Resident Evil Village lets the franchise explore the bizarre

• The comparison
• Video Games
• Resident Evil Village lets the franchise explore the bizarre

Resident Evil is a bit long in the tooth. The franchise is a far cry from the strange, horror-filled mansion that was first developed for gamers in 1996. With time and the games expanding beyond exploring the streets and sewers of Raccoon City, the franchise has also grown larger. beyond the zombies that mixed in for the first time. . after Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield. That's why I'm happy that with Resident Evil Village, Capcom doesn't seem afraid to branch out and try something very new, while maintaining the DNA of what makes the most revered games tick. We've had plenty of zombie games, including great remakes of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3. It's time for a change. In the future, I want more snowy mountains and remote villages, less ruined cities and barren Umbrella Labs. No more snarling werewolves and domineering vampires, less hordes of zombies and multi-eyed spotted monsters. The series changes drastically and that's why I'm here.

Venture into uncharted territory

Now, it is true that this is not the first time that Resident Evil has changed. Resident Evil 4 has prevented Raccoon City virus-infected creatures for Las Plagas-infected villagers. Still, the trappings of a horde of zombies (or something close) were still there and other changes weren't entirely for the better, culminating in Resident Evil 6's over-the-top action setup. After that, the bold changes in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard set the stage for a great start, with a southern gothic skin that turned a swamp plantation into a house of horrors. The game wears its grindhouse horror inspiration on its sleeves, with the terrifyingly fantastic Baker family taking inspiration from movies like The Evil Dead, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Saw. Still, the more common enemies have resorted to a presentation of zombies, corpse-like creatures called Molds. While diecasts are seemingly entirely different from zombies, encounters with them generally play out similarly, a weak spot in a great Resident Evil reimagining. After the critical and commercial success of the Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 remakes, I imagine it would have been easy for Capcom to rely more on everything traditional about the franchise. Seeing a third-person perspective again, zombies, and the threat of Umbrella as a backdrop wouldn't have been surprising.

(Image credit: Capcom) Instead, what Capcom has targeted is anything but safe. The hapless Ethan Winters returns as the protagonist once again, when the setting could not be more different. A mysterious European town and castle, with enemies consisting of evil werewolves and seductive vampires straight out of medieval folklore. In particular, lightning struck Capcom in the imposing form of Lady Dimitrescu, known on the internet as the Tall Vampire Lady with near universal endorsement and massive popularity. I'm happy to see Capcom take a chance on a character like this instead of another generic Tyrant or bioweapon.

(Image credit: Capcom) The positive reception of Dimitrescu as the raw embodiment of an intimidating and exciting woman will likely have an effect on female antagonists entirely for years to come. Aside from the core opposing forces, even the basic enemies are more interesting to me. In the trailers, we see werewolves crawling on all fours, jumping onto rooftops, and breaking down doors, shaking up the game and providing a new avenue to keep players tense and on their toes. Resident Evil Village is rumored to be the middle entry in a trilogy. If that's really the case, then no matter what happens to poor Ethan Winters, I hope Capcom continues to double down on a wide variety of settings and a variety of imposing characters as more creative antagonists.

Keep its freshness by being faithful

(Image credit: Capcom) Regardless of the shape of the environment, there are some basics that clearly need to remain, such as finding different hidden items to unlock new paths, shortcuts, and puzzles. Mainline Resident Evil games just won't feel right without these elements, at least to a degree. Still, the point is that Resident Evil must change to continue. I couldn't predict where the next game will be after that and it's incredibly exciting. Today's best Resident Evil Village deals