If there is something that cannot be denied about the Resident Evil saga, it is that it has always known how to renew itself over the years, with certain touches that could alarm the most fans, but that are always well mixed within the concept of the saga. During the more than 20 years that this saga has, Capcom has given us great games like Resident Evil Remake, Resident Evil 4 or Resident Evil 7, but it also has ups and downs such as Resident Evil 6 or Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City.
Just take a look at some of the games I mentioned to realize the great diversity with which Capcom has treated one of its biggest IP's, always varying between horror or pure action, Resident Evil 2 Remake being the one that the more know how to balance these two options.
Today it is the turn of Resident Evil: Village, one of the most anticipated and anticipated games of this year, a very experimental game that aims to bring together the best of Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 7 to give us an adventure that is not always very clear about which one it is its identity, but it also offers us one of the most diverse, entertaining and loaded adventures of the series.
Resident Evil Village is a direct sequel to Resident Evil 7, so we will once again play Ethan Winters, who must rescue his daughter in a mountain village full of mysterious creatures. I don't want to give many spoilers about its history, but if I am going to clarify that many times you are going to wonder what happens because of the nonsense they tell us, so it is better that you play it without asking too many questions, apart from the forced connection that It has with the rest of the games in the saga.
Talking about the game, like Resident Evil 7, they place us with a first-person camera, to give us a mixture of action and terror in an adventure in which we will have to solve puzzles, opening doors, looking for resources and fighting for our own survival in scenarios with monsters that will try to kill us as soon as they get the chance.
If there is something that I want to praise this game, it is that it knows how to deal with the great diversity of situations it has, the game knows that this is its great strength. It is a game that never stops surprising, it always has very pronounced rhythm changes, which can range from the most suffocating terror to the most unbridled action. In addition, here the structure of the saga was broken to consider scenarios that we must explore until we discover all its secrets.
With this, Resident Evil Village brings another proposal, risky as always. Do not expect a labyrinthine map, or a place with many secrets and corners to explore, such as the police station from Resident Evil 2, the Baker Mansion from Resident Evil 7, or the Spencer Mansion, this is a more linear and guided game . It is so so, that it is practically impossible to get lost, we will always have a path to follow, so exploration becomes secondary, so from exploring as such we only have the central area of the town that will help us find some secrets and a little more. This as such is not a negative point, for example, Resident Evil 4 had some linear scenarios as well, but in this case it is a complete shame, because with how well achieved the setting is, it lent itself to making more interesting and ambitious scenarios.
Unfortunately I have to mention something about one of the most anticipated points of the game, and that it is not always correct in all the games that propose it. For example, the game of cat and mouse of Lady Dimitrescu and her daughters is wasted because of how easy they are to avoid and the limited areas in which they move.
The puzzles have not convinced me so much, more than anything because of how little ingenious and simple some of them are, and the combats against the bosses are reduced to simply shooting them and avoiding the only two movement patterns they have, so it is better that you do not expect that they have alternative methods or weak points to end them.
Be careful, this does not mean that everything is negative, not at all, it has very good sections, and even those that I consider bad, they know how to maintain the atmosphere and the rhythm so that we do not fall into boredom. In fact, the staging is surprising, with sections that are quite a spectacle, both when it comes to hitting shots and when it comes to being scared. When everything works as it should, it is something very fantastic, leaving a lot of memorable moments to remember.
If I had to describe Resident Evil: Village in one word, it would be above all "Enjoyable." Yes, it has flaws and falls a few steps below the best installments of the series, but it is never boring, it is full of surprises, its setting is Incredible and the new enemies have to face we really liked, both by design and by their behaviors, bringing something fresh into the series to force us to approach the confrontations in a different way.
Getting to the end is something that took me like 9 hours in its normal difficulty, exploring what I could and practically without dying, it actually seems to me a more than acceptable duration, especially if we take into account the replay value that it has. Once we complete the main story, we will unlock a series of challenges, which when completed will give us some points that we will exchange in a special store to unlock weapons with infinite ammunition, models, illustrations, etc.
Enemies endure, so acquiring new weapons is essential to survive. Thanks to this store, everything becomes more enjoyable, it is fun to do things like break all the windows of Lady Dimitrescu's castle, or defeat a boss at a specific time, look for collectibles, etc. In fact there are weapons and recipes to make them that we can only get by playing it a second time.
Something that is always missed in a game of the saga is the addictive Mercenaries mode, and here it returns again in style. We will not be able to play it until we complete the main story, but once we finish it we will be able to play this totally arcade mode where with a time trial we will have to unleash as many deaths as we can to increase our points. Of course, between rounds we can buy items and improve our arsenal, and at the end of each mission they will assess our performance with a rank.
At the graphic level we have a quite striking and dazzling game, the expressions of the characters, their modeling and the detailed scenarios that stand out are quite remarkable. Obviously, it does not get rid of small technical errors, such as popping in remote areas, and some textures that look inferior compared to others. You can tell that it is a game that is between two generations, but it does not remove the fact that it is visually quite striking.
As for the art direction, I do not complain, the work that Capcom has done here is incredible, surprising us with a fantastic world and with a marked identity, something that applies to the creatures and characters that are presented to us, a true marvel.
Resident Evil: Village is a game that I find enjoyable and with which, frankly, I have had a good time, although I have not finished liking it as much as others in the saga. Don't get me wrong, I think it is a very good game and that it knows how to keep its rhythm, with every step you take it is a game that will surprise you, it is a game that does not know the word boredom, even so I think that it is not at the level of the best games of the saga. Taking into account all this, if you like how it looks, its setting and if you like the saga, I recommend giving it the opportunity, recommended.