Resident Evil Village — Back-to-Back Village Tours
Every once in a blue moon, a game comes along that I am inclined to play again after completing it. To play it on a higher difficulty, or play with a friend, or to enjoy some New Game+ dynamics. When I started Resident Evil Village, I thought it would be akin to my time with Resident Evil 7: terrifying, enjoyable, and challenging the whole way through, and that would be that. One playthrough, and back on the shelf it goes. At time of writing, after a single week of owning it, I’ve completed five runs in Village, so color me a fool.
My first run was the proper Resident Evil experience, on Standard difficulty: tense, worrying about resources, enjoying the horror, getting more of the Resident Evil story, and enjoying the evolving gameplay. This is also the only playthrough I did with headphones; for a first experience, not knowing what to expect next, the sound design and music is a high point. Start to finish, everywhere from dank dungeons to bombastic battles is sonically painted to perfection. Especially in horror games, I always expect and hope for solid sound design, but Village absolutely nailed it.
The gameplay was a pleasant surprise, too. I expected first-person shooting akin to RE7: being unable to move as quickly as traditional first-person games and with shakier aiming to boot. But out of the gate, Village played more as RE4 compared to its predecessors: more action-oriented, while still leaning into the horror elements. But damn, Village switches things up and keeps players on their toes. Different locations beget different kinds of horror, creating a unique experience amongst horror games. While, in my time gaming, horror games tend to specialize in a singular style of horror, Village seems to bob and weave in and out of different types of horror. Before any one style overstays its welcome (or, worse, becomes ineffective at scaring players), the game changes things up.
Also, as much as everyone was tweaking about Lady Dimetriscu and her daughters (who, I must go on record, are really mean), my heart belongs to the Duke, Village’s merchant character. It is such a gentle relief to see a friendly, helpful face in a village that largely seems hellbent on eating you. It the next evolution of Resident Evil 4’s nameless merchant, and genuinely appreciated after the solo venture that Resident Evil 7 was.
In time, credits rolled, New Game+ became an option, and the Bonus Shop and Challenges unlocked. Some new weapons and infinite ammo unlocks later, I started a second run on the newly-unlocked Village of Shadows (hardest) difficulty, thinking endless bullets were the key to victory. I was summarily decimated in the first major combat, so I started over on the next difficulty down, Hardcore. Even with infinite ammo on a newly-unlocked pistol, Hardcore was still an entertaining challenge, even knowing what to expect around the different corners. Complete, credits.
Run three on Casual. Being able to take things even more calmly, I got to explore more freely, both the separate biomes and the eponymous village, scouring for treasure to give to my man the Duke. Also, after being challenged by the village’s feral residents and wicked leadership, it is so satisfying to put the screws to them on an easier difficulty with infinite wells of ammunition. Heads explode so easily on Casual! Burnt through in record time; I surprised myself, I’m generally not a speedy player.
Fourth run, casual again. Completing some odd challenges, just enjoying the ride and upgrading weapons with my ill-gotten loot. But still engaging, still fun, even after so many times through. And at the end of that, I finally felt ready to re-tackle Village of Shadows for run five. After having been wrecked on it before, I can’t imagine coming into it any less prepared than I did: with several different kinds of guns, including a Handcannon magnum, with infinite ammo, and double-digits of healing juice. Coming off of four other playthroughs, it was fun to see the small changes made in the new difficulty, even when they challenged me and my arsenal. And in time, triumph: the credits rolled again.
All of this is a long way of saying that Village’s replayability is one of its strongest points. It can be a game for folk to tiptoe through when they don’t know what to expect, or speed through in a few, concentrated hours. It can be a tense, demanding challenge, or a fun jaunt in a shower of exploding craniums. The different Challenges can change up how players approach a run, and provide fun rewards for future play. And don’t even get me started on the triumphant return of The Mercenaries (spoiler alert: it’s good stuff).
I don’t revisit games often, especially in such quick succession. But even as I write this, I’m excited for my sixth runthrough (with a Rocket Pistol, no less!) and mastering The Mercenaries like I did in my heyday in Resident Evil 4. If Resident Evil Village has its flaws, they can be counted on one hand, and I clearly can’t keep track of them, because I need both hands to keep track of how many times I’ve played. Village is a game for fans of feeling scared, of horror as a genre, of horror aesthetics and mythology, fans of games, and fans of Resident Evil. It’s got a little something for everyone, and there’s always room in the village for another resident.
