Synopsis Of Resident Evil Village
After an incredible reintroduction into one of the most influential and famous horror gaming franchises of all time, Village entered the next generation of gaming, exciting gamers with fresh scares, gripping combat, and the faithful plot hole-filled narrative, we recognise from Resident Evil. Village is the most recent numerical entry into the franchise, where its predecessor reclaimed the horror feel while limiting the action aspect that had grown familiar beforehand. Where Village excels, harkens back to its inspiration of the most praised entry into the series, Resident Evil 4, its incredible world-building, addictive combat and risk, and reward system implemented into the gameplay. However, those familiar with the franchise will recognise not only moments of pure terror, but the clunky dialogue and hauntingly frightful plot holes that cloud an all-around fun and action-packed survival horror experience.
Vampires, Lycans And Witches … Oh My:
As Village takes place in a gothic, well village, Capcom decided to fill the entire location with monsters straight from gothic literature. The most common that Ethan Winters finds himself fighting are the quick and smart lycans, who will test players’ ability to aim under pressure from their gruesome introduction. These are perhaps one of the most difficult standard enemy varieties in the series so far; unlike slow zombies or angry pitchfork-wielding Spanish Ganados, the Lycans hunt and prey on the player at nearly every turn.
In addition, the first main location that Ethan finds himself in is the incredibly detailed and awe-inspiring Castle Dimitrescu, home to Resident Evil’s version of the famous vampire. Ethan must deal with Lady Dimitrescu and her three daughters as he attempts to escape the aristocratic house of madness and disease. Before the game’s release, Lady D caught the attention of gamers across the world with her larger-than-life design and characteristics leading her to become one of the most popular antagonists in recent gaming media.
Location, Location, Location
Gamers will need to adjust themselves as they progress through the game, as they won’t be in a sense of comfort and relaxation for long after they customise their armoury. Of course, the castle previously mentioned is one of the most standout locations in the game. However, perhaps the most haunting and anxiety-inducing locations are the ones the game withheld from the promotional material. One such location focuses on psychological horror and abandons the combat aspect all together, testing the player’s puzzle abilities and strength to navigate perhaps the scariest set piece in gaming history. Others once again harken back to gothic stories of old, such as a disgusting swamp-like area, leading to a boss fight with this universe’s idea of the Swampman.
The final of the major areas takes Ethan to Frankenstein’s monster location, both in design and inspiration for this area lord. Gamers who enjoy their action-packed combat will love this part the most, as you gain access to more powerful guns and are swamped with more enemies than you can shake a hairy lycan finger at. Whilst this game includes some breathtaking locations, after many playthroughs of this gothic game, I am left with an aching feeling of what could have been. Viewing the game’s content design, more enemy varieties, locations, and change to major story moments leave me not just wanting more, but perhaps wanting a whole different game.
Narrative Issues
It is rare for me to acknowledge the first playthrough of a game as my favourite, as the gamer learns as they play, making proceeding playthroughs more enjoyable, as they know what they are doing and can relax and not get stressed. However, in this circumstance, the game kept me guessing about its major questions. And I was unaware of its one and only major plot point. This happens at the beginning of the game, with Chris Redfield shooting his friend’s wife in front of Ethan.
Whilst this created a lot of entire on a whole potential good guy gone bad scenario, the reveal of his motives, whilst making him seem good at that moment, provides the audience with more questions than answers. With Mia being the game’s main antagonist Mother Miranda in disguise that whole time, the withholding of information from both Ethan and the player creates a sense of laziness in the script that for myself, ruined the story of what is overall, one of the best entries into an already stellar gaming franchise.
The Merchant (Not That One)
The Duke is this adventure’s version of The Merchant from Resident Evil 4. He pops up magically in convenient locations to aid our hero in his endeavour. Acting as you would expect, The Duke offers helpful suppliers to Ethan. These include weapon upgrades, ammunition at certain story parts, and even food that boosts Ethan’s abilities permanently. The food mechanic allows the player to take a break from all the running and shooting. Then, you can hunt down animals to create ingredients to create certain meals. These aspects make Duke a faithful addition to the Resident Evil merchant. But he still acts like the original, providing his own capabilities and standing out as his own character.
The Platinum Experience – 7/10
In platinuming the game, I received a feeling of satisfaction from what was offered to me by the game developers. I enjoyed my time with a game I was incredibly excited to play. Even the collector’s edition offered me great value for money. Eager gamers must of course finish the story and complete the game on its hardest difficulty Village of Shadows. In New Game +, this is a lot easier than starting a new game. You can transfer your fully upgraded weapons to a new game. And then you can start blasting your enemies away with an incredibly powerful STAKE magnum. Speaking about blasting enemies away for fun, The Mercenaries mode arrived on release after completing the main story. Here, you can enter an arcade-like experience to defeat enemies in set locations and earn points.
The highest rank offered is the SSS. For the trophy Legendary Cowboy, the game settles for you earning at least an S rank of all stages. However, some later levels offered a rather difficult and frustrating experience. Of course, it would not be a trophy list without your collectibles and miscellaneous trophies. Gamers must destroy goat statues for Cynic, and Heretic, and then read all lore files for Bookworm.
They even need to play a little bit of football in the house for Goooaaal! Also, gamers must hunt a rare type of werewolf for the Leader of the Pack trophy. That leads to testing their target practice ability. How so? By hooting an armoured undead soldier from across a rather spacious environment for Trick Shot. The completion experience isn’t the hardest. But it provides completionists with a familiar and tricky set of goals. And with a lot of practice, this can earn gamers a platinum trophy in the end.
Key Points
- Engaging story and difficulty trophies;
- Fun collectible hunting and miscellaneous tasks;
- Challenging difficulty and other mode-related trophies.
Summary Of Resident Evil Village
This is the first RE game in the latest and greatest generation of gaming. It provides gamers with a fun and tense adventure through one of the series’ best all-around locations. Furthermore, it appeals once again to trophy hunters alike. The addictive exploration and combat mechanics grant players hours upon hours of replayability. Antagonists, both major and smaller remind us that Capcom can create characters that stick in the minds of gamers. And these reactions remain months after playing their games. All four major lords and Mother Miranda offer their own locations and stories that affect Ethan on his personal journey. That’s despite major plot holes holding the narrative back from perhaps undiscovered potential in the franchise.
Perhaps it’s the story-driven love from this gamer that is unhappy with the plot holes. Of course, this does not majorly affect the overall experience of a game. After all, it builds upon its predecessor’s story and lore, while using inspiration from greater entries in the series. Resident Evil Village delivered on the locations, characters, and combat, but requires improvement in the narrative department.
