Resident Evil Village Is Proving A Great Intro To The Series, Even When It Makes Me Sick

I don’t know who this guy is yet, but for some reason I’m digging his vibe.

Until Village, I had never played a Resident Evil game in my life because I am a gigantic baby who is ridiculously easy to scare. But I knew as soon as I saw this tall, glamorous vampire woman that I would be brave and try the venerable horror franchise, if only for her.

It seems odd to embark on a game franchise 25 years after its inception, but while some of the finer knowledge points and references will be lost to me, I don’t feel like I’m out of the loop. I actually feel pretty good. I really enjoy Resident Evil Village as a newcomer and think this could be the start of a beautifully horrific relationship.

Even though I had never played a Resident Evil game, I am not totally unknown in the history of the series. I’ve watched a handful of Let’s Plays, including one from Resident Evil 7, so I know Ethan Winters, his apparently titanium hands, and his trials at the Baker house. I’m actually happy that Village is playing the Winters stars even though die-hard RE players don’t like him as the protagonist. Its presence makes it easier for a beginner like me to enter the games without worrying about all the knowledge that accompanies the game of Leon Kennedy or Jill Valentine.

So what’s it like to be a beginner and play Village? Sick – and not in this “Totally sick Brother!” way but, “OK, I can only play a few hours at a time for fear of feeling nauseous.” kind of sick. First person games are hit and miss with me. For the most part I can play them just fine without nausea but I haven’t been so lucky with Village. Nausea in first-person games is often related to a game’s field of view, a factor that can usually be changed on the PC version of a game. PC gamers have been quick to create FOV Mods for Village, from Capcom was not nice enough to include the default option. But I play on PlayStation 5, so no mods for me.

One game session, right after beating Lady Dimitrescu’s second daughter, I thought, “I feel like I’m going to throw up. I guess I’ll just finish Castle Dimitrescu and finish the rest of the game through Let’s Play. I managed to finish Castle Dimitrescu without further incident and carefully walked through the rest of the game in hopes of completing it on my own. I’m also playing around with the camera oscillation setting at Reddit’s suggestion, in hopes that this will fix my issues.

Capcom, no. Oil on canvas. 2021.Screenshot: Capcom

I love and hate how Village scares me – it seems the terror was specifically tailored to my sensitivity. I’m a hearing person, and the right music or the right sound will scare me more than any disgusting visual (unless it is holes). In Castle Dimitrescu, I learned that I was in deep trouble every time I heard this deep, terrible orchestral music start up, even though no problem was apparent. The music creates an “Oh shit!” moment, spinning me around every door wondering which Lady D will crawl through to tear my ass into ribbons.

I once stood in the castle safe, terrified to step outside because I heard Lady D’s boots click on her beautifully appointed marble floors. I pushed open the door, saw that the coast was clear, and while my partner pushed me forward, I stayed where I was. Her footsteps were so loud that I was sure if I got past the loving embrace of my safe space, she would magically appear behind me and it would be my ass.

I’m also terribly challenged in terms of leadership, which adds exponentially to my terror. I often got lost in the castle, driven out of my chosen path because I spun around in front of one of the fly infested Powerpuff girls or the big mom herself. At one point, in the middle of my rooftop exploration, I had to go to the safe room to save and unload some treasure. On my way there Lady D appeared in all her glory and before I could say “Please step on me” I was driven into a blind panic on the other end of the castle. It got so bad that every time one of the ladies in the house chased me I ran to the elevator room and headed for the rooftops because that was the only part of the castle I knew how to get to without look at the map. I ended up handing the controller over to my partner and begged him to take me to where I needed to be.

To hear the others say it, the Dollmaker is the scariest boss in the game.

Now that I have completed Castle Dimitrescu, I am in conflict over the rest of the game. Although my heart wishes the game was just Vampirella and the three goats stuffed with strollers, I know playing only Resident Evil Castle would quickly become tedious. However, I am sad that my time with Lady D was so short. While Lady D’s menacing presence was enough, and I don’t think she needed to be any more violent to be a convincing villain, I still would have liked something akin to the excessive death animations of the Fallout games. for every time she surprises you. . Instead, the game leaves it up to your imagination to guess what those claws do to your organs – the same game that seems to take pleasure in showing Ethan Winters’ poor mutilated hands in excruciating detail.

It will take some time before you complete Resident Evil Village. Can’t wait to tackle the Dollmaker, someone I heard is even scarier than Lady Dimitrescu. Once I’m done I’ll be looking to try out some previous Resident Evil games, assuming my creepy cat ass can handle it.