 10. I completely understand why people do not like this game, it does have many flaws. But for me, it got better and better the more I played through the game. I cannot wait for the DLC expansions to the story. This game is very unique, this is the best setting in a Resident Evil game since the first two games. Each part of the map was unique and felt fun to explore and run and gun through. I do like the balance of survival horror and action in this game, it felt just as fluid and crisp as it does in Resident Evil 2 Remake. It felt like going from a blend of classic Resident Evil 1 and Resident Evil 7 with Castle Dimetrescu and then it gradually progressed into the Ganado filled madness that is Resident Evil 4 when you get to Heisenberg's Factory and exploding the Megamicite as Chris; I felt giddy the entire time. The character design is chefs kiss, the Four Lords (especially Heisenberg) look amazing and are both unique and fun. Chris's design at first I didn't like but it grew on me eventually and I can safely say he looks like the badass that he was in Resident Evil 5. I wished his section went on longer because his guns were very fun to use and it felt different enough from Ethan that I want Chris to also get DLC for this game. The common enemies in this game also look cool and the variety of enemies made for a fun and intriguing gameplay loop. The guns have the same impact from Resident Evil 2 Remake, each of them were very fun to use. The parts of the game where I can say are lacking is the overall length of the story; this may be due to me not wanting it to end so soon however. The soundtrack was ok, I really can't remember any tracks from the game besides the theme that plays when getting rid of the Lycan's and Megamicite during Chris's portion. The worst part of this game is the retconned story elements/new stuff being added for what seems like the hell of it. This felt like Tekken 7 all over again with the whole: Hah! I was actually the main villain this whole time and I started it all shtick that ruined Kazuya's character origin. Anyways, I will say, Ethan being dead for this entire game was a good twist and explains how he can literally have every body part chopped off and he can just splash a bottle of first aid on it and it miraculously healed. The ending made me actually feel pretty emotional, which is something I can't say the Resident Evil series has made me feel until now. Him sacrificing himself and withering away to save his daughter almost brought a tear to my eye. Rose visiting Ethan's grave was also a nice touch. I am so happy I played the Resident Evil franchise and I cannot recommend it enough. The franchise is full of highly influential games with some of them being very fun to play. It also has gotten me more into the horror genre as a whole, which is something I wasn't able to stomach in the past due to me not wanting to get over my fear. Please to anyone, play this franchise. Thank you Capcom.
expands upon and surpasses its predecessor in every regard especially on hardcore mode. enemies are finally threatening, stalkers are actually menacing, and the characters are so much more captivating altogether than the bakers ever were (besides joe of course)
great exploration, fantastic gunplay, awesome set pieces - i don't know what else to say. this is one of the best survival horror titles out there and a kickass fps to boot. fucking play it
great exploration, fantastic gunplay, awesome set pieces - i don't know what else to say. this is one of the best survival horror titles out there and a kickass fps to boot. fucking play it
i cant fucking believe i ended up marathoning these many resident evil games at this point i was convinced at one point i wouldve just dropped out like i did with my the legend of zelda marathon and all that so basically i was in fact kind of confused as to why i ended up playing almost every mainline resident evil and now i know why i did that . HOT AS FUCK RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE CHRIS REDFIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELD PEOPLE this man ooooooooooooooooh this hunk of a man be racing through my mind too much lately and even after finishing the game i was like damn chris umh the ultimate daddy am i right idk i think its the fact that they 100% updated his design from resident evil 7 which was quite ugly if you ask me AND his clothes like a man should not look THIS good in a turtleneck like i could see his muscles popping out of that poor sweater forreals i was dizzy im in love with this man please ruin my life and all i cant go on like this im not joking i want him to punch me in the face too this cannot continue
ethan winters is again the protagonist of the game and this actually acts as a sequel to resident evil 7 so basically if you hadnt played that game before you should do it now to actually understand whats happening or like maybe you can read an infodump of the entire plot and youre good with it go and just play it buuuuuuuuuuuut i do believe resident evil 7 is a good game so you might as well play it and thats it
so even tho this is a sequel and you would expect that this might be kinda similar in gameplay to the first game in the duology incredibly enough they completely scrapped the survival horror aspect and just went with an action horror kinda game like they literally went omg WHAT would happen if we just made resident evil 4 in first person and with some completely different game design as a whole and honestly ? they kinda snapped this game is fun as shit theres nothing more fun than re4 in the world and since this is just resident evil 7 with resident evil 4 elements its super fucking fun GOD
the story is kinda interesting too if i can say so you get abducted by none other than chris redfield mia gets shot in the guts like a livestock and rose gets taken no this is not a spoiler it happens at like 20 minutes playtime so now youre in a village and theres sexy werewolves trying to eat you up because zombies were getting kinda repetitive and you also get to know that villagers are all dead basically and the main 4 noblemen are some monsters who each reign over some part of the village and theyre all fucking freaks BUT ! they made singlehandedly the entire game every single lord of the land has so much personality and create some great chemistry between one another basically they all hate each other but they try to behave because theres the great mother that is parenting all of them or whatever
so what happens is that you will get in each of these 4 lands to kill these lords to get a SPOILER TERRITORY UP AHEAD piece of your daughter because she got mutilated and shes gonna be used as a sacrifice or something to do some kind or ritual that is connected to the resident evil 7 lore but we dont care about that to be honest
every single land acts as a big ass dungeon with some different gimmicks like the castle of lady dimitrescu (you know the 3 meters tall woman you know the one everyone went bogus on twitter its absolutely impossible for you to not know who she is) + 3 daughters and apart from being possibly the greatest part of the game it gets into stealth territory because this bigass woman is just gonna stalk you everywhere and rightfully so yknow its her house lololololol so like i think this is the highest point of the game then you get the house of the puppeteer which is escape room stuff which is fun i guess the swamp is also fun in some ways ok actually i think its the worst part of the bunch BUT i liked it anyway and the final dungeon has the sexiest character of the bunch heisenberg just making fun of you over and over again and honestly being a humiliation kink guy i can say that i edged throughout the entirety of the section thank you capcom for that so yeah
then you get into final stuff territory with you playing as daddy chris which was pretty fun but seeing him with a super form fitting skin tight turtleneck was even funner oh my god hes so hot what the fuck did they just make this design and said “definitely nobody will get wet on this” i did thank you and then you got a big ass final fight which was somehow less interesting than the fight with heisenberg like first you make me super hyped about a mecha fight and then you pretend that a fight against a floating woman with some tentacles around will make me hyped i mean sure somehow but the highest point was already reached
as a action first game they really did manage to make some very interesting boss fights with the characters having some kind of quirks or shit that makes you say omg yeah i remember that fight because it was basically me playing hide and seek with a doll and skewering her in the guts like this is not gonna be treated as gore anyway
in general i did enjoy the lore and the story and whatever theres really a lot of thought being put in this one and also to make some ties with resident evil 7 for an engaging duology the plot twists were great but what absolutely took me by surprise was the worldbuilding of the village and the relationship and characterisation of the lords honestly i wont lie i was more interested to know about their personalities than saving rose for some reason like i just wanted to get to know heisenberg in a tea date i love him hes so hot im sorry people
umh yeah so anyway gameplay wise as i was saying this is resident evil 4 first person edition and its honestly fun as fuck the survival horror philosophy was thrown out of the window now theres a ton of ammos here and there a merchant with incredible personality monsters will drop some treasures that can be sold for a lot of money that you can use to buy blueprints ammo new weapons upgrades for weapons theres an incredible amount of thought put into this PLUS you can hunt animals and use their loots to make The Duke TM cook you some stuff and increase your health or stamina or whatever so theres so much customization so much action its incredible this game feels so inebriating to play and has an incredible gameplay loop and the art direction is dauntingly different from the previous entry resident evil 7 was all about toned down colors really dark environments claustrophobic places lots of junk and disgusting black materials and rusty stuff and whatever here they pushed the campy stuff to 100 because this is like big environments flashy personalities huge explosions spectacle everything put into it and its fucking grandious to be honest
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmyeah probably one of my favourite resident evil till now possbly because how different and unique it is compared to the main series in a good way rose i love you so dearly
OH ALSO SIDE NOTE
i usually dont get scared in horror videogames idk im not that easily scared by this kind of media (movies too lets be real) but the sequence in this game where ethan is in house beneviento and gets chased by that humanoid huge baby who screams and cries and laughs and its all dark and its all warped and the soundtrack and the visuals and everything definitely gave me goose bumps what the actual fuck istg this is one of the freakiest encounters in the entirety of the series and its done so beautifully it got so much interesting sound design to make people crawl up in their bed and cry
ethan winters is again the protagonist of the game and this actually acts as a sequel to resident evil 7 so basically if you hadnt played that game before you should do it now to actually understand whats happening or like maybe you can read an infodump of the entire plot and youre good with it go and just play it buuuuuuuuuuuut i do believe resident evil 7 is a good game so you might as well play it and thats it
so even tho this is a sequel and you would expect that this might be kinda similar in gameplay to the first game in the duology incredibly enough they completely scrapped the survival horror aspect and just went with an action horror kinda game like they literally went omg WHAT would happen if we just made resident evil 4 in first person and with some completely different game design as a whole and honestly ? they kinda snapped this game is fun as shit theres nothing more fun than re4 in the world and since this is just resident evil 7 with resident evil 4 elements its super fucking fun GOD
the story is kinda interesting too if i can say so you get abducted by none other than chris redfield mia gets shot in the guts like a livestock and rose gets taken no this is not a spoiler it happens at like 20 minutes playtime so now youre in a village and theres sexy werewolves trying to eat you up because zombies were getting kinda repetitive and you also get to know that villagers are all dead basically and the main 4 noblemen are some monsters who each reign over some part of the village and theyre all fucking freaks BUT ! they made singlehandedly the entire game every single lord of the land has so much personality and create some great chemistry between one another basically they all hate each other but they try to behave because theres the great mother that is parenting all of them or whatever
so what happens is that you will get in each of these 4 lands to kill these lords to get a SPOILER TERRITORY UP AHEAD piece of your daughter because she got mutilated and shes gonna be used as a sacrifice or something to do some kind or ritual that is connected to the resident evil 7 lore but we dont care about that to be honest
every single land acts as a big ass dungeon with some different gimmicks like the castle of lady dimitrescu (you know the 3 meters tall woman you know the one everyone went bogus on twitter its absolutely impossible for you to not know who she is) + 3 daughters and apart from being possibly the greatest part of the game it gets into stealth territory because this bigass woman is just gonna stalk you everywhere and rightfully so yknow its her house lololololol so like i think this is the highest point of the game then you get the house of the puppeteer which is escape room stuff which is fun i guess the swamp is also fun in some ways ok actually i think its the worst part of the bunch BUT i liked it anyway and the final dungeon has the sexiest character of the bunch heisenberg just making fun of you over and over again and honestly being a humiliation kink guy i can say that i edged throughout the entirety of the section thank you capcom for that so yeah
then you get into final stuff territory with you playing as daddy chris which was pretty fun but seeing him with a super form fitting skin tight turtleneck was even funner oh my god hes so hot what the fuck did they just make this design and said “definitely nobody will get wet on this” i did thank you and then you got a big ass final fight which was somehow less interesting than the fight with heisenberg like first you make me super hyped about a mecha fight and then you pretend that a fight against a floating woman with some tentacles around will make me hyped i mean sure somehow but the highest point was already reached
as a action first game they really did manage to make some very interesting boss fights with the characters having some kind of quirks or shit that makes you say omg yeah i remember that fight because it was basically me playing hide and seek with a doll and skewering her in the guts like this is not gonna be treated as gore anyway
in general i did enjoy the lore and the story and whatever theres really a lot of thought being put in this one and also to make some ties with resident evil 7 for an engaging duology the plot twists were great but what absolutely took me by surprise was the worldbuilding of the village and the relationship and characterisation of the lords honestly i wont lie i was more interested to know about their personalities than saving rose for some reason like i just wanted to get to know heisenberg in a tea date i love him hes so hot im sorry people
umh yeah so anyway gameplay wise as i was saying this is resident evil 4 first person edition and its honestly fun as fuck the survival horror philosophy was thrown out of the window now theres a ton of ammos here and there a merchant with incredible personality monsters will drop some treasures that can be sold for a lot of money that you can use to buy blueprints ammo new weapons upgrades for weapons theres an incredible amount of thought put into this PLUS you can hunt animals and use their loots to make The Duke TM cook you some stuff and increase your health or stamina or whatever so theres so much customization so much action its incredible this game feels so inebriating to play and has an incredible gameplay loop and the art direction is dauntingly different from the previous entry resident evil 7 was all about toned down colors really dark environments claustrophobic places lots of junk and disgusting black materials and rusty stuff and whatever here they pushed the campy stuff to 100 because this is like big environments flashy personalities huge explosions spectacle everything put into it and its fucking grandious to be honest
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmyeah probably one of my favourite resident evil till now possbly because how different and unique it is compared to the main series in a good way rose i love you so dearly
OH ALSO SIDE NOTE
i usually dont get scared in horror videogames idk im not that easily scared by this kind of media (movies too lets be real) but the sequence in this game where ethan is in house beneviento and gets chased by that humanoid huge baby who screams and cries and laughs and its all dark and its all warped and the soundtrack and the visuals and everything definitely gave me goose bumps what the actual fuck istg this is one of the freakiest encounters in the entirety of the series and its done so beautifully it got so much interesting sound design to make people crawl up in their bed and cry
Anyone who doesn't like the last hour of this game is a coward and a fraud.
You can feel the game try to emulate RE4 and RE7 (two of my favorites in the series) but can't really do either of their strengths well.
RE4's action and mostly linear levels were offset by the ways you could approach combat and how creative the enemy variety and level setups were. You had to reposition, aim at knees or hands or heads depending on the scenario. There were not many choices and optional routes because the combat was all the choice. Your inventory being big was OK because crafting materials like herbs took up space in your inventory and you had to manage all that by combining and rearranging. RE7's survival horror and different routes meant that ammo was scarce and you would almost always constantly be barely clinging on to life. Because of limited inventory space, you would always have to choose. "I have some chem fluid. Do I use it to make health or more ammo? If I have more health, I will be safer. But if I have more ammo, I will be able to defend myself." You also had to backtrack around the house and surrounding areas so much that you would get accustomed to it and the enemies that were there. You could choose to clear it now and use up your bullets or dodge them for now and get rid of them later, at the risk of later being a worse time for you (like if you had no bullets or health at the time.) Exploration was also rewarded because the keys needed for progression were hidden everywhere. You go explore this room and find an unassuming object that you will put in the box. When stuck on a puzzle, you think "remember that random object from 2 hours ago? I wonder if I can somehow use that to solve the puzzle." Both of these games were fantastic in their own way, and they couldn't be more different. I was skeptical when I heard it was like a mixture of the two.
As an RE7 survival horror game, it fails because you are constantly given ammo and crafting supplies and weapons and inventory space and practically everything you need. I never ran out. Key items not only took no inventory space but were also basically always right around the corner. If not, they are just given to you on the linear path you take. There's this illusion of exploration but what really is happening is you get chased by the enemy into this room where you find the key and Ethan says "I wonder if I can use this statue head to open that statue head hole key at the coordinates 37.6460, -115.7507." Theres no way you could fail to find the statue and wander around the vast castle, looking for a key or something to progress. No, you get the item. There is ONE time in the final area where you have to backtrack to create the key but that's about it. In fact, that final map (factory) is the only good one in this game. Multiple floors, backtracking, different keys, unique rooms, and it may be surface level but at least these enemies need specific shots to the weak point. But other than that, you need a key, you'll find one in the room right next door. The puzzles are dead simple. But that's how it was in RE4. And it worked for that game. Why? As I said, the combat was super interesting. How's this game's combat? eh...
The pistols you get are reliable. The shotguns are pretty good. The reload animations are satisfying. You get cool weapons for exploring optional areas. All the weapons are good. So what's the problem? The enemies and the enemy variety! Village moved from zombies and mold people to werewolves to try something new but these are just hairy zombies. There's nothing interesting you can do with the combat. You can't shoot a TNT wielding Ganado's hand and detonate the bomb killing the crowd around him. You can't shoot the kneecap of a dude and then suplex him. Just shoot them wherever until they die. The AI is so braindead and the enemies are so weak that you could just shotgun and stun them so you could move on. Near the end, the enemies started getting armored but of course, they have big, glowing weak points on their chests. And since you can run and gun and Ethan just doesn't seem to get tired, they're not a threat either.
So, it fails at making you fight for your life in survival horror. It has no interesting puzzles and it's as linear as a non-bendy straw. There are no choices and the only reward for exploration are optional treasures. The combat isn't challenging or deep, the enemy variety is extremely lacking and the bosses are spongy and repetitive. You can play the game on autopilot. How about the story?
It's pretty good! I like the setup of saving your baby and the 4 lords have cool personalities and I liked it. And Ethan is the best protagonist since RE4 Leon. Such a great character.
RE4's action and mostly linear levels were offset by the ways you could approach combat and how creative the enemy variety and level setups were. You had to reposition, aim at knees or hands or heads depending on the scenario. There were not many choices and optional routes because the combat was all the choice. Your inventory being big was OK because crafting materials like herbs took up space in your inventory and you had to manage all that by combining and rearranging. RE7's survival horror and different routes meant that ammo was scarce and you would almost always constantly be barely clinging on to life. Because of limited inventory space, you would always have to choose. "I have some chem fluid. Do I use it to make health or more ammo? If I have more health, I will be safer. But if I have more ammo, I will be able to defend myself." You also had to backtrack around the house and surrounding areas so much that you would get accustomed to it and the enemies that were there. You could choose to clear it now and use up your bullets or dodge them for now and get rid of them later, at the risk of later being a worse time for you (like if you had no bullets or health at the time.) Exploration was also rewarded because the keys needed for progression were hidden everywhere. You go explore this room and find an unassuming object that you will put in the box. When stuck on a puzzle, you think "remember that random object from 2 hours ago? I wonder if I can somehow use that to solve the puzzle." Both of these games were fantastic in their own way, and they couldn't be more different. I was skeptical when I heard it was like a mixture of the two.
As an RE7 survival horror game, it fails because you are constantly given ammo and crafting supplies and weapons and inventory space and practically everything you need. I never ran out. Key items not only took no inventory space but were also basically always right around the corner. If not, they are just given to you on the linear path you take. There's this illusion of exploration but what really is happening is you get chased by the enemy into this room where you find the key and Ethan says "I wonder if I can use this statue head to open that statue head hole key at the coordinates 37.6460, -115.7507." Theres no way you could fail to find the statue and wander around the vast castle, looking for a key or something to progress. No, you get the item. There is ONE time in the final area where you have to backtrack to create the key but that's about it. In fact, that final map (factory) is the only good one in this game. Multiple floors, backtracking, different keys, unique rooms, and it may be surface level but at least these enemies need specific shots to the weak point. But other than that, you need a key, you'll find one in the room right next door. The puzzles are dead simple. But that's how it was in RE4. And it worked for that game. Why? As I said, the combat was super interesting. How's this game's combat? eh...
The pistols you get are reliable. The shotguns are pretty good. The reload animations are satisfying. You get cool weapons for exploring optional areas. All the weapons are good. So what's the problem? The enemies and the enemy variety! Village moved from zombies and mold people to werewolves to try something new but these are just hairy zombies. There's nothing interesting you can do with the combat. You can't shoot a TNT wielding Ganado's hand and detonate the bomb killing the crowd around him. You can't shoot the kneecap of a dude and then suplex him. Just shoot them wherever until they die. The AI is so braindead and the enemies are so weak that you could just shotgun and stun them so you could move on. Near the end, the enemies started getting armored but of course, they have big, glowing weak points on their chests. And since you can run and gun and Ethan just doesn't seem to get tired, they're not a threat either.
So, it fails at making you fight for your life in survival horror. It has no interesting puzzles and it's as linear as a non-bendy straw. There are no choices and the only reward for exploration are optional treasures. The combat isn't challenging or deep, the enemy variety is extremely lacking and the bosses are spongy and repetitive. You can play the game on autopilot. How about the story?
It's pretty good! I like the setup of saving your baby and the 4 lords have cool personalities and I liked it. And Ethan is the best protagonist since RE4 Leon. Such a great character.
Resident Evil Village leaves you begging for more.
It's June 2020 and I'm watching the Sony internet totally-not E3 event with a couple of friends. One of the best parts of doing these watch-a-longs is playing into the marketing machine and guessing what a game could be before we see a title. A snowy village. Werewolves. A familiar voice. It was impossible to place what Resident Evil Village was going to be before we saw the Capcom logo. Even afterwards, I remember being left with this feeling of "what the fuck was that?" before I ever felt any sort of fangirl naive excitement. I'm not sure if Capcom likes to leave people confused, but I know that their directors love to leave you wanting more.
Resident Evil has had its ups and its downs. I was alive for most Resident Evil as a franchise, but I wasn't really a human being with thoughts and words until Resident Evil 4. I must've been 8 years old when I first got my eyes on it. My parents didn't really care too much about age ratings or warnings, and so I got to spend most days after school watching my stepdad blast through Ganados in Definitely-Not-Spain. It was really love at first sight. Leon was such a heart throb, and the Saturday Morning Cartoon dialogue and story combined with an ultraviolent romp through a gothic countryside just had me hooked. When I finally had the guts to play it, I almost couldn't handle how stressful it was. Every level had my anxious neurons firing at full speed. Sometimes my hands would actually SHAKE in fear. RE4 was hard to quit though, and over the years it's cemented itself as my favorite Resident Evil game.
What does this have to do with RE:Village? A lot, actually. But before I get to that, I need to briefly talk about RE7. See, I had already been a pretty big fan of Resident Evil moving forward from RE4. As far as I'm concerned, there are almost two different types of Resident Evil. There's the Spencer Mansion, lit dimly by candles as a storm rages outside, as lightning strikes and illuminates the dank dark hallway you're slowly trudging down. Was that a shadow? Or something far more sinister? It's Lisa Trevor, it's the itchy tasty note. It's also GIANT SHARKS, and CONSPIRACY THEORIES, and UNDERGROUND LABS, and HOMOEROTIC KNIFE FIGHTS, and OH MY GOD, WHY DOES CHRIS REDFIELD LOOK LIKE THAT?
Resident Evil is a lot of things, but it's also mostly just two things. And really those two things come together to form a great one thing. That one thing is camp. Resident Evil is so fucking campy. It's like the best of B-horror movies from the 60s seen through the lens of a nation that brought us Kamen Rider and Kaiju movies and ultraviolent torture porn. It's the grotesque and the childish combined to form a wonderfully campy rollercoaster ride.
RE7 is the first in a wave of new Resident Evil. After the tremendous disaster that was Resident Evil 6 said goodbye to the anime influenced action flick cover shooter, Resident Evil 7 said hello to the run-and-hide, first person Amnesia-clones. People were pretty worried by such a massive stylistic change, but I think Capcom was in sort of a great spot after RE6, because RE6 was like going on a reunion tour for that band you really liked when you were 14, like liked so much that you claim they "saved your life", and then they break up and you feel like you lost a loved one, but then years later they get back together, so you buy a ticket and you're so excited to see them play live, and they play all the songs that you loved, but they play em really bad and its mostly because everyone on stage is drunk and old, and you're older now, and it's just, it's just really weird. So you kind of sadly waddle to the merch table and you think about buying a t-shirt, but then you realize the 35 bucks that you'd be spending on just one t-shirt would probably be better spent on a bottle of liquor to just forget the whole mess, and then the car ride home is just sad and weird because you start to think "well maybe they were always that bad, and I was just young, and I liked bad things? or maybe I'm older and I-" and so on and so on, you get the picture. Basically, RE6 was great for Capcom and Resident Evil fans because it forced everyone to want something new. For the most part, RE7 exceeded expectations. It was bound to happen! It had a really weak second half, but most Resident Evil games do, right? So it was what it was. I don't really care for RE7, but I was really surprised at just how sort of well it played those familiar melodies. A giant, creepy house. Puzzles galore! Backtracking! Unlocking things! Looking for clues!
What RE7 really did well for me though, was in recognizing the tropes of genre and the medium of video games. With each member of the Baker family, RE7's experience was about forcing the player through the greatest hits of the horror genre. Take the first section, with Mia. Playing up the possession imagery was weird for Resident Evil! Resident Evil was never about ghosts. And yet it slotted into itself so seamlessly and with such confidence! Then you're treated to Papa Baker and his weird Evil Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre callbacks? I mean, could anyone have called that? It was so -NOT- Resident Evil... and yet it was totally Resident Evil! Resident Evil has always been a love letter to the horror genre! The spooky mansion, the gothic interior design, the grand open foyer of the Spencer Mansion, all of it is evocative of classic genre tropes and tools and the confidence with which Resident Evil delivers this to the player has -always- been its strongest point.
So what happens when Resident Evil writes a love letter to itself? There are two ways to really go about it. You either get RE6, which misses the mark completely thanks to its hyperfixation on branding, or you get Resident Evil Village.
It's no secret to anyone familiar with the Resident Evil franchise that RE4 is the golden child of the series. REmake MIGHT be better, but 4 has always been the shining standard with which to judge the rest of the franchise on. It was a groundbreaking game that, if I wanted to get into it, could merit its own essay and I refuse to write about RE4 right now, because I want to talk about Resident Evil Village. But it feels almost impossible to talk about Resident Evil Village without talking about Resident Evil the FRANCHISE. Because Resident Evil Village is a love letter to everything this franchise has ever stood for, and in doing so, its callbacks and its homages to RE4 are done not out of insecurity on its own part, but of love and reverence for the series it belongs to. It's with that confidence, that sheer swagger that Resident Evil Village manages to deliver the best horror experience in AAA gaming since Amnesia the Dark Descent, an experience that improves tenfold on all of the groundwork that RE7 established as to what the franchise was going to be moving forward, and doubles down on a unique vision for the franchise and for Capcom moving forward.
I simply was not prepared to love Resident Evil Village as much as I did. In fact, for the first hour and the weeks leading up to the game's release, I was prepared to be disappointed. 7 was not my Resident Evil. I didn't hate it, but it's not what I went to the franchise for at all. It had everything, it did everything, and I respect it, but I've never felt like replaying it. It exceeded my expectations, but my expectations were already fairly low. Resident Evil Village absolutely blew me away. I was not expecting to be smiling ear-to-ear for the 15 hours I spent with this game, I was not expecting to finish my playthrough and feel legitimately sad that there wasn't more to come. I was not expecting to boot it up on hardcore immediately after and to discuss Village of Shadows (RE8's insanely difficult post-game unlock mode) techniques with my friends.
Resident Evil Village plays the notes you know so well as a Resident Evil fan but it plays them like a true artist does. RE6 is the Dream Theater of Resident Evil games. All flash, no substance. RE:Village is the Bjork of Resident Evil games. Each note hits different. From the LOUD and ON THE NOSE OH MY GOD I GET IT, IT'S AN RE4 REFERENCE to the 12 hour revelation that was the game's titular village and what it represented from a design philosophy, Resident Evil Village is a masterwork. Every zone offers something so fresh to the series and yet so familiar. It operates on a wealth of history to draw from, while never afraid to do something bigger, do something weird. It's pacing is immaculate, it knows just when the player is getting comfortable and it pulls the rug out from under you as soon as it is. You kids wanted RE4 with a fixed third act? BUDDY HERE IT IS.
RE4 was groundbreaking for video games. It fixed third person shooters. Gears of War would take RE4 and improve upon it to the point that every AAA cinematic experience that isn't a David Cage or Hideo Kojima production has played the exact same way. Will Village be as groundbreaking in that department as 4? No. It's familiar. It's fine. Where Village shines however, is everywhere else. The presentation, the level design, the gunplay, the enemy design, the pacing, the setting, the characters, the performances, the narrative. It's a new high that the series hasn't seen since 2004. Resident Evil Village is Resident Evil perfected.
It's June 2020 and I'm watching the Sony internet totally-not E3 event with a couple of friends. One of the best parts of doing these watch-a-longs is playing into the marketing machine and guessing what a game could be before we see a title. A snowy village. Werewolves. A familiar voice. It was impossible to place what Resident Evil Village was going to be before we saw the Capcom logo. Even afterwards, I remember being left with this feeling of "what the fuck was that?" before I ever felt any sort of fangirl naive excitement. I'm not sure if Capcom likes to leave people confused, but I know that their directors love to leave you wanting more.
Resident Evil has had its ups and its downs. I was alive for most Resident Evil as a franchise, but I wasn't really a human being with thoughts and words until Resident Evil 4. I must've been 8 years old when I first got my eyes on it. My parents didn't really care too much about age ratings or warnings, and so I got to spend most days after school watching my stepdad blast through Ganados in Definitely-Not-Spain. It was really love at first sight. Leon was such a heart throb, and the Saturday Morning Cartoon dialogue and story combined with an ultraviolent romp through a gothic countryside just had me hooked. When I finally had the guts to play it, I almost couldn't handle how stressful it was. Every level had my anxious neurons firing at full speed. Sometimes my hands would actually SHAKE in fear. RE4 was hard to quit though, and over the years it's cemented itself as my favorite Resident Evil game.
What does this have to do with RE:Village? A lot, actually. But before I get to that, I need to briefly talk about RE7. See, I had already been a pretty big fan of Resident Evil moving forward from RE4. As far as I'm concerned, there are almost two different types of Resident Evil. There's the Spencer Mansion, lit dimly by candles as a storm rages outside, as lightning strikes and illuminates the dank dark hallway you're slowly trudging down. Was that a shadow? Or something far more sinister? It's Lisa Trevor, it's the itchy tasty note. It's also GIANT SHARKS, and CONSPIRACY THEORIES, and UNDERGROUND LABS, and HOMOEROTIC KNIFE FIGHTS, and OH MY GOD, WHY DOES CHRIS REDFIELD LOOK LIKE THAT?
Resident Evil is a lot of things, but it's also mostly just two things. And really those two things come together to form a great one thing. That one thing is camp. Resident Evil is so fucking campy. It's like the best of B-horror movies from the 60s seen through the lens of a nation that brought us Kamen Rider and Kaiju movies and ultraviolent torture porn. It's the grotesque and the childish combined to form a wonderfully campy rollercoaster ride.
RE7 is the first in a wave of new Resident Evil. After the tremendous disaster that was Resident Evil 6 said goodbye to the anime influenced action flick cover shooter, Resident Evil 7 said hello to the run-and-hide, first person Amnesia-clones. People were pretty worried by such a massive stylistic change, but I think Capcom was in sort of a great spot after RE6, because RE6 was like going on a reunion tour for that band you really liked when you were 14, like liked so much that you claim they "saved your life", and then they break up and you feel like you lost a loved one, but then years later they get back together, so you buy a ticket and you're so excited to see them play live, and they play all the songs that you loved, but they play em really bad and its mostly because everyone on stage is drunk and old, and you're older now, and it's just, it's just really weird. So you kind of sadly waddle to the merch table and you think about buying a t-shirt, but then you realize the 35 bucks that you'd be spending on just one t-shirt would probably be better spent on a bottle of liquor to just forget the whole mess, and then the car ride home is just sad and weird because you start to think "well maybe they were always that bad, and I was just young, and I liked bad things? or maybe I'm older and I-" and so on and so on, you get the picture. Basically, RE6 was great for Capcom and Resident Evil fans because it forced everyone to want something new. For the most part, RE7 exceeded expectations. It was bound to happen! It had a really weak second half, but most Resident Evil games do, right? So it was what it was. I don't really care for RE7, but I was really surprised at just how sort of well it played those familiar melodies. A giant, creepy house. Puzzles galore! Backtracking! Unlocking things! Looking for clues!
What RE7 really did well for me though, was in recognizing the tropes of genre and the medium of video games. With each member of the Baker family, RE7's experience was about forcing the player through the greatest hits of the horror genre. Take the first section, with Mia. Playing up the possession imagery was weird for Resident Evil! Resident Evil was never about ghosts. And yet it slotted into itself so seamlessly and with such confidence! Then you're treated to Papa Baker and his weird Evil Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre callbacks? I mean, could anyone have called that? It was so -NOT- Resident Evil... and yet it was totally Resident Evil! Resident Evil has always been a love letter to the horror genre! The spooky mansion, the gothic interior design, the grand open foyer of the Spencer Mansion, all of it is evocative of classic genre tropes and tools and the confidence with which Resident Evil delivers this to the player has -always- been its strongest point.
So what happens when Resident Evil writes a love letter to itself? There are two ways to really go about it. You either get RE6, which misses the mark completely thanks to its hyperfixation on branding, or you get Resident Evil Village.
It's no secret to anyone familiar with the Resident Evil franchise that RE4 is the golden child of the series. REmake MIGHT be better, but 4 has always been the shining standard with which to judge the rest of the franchise on. It was a groundbreaking game that, if I wanted to get into it, could merit its own essay and I refuse to write about RE4 right now, because I want to talk about Resident Evil Village. But it feels almost impossible to talk about Resident Evil Village without talking about Resident Evil the FRANCHISE. Because Resident Evil Village is a love letter to everything this franchise has ever stood for, and in doing so, its callbacks and its homages to RE4 are done not out of insecurity on its own part, but of love and reverence for the series it belongs to. It's with that confidence, that sheer swagger that Resident Evil Village manages to deliver the best horror experience in AAA gaming since Amnesia the Dark Descent, an experience that improves tenfold on all of the groundwork that RE7 established as to what the franchise was going to be moving forward, and doubles down on a unique vision for the franchise and for Capcom moving forward.
I simply was not prepared to love Resident Evil Village as much as I did. In fact, for the first hour and the weeks leading up to the game's release, I was prepared to be disappointed. 7 was not my Resident Evil. I didn't hate it, but it's not what I went to the franchise for at all. It had everything, it did everything, and I respect it, but I've never felt like replaying it. It exceeded my expectations, but my expectations were already fairly low. Resident Evil Village absolutely blew me away. I was not expecting to be smiling ear-to-ear for the 15 hours I spent with this game, I was not expecting to finish my playthrough and feel legitimately sad that there wasn't more to come. I was not expecting to boot it up on hardcore immediately after and to discuss Village of Shadows (RE8's insanely difficult post-game unlock mode) techniques with my friends.
Resident Evil Village plays the notes you know so well as a Resident Evil fan but it plays them like a true artist does. RE6 is the Dream Theater of Resident Evil games. All flash, no substance. RE:Village is the Bjork of Resident Evil games. Each note hits different. From the LOUD and ON THE NOSE OH MY GOD I GET IT, IT'S AN RE4 REFERENCE to the 12 hour revelation that was the game's titular village and what it represented from a design philosophy, Resident Evil Village is a masterwork. Every zone offers something so fresh to the series and yet so familiar. It operates on a wealth of history to draw from, while never afraid to do something bigger, do something weird. It's pacing is immaculate, it knows just when the player is getting comfortable and it pulls the rug out from under you as soon as it is. You kids wanted RE4 with a fixed third act? BUDDY HERE IT IS.
RE4 was groundbreaking for video games. It fixed third person shooters. Gears of War would take RE4 and improve upon it to the point that every AAA cinematic experience that isn't a David Cage or Hideo Kojima production has played the exact same way. Will Village be as groundbreaking in that department as 4? No. It's familiar. It's fine. Where Village shines however, is everywhere else. The presentation, the level design, the gunplay, the enemy design, the pacing, the setting, the characters, the performances, the narrative. It's a new high that the series hasn't seen since 2004. Resident Evil Village is Resident Evil perfected.
the most i've enjoyed a modern era RE game by a massive margin. i was honestly taken back by how much i loved this. especially having such a distaste for Ethan and RE7 in the past.
most of my issues with 7 as a predecessor (and even the two remakes in a few spots) have either been rectified or sidestepped. Ethan isn't a cardboard cutout, there's enemy variety in both design plus how dealing with them works, the level design/exploration is fleshed out, and so on. all while the game doesn't crash and burn as it progresses like most RE games do. not bad.
was originally gonna hop into the Mass Effect trilogy after this but i'm starting up my second run instead.
most of my issues with 7 as a predecessor (and even the two remakes in a few spots) have either been rectified or sidestepped. Ethan isn't a cardboard cutout, there's enemy variety in both design plus how dealing with them works, the level design/exploration is fleshed out, and so on. all while the game doesn't crash and burn as it progresses like most RE games do. not bad.
was originally gonna hop into the Mass Effect trilogy after this but i'm starting up my second run instead.
i've played enough games in my life that something that's merely there to pass the time doesn't really interest me anymore, when i play a game i want it to really grab me with something, be it unique and engaging mechanics or interesting storytelling, just something that'll stick out my memory and make me go 'yeah!! that thing!!'
another thing i really value in a game is replay value, i generally enjoy diving deep into the games i'm interested in so that of course often leads to me wanted to do multiple full playthroughs, so i appreciate games that create adventures that retain their appeal in some form not just on the first time, but the sixth
so when i play a game like resident evil village where i spend the first ten minutes holding forward to put a baby to sleep, or holding forward to like walk through a load of snow before anything actually happens i'm not just bored, i'm thinking, 'oh, i will have to do this every time' and the game has moments like this so frequently and is so disgustingly average otherwise that i could only stomach the one playthrough, and with that, a large part of its staying power in my memory is eviscerated
the game's structure is similar to 7's, in that you meet a group of koopalings who all go off to their individual castles and you go to each one of them and kill them, this time to collect 1 out of 4 thingies to get you to the endgame, and also similarly to 7 they are by the numbers facsimiles of resident evil levels where you collect items and kind of solve puzzles and piece together the whole map and blah blah blah it's fine, it's serviceable, but not once was there anything that like wowed me or made me feel much or anything really, i'd like to be able to critique them further but i honestly don't remember that much about these areas aside from their general aesthetic, which i suppose is a step up from 7's one-two punch of 'brown house, grey boat'
there's one setpiece in house beneviento (generally my favourite area) that i found actually rather unsettling, but i knew after finishing it that it would never scare me again, there's hardly a gameplay element to it and it would be reduced to a glorified cutscene on a hypothetical second playthrough unfortunately
the dlc campaign, shadows of rose which i also played, has a different setpiece at this point that kind of blew me away honestly, as it wasn't just something creepy and unique within the series (to my knowledge) but also challenging to the point that i actually failed it the first time, and the second time was an incredibly close call, it actually had me panicked because i, the player, had to survive this part, i felt in sync with the character on screen in a way i've rarely felt playing 7 or 8, as i usually feel like an outsider watching the character trying to survive
i don't want to spoil what happens in the segment just in case, but it's something to do with manikins
these games are far too much of a reassuring prescence in what are meant to be horror games, coddling me and making sure i'm impressed and not too uncomfortable, wrestling control away from constantly so something scary can happen to ethan or rose in my stead, someone will jump on me and starting like eating my face or something and it'll be awkward because idk if this is just a cutscene and the game is proceeding as intended, or if i actually fucked up half the time, i'll be mashing one of the face buttons when something like this happens (probably a habit i picked up from resident evil 4) and then the little 'skip cutscene?' thing will appear in the corner and i'm like oh okay i'll just get comfy then
there's also a lot of segments that are railroaded to the point that they may as well be cutscenes, with the fish guy's area being a particularly bad offender, it all just feels so phony, the hand of the designer is so visible at all times i never just get lost in the world i'm meant to be in
i also think that the RE engine's bend towards realism just makes the games look incredibly bland and samey, everything's kinda lit realistically and all the environments are just kinda, normal looking, it feels like there's not really any interesting composition or focal points or any sort of mood to like anything i'm looking at, all this supposedly impressive detail all blurs together and washes over me and i'm really sick of how these games look, especially considering the very first games in the series still impress me with how well they're presented
i'd really like these games as well as devil may cry to move away from this kind of style personally, maybe then we won't have to rely so much on yellow paint to make things you can interact with visible
this review is probably very messy and i apologise if it sounds dismissive, just playing this back to back with 7 was very disappointing as this direction the series is going right now really isn't my cup of tea, it feels like we're resting on the series' laurels a bit, combat that get the job done, exploration that gets the job done, and a lot of showy, flashy setpieces and nods to older games that i like much more
i'm just always left feeling a bit empty after an experience like this, when i think about resident evil village in the future, will any memories of my experience come flooding back? what will get me talking about it and recommending it to my friends? what is so special about it that i'll end up with that itch, that drive to experience it all over again and return to its world for years to come? it's always a bit of a shame when i don't have an answer
another thing i really value in a game is replay value, i generally enjoy diving deep into the games i'm interested in so that of course often leads to me wanted to do multiple full playthroughs, so i appreciate games that create adventures that retain their appeal in some form not just on the first time, but the sixth
so when i play a game like resident evil village where i spend the first ten minutes holding forward to put a baby to sleep, or holding forward to like walk through a load of snow before anything actually happens i'm not just bored, i'm thinking, 'oh, i will have to do this every time' and the game has moments like this so frequently and is so disgustingly average otherwise that i could only stomach the one playthrough, and with that, a large part of its staying power in my memory is eviscerated
the game's structure is similar to 7's, in that you meet a group of koopalings who all go off to their individual castles and you go to each one of them and kill them, this time to collect 1 out of 4 thingies to get you to the endgame, and also similarly to 7 they are by the numbers facsimiles of resident evil levels where you collect items and kind of solve puzzles and piece together the whole map and blah blah blah it's fine, it's serviceable, but not once was there anything that like wowed me or made me feel much or anything really, i'd like to be able to critique them further but i honestly don't remember that much about these areas aside from their general aesthetic, which i suppose is a step up from 7's one-two punch of 'brown house, grey boat'
there's one setpiece in house beneviento (generally my favourite area) that i found actually rather unsettling, but i knew after finishing it that it would never scare me again, there's hardly a gameplay element to it and it would be reduced to a glorified cutscene on a hypothetical second playthrough unfortunately
the dlc campaign, shadows of rose which i also played, has a different setpiece at this point that kind of blew me away honestly, as it wasn't just something creepy and unique within the series (to my knowledge) but also challenging to the point that i actually failed it the first time, and the second time was an incredibly close call, it actually had me panicked because i, the player, had to survive this part, i felt in sync with the character on screen in a way i've rarely felt playing 7 or 8, as i usually feel like an outsider watching the character trying to survive
i don't want to spoil what happens in the segment just in case, but it's something to do with manikins
these games are far too much of a reassuring prescence in what are meant to be horror games, coddling me and making sure i'm impressed and not too uncomfortable, wrestling control away from constantly so something scary can happen to ethan or rose in my stead, someone will jump on me and starting like eating my face or something and it'll be awkward because idk if this is just a cutscene and the game is proceeding as intended, or if i actually fucked up half the time, i'll be mashing one of the face buttons when something like this happens (probably a habit i picked up from resident evil 4) and then the little 'skip cutscene?' thing will appear in the corner and i'm like oh okay i'll just get comfy then
there's also a lot of segments that are railroaded to the point that they may as well be cutscenes, with the fish guy's area being a particularly bad offender, it all just feels so phony, the hand of the designer is so visible at all times i never just get lost in the world i'm meant to be in
i also think that the RE engine's bend towards realism just makes the games look incredibly bland and samey, everything's kinda lit realistically and all the environments are just kinda, normal looking, it feels like there's not really any interesting composition or focal points or any sort of mood to like anything i'm looking at, all this supposedly impressive detail all blurs together and washes over me and i'm really sick of how these games look, especially considering the very first games in the series still impress me with how well they're presented
i'd really like these games as well as devil may cry to move away from this kind of style personally, maybe then we won't have to rely so much on yellow paint to make things you can interact with visible
this review is probably very messy and i apologise if it sounds dismissive, just playing this back to back with 7 was very disappointing as this direction the series is going right now really isn't my cup of tea, it feels like we're resting on the series' laurels a bit, combat that get the job done, exploration that gets the job done, and a lot of showy, flashy setpieces and nods to older games that i like much more
i'm just always left feeling a bit empty after an experience like this, when i think about resident evil village in the future, will any memories of my experience come flooding back? what will get me talking about it and recommending it to my friends? what is so special about it that i'll end up with that itch, that drive to experience it all over again and return to its world for years to come? it's always a bit of a shame when i don't have an answer
It's hard to fault 'Ethan Winters and The Great Spooky Coochie' for drawing inspiration from RE4. Not only is 4 one of Capcom's best selling titles, it's flat out one of the best action games of all time!
But 'The Winters' Winter Holiday' constantly bungles its attempts at emulating RE4, robbing the game of any tension or tactical depth.
At its best, RE4 would put you in elaborate, multi-level jungle gyms with enemies slowly approaching on all sides, testing your ability to traverse tricky environments while applying precise and effective crowd control.
You could target explosive enemies to efficiently clear groups without wasting ammo. Risk closing the distance in exchange for powerful melee attacks. Abuse context sensitive obstacles like ladders, bookshelves, and bear traps to limit enemies' range of movement.
Or maybe it would put you in a tiny enclosed space where split-second decisions and exaggerated hit-reactions were your only tools. Snap target enemies' limbs to slow them down or disable their attacks, giving you baaaarely enough room to breathe in these claustrophobic encounters.
'Spillage Village' levels are mostly simple roundabouts where you can endlessly kite tiny groups of enemies in circles.
Apart from pushing bookshelves and distracting enemies with flour, most of the tactical options in RE4 are gone. No more risky suplexes. No more abusing hit-reactions. No more statregies beyond 'run in circle shoot in head.'
There's one big elaborate fight towards the end, introducing some much needed verticality and enemy density, but at that point Ethan is so powerful that it feels closer to a victory lap than a challenging gauntlet.
Inventory is so big you can pick up everything you see without worry. Currency is so abundant you can buy nearly whatever you want. Chase sequences are too linear and easy to be scary. 'Regenerators' are susceptible to all ammo types, undermining the risk/reward present in the original.
Whatever complexity RE4 had going for it was stamped out in favor of hokey setpiece-fights that are too linear and predictable to arouse any feelings.
But it's not all bad! The snowy village and its surrounding dungeons are absolutely gorgeous, providing what might be my favorite setting in the series, even if it's not very original.
Booby lady and Hammer daddy are cool as hell, with the supporting cast being weird and compelling in their own ways!
And hell, some of the emotional moments were strangely potent, especially in a series known for B-movie cheese.
If 'Dommytrescu's Daunting Donkaroos' (Diggeri-daddy's Despicable Date?) leaned into its vibes and storytelling instead of being a half-assed action game, this might've been a unique entry in the series that stands on its own 2 merits! Right now, it's just a bland mess that makes me want to replay 4 instead.
But 'The Winters' Winter Holiday' constantly bungles its attempts at emulating RE4, robbing the game of any tension or tactical depth.
At its best, RE4 would put you in elaborate, multi-level jungle gyms with enemies slowly approaching on all sides, testing your ability to traverse tricky environments while applying precise and effective crowd control.
You could target explosive enemies to efficiently clear groups without wasting ammo. Risk closing the distance in exchange for powerful melee attacks. Abuse context sensitive obstacles like ladders, bookshelves, and bear traps to limit enemies' range of movement.
Or maybe it would put you in a tiny enclosed space where split-second decisions and exaggerated hit-reactions were your only tools. Snap target enemies' limbs to slow them down or disable their attacks, giving you baaaarely enough room to breathe in these claustrophobic encounters.
'Spillage Village' levels are mostly simple roundabouts where you can endlessly kite tiny groups of enemies in circles.
Apart from pushing bookshelves and distracting enemies with flour, most of the tactical options in RE4 are gone. No more risky suplexes. No more abusing hit-reactions. No more statregies beyond 'run in circle shoot in head.'
There's one big elaborate fight towards the end, introducing some much needed verticality and enemy density, but at that point Ethan is so powerful that it feels closer to a victory lap than a challenging gauntlet.
Inventory is so big you can pick up everything you see without worry. Currency is so abundant you can buy nearly whatever you want. Chase sequences are too linear and easy to be scary. 'Regenerators' are susceptible to all ammo types, undermining the risk/reward present in the original.
Whatever complexity RE4 had going for it was stamped out in favor of hokey setpiece-fights that are too linear and predictable to arouse any feelings.
But it's not all bad! The snowy village and its surrounding dungeons are absolutely gorgeous, providing what might be my favorite setting in the series, even if it's not very original.
Booby lady and Hammer daddy are cool as hell, with the supporting cast being weird and compelling in their own ways!
And hell, some of the emotional moments were strangely potent, especially in a series known for B-movie cheese.
If 'Dommytrescu's Daunting Donkaroos' (Diggeri-daddy's Despicable Date?) leaned into its vibes and storytelling instead of being a half-assed action game, this might've been a unique entry in the series that stands on its own 2 merits! Right now, it's just a bland mess that makes me want to replay 4 instead.
"God created man's back to carry burdens, but to think you want to pile on even more..."
What if a regenerator from Resident Evil 4 had his decaying body infused with a soul and a conscious conscience and a will to live, something to fill the absence in its complex mechanical heart, to give it life in the dirt and let it experience the first-person's recurring pains of birth, growth, lust, love, commitment; the fear, anger, decay and darkness that follows from these things. Life, but never death, because nothing could stop this bio-tin man from following the yellow paint road, an invincible soldier game to do anything for the simulated reali(ties) and fami(lies) he's lost inside his machine.
This is Resident Evil at its stupidest and its smartest, which is, respectively, saying a lot and not saying much at all, respectfully. Like VII, VIL isn't really ashamed to borrow everything and anything it wants to say and do from its own past and its shared past with its brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, cousins and children across generations and genre-nations, channeling media mediums like a medium. It goes without saying that it's a composite, a family portrait, a photo mode of itself and the evils resident within. They were stupid too, but were none-the-lesser labours of love that shifted between mocking you and terrifying you; the fact that something's camp doesn't stop it from eating you alive. All are embraced in the compost of this newly-grown decomposition. It takes a village to raise a game, after all, but the progenitor of the survival horror virus isn't willing to eradicate its parasites just yet. Chris Redfield (a mimic of Chris Redfield in the desert of the snowbound real?) doesn't start smiling until Ethan Winters cocks a 9mm and announces to his God (he has himself down as Alpha in Ethan's phonebook, for God's sake) that he's gonna march backwards into Hell while flipping the bird to the bird-lady... or he would, if he still had his middle finger.
The game is deeply dumb and it knows it. But the beauty of vulgarity and camp and the aforementioned stupidity of man is that it can skirt up against truth just as easily as intellect can, and this is, ironically, how the game shows itself most clearly as intelligent, perhaps above its more literally-minded and literary-minded peers. Virtuous lack of virtue until the very end - I've said it before, but games that steep themselves in darkness should be permitted, from safe distance, to unsafely explore the fears that darkness creates, unpleasant, unkind and unsanitary as they may be. Do you want to experience a contradiction of scenes from your storybook of mental violence and gore, or do you want to L3 sprint without introspection through an eternal funfair of funhouses, simulcra of what you experienced before? Don't worry, you don't have to think about it - it's all still here. We're giant babies confronting the possibility of a giant baby in our home. Do we have the heart to understand what that means?
Also they finally brought back The Mercenaries - that's fucking sick bro
What if a regenerator from Resident Evil 4 had his decaying body infused with a soul and a conscious conscience and a will to live, something to fill the absence in its complex mechanical heart, to give it life in the dirt and let it experience the first-person's recurring pains of birth, growth, lust, love, commitment; the fear, anger, decay and darkness that follows from these things. Life, but never death, because nothing could stop this bio-tin man from following the yellow paint road, an invincible soldier game to do anything for the simulated reali(ties) and fami(lies) he's lost inside his machine.
This is Resident Evil at its stupidest and its smartest, which is, respectively, saying a lot and not saying much at all, respectfully. Like VII, VIL isn't really ashamed to borrow everything and anything it wants to say and do from its own past and its shared past with its brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, cousins and children across generations and genre-nations, channeling media mediums like a medium. It goes without saying that it's a composite, a family portrait, a photo mode of itself and the evils resident within. They were stupid too, but were none-the-lesser labours of love that shifted between mocking you and terrifying you; the fact that something's camp doesn't stop it from eating you alive. All are embraced in the compost of this newly-grown decomposition. It takes a village to raise a game, after all, but the progenitor of the survival horror virus isn't willing to eradicate its parasites just yet. Chris Redfield (a mimic of Chris Redfield in the desert of the snowbound real?) doesn't start smiling until Ethan Winters cocks a 9mm and announces to his God (he has himself down as Alpha in Ethan's phonebook, for God's sake) that he's gonna march backwards into Hell while flipping the bird to the bird-lady... or he would, if he still had his middle finger.
The game is deeply dumb and it knows it. But the beauty of vulgarity and camp and the aforementioned stupidity of man is that it can skirt up against truth just as easily as intellect can, and this is, ironically, how the game shows itself most clearly as intelligent, perhaps above its more literally-minded and literary-minded peers. Virtuous lack of virtue until the very end - I've said it before, but games that steep themselves in darkness should be permitted, from safe distance, to unsafely explore the fears that darkness creates, unpleasant, unkind and unsanitary as they may be. Do you want to experience a contradiction of scenes from your storybook of mental violence and gore, or do you want to L3 sprint without introspection through an eternal funfair of funhouses, simulcra of what you experienced before? Don't worry, you don't have to think about it - it's all still here. We're giant babies confronting the possibility of a giant baby in our home. Do we have the heart to understand what that means?
Also they finally brought back The Mercenaries - that's fucking sick bro
Magneto is one of the villains in this game and he turns into a Michael Bay Transformer for his boss fight
tall lady
very happy to have another game to add to the pot of "games where the dad is actually just a good father"
this is one of the most befuddling games I've honestly played in a while.
heisenberg sounded like snagglepuss.
the tall lady was barely in it (thank GOD)
that one fight with the propeller guy looked like a boss from Saw: The Video Game seriously what the hell was that
this ending absolutely implies the continuation of the Resident Evil Cycle and RE9 is 100% going to have double jumps and wall running
heisenberg sounded like snagglepuss.
the tall lady was barely in it (thank GOD)
that one fight with the propeller guy looked like a boss from Saw: The Video Game seriously what the hell was that
this ending absolutely implies the continuation of the Resident Evil Cycle and RE9 is 100% going to have double jumps and wall running
Being at once a follow-up to the game credited with putting a legendary series back on the map after a dry spell and taking so many elements from the gigante absoluto that is RE4, Village was setting high expectations for itself. For me, it more than met those expectations and I'm glad to see that most people seem to be pretty happy with it too. There's still at least one aspect in which I think it deserves more credit, though. I've often seen Village compared to a greatest hits album or described a celebration of the series rather than having a unique identity of its own, which is a bit of discourse I can't help but disagree with. It's specifically because Village does such a good job of taking familiar ideas and twisting them in new ways that I've ended up thinking so highly of it.
RE is no stranger to backtracking through old areas to get newly uncovered goodies as you progress. But the structure of Village's dedicated, uh, village™ hub zone reminded me a lot of Deus Ex in a way that felt both refreshing and like such a natural extension of RE's exploratory nature it's a wonder they didn't try something like it sooner. Sifting through little buildings for resources hidden under furniture or tidbits of environmental storytelling (greatly assisted by the first person perspective), bumping into optional mini-bosses and enemy encounters who gate off unique treasure, seeing the place change visually as you progress, etc. I absolutely loved its implementation, and I think it'd be easy to tell how much confidence the developers had in it even if they hadn't made it the game's namesake.
In my mind that alone would be enough to give Village its own individual niche within the series, but another thing that I felt wonderfully complemented one of the series' trademarks - its campiness - was the Gothic/Hammer Horror-inspired cast of monsters/villains this time around. It'd be misleading to act as though camp is all they have going for them, though. Capcom's animators have pretty much always been among the best in the business, but with Village's creatures in particular they've struck an amazing balance between looking just human enough to be subtly uncanny in some moments and overtly beastly enough to cause immediate distress in others; I was pretty impressed that they were ballsy enough to make even the most basic enemies move so erratically and quickly. The bigwig villains each have a similar degree of effort put into them, being so varied and distinctive in terms of appearance, gameplay mechanics and personality that I never really knew what was round the corner, which was bolstered by what a unique setting there is on offer here. Transylvanian vampire castle? Nothing new, sure. Devoutly Orthodox dilapidated Transylvanian village turned weird neopagan werewolf enclave? Yes please.
It's thanks to these sort of things that the atmosphere and imagery in Village is among the strongest and strangest the series has to offer whenever it leans into the horror side of things. In that respect, it also has a gorgeous marriage between art direction, photorealism and performance that serves as further evidence that the RE Engine is comprised of black magic. All this helps to make the more action-oriented turn Village takes towards the very end actually feel earned for a change; I kept expecting to come across some area or gameplay segment that I would find myself dreading on later playthroughs, but instead I only felt pleasantly surprised at how consistently high quality each zone was and what a strong note the game ended on in particular. Surely that must be the best final boss in the series so far?
There also aren't any unskippable cutscenes this time, Chris actually looks like Chris again and Capcom remembered that Mercenaries exists, so that's all pretty nice. Mercs is a little barebones compared to its last few iterations and there are two regions which I wish were a little bit more fleshed out and/or longer, but it's hard to fault a game for making me want more of it. All in all, Village is a great time.
RE is no stranger to backtracking through old areas to get newly uncovered goodies as you progress. But the structure of Village's dedicated, uh, village™ hub zone reminded me a lot of Deus Ex in a way that felt both refreshing and like such a natural extension of RE's exploratory nature it's a wonder they didn't try something like it sooner. Sifting through little buildings for resources hidden under furniture or tidbits of environmental storytelling (greatly assisted by the first person perspective), bumping into optional mini-bosses and enemy encounters who gate off unique treasure, seeing the place change visually as you progress, etc. I absolutely loved its implementation, and I think it'd be easy to tell how much confidence the developers had in it even if they hadn't made it the game's namesake.
In my mind that alone would be enough to give Village its own individual niche within the series, but another thing that I felt wonderfully complemented one of the series' trademarks - its campiness - was the Gothic/Hammer Horror-inspired cast of monsters/villains this time around. It'd be misleading to act as though camp is all they have going for them, though. Capcom's animators have pretty much always been among the best in the business, but with Village's creatures in particular they've struck an amazing balance between looking just human enough to be subtly uncanny in some moments and overtly beastly enough to cause immediate distress in others; I was pretty impressed that they were ballsy enough to make even the most basic enemies move so erratically and quickly. The bigwig villains each have a similar degree of effort put into them, being so varied and distinctive in terms of appearance, gameplay mechanics and personality that I never really knew what was round the corner, which was bolstered by what a unique setting there is on offer here. Transylvanian vampire castle? Nothing new, sure. Devoutly Orthodox dilapidated Transylvanian village turned weird neopagan werewolf enclave? Yes please.
It's thanks to these sort of things that the atmosphere and imagery in Village is among the strongest and strangest the series has to offer whenever it leans into the horror side of things. In that respect, it also has a gorgeous marriage between art direction, photorealism and performance that serves as further evidence that the RE Engine is comprised of black magic. All this helps to make the more action-oriented turn Village takes towards the very end actually feel earned for a change; I kept expecting to come across some area or gameplay segment that I would find myself dreading on later playthroughs, but instead I only felt pleasantly surprised at how consistently high quality each zone was and what a strong note the game ended on in particular. Surely that must be the best final boss in the series so far?
There also aren't any unskippable cutscenes this time, Chris actually looks like Chris again and Capcom remembered that Mercenaries exists, so that's all pretty nice. Mercs is a little barebones compared to its last few iterations and there are two regions which I wish were a little bit more fleshed out and/or longer, but it's hard to fault a game for making me want more of it. All in all, Village is a great time.
Opening with a magic-filled fairy-tale reminiscent of Harry Potter's Deathly Hallows, Resident Evil Village immediately removes itself from its predecessor's shadow, and sets its own expectations for both narrative and aesthetic. Whereas Biohazard rooted its horror in the contrast between normalcy and corruption, Village sweeps Ethan and the player away and into an unknown land, governed by the intertwined powers of legacy, mystery, and the Other.
The beginning of the game poses the largest threat to both Ethan and new players - you are dropped into a (not-so) abandoned village and forced to contend with fearsome lycan monsters with little ammo and protection and no clear objective other than to survive. I will admit that I failed at this objective at first, feeling more frustrated that I ever felt in Biohazard's first few hours, despite the setting being less terror-filled. However, this helplessness feeds into the existential and at times nihilistic theme and narrative of Village. Shortly thereafter, the game does open up and begins equipping Ethan with all sorts of tools needed to survive and explore the village. The bevy of weapons and upgrades offered by the shop system help keep things fresh, and provide small goals to work towards, offering a solid sense of progression throughout the game. It's not perfect, as newer versions of weapons acquired are just straight-up better than their counterparts - some trade-offs would've been nice for replay value, but the system is serviceable. It's incredibly satisfying to upgrade a weapon and run through the levels frightened but prepared to punch through monsters or whatever else may come your way.
Village does an absolutely fantastic job of keeping all of its areas unique but thematically consistent as well. The faded opulence of the Dimitrescu castle, the Innsmouth-esque fishing village, an industrial mad-scientist's laboratory, and the traditional haunted house all boast near flawless level-design that ensures the player learns every inch of their locales, while still keeping them grounded within the central hub of the village itself. In a game that contains some wonderfully designed characters, the landscapes themselves are as much a part of them as their motivations, dialogue, and stories.
The spectacularly fun action gameplay and the masterful world design both combine to support the mystery and narrative of Village in exciting and impactful ways, as well. The game never drops its atmosphere - even the most campy and kitsch moments find footing within the world of the game, though it may not always be obvious in the moment. Though I'm not sure Village quite reaches the peak moments of its predecessor, Biohazard, the total of the game is much more consistent and satisfying. Village is a triumph of action gameplay, character design, and thematic storytelling, providing moments of both gleeful terror and adrenaline-fueled action for fans of the genre and franchise.
The beginning of the game poses the largest threat to both Ethan and new players - you are dropped into a (not-so) abandoned village and forced to contend with fearsome lycan monsters with little ammo and protection and no clear objective other than to survive. I will admit that I failed at this objective at first, feeling more frustrated that I ever felt in Biohazard's first few hours, despite the setting being less terror-filled. However, this helplessness feeds into the existential and at times nihilistic theme and narrative of Village. Shortly thereafter, the game does open up and begins equipping Ethan with all sorts of tools needed to survive and explore the village. The bevy of weapons and upgrades offered by the shop system help keep things fresh, and provide small goals to work towards, offering a solid sense of progression throughout the game. It's not perfect, as newer versions of weapons acquired are just straight-up better than their counterparts - some trade-offs would've been nice for replay value, but the system is serviceable. It's incredibly satisfying to upgrade a weapon and run through the levels frightened but prepared to punch through monsters or whatever else may come your way.
Village does an absolutely fantastic job of keeping all of its areas unique but thematically consistent as well. The faded opulence of the Dimitrescu castle, the Innsmouth-esque fishing village, an industrial mad-scientist's laboratory, and the traditional haunted house all boast near flawless level-design that ensures the player learns every inch of their locales, while still keeping them grounded within the central hub of the village itself. In a game that contains some wonderfully designed characters, the landscapes themselves are as much a part of them as their motivations, dialogue, and stories.
The spectacularly fun action gameplay and the masterful world design both combine to support the mystery and narrative of Village in exciting and impactful ways, as well. The game never drops its atmosphere - even the most campy and kitsch moments find footing within the world of the game, though it may not always be obvious in the moment. Though I'm not sure Village quite reaches the peak moments of its predecessor, Biohazard, the total of the game is much more consistent and satisfying. Village is a triumph of action gameplay, character design, and thematic storytelling, providing moments of both gleeful terror and adrenaline-fueled action for fans of the genre and franchise.
Truly one of the greatest Resident Evil games I’ve ever experienced. It’s not too often I play a game and actually lose sense of time, not wanting to ever put it down. Bless every decision made for this game. The character design, the world design, the beautiful gothic horror atmosphere chef’s kiss
Go tell aunt Rhody that... Everybody is... Everybody is... Everybody is... Dead...
Começar uma análise de Resident Evil Village citando seu antecessor pode ser estranho, mas de certa forma tem muita relação com o que a sequência representa para todo o público que se apaixonou pelo 7. De um enredo sobre captura, inocência e empatia seguimos para manipulação, ambição e desespero, sentimentos que parecem distantes, mas que na realidade são cortados por um pequeno e fraco traço.
Village supostamente deveria desenvolver e evoluir todos os elementos positivos que o 7 criou, estabilizando e elevando ainda mais as questões do survivor horror, porém como já é de se esperar, a Capcom decidiu abordar a situação de maneira contraditória, fazendo o jogador se perguntar se o título foi um trabalho de escola em grupo com a popular frase: cada um faz sua parte e juntamos no final.
Em geral, podemos dividir o jogo em dois grandes atos: o primeiro com seu foco no psicológico e o segundo na detestável ação. Enquanto no primeiro a predominância de interação, surpresa e medo são características marcantes, o segundo se preocupa apenas em dar munição e inimigos para o jogador sair atirando e se divertindo, o que na minha opinião quebra totalmente o ritmo e o interesse.
Curiosamente, isso também se reflete na própria construção de ambiente e desafios, onde o Castelo e a Casa Beneviento se destacam como divertidas de explorar, jogar e entender, enquanto a parte do Moreau e a Fábrica se tornam peças repetitivas feitas só para encher espaço no enredo. A situação fica mais inaceitável quando você passa a observar espaços reutilizados do próprio Resident Evil 7, como algumas lutas com inimigos secundários na reta final.
Por algum motivo estranho a Capcom também decidiu abordar o enredo de uma forma muito peculiar, deixando tudo em uma única sala na parte final do jogo (achei que foi um tapa na cara da galera que sempre amou a lore da franquia). O único ponto realmente surpreendente foi a conclusão de algumas teorias que a comunidade desenvolveu no decorrer dos últimos lançamentos, mas nem isso chega a ser memorável.
No fim, mesmo sendo um dos jogos mais populares no ano que lançou, Resident Evil Village é um jogo totalmente esquecível e a única marca que terei será a falta de interesse em jogos graças a dificuldade que foi chegar até o final.
Começar uma análise de Resident Evil Village citando seu antecessor pode ser estranho, mas de certa forma tem muita relação com o que a sequência representa para todo o público que se apaixonou pelo 7. De um enredo sobre captura, inocência e empatia seguimos para manipulação, ambição e desespero, sentimentos que parecem distantes, mas que na realidade são cortados por um pequeno e fraco traço.
Village supostamente deveria desenvolver e evoluir todos os elementos positivos que o 7 criou, estabilizando e elevando ainda mais as questões do survivor horror, porém como já é de se esperar, a Capcom decidiu abordar a situação de maneira contraditória, fazendo o jogador se perguntar se o título foi um trabalho de escola em grupo com a popular frase: cada um faz sua parte e juntamos no final.
Em geral, podemos dividir o jogo em dois grandes atos: o primeiro com seu foco no psicológico e o segundo na detestável ação. Enquanto no primeiro a predominância de interação, surpresa e medo são características marcantes, o segundo se preocupa apenas em dar munição e inimigos para o jogador sair atirando e se divertindo, o que na minha opinião quebra totalmente o ritmo e o interesse.
Curiosamente, isso também se reflete na própria construção de ambiente e desafios, onde o Castelo e a Casa Beneviento se destacam como divertidas de explorar, jogar e entender, enquanto a parte do Moreau e a Fábrica se tornam peças repetitivas feitas só para encher espaço no enredo. A situação fica mais inaceitável quando você passa a observar espaços reutilizados do próprio Resident Evil 7, como algumas lutas com inimigos secundários na reta final.
Por algum motivo estranho a Capcom também decidiu abordar o enredo de uma forma muito peculiar, deixando tudo em uma única sala na parte final do jogo (achei que foi um tapa na cara da galera que sempre amou a lore da franquia). O único ponto realmente surpreendente foi a conclusão de algumas teorias que a comunidade desenvolveu no decorrer dos últimos lançamentos, mas nem isso chega a ser memorável.
No fim, mesmo sendo um dos jogos mais populares no ano que lançou, Resident Evil Village é um jogo totalmente esquecível e a única marca que terei será a falta de interesse em jogos graças a dificuldade que foi chegar até o final.
This review contains spoilers
Gonna be a but personal but when this came out I hit a rough spot in my life my grandmother passed away and really needed to escape from the grief and this is where RE8 came in and helped me get past it I really enjoyed what Capcom did here it feels so good to see Ethan fight his way to rescue his child who he loves deeply but also makes a worthy sacrifice to make sure she lives a better life but genuinely if you’re wanting to get into this series I recommend you play 7
RESIDENT EVIL - THE MOVIE: THE VIDEO GAME, FEATURING:
- THE VILLAGE (watered-down baby-version of RE4)
- THE CASTLE (watered-down baby-version of REmake)
- THE SWAMP (you walk over some planks and do Uncharted jumps aka MOVIE)
- THE DOLL HOUSE (actually just a movie)
- THE FACTORY (kinda ass but unironically has the highest density of uninterrupted gameplay)
I did a more rambly and detailed review on my YouTube: https://youtu.be/_B-ACzf5ZcA
- THE VILLAGE (watered-down baby-version of RE4)
- THE CASTLE (watered-down baby-version of REmake)
- THE SWAMP (you walk over some planks and do Uncharted jumps aka MOVIE)
- THE DOLL HOUSE (actually just a movie)
- THE FACTORY (kinda ass but unironically has the highest density of uninterrupted gameplay)
I did a more rambly and detailed review on my YouTube: https://youtu.be/_B-ACzf5ZcA
I wasn't the biggest fan of 7 personally, but Village took all the good from that game and just fucking smushed it together with a bunch of old Resi stuff that I do love, layered it in fresh ideas and somehow made one of the best games in the series. It's the perfect amount of utterly bonkers while maintaining just enough "logic" that it's possible to follow what's going on.
Without saying too much, it does also touch on some things in 7 that I wasn't really into, and I think I may be able to appreciate that game more after playing this one.
I nearly slept on this entry. I'm really glad I didn't :)
Without saying too much, it does also touch on some things in 7 that I wasn't really into, and I think I may be able to appreciate that game more after playing this one.
I nearly slept on this entry. I'm really glad I didn't :)
A few weeks removed and this lingers in my head as something genuinely exhilarating. An earnest and true AAA horror blockbuster if I ever played one. As a morbid collection of grotesqueries this succeeds at patiently doling out its dense if simply designed environments for the player to quickly sift through on top of an effectively satisfying central hub. The narrative moves at a lightning pace, never letting up and it's so pleasing to see the varied facets of horror (European gothic, Italian schlock, industrial body horror, the decay of civilized towns and swamps, etc) explored and dissected. This is as much a clever deconstruction of its respective genre as it is a new "Resident Evil" title and that earns it a lot of respect from me for pulling off a neat balance of the two while remaining wholly accessible. Nothing feels short changed and every location and story beat is gorgeously and meticulously designed to deliver maximum atmosphere. While I feel VII might be the more immersive, absorbing entry this is a more than worthy successor if only for how it continuously expands its mythology and Ethan as a character. The inclusion of the typical RE tropes, while expected, were homely and properly integrated in a fashion that only perpetuates this franchise's knack for giving complete wack finales and wraparounds. I was giddy as hell all throughout this. What it means in its totality is yet to be determined but I adored how well Capcom nailed so much of it.