Resident Evil Village Winters’ Expansion review: An unremarkable DLC

The dungeon of Dimitresque Castle was dark, and Rose stepped forward with a rusty key. Behind the door, a young woman’s voice is heard begging her Rose to run away. But she stood firm, slid the key inside the lock, and watched the girl inside stumble forward and spin, her face snapped in shock. At the same time, within the confines of the castle, they are trapped in a megalomaniac hive-consciousness and a horror that Rose has yet to fully see.

Shadows of Rose The stage is about 15 years after the incident. Resident Evil Villagethis is the first series about how far ahead it lurks into the future, unlike previous games and DLC that took place around the same time as the game’s initial release window.

While Rose played a key role, village As a major plot device – we spent most of the game as Ethan, her father, searching for different body parts that were literally dismembered – she now stands as the main character in this relatively short DLC. I’m here. Shadows of Rose is based on the idea of ​​understanding a teenage girl and her tumultuous upbringing as a BOW (a series acronym for Bio-Organic Weapon). Resident Evil’s Sherry Birkin and Jake Muller. Overall, the new content portrays Rose’s insecurities stemming from her otherworldly powers and the ridicule of others as major points of contention in her life well enough.

What Rose wants more than anything else is to sever her ties to Megamycete and become a “normal” teenage girl. After learning about the magic crystals, she communicates with a sample of Gigantea (Ethan and Chris fought at the end of the story). village) found at Wolf Hound Squad headquarters (presumably still affiliated with the BSAA, but like many things in Resident Evil, it is never explicitly explained). This causes Rose to fall into the memories of those who died near the hive mind of a giant fungus, and is transported to the eerie brain replica of Castle Dimitrescu that her father knew intimately when he was alive. In Resident Evil fashion, she must retrieve the three masks to get the crystals, and avoid falling into the hands of a twisted version of the Duke (the merchant from). village) sent an emaciated creature to capture her.

Capcom has done a good job setting up this transition using marginal space, using thick dark red blobs of sludge to block the way and the corridors ahead and villageThis includes a detailed look at the library, details of Mrs. Dimitrescu’s boudoir, and hidden dungeons deep within the bowels of the ramparts.The rooms are connected in strange and dreamy ways — familiar, but not Overall got used to seeing.

Rose soon finds herself in a perilous situation, trapped in a megalomaniac consciousness, fighting for her life. With the help of her “guardian angel” Michael, Rose communicates with her via golden letters, battling through a long, gnarly, homogenous swath of enemies made up of gray mold, to discover the whereabouts of the Purifying Crystals. Unfortunately, their designs aren’t terrifyingly appealing, nor are they the hammer-wielding monsters that make further appearances as pursuers in the DLC.Rather, the doppelgangers of Rose scattered throughout the castle and the psychological terror of the main character caused by them are fueling the story. Shadows of Rosetension. Their faces are contorted and contorted to resemble a Junji Ito illustration, with bared teeth and gums confronting swirling contortions of milky skin.

Image: Capcom

However Shadows of Rose It doesn’t offer much outside of this initial horror. There is no throughline for the larger commentary. In fact, Rose suffers the same fate as his father Ethan in the story department. Even when compared to one-off Resident Evil characters like Carlos Oliveira and Billy Cohen, she is merely a plot vehicle, in contrast to characters with a stronger sense of her own agency. In the same way that a wife was defined by her relationship with her daughter, Rose was only defined by her role as a daughter.There are a few standouts about all the series’ mischaracterizations (Moira Barton’s apocalypse 2 Especially) it’s a shame that’s not the case here.

What about gameplay? It’s pretty stock and standard. Rose’s mold power can be used to temporarily suspend enemies and solve environmental puzzles, but firearms can also be used to shower enemies with bullets. The puzzles themselves have little involvement, often requiring Rose to cleanse the mold-like flowers that have taken over the room.

However, the third-person mode feels important, mainly because of the way Rose compares and controls. village Mostly neat additions (which are Resident Evil 2 When Resident Evil 3 remake), it is essential to Shadows of Rosemechanics. Purification mechanics are essential to progression, and pointing Rose’s arm at one of these pustules of putrefaction while being chased by an enemy creates greater tension, as the enemy may be invisible. Aim assist doesn’t work at all as intended in third-person mode. Turning this on makes the game very difficult. Too often it was overcompensated when facing monsters and had to be readjusted quickly.

Image: Capcom

Anyway, third person mode is a different way to play villageis one of the best games of 2021, and I think it’s likely that die-hard fans will embrace it, even if Capcom can’t see Ethan’s face yet.

Shadows of Rose is not a spectacular DLC and doesn’t necessarily do or say anything meaningful. It feels like an out-of-place B-horror movie for Resident Evil, but the self-serious tone can get tiring at times, especially after playing two full games in the Winters family’s decidedly grim saga. Those invested in will find something to chew on, and the addition of a third-person perspective makes returning to the base game an exciting possibility. Much like Rose herself, it doesn’t feel like a stepping stone for the franchise — a gentle tweak to more plot points that could remain unresolved for years to come.

Expansion of Resident Evil Village Winters will release on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X on October 28th. This game was reviewed on PC using a pre-release download code provided by Capcom. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, but Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased via affiliate links.discoverable Additional information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy can be found here.