Because Resident Evil: Village is one of the best chapters in the series

"It's not a Resident Evil", this phrase will accompany each release of a new chapter of the series until Capcom decides to put back the third person, the fixed camera and the tank controls. Resident Evil: Village was not exempt from this criticism, but for us at Player it was not only a real RE, but also one of the best chapters.

In this article, we will give you five reasons why RE: Village is to be considered the future of the saga (with the necessary corrections to be made on some less successful mechanics and which we have described in our review).

THE ARTICLE MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Variety of styles and enemies

Village is one of the most content-rich Resident Evils both in terms of the threats that Ethan is forced to face and from a stylistic point of view. One of the most obvious pros that we highlighted during the review phase is the way in which Capcom has managed to include more genres and sub-genres of the horror theme in its latest work.

Village is a classic Resident Evil, but in subjective, in which action, puzzle and exploration phases alternate in an imaginative context of the mold Gothic (werewolves, vampires), which is contaminated by elements of the so-called folk horror, that is a sub-genre whose main themes are religion, superstition (pagan rites and sacrifices) and the presence of a rural setting.

This is only on the surface, because then RE: Village becomes a psychological horror once you get to Beneviento house. The source of inspiration is crystal clear, it is almost offensive to have to point it out: PT A very successful tribute from what was once Konami's rival, a thrilling game section that changes the cards on the table.

If that's not enough, Village goes for it steampunk, on the most advanced science fiction, in style Terminator when the Heisenberg factory confronts us with the soldiers and the abominable iron man Sturm, wanting to pay homage to Tetsuo - The Iron Man of Shin'ya Tsukamoto.

Characters who can become iconic

If there is one thing that is not lacking in Resident Evil: Village is the stage presence of characters who have all the credentials to become iconic. The Capcom series has always relied on main and secondary characters of great impact, with a palpable charisma, sometimes even a little exaggerated, but absolutely consistent with the narrative structure of the saga.

Apart from the usual suspects - Jill Valentine, the Redfield brothers, Leon Kennedy - Resident Evil has a very respectable cast that, years ago, talk about themselves. Both the villains and the good guys have become icons, symbols not only of the series, but of the videogame horror genre in general: Nemesis, Tyrant T-103 (Mr. X), Albert wesker, There's Wong, William Birkin, Oswell E. Spencer are just some of them.

Well, in Village we have a cast that is certainly second to none and all concentrated in a single chapter: Dimitrescu and his daughters they are characters of great depth, dwarfed a little by memes, even hot ones; mother Miranda manages to bring a new point of view on the history of Resident Evil (we'll be back); Heisenberg is characterized in a really valuable way (he may not like his boss fight, no doubt), while the Duke he is not only the merchant, he is a character to be explored.

Map management

Resident Evil: Village has a map and level design management that manages to blend together the classicism of the series set on backtracking and the modernity of a new way of understanding this need to return to known places.

The map is more open, the village acts as the nerve center, around it there are four macro-areas in which the four Lords reside. Between shortcuts, secondary paths and alternative routes, the areas are all reachable even after a first visit (apart from some exceptions due to narrative choices).

If in the classic games of the series backtracking was a must for inventory management that is severe enough and punitive for serial resource collectors, RE: Village does not completely eliminate this founding element of the series, but it makes it smarter, more modern. , better integrated into the game structure.

Going back because in a trunk we put a very important key, abandoned in favor of a green grass, it could have made sense to increase the tension, but certainly not from a narrative and immersive point of view. With the new inventory management (taken from Resident Evil 4 but no one has ever harshly criticized), in which resources, weapons and key items are divided into practical tabs, even exploration takes on a completely different meaning,

Narrative turn

The Resident Evil storyline has never been nominated for an Oscar, but has always been designed to work fully with the gameplay and design choices, that is, it has always guaranteed a justification for what the player does to get to the credits. The story of the Kings has as its source of inspiration i B-movie, also built on contradictions and hyperbole that can leave you puzzled.

The new course, however, started with RE7: Biohazard, focused on more dramatic issues, centered on family, on issues such as the perdita, just think of the first five minutes of RE: Village, in which a happy family is upset by the killing of one of its members.

Let me be clear, we are not facing the plot of Death Stranding, it will never be like this and it will never have to be because Resident Evil does not have those ambitions and it would not work with a narrative that is too introspective, like Silent Hill. However, there was a change of gear, we noticed a turning point.

It's Resident Evil with all its hype

Let's face it, certain changes of pace, certain excesses may not meet personal taste, but no one can say that Resident Evil has never had any. Even the classics lived on trash, moments in which to roll your eyes in disbelief and perplexity, perhaps less evident for hardware limitations, but still present in other guises as well, such as ear bleeding dialogues and badass cutscene that Revolver Ocelot would pale.

Hence, the phrase "not a Resident Evil", referring to Village because you are fighting against one rusty version of Megatron, it can also be there for personal taste, but it cannot make us forget that exaggerations have always been at home in Raccoon City and now in remote villages in Romania. Perhaps we are the least tolerant today.