Resident Evil Village

Resident Evil Village sends Ethan Winters to a snowbound village somewhere in Eastern Europe to find his kidnapped daughter. A castle belonging to the Dimitrescu family looms over the landscape, and lycans roam around it that have little in common with the series' usual undead. The game continues with the first-person perspective introduced by the previous entry, but plays much more with horror subgenres: each of the four main locations has its own rules and mood, from a gothic fortress through a doll-maker's workshop to a factory.

The gameplay balances between action and classic survival horror. Ammunition is limited, the inventory is managed on a grid, enemy attacks can be blocked with your arms, and between chapters you shop with the merchant Duke, who also upgrades weapons and cooks food from ingredients gathered in the field. Exploration is built as an interconnected map with locked shortcuts and keys, exactly as the older entries made the series famous. The sequence in the Beneviento family's house sets action aside entirely and offers one of the most talked-about horror sequences of recent years. Weapons can be fitted with sights and larger magazines, and completing the game unlocks the Mercenaries mode with timed waves of enemies.

On PlayStation 5 the game runs smoothly at high resolution, supports ray tracing and fast loading, adaptive triggers distinguish between individual weapons, and haptics convey recoil. Sound is crucial: creaking wood, growling around a corner, and orchestral motifs that kick in during boss fights. Critics received the game very well, praising the variety of settings and the boldness of shifting tone between chapters, while some players wrote that it's the most action-heavy entry in the series and that the fear fades by the end. Today Village is one of the most accessible modern horror games and a game people remember above all for its striking characters. Capcom later added the Shadows of Rose expansion and the option to play the whole campaign from a third-person perspective, which significantly changes the feel of the game.