This review contains spoilers
Village is so fucking cool you guys. I already have a review from when I first played it back in 2021, but since I replayed it now I wanted to give my extended thoughts on it.
First things first, I replayed it with the third person camera option that comes with the Gold Edition. It's a cool change of pace for a second playthrough, but RE Village is best played in first person by a mile. It's a game designed around it, and while third person doesn't change the gameplay too much the atmosphere loses a lot when you're not in the point of view of Ethan. Speaking of him, why the hell can't I see his face in this mode either? I get it in first person for immersion purposes, but here it's kind of dumb. Also I wish they remade the cutscenes in third person but I get that that would be a big chore.
Anyways, let's talk about areas! The introduction in Ethan's house, the village and the mine is great, it's a good way to set the tone of the game but, while the attack on the village is pretty tense, it feels like a not so good version of the one on RE4. The rest with the villagers is good and the trial scene is probably my favorite of the game, I wish we could have seen more of the four Lords together.
Dimitrescu's castle is easily the most memorable part of the game. The renaissance look of it all and the witches's mini boss fights are pretty cool. Dimitrescu is not the best chaser of the franchise but she's fine, and her boss battle is pretty cinematic, I really like it. My one complaint here is that the moraicas have really uninspired designs. Samcas are cool though.
Next is House Beneviento. In my first playthrough this was my favorite area by a mile. It's got one of the creepiest segments in any RE title, and I love the hide and seek segment with Angie and Donna. It kind of loses a bit of its charm on repeated playthroughs, but it's still really good and I even got scared by the baby at times.
Oh man, poor Moreau got the worst part. The flooded village is pretty short and avoiding my boy's attacks is way too easy. At least the boss fight itself is pretty good.
The factory and I have a long story together. The first time I played it I thought it was a long, labyrinthic mess, and while I still think it has maybe a bit too much going on, I liked it a lot more this time around. It's a really creepy and original twist on the RE lab, filled with great body horror and really durable enemies, and the Sturm fight is pretty awesome. My biggest problem with the factory though is Heisenberg. He's easily my favorite lord, he has a lot of personality and I love how he hates Miranda's guts. I also like how you can see him as a possible ally at first but then you discover that he's just like Miranda and just wants to use Rose. I just don't like that his development goes nowhere and then he becomes a giant monster and you kill him in an over the top fight. For a character and area that don't want to be part of the RE cliches it ends in a disappointing manner.
The last part is really cool. Playing as Chris is always a big dose of feeling powerful, and Miranda's boss fight is one of the best in the series. Her character could be better for such an important figure but I like how human her motivation is.
So yeah, that is the story, but now I would like to touch on my two favorite things about this game: the village and Ethan. The village is such a cool idea for a central hub. It connects to every area and you can see them on the background, and I love how when you advance through the story you can enter new areas to discover secrets and treasures. As for Ethan, I love how they gave him so much more personality. I know that for some reason a lot of RE fans don't like him, but I just love how tired he is of everything and how much he cares about his daughter. Him deciding to sacrifice himself for her and Mia's sake is such a powerful moment that perfectly closes his arc, I just love him.
So yeah, I've talked way too much, and even then I haven't really spoken about everything that I like, like the Duke or the enemy designs, but yeah I love RE Village. It may not always have the best elements of the series, but it's overall so solid that I don't care, I just love it so much.
First things first, I replayed it with the third person camera option that comes with the Gold Edition. It's a cool change of pace for a second playthrough, but RE Village is best played in first person by a mile. It's a game designed around it, and while third person doesn't change the gameplay too much the atmosphere loses a lot when you're not in the point of view of Ethan. Speaking of him, why the hell can't I see his face in this mode either? I get it in first person for immersion purposes, but here it's kind of dumb. Also I wish they remade the cutscenes in third person but I get that that would be a big chore.
Anyways, let's talk about areas! The introduction in Ethan's house, the village and the mine is great, it's a good way to set the tone of the game but, while the attack on the village is pretty tense, it feels like a not so good version of the one on RE4. The rest with the villagers is good and the trial scene is probably my favorite of the game, I wish we could have seen more of the four Lords together.
Dimitrescu's castle is easily the most memorable part of the game. The renaissance look of it all and the witches's mini boss fights are pretty cool. Dimitrescu is not the best chaser of the franchise but she's fine, and her boss battle is pretty cinematic, I really like it. My one complaint here is that the moraicas have really uninspired designs. Samcas are cool though.
Next is House Beneviento. In my first playthrough this was my favorite area by a mile. It's got one of the creepiest segments in any RE title, and I love the hide and seek segment with Angie and Donna. It kind of loses a bit of its charm on repeated playthroughs, but it's still really good and I even got scared by the baby at times.
Oh man, poor Moreau got the worst part. The flooded village is pretty short and avoiding my boy's attacks is way too easy. At least the boss fight itself is pretty good.
The factory and I have a long story together. The first time I played it I thought it was a long, labyrinthic mess, and while I still think it has maybe a bit too much going on, I liked it a lot more this time around. It's a really creepy and original twist on the RE lab, filled with great body horror and really durable enemies, and the Sturm fight is pretty awesome. My biggest problem with the factory though is Heisenberg. He's easily my favorite lord, he has a lot of personality and I love how he hates Miranda's guts. I also like how you can see him as a possible ally at first but then you discover that he's just like Miranda and just wants to use Rose. I just don't like that his development goes nowhere and then he becomes a giant monster and you kill him in an over the top fight. For a character and area that don't want to be part of the RE cliches it ends in a disappointing manner.
The last part is really cool. Playing as Chris is always a big dose of feeling powerful, and Miranda's boss fight is one of the best in the series. Her character could be better for such an important figure but I like how human her motivation is.
So yeah, that is the story, but now I would like to touch on my two favorite things about this game: the village and Ethan. The village is such a cool idea for a central hub. It connects to every area and you can see them on the background, and I love how when you advance through the story you can enter new areas to discover secrets and treasures. As for Ethan, I love how they gave him so much more personality. I know that for some reason a lot of RE fans don't like him, but I just love how tired he is of everything and how much he cares about his daughter. Him deciding to sacrifice himself for her and Mia's sake is such a powerful moment that perfectly closes his arc, I just love him.
So yeah, I've talked way too much, and even then I haven't really spoken about everything that I like, like the Duke or the enemy designs, but yeah I love RE Village. It may not always have the best elements of the series, but it's overall so solid that I don't care, I just love it so much.