I’ll try to keep this as short and simple as possible since I want to raise an interesting debate and not go on an endless rant. So I finally gave in and bought VIllage two days ago on sale, and finished it a couple of hours ago.
My final verdict couldn’t be more clear - this is not a Resident Evil game. This is a supernatural action adventure disguised as a RE title, with the most dumbed-down and linear gameplay I’ve ever seen in the series. While it’s basically a mixture of RE7’s interface with RE4’s setting, it fails to deliver on what made those titles work on their own. Even though I’m not a fan of neither RE7 or RE4, at least those games didn’t completely disregard what came before them, whereas VIllage finds itself in a deep identity crisis.
If you look at RE4, even though it upped the action and favored supernatural horror in favor of biological, AT LEAST it featured a limited inventory system that made you reconsider picking up any item you came across, which is a staple in both the RE series and the survival horror genre. You had to actually plan ahead before jumping into action. In VIllage however, the inventory is never an issue, you never run out of space and crafting items don’t even take up space but has its own unlimited inventory - what the hell? Never once during my entire playthrough did I come across a situation where I couldn’t pick up an item, whereas in RE4 this happened to me all the time. RE4’s action is also constantly adrenaline-pumping because it knows what it is, while VIllage is stuck in some weird limbo where it’s trying to give an illusion of survival horror but providing all the necessary elements of constant adrenaline pumping action. How could this be?
Well, this is because VIllage is also trying to be a continuation of RE7. Now, RE7 was a mixed bag in many ways but at least it TRIED to be survival horror. It had a very limited inventory which required you to plan ahead and often head back into save rooms to leave stuff or get it back. RE7 also featured genuine backtracking and didn’t hold your hand the entire time, whereas VIllage is so laughably linear and straight-forward that you might as well be playing a game for children. Key items and puzzle solutions are in 95 % of all cases located in a room next door, on a linear way back from a dead end, or right next to the god damm puzzle. There’s actually one area in the game (Heisenberg’s Factory) that features genuine backtracking and gives you less clues on what to do, and this was probably the only part where I actually felt like I was playing a Resident Evil game. This section is unfortunately not representative of the game as a whole. The castle is a huge letdown because of its extremely linear structure, which in turn cannot fully utilize the stalking mechanics of Lady Dimitrescu. Now, imagine Lady Dimitrescu stalking you in Heisenberg’s factory, that would have been something.
The story of VIllage is the most convoluted and non-sensical that Capcom has ever put out. Without getting into too much detail, let’s just say that it leaves you shaking your head and wondering - what was the point of all this? The worst part is how VIllage lazily tries to explain that this whole supernatural world of lycans, vampires, ghosts, telekinesis, teleportation, etc etc, is actually.... just the result of scientific lab experiments. NO. NO. NO. You can’t just throw in the bioweapon stuff as a side-thing and expect to get away with it. You have created a gothic fantasy world that exceeds all possible scientific common sense... You either go with it, or don’t.
What annoys me the most though is the game’s terrible attempts at connecting to previous Resident Evil games, even going as far as including Oswall E. Spencer himself and retro-actively changing the origins of Umbrella to this stupid fantasy world. It’s disrespectful to the original RE1.
I also don’t understand why Chris Redfield is even in this game, not to mention why he’s the frontman on the poster teased as a lycan. None of which happens in the actual game.
So now after completing VIllage I am actually a bit shocked. I didn’t expect to enjoy it, but I certainly didn’t expect to despise it as much as I am. Hear me out when I say this, because I despise it as a Resident Evil game. If this game was its own separate IP and franchise I wouldn’t care since it’s definitely not a bad game. Sadly, VIllage is a success. People love it and I cannot for the love of god fathom why. I’ve seen ”fans” praise it as being one of the best RE games ever made. If this is the future of the series I might not want to be a part of it any longer.
My final verdict couldn’t be more clear - this is not a Resident Evil game. This is a supernatural action adventure disguised as a RE title, with the most dumbed-down and linear gameplay I’ve ever seen in the series. While it’s basically a mixture of RE7’s interface with RE4’s setting, it fails to deliver on what made those titles work on their own. Even though I’m not a fan of neither RE7 or RE4, at least those games didn’t completely disregard what came before them, whereas VIllage finds itself in a deep identity crisis.
If you look at RE4, even though it upped the action and favored supernatural horror in favor of biological, AT LEAST it featured a limited inventory system that made you reconsider picking up any item you came across, which is a staple in both the RE series and the survival horror genre. You had to actually plan ahead before jumping into action. In VIllage however, the inventory is never an issue, you never run out of space and crafting items don’t even take up space but has its own unlimited inventory - what the hell? Never once during my entire playthrough did I come across a situation where I couldn’t pick up an item, whereas in RE4 this happened to me all the time. RE4’s action is also constantly adrenaline-pumping because it knows what it is, while VIllage is stuck in some weird limbo where it’s trying to give an illusion of survival horror but providing all the necessary elements of constant adrenaline pumping action. How could this be?
Well, this is because VIllage is also trying to be a continuation of RE7. Now, RE7 was a mixed bag in many ways but at least it TRIED to be survival horror. It had a very limited inventory which required you to plan ahead and often head back into save rooms to leave stuff or get it back. RE7 also featured genuine backtracking and didn’t hold your hand the entire time, whereas VIllage is so laughably linear and straight-forward that you might as well be playing a game for children. Key items and puzzle solutions are in 95 % of all cases located in a room next door, on a linear way back from a dead end, or right next to the god damm puzzle. There’s actually one area in the game (Heisenberg’s Factory) that features genuine backtracking and gives you less clues on what to do, and this was probably the only part where I actually felt like I was playing a Resident Evil game. This section is unfortunately not representative of the game as a whole. The castle is a huge letdown because of its extremely linear structure, which in turn cannot fully utilize the stalking mechanics of Lady Dimitrescu. Now, imagine Lady Dimitrescu stalking you in Heisenberg’s factory, that would have been something.
The story of VIllage is the most convoluted and non-sensical that Capcom has ever put out. Without getting into too much detail, let’s just say that it leaves you shaking your head and wondering - what was the point of all this? The worst part is how VIllage lazily tries to explain that this whole supernatural world of lycans, vampires, ghosts, telekinesis, teleportation, etc etc, is actually.... just the result of scientific lab experiments. NO. NO. NO. You can’t just throw in the bioweapon stuff as a side-thing and expect to get away with it. You have created a gothic fantasy world that exceeds all possible scientific common sense... You either go with it, or don’t.
What annoys me the most though is the game’s terrible attempts at connecting to previous Resident Evil games, even going as far as including Oswall E. Spencer himself and retro-actively changing the origins of Umbrella to this stupid fantasy world. It’s disrespectful to the original RE1.
I also don’t understand why Chris Redfield is even in this game, not to mention why he’s the frontman on the poster teased as a lycan. None of which happens in the actual game.
So now after completing VIllage I am actually a bit shocked. I didn’t expect to enjoy it, but I certainly didn’t expect to despise it as much as I am. Hear me out when I say this, because I despise it as a Resident Evil game. If this game was its own separate IP and franchise I wouldn’t care since it’s definitely not a bad game. Sadly, VIllage is a success. People love it and I cannot for the love of god fathom why. I’ve seen ”fans” praise it as being one of the best RE games ever made. If this is the future of the series I might not want to be a part of it any longer.
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