Review - Resident Evil Village is a masterful horror showcase - Android

Resident Evil Village: Gameplay

Just like with the narrative setup, Resident Evil Village brings in elements from other games in the franchise, along with some new ones, to tweak the formula just enough to be interesting for old players. You're still getting the same Resident Evil base gameplay that you've experienced for over a decade now (although it is in first-person now): You face an array of monsters, both normal-sized and giant, with nothing but your guns and your dwindling supply of ammo and health items.

The balance between survival horror and action has been shifted slightly in Village. Unlike Resident Evil 7, which reveled in making you feel ill-equipped for challenges, Village gives you maybe too much ammo, along with a lot of guns to choose from. Instead of wondering when you'll come across the shotgun, you get it almost immediately, and it's only the first of two you'll pick up. There's also a crafting system, introduced in 7 and refined here, that allows you to create ammo, health items, or even bombs with resources you pick up.

This might feel like a betrayal of the return to survival horror that I've been praising, but Village has found a great balance where you don't feel like you're overflowing with resources thanks to the challenging enemies at the end of your weapon. You are encouraged to fight instead of flee since killing enemies gives you prizes like Lei, a currency you can use at the merchant, or treasures you can sell, harkening back to Resident Evil 4, and in many ways, 5.

However, putting yourself in the middle of a battle is never easy, even on the standard difficulty that I played on. Even the most basic enemies, the Lycans, take a few shots to put down and can charge and dodge as they approach. You feel like you want to save your resources for big enemies, but they, along with new enemy types, can show up at any time. Once you get towards the end of the game, you'll also be bombarded with a ton of enemies and you'll need each bullet. So even though there were times where I felt like my inventory was full (yes, inventory management is, in Resident Evil tradition, a big deal once again), a new area would make me feel scarce all over again.

Plus, you're going to want to put that money into the merchant, called the Duke here. At any one of his setups you can upgrade your weaponry, buy supplies, or cook meals. New to Village is an upgrading mechanic that has you hunting down regular animals for meat, which you can then trade into the Duke for permanent upgrades to your health and defense. It seems like he eats most of what he cooks, but he lets you have some.

All of this creates a combat loop that never leans too far into one direction. You can go around shooting down each monster or animal, or you can play it more discreetly and never upgrade your weapons for a greater challenge. You won't reap the benefits of the Duke in this case, but the option is there if you want it. There is even a Challenges feature that rewards you with CP for completing achievements, which you can then put into subsequent playthroughs by buying fancy guns, and those often include trying out different playstyles.

Capcom tried something new here, hoping to maintain the survival horror / action game balance.

A lot of the Resident Evil formula is still here, although some of it might be to the game's detriment. For example, the map feature has always been important in the Resident Evil series, whether you want to check to see where you are or want to figure out if you've fully searched an area. It's more important than ever in Resident Evil Village. Like the aforementioned Raccoon City police station, you'll be doing a lot of backtracking, specifically in the village portion of the map. Each time you complete a Lord's area you go back here so there are plenty of opportunities to become intimately familiar with all its weird, windy paths and shortcuts.

Unfortunately, it's extremely easy to get lost, especially if you don't have the best sense of direction. All of the buildings look the same minus a couple of features on the important structures, and the various obstacles can make the map feel unreliable. It's tough to remember if you've gone down a certain path when multiple paths are blocked by trucks or debris and the map doesn't update fully to reflect those discoveries. There are also multiple areas of the map that are inaccessible by road, and it can be tough to keep it all straight. Luckily, there are plenty of secrets to discover in the village (and even some secret bosses in other areas), so backtracking will reap you plenty of rewards, but it does drag out the village sections and makes trying to get to the next Lord frustrating.

I think this comes back to how simple the map system is, and how much better it works when the game is more linear. Unfortunately, with all the backtracking and the more complex layout, it tends to be ineffective. It does, however, tell you where all the important treasures are so it's not completely useless.

Besides the tricky map, Resident Evil Village plays exactly as it should. Capcom tried something new here, hoping to maintain the survival horror / action game balance even with upping the amount of enemies you encounter and the resources you gather. Thanks to Ethan's new military training, it not only makes sense story-wise, but provides a fresher experience for those just coming off of 7, or even some of the earlier games.