Spoiler-free review
Plays like: ☑ Resident Evil 7
Wow! What a bizarre and occult Romanian horror show!
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2481030450
☑ Cyberpunk 2077
☐ Such good textures that it looks contemporary years later
☐ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Gets the job done
☐ Bad
☐ Terrible
☐ Paint.exe

Uncharismatic protagonist Ethan Winters, who survived the Hillibilly swamp hell from Resi VII, has moved to an idyllic Romanian village with his wife Mia in order to forget the traumatizing events from Louisiana.
This game has had a mixed reception thus far given that some of the more hardcore fans of the RESI franchise have always felt that "horror" has fallen short in many titles of the saga. On top of that, ammunition is looted en masse by killing zombies, unlike in its predecessor Resident Evil VII
This does indeed diminish the claustrophobic survival horror effect in the game design, and its invoked paranoia, since one rarely has no ammo.
Likewise, with certain more bullet-spammy sequences of the game and the fact that the inventory is hugely expandable through backpacks, this renders the incarcerating terror feels mute at times unlike in the recent remakes Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3.
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2481115184
One may equally criticize that while the initial premise with the Romanian village and the Vampire Castle Dimitrescu is absolutely amazing, that it feels like Capcom is playing a manic circus director who wants to show off as many different beasts, clowns, puppets and stunts as possible. The game design may be described as one of those horror Rollercoasters
many of us visited in childhood for most of the game. Horror on rails so to say.
This leads to the plot having inconsistencies and the umbrella plot being integrated quite randomly and without much plausibility. This desire to fulfill different demands in the horror genre makes the different parts of the story difficult to link. It is a pity that the Romanian folklore disappeared during the story as it could have been used to connect the very different characters and arcs in an overarching way with more plausibility. The story is flawed if one looks at the writing as a whole. The story and the occult rumanian angle converge quite well initially, until the developers have problems consolidating this dualism of fantasy and bio-weapons later on.
However, this explosive kind of directing and presentation is exactly what appeals to me; may it lack subtlety or not.
I do understand the frustration of some with the premise and lack of horror factor consistency through the game..
Furthermore, this game suffers from backtracking that may feel too much at some moments and fps drops when changing the settings in its current state.
It would have been good to incorporate more local Romanian folklore into the game and specifically into the meals of the Duke. They would have benefited from cultural lore and animations instead of the sketched images in the Duke's book.
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2482711534
I love this game...and if you enjoy occult horror stories, you will too...
I can totally recommend it on full price despite certain flaws.

The occult dark fantasy setting of the village, a mysterious old witch, a picturesque vampire castle on the horizon and a whole spectrum of monsters to fight.
This ray-traced Rumanian 4K HDR nightmare is so beautiful in its sinister way; you will spend a lot of time in the photo mode.

I personally do not mind certain action aspects in Resident Evil games.
Resident Evil 5 was heavily in critique for this and seen as a military action shooter, rather than a horror game.
I enjoyed the fifth installment all the same. Sometimes one just has to accept the scenario.

The art design is amazing. From valuable loot of monsters such as crystal hearts and steampunk hearts to the myriad of objects one finds and needs to combine in order to advance. One can even 3D tilt and zoom them in a Tomb Raider fashion..
And don't even get me started on the paintings!

Additionally, the tradition of the Resident Evil merchant has been reinstated.
Only this time he does not have a trench coat full of weapons, but he is a massively fat dude who sells stuff and cooks you meals if you have enough meat ,which in turn boosts your stats.
The Duke truly represents the epitomal cliché merchant full of greed...how the hell is this gluttonous giant so agile moving around the village?

Apart from this gimmick, there is tons of gorgeous concept art, animated 3D character models and a mercenary mode as bonus content included. The concept art even features comments from the devs!
Furthermore, Resident Evil Village includes free beta access to a Resident Evil Battle Royal Multiplayer shooter called Resident Evil Re:Verse which will release in early 2022 and features characters from the franchise!

All this is why this game is well worth it despite certain eccentric choices in the story (Rose!!!).

Capcom totally nailed it when designing the four lords and their respective arcs; both from a game design perspective but also just judging the characters themselves.
Even though they can't measure up to House Dimitrescu, I have enjoyed the character arcs of the house Moreau, Beneviento and Heisenberg all the same!

A remarkable consequence of that is that the horror angles of the game are completely diversified, as the 4 lords are totally different.
Psychologically the horror is very different from one lord to the next since Capcom attempts to tap into different kinds of fears and incorporates this into the game design.
It is almost as if Capcom is a winemaker who distills a scarlet concoction from phobia grapes.
One lord boss battle did not even consist of gunplay for most of the time for instance, but rather made use of of subtlety in environmental storytelling of the horror.

Finally another Resident Evil 4!
Game throws everything at you from zombies and vampires to werewolves.
The four lords are well designed.
Their lore is bizarrely hilarious, frightening, grotesque and intricately written.
Especially the majestic Lady Dimitrescu and her daughters in the castle are voiced and designed so well they justify an entire game dedicated to them.
I just wish the dagger would have played a more significant part in the narrative.
The folklore elements of the game get lost after the Dimistrescu arc almost entirely.

Brace yourself for an elegant and pompous vampire family with some masochistic tendencies and many other creatures to kill!
Resident Evil Village feels like an amalgam of Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 7.
It is a hybrid made of fantasy and military bio-weapon intervention.
Despite being armed to the teeth, horror moments happen still...with some comedy!

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