I remember playing Resident Evil: Biohazard when it first came out and quite enjoying it.
It was my first Resident Evil game and did a great job at scaring me and keeping me engaged during its action heavy moments.
Not to mention that the DLC was excellent, with every new mini story added being worth the price.
So, as you can imagine, I was excited to finally get to play Resident Evil: Village, when it dropped on the ninth of May.
Developed by Capcom and directed by Morimasa Sato, the game takes place three years after the events of Biohazard, where its protagonist, Ethan Winters (Todd Soley), has settled down in Europe with his wife, Mia (Katie O’Hagan), and their baby, Rose.
However, in the dead of night, Chris Redfield (Jeff Schine) ambushes the family and murders Mia.
With Ethan being transported to a mysterious village overrun with Lychans, it’s up to him to rescue his daughter, as he battles against the evil village ruler, Mother Miranda (Michelle Lukes) and her four lords, Heisenberg (Neil Newbon), Lady Dimitrescu (Maggie Robertson), Beneviento (Andi Norrs) and Moreau (Jesse Pimentel).
Village feels like a love letter to Resident Evil 4 with its main setting, while each of the areas you explore as Ethan provides their own forms of horror and action.
For example, It was quite a bit of fun to be chased around by Lady Dimitrescu and her daughters, and this ended in what I found to be the best boss fight of the game.
While I personally found the Moreau section to be a little weak, I cannot deny it also ended in a fun boss fight.
Heisenberg was kind of the opposite because I found his final fight be a bit of a letdown, yet he had the most entertaining personality out of all the villains, including Mother Miranda who herself is an understandable antagonist, by the end.
My favourite of the five villain’s sections, though, has to be Beneviento’s.
Her section is pure, psychological horror with it reminding me of an Outlast game at one specific point, only somehow a million times scarier.
I was screaming like a little girl at one particular point here.
If you’ve played the game, you know what part I’m talking about, and if you haven’t then, trust me, it will terrify you.
Most of Village is action oriented, so this solely horror based segment with Beneviento was a welcome and horrifying reprieve.
This is not to say that the action is bad, far from it actually, as many of the action set pieces are quite intense.
Encountering a horde of Lychans is always heart pounding, as you have to run and gun constantly, while making sure to conserve healing items if one gets a hold of you.
Along with the Lychans, there are many other enemy types, a clear improvement from Biohazard.
Speaking of improvements from that game, Ethan is one of these.
In Seven, he was not a very interesting character.
He could be quippy at times but, other than this, there really wasn’t all that much to him.
Thankfully, this is definitely not the case in Village because I found myself getting heavily invested in Ethan as a character and his story.
There were a few particular moments from him that hit me me hard and made me feel bad for the guy.
However, this did result in a bit of a problem at the end because I do think there was a perfect moment to reveal his face but they didn’t capitalize on it.
Along with Ethan, another character I enjoyed was the Duke (Aaron LaPlante), the merchant character who is a constant relieving presence, as he sells you equipment and provides you with upgrades for your journey.
I found myself smiling whenever I came across the jolly giant and I hope he makes an appearance in future games.
Chris Redfield also has importance in the game’s final act and I quite enjoyed his role, even if I think it was a little too convenient to the plot for him to not do something he clearly should of earlier, although the other characters do acknowledge this.
Another character I would like to see more of is Heisenberg, who, as I said, is the most entertaining of the villains.
Maybe he could appear in a DLC?
It would be pretty great if Village got the same DLC treatment as Biohazard, allowing them to expand on many of the stories of these characters.
Village really does have a great cast and this goes well with its intense gameplay and intriguing story.
I definitely think this is a step up from Biohazard.
The game got me invested with its expansive cast of characters, scared the hell out of me at times, and its ending left me very intrigued for how they will close the Winters’ story off with Resident Evil Nine, whenever it is released.
When it does eventually come out, though, the game will definitely be one that I buy on the first day of its release, just like I did with Village.
THE REVIEW MONSTER 