I’m the kind of person who loves any variant of horror . And if we apply this to the world of video games, I love both classic-style Resident Evils, as well as those that have opted for action as a result of Resident Evil 4 or the first-person camera, such as Resident Evil 7: Biohazard.
It is precisely the latter from which we now receive its direct sequel, nicknamed Resident Evil Village, with that number 8 camouflaged in Roman numerals in the third word. A whole declaration of intent to corroborate that the legacy of the main saga continues, which will only please a certain sector of the public. Today, in any case, it’s time to analyze what this new Resident Evil offers .
Behind you, prost . A Dimitrescu with three heads
There are two topics that have attracted a lot of attention since the official presentation of this installment in June 2020: that change of location to travel to a remote town in Romania and the presence of Lady Dimitrescu , an imposing two-meter woman inspired by the legend. urban area of the Hachishakusama.
The first, beyond its official currency (lei), which gave us a clue before this return to Europe became official, ultimately plays an important role in the setting, especially due to the presence of lycanthropes and that vampiresque touch of the Dimitrescu quoted. Everything has its explanation , of course. And obviously there is much more than meets the eye. Now, Lady Dimitrescu is just one small piece of a more complex gear.
As a direct sequel to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard , it is of utmost importance to know what happened in that Ethan Winters adventure. And in fact, the game itself offers us the option to see from the beginning a summary of what happened in Louisiana. But it is also an adventure that provides other types of connections with previous chapters, not only due to the presence of Chris Redfield, to know what the hell is wrong with him: we will find all those answers at the end, as well as for that prologue that leaves us with him. twisted ass and on which the plot is structured.
Resident Evil Village drinks a lot from chapters 4 and 7 . It is something that is more than evident from the beginning and it is not that Capcom has hidden it. Without going any further, the Duke, that merchant to whom we will go on many occasions, is a friend of the mysterious merchant who helped Leon S. Kennedy in Spain. And like that example, many more: the arrival in town bears similarities to what was experienced in that area of Spain and the enemies are more intelligent than the old zombie. Without forgetting, of course, a similar approach to Ethan’s previous adventure.
The latter does not mean, in any case, that we are facing a copy of what was experienced in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard . To begin with, the map offers a distinctly different challenge: a starting point from the village seen in the second demo on which the different regions run by the four hierarchs of mother Miranda are structured . Because we already knew that Lady Dimitrescu was not the main villain, but certainly her weight in the story is less significant than what Capcom led us to believe with its countless videos and will give much to talk about.
Or, rather, as a villain she leaves something to be desired compared to what she suffered with renowned figures such as Tyrant or Nemesis, whose presence was a cause for panic, especially when they could surprise us by breaking a wall that in theory could not collapse. Lady Dimitrescu has a couple of situations that will leave us stunned , in a good way, but without the global impact or continuity that the aforementioned biological weapons have had. And quite disappointing, wow.
Resident Evil Village has very good times
That bittersweet feeling with Lady Dimitrescu , a villain who deserved more weight in history, like her daughters (they fall with amazing ease when we know the “trick”), does not detract from the good times that history gives us, with a brutal start that has nothing to envy the impact that Resident Evil 7: Biohazard had in 2017, combining the best of that Ethan adventure, with its excessive viscerality and moments of tension taken to the extreme, along with situations that easily take us back to the Resident Evil 4 .
The formula has been well studied by Capcom. Although here we miss a greater weight for the puzzles, whose difficulty is anecdotal, after seeing how important action moments are, where we will rarely run out of ammunition and whose merchant will make, except for very specific moments, completing the adventure is a walk in comparison with previous chapters of Redfield and co.
The variety of situations is appreciated , since each region offers a different challenge, very much in line with the hierarch who runs it. There will be a certain character who will offer us something more brainy and with a touch of psychological terror, without using weapons, while another of the beings will evoke us, ironically, apart from what we experienced in that cult game called The Evil Within. There, in fact, we will have a hard time with some enemies, having to measure the shots more.
Interest will not wane in any of those regions, being fresh at all times. Even after returning to the main village, where dangers will arise that were not before, seeing, in passing, how we can start hunting certain animals so that the Duke cooks his food and provide us with passive health improvements and resistance to blocks . And this is important not to put it aside.
The map offers many details, not only to not get lost, but also to know where to use a key, what areas we still have to visit and from which we can extract an object, or directly if we have “cleaned” a room. And there, too, valuable crystals count. Because to trade, it will also be necessary to sell the most precious goods if we want to improve the weapons to the maximum, expand the space of the briefcase or unlock manufacturing diagrams.
All enemies will drop something when they die, either money or materials, which in the long run is an extra motivation to eradicate all the monsters that come our way, scrutinizing each and every one of the corners of the stage in search of the best rewards. In that sense, there is a lot to do and some special chests with the most succulent prizes … But also a series of larger monsters that will surprise us more than once.
A brave adventure, with surprises at cascoporro
Logically, we are not going to gut the plot. Not even saying how Ethan’s story starts. But it is clear that the Osaka people lately like to mix a lot of horror sticks to create an explosive cocktail , having as a background a Resident Evil that will inevitably please some more than others.
Something cannot be denied him, anyway. And it is that he is brave in certain decisions of the plot, keeping us in suspense until the end . It is one of the installments that have hooked me the most, in fact, although I was not convinced by the way in which a certain character that we came to control at a time in history has been handled. It has lost steam, in my opinion. And not all villains shine equally, seeing how some are in practice much less powerful than their sporadic appearances with Ethan led us to believe.
The trip is very worth it , yes, and the desire to replay it has made me continue to squeeze it days after completing it, mainly in the face of challenges, as usual. And also in order to obtain the best weapons and in the most difficult levels, of course. That can not be missing.
Here the extra mode that returns, as Capcom announced days ago, is the classic Mercenaries , which has undergone a little facelift, such as when it comes to randomly obtaining passive advantages and choosing between three for each time we destroy one. blue figure. The effects can range from briefly healing us with kills to causing explosions when critical on enemies. Needless to say, completing each section in the shortest time possible and chaining combos will give us the best scores.
It does not reach the level of pique of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, where that game mode debuted (inexplicably, it was not in the Resident Evil 3 remake, as we know), but it is the typical mode that serves as an ideal complement to release adrenaline until We find the skipper to take the route that will take us to the long-awaited perfect game. And here the variables are many, not only because of the aforementioned passive abilities, but also because of what we do when trading with the Duke.
However, we ran out of Resident Evil Re: Verse at launch, seeing its release postponed until this summer. Personally, this online mode had pleasantly surprised me when we had the opportunity to play it in one of its betas (with good luck with the servers, seen what we have seen), so it will be time to analyze it when its final version arrives. At least with the main story and Mercenaries mode , we have a game and challenges for a while.
If you liked Ethan’s previous adventure, go for him
In the end it all comes down to the big question : will I like it? And here, without fear of being wrong, we will tell you that you will enjoy it if you liked Ethan’s first adventure, as it is a direct sequel. Because, after all, it is played in the first person. And if you are concerned about the presence of lycanthropes, you should know that it is just one of the types of enemies that will exist. But of course they add a lot of juice.
On a graphic level, we did expect an exponential jump , but the truth is that saving the lighting with ray tracing, the improvement is noticeable compared to the seventh chapter, but without bragging. What does not mean, in any case, that you are not going to hallucinate with the detail of some regions, especially a very humid one …
Detractors aside, it is a very necessary story to fill in certain gaps that were still to be told as far as Resident Evil is concerned, drawing a most interesting future. Although here we take the opportunity to reiterate the desire for a remake of Resident Evil Code: Veronica before that of Leon in Spain, let’s go.
Personally, I liked Resident Evil Village, but not as much as Resident Evil 7: Biohazard . The surprise effect of Ethan’s previous adventure has been lost and it shows that Capcom has tried to replicate (successfully, yes) several of his most shocking moments with other types of situations, but the feeling of déjà vu is evident and that subtract value. Apart from what has already been mentioned with Lady Dimitrescu, which is far from the fearsome villain we dreamed of.
Neither do those labyrinths in miniatures with metal balls, because of a rather capricious handling of the camera, which is not even accompanied by some physics for the aforementioned circular object according to what should happen. It is totally secondary, yes, by giving us only the highest value crystals in the entire game, but it will come to despair if we crave 100%.
It is what the sequels have, no matter how much they try to offer something new. Although at least his pulse does not tremble with certain aspects of the story, showing great interest to see what Capcom can surprise us with in a few years if he wants to continue pulling a certain thread … Because he has plenty of material.
In short, Resident Evil Village is another great Resident Evil , especially because of the great variety of situations that its new environment offers and the juice that is taken from certain characters with a capital weight in the plot. There are surprises, moments of great impact and a good cocktail, in short, of what Ethan’s other adventure had already anticipated in 2017. If you are one of those who enjoyed that proposal , it will have conquered you effortlessly, even though it did not reach the same excellence.
Resident Evil Village
| Platforms | PS5 (analyzed version), Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One, Steam and Stadia |
|---|---|
| Multiplayer | Not |
| Developer | Capcom |
| Company | Capcom |
| Launch | May 7, 2021 |
The best
- The juice that is extracted from the new location
- It starts very strong and the rhythm does not decline
- The surprises that its history offers us
- The return of Mercenaries mode and extras
Worst
- Lady Dimitrescu is underutilized
- Metal ball mazes, in contrast to the low difficulty for many puzzles
