Resident Evil: Village This is not a Resident Evil game

[bSTAR_182]

The difference is that you do get rewarded by tearing necromorphs apart in DEAD SPACE and there are many sections where you must kill them all before you can move forward (pretty much every time Isaac fixes something, the area is sealed, creatures swarm in and you cannot exit until they are all grinded beef). In classic RE games, you don't gain anything by killing enemies and, save for boss fights, there's never a moment where you have to waste everything in sight. And, although "Aliens" had more action into it, it is a fine example of a sequel that didn't betray its prototype (not entirely, at least: the most nightmarish aspects have been overly-rationalized, but, still, you can see how solidly the two movies are connected).

I get that there is a difference between the two games but that doesn’t take away from the action featured in 1996 RE which only progressed more with each sequel.
Forcing you to fight enemies also doesn’t take away from horror of DEAD SPACE. If anything, it made the game scarier because it makes you ‘face your demons’. It worked for the gameplay and helped make the game scarier than most RE games even.

RE is still very much an action horror game. Just because you have the option of evading enemies doesn’t make it any less so. Even if you choose not to fight and clear out one room, you’ll be forced to blow through some monster or a boss in another. But again, RE4 - RE6 focused way too much on the action with few moments of horror or dread. They’re guilty of not feeling like true RE games because of this.

 

[Turo602]

If we want to get technical, just about every single game can be an "action" game. It's a very broad genre with many subgenres, one of which happens to be survival horror. But that doesn't suddenly mean the original survival horror games are somehow "action" games or action horror just because you kill enemies, can obtain powerful weapons, or end up with lots of health and ammo by the end.

None of that diminishes the fact that they're survival horror games. It's easy to look back and dissect the games as we know them now as seasoned Resident Evil gamers and say "well you CAN kill every enemy and still have lots of health and ammo" even though that isn't what most people's experience is with any of these games the first or even 2nd time. Yes, you CAN master these games. They're designed with that arcadey speed running philosophy. But you have to earn it first.

Resident Evil is literally a giant puzzle you must solve with action being a secondary objective. Action is not the purpose of the game. Survival is, and there's a very stark contrast to how this was achieved then with the original 3 games than how it was during the RE4 era and even today.

Action is more of a priority than it has ever been and so is hand holding. This is even true of the Dead Space series that is a literal Resident Evil 4 clone that like Resident Evil 4, dumbs down exploration into just scavenging for items, meanwhile you can just press a button that literally guides you to your destination just in case the game wasn't linear enough. And just like Resident Evil 4, you are also given multiple mechanics that ensure you never run out of ammo or even feel weak. You can buy resources in case you were terrible at managing the ones lying around literally everywhere. You can upgrade your equipment and character like an RPG to reduce your vulnerability and make you stronger against enemies. And if that wasn't enough, you can cheese your way through the game with actual mechanics. Whether it's meleeing and knifing in Resident Evil or using stasis and telekinesis in Dead Space.

These are horror games by atmosphere, but literally everything about them is no different than games like Metroid, Tomb Raider, or Batman. These aren't survival horror games nor do they have much in common with the classic Resident Evil games despite maybe sometimes using a rocket launcher at the end of the game...

Now the modern Resident Evil games are doing a much better job maintaining their survival horror identity and even seems to be influencing the Dead Space remake for the better. But as we can see from Village and even RE3, action is still a priority for Capcom and to their credit, I think they've found a great balance. But that's speaking strictly of their ability and the actual gameplay present in the games. But in typical Capcom fashion, they've dropped the ball and fell right back into their hand holdy philosophy that started with RE4. In RE3, they completely dumbed down Nemesis either to make the game more manageable to newcomers or because they literally cheaped up and rushed the game out. But after Village, I don't doubt it could have been a response to how intimidating people found Mr. X in RE2.

The worst part is, Village actually has all the right tools to be an excellent survival horror game, except they wanted to make it easier for players by dumbing down the entire item management process, giving you virtually unlimited storage. They brought back the merchant for players to fall back on. They added health regen so you never really need to use health items. Melee is once again an exploitable mechanic and they've abused the crafting system. They took a perfectly fine survival horror game and neutered it to feel like less of a survival horror game and more like an action adventure game, putting us back to where we were with RE4...

 

[Hardware]

Wrong.

Weaponry (Resident Evil) | Evil Resource

A full list of weaponry for Resident Evil, including details of weapons and ammunition.

www.evilresource.com

The biggest issue new players had with Chris was running out of ammo very early on (at lot of players did in fact give up over that fact) because they don't know that there's 2 magazines on Kenneth's body (Or the one on Forrest's body for that matter) also they're getting wrecked by the very first zombie using the knife.

Once you get the hang of the game though and discover these things, you are literally in the clear the rest of the game, even w/o the bazooka. Once you start acquiring shotgun shells especially with the small keys and the 2 boxes in the guardhouse basement you are very well stocked up for the rest of the game, even on your first playthrough. I know on my first playthrough I felt very secure even before I left the mansion for the 1st time (though to be fair I did beat it with Jill 1st, as I think most people did).

Nope, you can still run out of ammo if you shoot your way through the zombies as Chris. It's just a temporary thing until you can pick up more. Same with Jill. That's because RE was never designed to be truly punishing like some more extreme horror games - like, say, "Forbidden Siren". And that's why it became a success - it is made so that your efforts get rewarded. But, still, finding yourself out of ammo or health items is still a real possibility, especially if you expect to find them in a linear fashion. Again, it's never definitive: it's like the game is disseminated with air pockets and you have to travel from one to the other by holding your breath to a certain degree. That's why I don't see it as an action game - in any action game, including stuff like Metal Gear Solid, you never really run out of ammo, not even for a moment. You might not have any for your most powerful weapon, but you're never defenseless. In any of the classic RE games, there are times when that is possible.

 

[Ikawaru]

Nope, you can still run out of ammo if you shoot your way through the zombies as Chris. It's just a temporary thing until you can pick up more. Same with Jill. That's because RE was never designed to be truly punishing like some more extreme horror games - like, say, "Forbidden Siren". And that's why it became a success - it is made so that your efforts get rewarded. But, still, finding yourself out of ammo or health items is still a real possibility, especially if you expect to find them in a linear fashion. Again, it's never definitive: it's like the game is disseminated with air pockets and you have to travel from one to the other by holding your breath to a certain degree. That's why I don't see it as an action game - in any action game, including stuff like Metal Gear Solid, you never really run out of ammo, not even for a moment. You might not have any for your most powerful weapon, but you're never defenseless. In any of the classic RE games, there are times when that is possible.

Whelp, I guess everyone's experience is different because I have literally never had a problem with supplies and logistics in ANY Resident Evil game, my combat skills aren't the greatest and I've been known to die a lot on 1st playthroughs, Hell, sometimes I still do die getting stun-locked by doggies or Yawn in RE1, but my playstyle has always centered around making sure I always have the goods. That is what any military professional will tell you is most important anyway: Making sure your combat unit is well stocked and supplied with all necessary equipment is more important than being the most skilled and most tenacious fighting unit. You may have the most badass and hardened combat unit but what the Hell good is it gonna do if it runs out of ammo, food, or medical supplies?

 

[Ikawaru]

Resident Evil is literally a giant puzzle you must solve with action being a secondary objective. Action is not the purpose of the game. Survival is, and there's a very stark contrast to how this was achieved then with the original 3 games than how it was during the RE4 era and even today.

Ok I will give credit where it's due here. Thinking deeply, because it's been 100 years since I've played RE1 for the first time, the most forethoughts I had at the time were probably "Where does this damn Blue Gem go?" or "What do I with this damn Emblem shield thingy?" and "Where does this Sword Key unlock?" rather than "I have to make sure I don't run out of ammo" because that was never the issue I had playing it, never once did I think "Oh God I'm almost out of bullets, I better use the last one on me!" as the game was advertised as.

I don't think any of this belittles the fact that combat is still an integral part of the game though. This zombie is coming at me, I better take him out with 4-8 shots with my trusty Beretta, was just as much hallmark as the puzzle solving, in my opinion. All elements, combat, puzzle solving, atmosphere and exploration, all worked hand in hand and blended together to create the final product that makes us fans in the first place.

 

[RipvanX]

With the way RE8’s ending has set up the next game, it seriously rubs me off the wrong way much like Jakes ending of RE6. Are fans really looking forward to playing as a super powered teenager killing super solider mutants like RE6 again? I fail to see the acceptance of this when fans have been clamoring for survival horror to return for years. If RE9 story takes the approach switching between time periods of the siege on evil BSAA / Rose Winters future it will be a serious letdown for me.

If that is the case and RE9 ends up turning into some CoD inspired Marvel game; I will NEVER support that and will be done with future installments past RE7.

 

[Ikawaru]

I fail to see the acceptance of this when fans have been clamoring for survival horror to return for years.

The thing is though, RE7 was supposed to be that return to survival horror but there is two things wrong with that:

1) It wasn't done very well and the pacing of the game is awful and the plot is a bit head scratching (The idea that a woman like Mia is a scientist for The Connections is strange, considering she looks and acts like she should be an actual member of the Baker family, Lucas being a gifted scientist is also a bit strange, In Capcoms world, American yokels living in east bum f*** make the best B.O.W. engineers apparently).

2) Instead of improving the formula of RE7 with Village, they just went back to action-oriented gameplay again, only this time with an even worse story than the timespan within RE4-RE6.

 

[Hardware]

I am playing through "Ion Fury" right now (I had completely forgotten it was going to be eventually released on consoles): very, very funny vintage-style shooter where, very often, you find yourself in some closed environments (like an office building) with most rooms inaccessible and you "slowly" (for FPS standards) unlock them while finding secret passageways and whatnot. VILLAGE is essentially its slower version with more monsters and less armed foes: that says a lot about how much of RE game it actually is.

 

[RipvanX]

The thing is though, RE7 was supposed to be that return to survival horror but there is two things wrong with that:

1) It wasn't done very well and the pacing of the game is awful and the plot is a bit head scratching (The idea that a woman like Mia is a scientist for The Connections is strange, considering she looks and acts like she should be an actual member of the Baker family, Lucas being a gifted scientist is also a bit strange, In Capcoms world, American yokels living in east bum f*** make the best B.O.W. engineers apparently).

2) Instead of improving the formula of RE7 with Village, they just went back to action-oriented gameplay again, only this time with an even worse story than the timespan within RE4-RE6.

It feels like Capcom is still experimenting with this IP and it’s really getting under my skin when we are on the 8th installment. (Well it’s really the 11th in the mainline). If Capcom wants to make money so badly, they need to establish a high quality MP game like an Outbreak remake or something with yearly updates. It’s a no-brainer when there are games like Fortnite and FFXIV that have proven it can work. Instead, they want to run the main story into the ground with filler-esque side stories that feel jarring compared to what was being built up before. Quality over quantity in this case.

Capcom proclaiming that an RE6 situation won’t happen again is pure BS, all they are doing now is making too many games at once that are dropping in quality and they get dumbfounded what went wrong when sales drop. 2021 felt just like 2012 all over again to me but even worse. I would rather see ONE game every 5 years or so if that’s what it takes to make a godlike game again.

 

[Frag Maniac]

If Capcom wants to make money so badly, they need to establish a high quality MP game like an Outbreak remake or something with yearly updates. It’s a no-brainer when there are games like Fortnite and FFXIV that have proven it can work.

I can't believe you're actually using games like Fortnite to example so called flaws in RE Village, seriously? If anything's an obvious sell out cash grab, it's that cartoony game Epic came out with that is clearly targeted at kids.

 

[Ikawaru]

I can't believe you're actually using games like Fortnite to example so called flaws in RE Village, seriously? If anything's an obvious sell out cash grab, it's that cartoony game Epic came out with that is clearly targeted at kids.

Actually Fortnite's target audience is accountants and people who work with numbers and such. People with superior math skills seem to like colorful cartoony stuff for some reason.

And Monster Hunter World is Capcom's best selling franchise so doing something similar with Resident Evil is not a stretch and if done right they could make a lot of money out of it.

If they did that, and kept their single player games in the burner to increase overall quality...what would be wrong with that?

 

[RipvanX]

I simply used Fortnite as an example for being one of the most popular multiplayer games on the planet because Epic is constant updating it. Along with other games like FFXIV and Square.. so ANY style of MP game can be done successfully if done right. Capcom CAN make a high quality MP game and update it yearly like these other companies. I don’t care much for Fortnite or RE8 for the record, but not once have I compared the two in my statements. Why would I compare a single player game to a multiplayer one?

Whether we like the games or not is besides the point, but what I am ultimately getting at is Capcom is going about RE MP the wrong way by releasing all these recent mediocre titles that are dead on arrival. Capcom needs to realize what the demographic for RE really is and focus on that.

Capcom is infamous for spreading themselves too thin, the fact they had to delay ReVerse by a YEAR is proof that they have no idea what they are doing. Bundling these half assed MP games with single player RE’s is a very unorthodox approach to game design and it’s taking the potential away from single player RE. In the future, the MP games should NEVER take resources away from other projects like what happened to REmake 3 and Resistance.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Actually Fortnite's target audience is accountants and people who work with numbers and such. People with superior math skills seem to like colorful cartoony stuff for some reason.

And Monster Hunter World is Capcom's best selling franchise so doing something similar with Resident Evil is not a stretch and if done right they could make a lot of money out of it.

If they did that, and kept their single player games in the burner to increase overall quality...what would be wrong with that?

I don't see anything in the many ridiculous battle royale games that would benefit RE. And every time I see a player post about their Fortnite gameplay, they seem to be teenagers if anything, so I don't see any valid points here.

Just found this..., and if you're trying to tell me it's common for accountants to be under 24, I doubt it.
Source: https://financesonline.com/fortnite-statistics/

Player Demographics​

Turning to Fortnite statistics age, the game has players of all ages. However, one age group dominates—young adults. This coincides with findings regarding gamers worldwide.

• 26% of preteens in the US play Fortnite. (SuperData Research, 2019)
• The majority of Fortnite players are between the ages of 18 and 24 (62.7%). (Verto Analytics)
• There are quite a few adults aged 45 to 54 years old who play Fortnite (2%). (Verto Analytics)
• An overwhelming percentage of Fortnite gamers are male (72.4%). (Verto Analytics)"

Also, there's this, which says the average age of an accountant is like 44.
Source: https://datausa.io/profile/soc/accountants-auditors

 

[Ikawaru]

Bugger Fortnite, the point here is that massive RE MP project on the same scale as Monster Hunter but with gameplay more similar to Outbreak would probably be better than the small and forgettable pieces of online material like Resistance and RE:Verse I would like to think. Capcom's resource allocation makes me wonder sometimes.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Bugger Fortnite, the point here is that massive RE MP project on the same scale as Monster Hunter but with gameplay more similar to Outbreak would probably be better than the small and forgettable pieces of online material like Resistance and RE:Verse I would like to think. Capcom's resource allocation makes me wonder sometimes.

I've always looked at RE as primarily an SP game, as I do most any title in this genre. It doesn't have at all the same feel when you turn it into a shooting match.

 

[Ikawaru]

I've always looked at RE as primarily an SP game, as I do most any title in this genre. It doesn't have at all the same feel when you turn it into a shooting match.

Who said anything about wanting a shooting match? That's exactly what they are doing with RE:Verse and many fans think it's a bad idea and would rather see an MMO type game based on survival rather than shooting. Sort of like Outbreak, but bigger and better!

 

[Frag Maniac]

Who said anything about wanting a shooting match? That's exactly what they are doing with RE:Verse and many fans think it's a bad idea and would rather see an MMO type game based on survival rather than shooting. Sort of like Outbreak, but bigger and better!

Well, when I see battle royale type games like Fortnite exampled, what else would one think?

I think the problem with this thread, even if it intends well, is it seems to be comprised mostly of those whom prefer SP play, yet they're suggesting ways to bring in more money via MP play, so it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me really.

I am fully behind suggesting ways to make RE a better SP experience, I just don't see that offering ways to bolster the MP side of it is going to accomplish that.

 

[RedfieldFanboi]

I totally agree for the most part. Capcom could do very well to make a Resident Evil live service game, patterned after Outbreak. Make or select a character from a list, play scenarios in online cooperative multiplayer, upgrade skills and weapons, etc. Capcom could use this as a revenue generating system to allow them more freedom to take their time and develop single player Resident Evil games with less financial risk.

Then again, this all implies Capcom's decisions make sense and aren't reactionary.

 

[Ikawaru]

Exactly. But the thing here is Capcom has a very long history of doing very strange things with their IP's so that might make too much sense for them. I mean just check out their attempts at trying to port RE2 to Gameboy Advance and then scrapping it suddenly after time and effort went into it.

 

[Jonipoon]

Welp. It's been a month and I haven't given it any specific afterthought. I wrote my review fresh upon completion, but nothing's really changed expect that I've become more indifferent towards the game itself. When I think back, tge only thing I can remember clearly was that the Dimitrescu daughters were hot.

@RedfieldFanboi Isn't that what Resident Evil RE:Verse was kind of supposed to be though? Although I don't really care for online multiplayer games, it's strange that we haven't heard anything about that game since last summer.