It's a first in the series: Resident Evil 8 is not called... Resident Evil 8. Resident Evil Village is therefore its official title and, although Capcom plays with the first three letters of the word to form the 8 in Roman numerals , it must be called Village and not otherwise. A way to mark a certain turning point in the saga, definitely determined to give the best of oneself for an experience of very high quality. And if we grant you that a certain batch of average, even bad, episodes over the past two decades have emerged, the Japanese studio now seems square to commit as few pitfalls as possible. A very good launch just initiated with Resident Evil 7 in 2017 and its FPS view, a great innovation for the brand, followed by an ultra-tweaked Monster Hunter World and Devil May Cry 5. We reassure you, Resident Evil Village does not break this recent tradition and is one of the best iterations of the franchise.
ETHAN WINTERS VOTED WORLD'S LOST LUCKY MAN
In addition to its atypical title for a so-called main adventure, Village also introduces another novelty: it is the first time that two consecutive Resident Evil have put the same hero at their center while establishing a direct sequel. For Capcom, this is an opportunity to dig deeper into its protagonist, Ethan Winters, a newcomer who appeared in Resident Evil 7. After suffering martyrdom in this nightmarish Louisiana house that will be called the Baker event, Ethan and his wife Mia were forced by Chris Redfield and his military entity to leave the United States. So here they are in a small country in Eastern Europe whose name remains unknown, housed in a comfortable house and benefiting from what could almost be called a witness protection program. Ethan even received military training, just in case! Still a bit traumatized by what happened three years earlier - we understand them, to tell the truth - the couple are fortunately getting back on the right track and welcoming a happy event in the tiny lady of Rosemary, fruit of their love , recently born.
In a rather small way, we then return to the pure origins of a certain pharmaceutical corporation – and it is necessarily crisp – while the events specific to this completely stamped village will have their share of revelations.
In short, everything is going well… until our legendary Chris Redfield, particularly badass in this episode, arrives with his unit to commit a big mess. We obviously let you discover all this, the inevitable end being that Rose ends up disappearing and that Ethan then sets out to find her, landing in the village which gives its name to the video game. Where some fans might fault Resident Evil 7 for detaching itself almost completely from the general lore established by the older games (that wasn't necessarily a bad thing), Village takes care to deftly expand the mythology of the series, while keeping a real link with the first journey of Ethan Winters. In a fairly small way, therefore, we come back to the pure origins of a certain pharmaceutical corporation - and it is inevitably crisp - while the events specific to this completely crazy village will have their share of revelations, reversals of situation (rather murky) and theories. A story that, in the end, convinces even if we would have liked a more diluted writing on the whole story and less condensed on the end. Similarly, the last quarter of the adventure is based on a somewhat uneven and questionable staging, denoting with the rest of the game. For example, it seems imposed the fact that we must never see the face of Ethan - why not, it reinforces the identification of the player - but in this case, one still wonders about the insistent use of cinematics on the end of the odyssey, then creating somewhat uncomfortable camera shots. Similarly, this last quarter is clearly oriented towards brutal action as Resident Evil sometimes likes to do, but that we will come back to later: if we had to retain one thing from Village in terms of scriptwriting, it is good a rather successful story and which, above all, opens up the field of possibilities for a third episode of this “Winters” trilogy. 
RESIDENTS AND VILLAGE
If there is one question that everyone asks for this Resident Evil Village, it is: is it really scary? The series having turned away from horror in favor of action over the course of the games, Resident Evil 7 was however a return to basics with a dark and claustrophobic episode, suggesting the best for the future. Let's not wait any longer to provide an answer to the question previously raised: with Village, you will sweat your hands more than once... but in different ways. If the emphasis is immediately on fear, it is clear that the title does not focus entirely on it and prefers above all to use stress to enrich its atmosphere. It must be said that where the Baker event took place at night, the village of this new Resident Evil is part of the middle of the winter day, backed by constant snow of immaculate white. Make no mistake, this chilling atmosphere serves as another truly disturbing one, reminiscent of the greyish one of Resident Evil 4 while drawing inspiration from other mythical places in the saga. Much more varied than it seems, the artistic direction is a marvel proposing both this cold and devastated peasant village as a main artery, connecting different primordial areas. There is thus the Gothic and infinitely successful castle of Lady Dimitrescu, a place as sublime as it is disturbing; a mill and its disgusting sticky swamps or even a factory with insane madness, with metallic, industrial and deeply diabolical decorations. Special mention to another segment fully centered on pure horror, largely inspired by a certain PT, which proves that, yes, Resident Evil still knows how to take the guts to scare. Like, really.
The progression through the different sealed areas is done intelligently, always with this intact and very satisfying feeling of seeing these intimidating levels, which were not bitten at the very beginning, unlocking as you go.
The result is then a frankly complete adventure, sometimes tinged with terror, sometimes with confrontations, but always imbued with constant anguish. If the last moments of the game tend to let the dogs go a little too much with frenetic action - it's also very enjoyable after all this time preserving your balls - and even a boss with a slightly questionable design, Resident Evil Village bears witness to a deliciously groomed aura. In addition, this new episode happily digs into myths and legends for a very occult scenario base: our enemies are lycans, pseudo-vampires, zombies armed with swords, other winged creatures straight out of medieval dungeons, without talk about bosses with vile deformities, a true fruit of the twisted imagination of chara-designers. This whole universe clearly has the air of Van Helsing, without however turning into the pure supernatural since it is recalled that Resident Evil always plays with science to explain its abominations. 
Moreover, it is clear that Ethan Winters does not have the strength of the famous monster hunter and if we can be sure of one thing, it is that Village remains above all a survival game. There is a little more action, it's true, but the title rarely turns into the big shooter and offers roughly the same gameplay as Resident Evil 7, with a more complete range of weapons. Weapon accuracy is rough, enemies feint us and many of our bullets get wasted in the opposite wall. We must then constantly search his environment to recover resources and manufacture them, whether ammunition or renewed life. Moreover, Capcom has inserted a real merchandise system here via the Duke, a character allowing you to buy, improve or sell objects for Lei, the game currency. Hunting is even allowed to concoct dishes which will upgrade certain passive skills such as life, defense or movement speed. These monetary mechanics allow a real progression of the hero in addition to the weapons and accessories hidden in the village and its adjacent areas, greatly encouraging exploration. 
LIVE THE AGE AS IF IT WAS THE LAST
This imitation open world is therefore full of treasures and, once again, demonstrates the talent of the developers to design a finely thought out level design. Regulars of Resident Evil will not be out of place and, at the same time, difficult to really change the game when you do things so well and that you have been able to perfect them with Resident Evil 7 or the remake of Resident Evil 2: we then juggles with the keys, the round trips, the puzzles (not very difficult, but present to air the whole), the whole sometimes punctuated by a Nemesis three meters high, to achieve its ends and recover objects keys. Clearly encouraging you to return to the center of the village to retrieve hidden items, the progression through the different sealed areas is done intelligently, always with this intact and very satisfying feeling of seeing these intimidating levels, which you didn't bite at the very beginning, unlock over time. Difficult to find a real fault, especially since the game surprises by renewing itself with new artistically different environments and always so well put together. We have there pure Resident Evil, respecting devilishly well its very architectural essence. A rhythmic adventure that never gets boring during the ten / dozen hours required to complete it in Normal mode. Moreover, note the presence of a stopwatch (which does not count the time spent in the pause, confection, inventory or merchandise menu, attention) which is not there for nothing since once again, this Resident Evil is no exception to the rule of replayability. 
HORROR… HORROR NEVER DIES
Because yes, Resident Evil and replay value are generally one and Village intends to respect tradition. If the first run is necessarily the most intense and the most tasty, the following are part of a new game + more complete than its predecessor, inspired by modern Resident Evil. Thus, we can start the game again in a new difficulty with all our inventory and, depending on the challenges completed, we accumulate points to spend in the shop to obtain various bonuses, such as infinite ammunition or special weapons (and in another measurement, figurines and concept art to contemplate). The task is also made easier, with in particular the disappearance of the number of saves or backup banners. A ton of challenges are then available: finish the game in less than three hours, only with a knife, by not healing more than four times, by never touching your inventory and you go on. All this therefore encourages you to perfect your game and truly tame horror. 
Again, it's very classic for a Resident Evil but damn effective, significantly increasing the lifespan. By the way, we will note the presence of the Mercenaries mode which, for once, will be clearly oriented towards pure and hard action with a ton of enemies, bonuses to be collected on the job and ammunition in all directions, the crowned with a real scoring system. Rather stimulating and successful game rules: moreover, our little finger tells us that instead of the multiplayer planned in the stand-alone Re:Verse (postponed to this summer), it should have been included in this part bonus there. Whatever, to interfere again and again in the darkness of Resident Evil Village is a real pleasure for all the excellent points mentioned above in this test… and also thanks to its decorations and its jaw-dropping finish. 
BEAUTIFUL AS A VIRUS T
Resident Evil 7 was an opportunity for Capcom to present the RE Engine, its new engine which, since then, has proven its full potential. Potential devilishly well exploited in the very beautiful Devil May Cry 5, Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 with a result close to photorealism. For Village, it's still the same story, if not more: on PS5, the platform from which we carried out this test, the new title of the Japanese organization shines with a thousand lights. Finally, not everywhere because if you want to be picky, you have to admit that some outdoor environments, textures and 3D models of characters are a little below, just like a clipping, in the distance, very slightly present. On the other hand, the game is displayed in 4K and 60FPS without forcing, even making use of ray tracing. We agree, even if it is not yet perfect, Resident Evil Village is clearly one of the most beautiful titles we have ever seen on the new consoles. All the interior decorations leave you speechless - dedication to Lady Dimitrescu's castle, simply wonderful - and allow a resplendent and varied artistic direction to flourish at best. 
From an audio point of view, it's also very good with a sound design that's still just as meticulous, establishing the slightest drop of water, cry, moan as a real indicator of the game. 'sometimes orchestral finesse, sometimes atmospheric, perfectly matching the atmosphere desired by Capcom. And to return to the PS5, we note the use of adaptive triggers to imitate the trigger tail of the different weapons, a real plus for immersion. Too bad, on the other hand, that the haptic vibrations are not exploited more intelligently than that: we would have greatly liked to feel our steps differently according to the types of soil or the grass wriggling when we squat in the fields in the middle of howling lycans. We reassure you nevertheless, Resident Evil Village does not need that to impose its damnedly successful horror which makes it, irrevocably, a great Resident Evil.
