Resident Evil: Village This is not a Resident Evil game

[RipvanX]

All anyone need do to get over many of their misgivings about the latest Resident Evil installments is play Ebola 3. That is a game based on RE type gameplay that is woefully lacking. It has OK graphics and ambient sounds, but the voice overs are pathetically bad, the crafting feels cluttered (too many calibers of ammo you can make without being able to easily find the weapons they fit), the animations are awkward, and the player controls clumsy.

Some have described it as, "Well, at least you get a good laugh out of it"! One of the bosses I've yet to fight is a bear in a power suit walking upright the whole time. Thanks IGS (the developer and publisher), this is just what I needed to put things in perspective. I can't believe this game gets a Very Positive rating on Steam. Though that's just 112 reviews since it came out 5 days ago.

Imagine if Ethan turned into a werewolf and went on a killing spree, instead of molding out and awkwardly taking a nuclear device away from Chris. Then we would have to play as Chris and take him down. That would of been a much better ending for him than what we got. If the twist was that we were playing as a bio-weapon the entire time, howcome it doesn’t FEEL like it?

 

[Jonipoon]

Imagine if Ethan turned into a werewolf and went on a killing spree, instead of molding out and awkwardly taking a nuclear device away from Chris. Then we would have to play as Chris and take him down. That would of been a much better ending for him than what we got. If the twist was that we were playing as a bio-weapon the entire time, howcome it doesn’t FEEL like it?

Randomly turning Ethan into a werewolf wouldn't change a thing, neither would it automatically make Ethan a more interesting character.

The twist was that Ethan had special regenerate powers thanks to the Mold, not that he was a bio-weapon. Ethan's whole story is based around him being a victim of unfortunate events.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Imagine if Ethan turned into a werewolf and went on a killing spree, instead of molding out and awkwardly taking a nuclear device away from Chris. Then we would have to play as Chris and take him down. That would of been a much better ending for him than what we got. If the twist was that we were playing as a bio-weapon the entire time, howcome it doesn’t FEEL like it?

Not sure if you're referencing how RE8 compares to Ebola 3 there, but there actually IS a scene in Ebola 3 where when escaping the first area, you have the choice of staying human, or turning into a werewolf by injecting the E Virus. Turning into the werewolf is the quicker, easier way to mop up the dozen or so heavily kitted SWAT patrol you have to get through, but the movement controls are so clumsy and it's hard as hell to see where the enemies are. There's zero feral vision like some games have, and you're damn lucky if your health is not in the red by the time you get done with them, just on the default difficulty mode.

As I implied, there are FAR worse examples of games that don't get it right in the RE style of gameplay, and this is clearly one of them.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Nothing like good survival horror jank to get through the weekend, thanks @Frag Maniac, keep finding these hidden gems.

All I can say is don't blame me if you're thoroughly frustrated with it, as "hidden gem" is clearly not the message I was trying to convey. Right now I'm kind of stuck with no ammo and no way to get into the place I thought the puzzle I just solved would get me. It was a puzzle that at first seemed easy enough to solve, as a note tells you what voltage you have to set an electrical panel to, but the 3 gauges you must adjust all have 4 buttons that erratically change the voltage, so it's still quite nerve racking. After finally solving it, I traced the big cable on the floor from that panel to a room it goes into with a gate bound by a chain. The prompt you get when trying to open it says "The door is blocking the chain". LOL

I've yet to find a way to break that chain. This game is chock full of really unpolished stuff. If that's what you mean by "survival horror jank", it may be just what you're looking for. There's even a message before the game starts that says if you find any bugs, please report them. Apparently anyone whom buys it becomes their beta testers. The game is only like $17 though, which is kind of a warning itself. As I said though, it has fairly good UE 4 graphics. Some of the graphics are done pretty badly though.

 

[Ikawaru]

That is EXACTLY what I was looking for yes sounds just as janky as I like. I mean who needs polished Not Resident Evil games like 'Village' when janky European developers are there to fill that void, right? I mean ****, should be a good lesson for AAA developers, get your **** together or the developer underworld from the bowels of the planet will encroach on your turf.

 

[Frag Maniac]

That is EXACTLY what I was looking for yes sounds just as janky as I like. I mean who needs polished Not Resident Evil games like 'Village' when janky European developers are there to fill that void, right? I mean ****, should be a good lesson for AAA developers, get your **** together or the developer underworld from the bowels of the planet will encroach on your turf.

LOL, OK dude, I think Ebola 3 will quench that thirst then. I finally found out how to get the better shotgun I had my eye on, which I have saved up ammo for, but the breaking of the chain still eludes me, as does finding a way to fix the elevator not stopping at some floors.

 

[Caffeine Addict]

I'd say that the survival horror genre is experiencing yet another renaissance with these remakes. Not just with RE either. Everything.

 

[Ikawaru]

I'd say that the survival horror genre is experiencing yet another renaissance with these remakes. Not just with RE either. Everything.

"Another"? There was a first? Unless you count scattered decent titles like 'The Evil Within' and 'The Last of Us' I'd say survival horror has been pretty much dead since around the time RE4 came out. These were anomalies not trend setters.

I'm currently optimistic with Alan Wake, RE4R, Alone in the Dark and perhaps a few others but I will not be thoroughly convinced there's a grand renaissance occurring until Square Enix and Konami announce remakes for 'Parasite Eve' and 'Silent Hill'. RE2R may have poked the genre out of the shadows and we're seeing some promising developments but we're gonna need a bit more than this imo.

 

[Frag Maniac]

I'd say that the survival horror genre is experiencing yet another renaissance with these remakes. Not just with RE either. Everything.

Too bad the Gears of War 1 remaster was a total failure. I tried playing the original not too long ago because I was Jonesing for it, but it wants to crash after the pumping station mission due to the horrible Games for Windows Live crap. Everything I hear about the remaster is just as bad if not worse, so I never bothered with it.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Imma check it out!

I made pretty good progress from where I was last I posted about it. I've finally broken the chain on the gate (there was a device to break it right near where I was once standing, but didn't look it's direction). I had to do that damn voltage panel puzzle again though, because the game didn't save after completing it the first time. I also took out 3 or 4 of those bears in power suits, they're quite funny. Also took on another beast that was a bit harder, well, harder to avoid taking damage anyway.

I also finally found a way to get that better shotgun I had my eye on, and it looks to be one of the more powerful weapons, as it takes special ammo. I am now stuck yet again though, even after finding a way to the lower floor that I thought surely would be a way to fix the elevator (good puzzle down there though). I also found the code for the locked door on the1st floor.

The game has some nice puzzles, and can be unpredictable, it's just too bad the animations and voicing are so bad. Some of the weapon sounds are also pretty bad. I guess if you can forgive it's quirks, which is a lot easier to do at $17, it's at least nice filler between RE releases.

 

[Ikawaru]

That voltage puzzle was easy, it just took a minute or two to learn how the numbers worked on the buttons, pretty simple math after that.

Despite the jank, loving this game a lot and it's definitely more 'Resident Evil' than 'Village'; the crafting system rocks and leaves plenty of room for strategic planning for the ammo and medicine you want, you have to be careful with your shots, the atmosphere and plot are as "horror" and "science" as can be and the puzzles actually force you to use your brain, probably for the slightly above average IQ. I mean what the Hell more could you ask for? My only gripe is those damn notebooks, they're just sitting in my inventory teasing me with a "code" but there's no way to look inside or do anything with them...

I feel like we're getting off topic here though, this game deserves a separate thread and 'Village' should be ashamed of itself that other games are doing 'Resident Evil' better than 'Resident Evil' itself.

 

[Frag Maniac]

That voltage puzzle was easy, it just took a minute or two to learn how the numbers worked on the buttons, pretty simple math after that.

Despite the jank, loving this game a lot and it's definitely more 'Resident Evil' than 'Village'; the crafting system rocks and leaves plenty of room for strategic planning for the ammo and medicine you want, you have to be careful with your shots, the atmosphere and plot are as "horror" and "science" as can be and the puzzles actually force you to use your brain, probably for the slightly above average IQ. I mean what the Hell more could you ask for? My only gripe is those damn notebooks, they're just sitting in my inventory teasing me with a "code" but there's no way to look inside or do anything with them...

I feel like we're getting off topic here though, this game deserves a separate thread and 'Village' should be ashamed of itself that other games are doing 'Resident Evil' better than 'Resident Evil' itself.

I tried to make the voltage puzzle easier by writing a cheat sheet of what the buttons do.

It goes like...

Spoiler

[Top button] -3 1st press, -3 2nd press, -300 3rd press [2nd button] -2 1st press, -20 2nd press, -200 3rd press [3rd button] -1 1st press, -10 2nd press, -100 3rd press [Bottom button] +3 1st press, +30 2nd press, +300 3rd press

It was still a lot to process for me, and the cheat sheet only ended up helping when I had it down to one final button press being required that only needed a single digit change. Part of it was no doubt that I was up pretty late when doing it though, and needing sleep.

I thought the notebook codes were pretty self explanatory.

Spoiler

Even if you don't see the greyed out Combine when you right click on them, it's kind of a given that you have to find something they go with, since the game has you combining things constantly, especially gunpowder.

 

[Ikawaru]

Use spoilers when talking about solving puzzle solutions dammit

I believe you were overthinking the puzzle, all I did was notice that each button corroborates a number in a sequence. for instance, you press the 4th button down once and the number '4' appears on the right side of the number pattern, you press 4th button down again and another '4' appears and pushes the former to the center, and so forth. So, if you press the 4th button down, the 1st button, and then the 3rd button down, in that order, on the top row, you would get '+413'.

The middle row subtracts, so you would want a number that's something like '411' (Press 4th button down, then the 1st, and then the 1st again). So now we have +413 on the top and minus(-)411 in the center and that equals 2.

Now that we have the number '2', we go down to the bottom row of numbers, which adds (+) again so what number would equal to 415??? Why, 413 of course, so you hit the 4th button down once, hit the 1st button once and then the 3rd button down and get '413'. Pretty simple right? It's all about sequence and simple adding and subtracting.

But let's not get carried away with the minutiae of Ebola 3, @Jonipoon made a great thread and we must keep its essence alive for all to read.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Use spoilers when talking about solving puzzle solutions dammit

I believe you were overthinking the puzzle, all I did was notice that each button corroborates a number in a sequence. for instance, you press the 4th button down once and the number '4' appears on the right side of the number pattern, you press 4th button down again and another '4' appears and pushes the former to the center, and so forth. So, if you press the 4th button down, the 1st button, and then the 3rd button down, in that order, on the top row, you would get '+413'.

The middle row subtracts, so you would want a number that's something like '411' (Press 4th button down, then the 1st, and then the 1st again). So now we have +413 on the top and minus(-)411 in the center and that equals 2.

Now that we have the number '2', we go down to the bottom row of numbers, which adds (+) again so what number would equal to 415??? Why, 413 of course, so you hit the 4th button down once, hit the 1st button once and then the 3rd button down and get '413'. Pretty simple right? It's all about sequence and simple adding and subtracting.

But let's not get carried away with the minutiae of Ebola 3, @Jonipoon made a great thread and we must keep its essence alive for all to read.

Whatever, I guess I didn't see the obvious then, but I would say the same about your take on the notebooks.

 

[Teen Tyrant]

Never got around to posting my opinion on the game in detail, and I’ll do that later, but for this thread, gotta say, I could not disagree more. This absolutely is a Resident Evil game. The definition of what that means hasn’t really been nailed down, but I’ll do so as closely as possible here. A Resident Evil game is not required to be Survival Horror, involve puzzle solving, have non-linear gameplay, have a specific control scheme, or involve zombies. A Resident Evil game, simply put, only needs to be a horror-based game set within the continuity established by the original game, and the horror is generated by contagious biological sources. That’s it.

This game had that. Contrary to the OP, you can indeed explain away the “supernatural” aspects of this game to scientific experiments. The series has been doing that the entire time, all the way back to the original, what with reanimated corpses and creatures that defy the laws of physics. Really, the only things in this game that come across as overtly supernatural are Donna’s hauntings (hallucinations, already done in Revelations), Miranda’s shapeshifting (already done in Zero and 6), and Heisenberg’s metal manipulation, which is explained as just an electrical field his body is generating that he’s learned to increase or decrease in just the right way to knock away or attract metallic objects (electricity manipulation, while not yet of this magnitude, was already tapped into in Dead Aim). None of those come close to the impossibly bonkers hoop-jumping needed to explain how Derek Simmons’ mutations in 6 worked.

The Umbrella connection, while a bit jarring, doesn’t really change anything except show why Spencer chose when he did to start his exposition to look for Progenitor, why he was sure his efforts could work, and where he got the idea for Umbrella’s name and look.

All the other unanswered questions, such as the Connections, what the BSAA are up to, why Chris is going rogue, where Blue Umbrella fits in, etc., is clearly meant to be addressed in a later game, just as several questions about the Mold were answered in this game.

It’s scary, it’s conspiracy-laden, it involves the same characters and storyline, it’s all biology-driven due to mad science… it’s Resident Evil. And while Village is not one of the greats (REmake, 4 (original), 7) it’s definitely one of the heavies (2, Code Veronica, 5).

 

[Ikawaru]

A Resident Evil game, simply put, only needs to be a horror-based game set within the continuity established by the original game, and the horror is generated by contagious biological sources. That’s it.

"Hey guys, if you're craving some red meat, all you need is McDonald's because it technically qualifies as red meat."

This is why we don't get good things, because people put such low standards on things and are very easily satiated as long as it has a label on it and gives off some semblance of something.

If I was craving red meat, personally, I would want a better composition of ingredients than a Big Mac, fries, and a soda but hey, to each their own.

 

[Teen Tyrant]

This is why we don't get good things, because people put such low standards on things and are very easily satiated as long as it has a label on it and gives off some semblance of something.

Wrong. We do get good things, but some people are so spoiled and ungrateful that they don’t recognize a good thing when it hits them in the head. The only reason the series changed at all in the first place was because people were whining that it was all the same. Then those same people turned around and said, “they changed it, now it sucks.”

Also, that red meat comment was a poor example, as you went more complex in order to make the point rather than diluting it down to its base elements. A better example would have been to use a generic hotdog.

 

[Ikawaru]

Wrong. We do get good things, but some people are so spoiled and ungrateful that they don’t recognize a good thing when it hits them in the head.

LOL. You are describing my subordinates at work, not my attitude towards video games as a grown man. I'm afraid when I leave they'll run into lots of problems, yet they treat me like dung nonetheless, I guess it's my fault for  spoiling them and not being tough enough but hey, everyone has flaws and I'm just too nice I guess.

Again, if you want to praise 'Village', that's your prerogative, meanwhile I will enjoy logging on here in my free time and dissecting the design decisions of of this particular franchise because that in itself is fun to me. It's more of a distraction from real life than a chronic obsession, as I have much more important things to do than let small things like this  really get to me. Village is a **** game and not a true survival horror Resi game and WTF is Capcom doing?? See, just typing that made me chuckle, not very elaborate but I think the idea here deep down is to provide constructive criticism, not to whine and bitch.

 

[Teen Tyrant]

Village is a **** game and not a true survival horror Resi game and WTF is Capcom doing?? See, just typing that made me chuckle, not very elaborate but I think the idea here deep down is to provide constructive criticism, not to whine and bitch.

Firstly, I already said being survival horror is not a prerequisite to being a Resident Evil game, despite what many may think. Just because it started out that way, that did not create a rule etched in stone that cannot be violated. The fact that RE4 not only proved that but caused the series to thrive after being on its first deathbed is testament to that.

Secondly, it amuses me how you calling Village a **** game and wondering what Capcom is going, and then saying the point is constructive criticism instead of whining and bitching, are two sentences separated only by a period. Undermining one’s own point in the following sentence is a talent, but undermining it in the preceding sentence? That is a rare gift.

 

[Jonipoon]

A Resident Evil game, simply put, only needs to be a horror-based game set within the continuity established by the original game, and the horror is generated by contagious biological sources. That’s it.

So, if we get "The Last of Us Part 3" and there is a file in the game that establishes an in-universe connection to Resident Evil, does that make The Last of Us a Resident Evil game?

The argument is so dumb that I'm tired of debating it.