Resident Evil Village

Resident Evil Village is a survival horror game developed and published by Capcom. It is the tenth main installment in the Resident Evil series and a narrative sequel to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017) which I am still attempting to play-through because it induces severe fear and anxiety, I hate being chased in games!

I am a traditionalist when it comes to the Resident Evil franchise, I played the original on the Playstation when I was around 12 years old, it was a recent release at the time and I got my first taste of it at a friends house (Ross). When my mum picked me up I immediately unloaded the details of my awesome experience with the game to her, I can’t remember how long after that I received the game but I do remember the trip to Toys ‘R Us to pick it up so it wasn’t an event based gift. I remember the lasting impact that game left on me, I wasn’t scared during my playthrough and I’m pretty sure younger me never completed it, though I did later in life. Roll on Resident Evil II, one of my favourite games ever! I played the demo over, and over, and over again, until eventually it released and I received my copy, again for the Playstation. This game was even better than the original and I do remember finishing it in my youth, several times. In high school Resident Evil 3, I played it through illegitimate means at the time thanks to a friend (Bob) and I was not overly impressed with it, mainly due to the chase factor I think, which was present laterally in Resident Evil II but did not effect me as much. This is where my true experience of Resident Evil ended, I did try out Resident Evil 4/5/6 but did not enjoy the direction the franchise took, although the impact of Resident Evil 4 is undeniable by that point I was a GTA fan. I write all this for my own memory, also to give basis for my thoughts on the title game which is the second in what I would deem a new direction for the mainline Resident Evil franchise, the first of which was a little too scary for me.

Now, Resident Evil Village is a lot less scary than it’s predecessor, but it still has its moments that’s for sure. The game has a good balance between action and overarching fear, as you progress through the story there is a noticeable reduction in fear, certainly after the second chapter. The first two place you in a powerless position with a stalking antagonist, which is not a situation anyone particularly enjoys, me least of all. I pushed through and cannot deny that the game design and implementation is absolutely stunning and somewhat flawless, each antagonist is unique and terrifying in their own way. The story progresses and your arsenal increases, ammo is in abundance and by the final chapter you are, in fact, Rambo. Fear is gone and the action element is in full swing, entirely enjoyable.

From a traditional Resident Evil perspective, I am not too sure what is going on with the story as it has veered away from the series beginning, sure Umbrella is there and the writers have done an excellent job is weaving them into the story, but vampires and werewolves is a new thing to me, I feel like this game could be re-titled Van Helsing: The Village and with a few minor tweaks to remove the Umbrella logo and classic character names, no one would be any the wiser, I certainly wouldn’t. This would not have made the game any less enjoyable, though possibly would have reduced the hype surrounding it, but who knows.

In short, this new entry into the franchise was excellent and I really enjoyed it, I’m even going to force myself through Resident Evil VII now.